Family Life

Father's Day 2016 (Stone 20 months Abigail 3 1/2)

I am an extremely blessed woman. For some reason the Lord has seen fit to bless me with an amazing family. I have a husband who works extremely hard to not only provide for us, but so he can serve the Lord. He loves me more and more each day and is an amazing example to our children.

My littles. Oh my, my heart melts. My children are such a gift. To have been told at 14 that the only way for me to have kids is if I used medical intervention was devastating. God had other plans. With the mindset that it could take years to get pregnant my husband and I started trying to get pregnant before we were even married a year. And she was born exactly 1 1/2 years after we said "I do." Then Stone. We thought we were done after Abigail. We were pretty comfortable with the idea of only one child. But God had other plans. And I am thankful. My son is such a delight, stubborn, but a delight.

This week has been rough for me. Professionally I am in a great place. I work with about 20 amazing women, we have our issues from time to time, but mostly we work in harmony. Spiritually, I am on a path that has me growing. I am serving in a new area now, hello summer choir. My prayer life is more. And I have songs back.

That last part probably sounds odd so let me explain.

About 2 years ago I asked the Lord to put a song in my heart. I wanted to sing His praises. And He answered me. Instead of wondering and idle thoughts, worship and praise songs would pop into my head. Middle of last fall they stopped. Over the spring this year, a song or two would pop up. But about 3 weeks ago it became constant again. I like to take it as a sign that I am doing what God is calling me to do.

Now to why this week has been rough.

A few weeks back, the kids and I were almost in a wreck. It didn't happen, so I didn't share really with anyone, minus my husband. I was leaving the gym, and if I had not been paying attention, a gentleman would have t-boned my car, hitting my son directly. But I did see him, praise be to God! I slammed on my brakes, sounded my horn, and by the time he stopped his car was in front of mine. I was sore as I left the gym, so I gave it no thought. This past weekend though my neck/shoulder started bothering me. Right where my seatbelt passes. Add pain, some swelling, and tingling/loss of feeling in two fingers.....

I went to the chiropractor and was informed I have a pinched nerve. It is painful people. Let me tell you, if my mom who has nerve issues from a car wreck is living with this type of pain, I am ashamed for not being more understanding of her. My wonderful husband has made dinner, been home early to take over with the kids, he has done all our laundry and our house looks good.

Stone's1st hair cut! 6/24/2016

Stone hasn't understood why I can't pick him up (afraid I could drop him!), but Abigail has been more understanding. Last night she played doctor on me, to try and fix me. She is so tender hearted. She has a heart for people, and I pray she always does. I can't believe how big my littles are getting.

Kemah Boardwalk - June16, 2016

They are both so fearless. Such an inspiration.

I love my little family. They truly are a gift.

Misconceptions on Faith and the Honest Truth

"Christianity is nothing but a list of do's and do not's."
"Oh your a Christian, so you can't have fun right?"
"So obviously you don't party...so what do you do for fun...knit? sew?"

For some peculiar reason, people think that if they become a Christian they will never again have any fun. That to follow Jesus is to be bored the rest of your earthly life.

Let me tell you what, that is as far from the truth as it can be.

Life is never dull for me, or my family, or my friends in the faith. Now yes, there are things we do not do, but that is because we have made a choice no to do them.

Many do view living a life of faith, a life for Jesus as a list of do's and do not's, but that is legalism, and not a way to live for anyone. That is nothing but bondage and takes away from your faith in Christ. That list is saying faith in Jesus is not enough. And that is not the truth.

Galatians 5:1 (NIV) Freedom in Christ

5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Now for that fun part. Everyone has their own idea of what fun is. When I was younger, I did some stupid things that were considered fun. Up all night, work all day and repeat, all on very little sleep. I once upon a time would go dancing and drink. As an adult my definition of fun has changed.

I no longer drink, I felt called by God to stop doing so. I am obedient to Him. Now if you drink I am not condemning you. It is a personal choice. How I sometimes did it as a young adult was not wise, might have been considered fun by others, but it was a choice I made during that time period that I would do differently in hindsight (isn't it always 20/20). 

I rarely dance or stay up all night. Not because those things are bad or not fun, but my life is different. With age and with my faith.

At this point in my life, I have two children 3 and under, a dog, my dad lives at home with us, and my wonderful husband is self employed. We work hard, we work long hours, and our life is busy. We have fun in that mix. We enjoy family outings, time outside, trips to the zoo, couples dates to shows.

________________________________________________________________________________

I started this post several months ago.

Reading over it I somewhat see where I was going with it. This is one of those post I mentioned in my post on being content where I started to write but God said wait.

Freedom. As the world goes crazy, I am thankful for my freedom in Christ. As long as I abide Him, I am free. This crazy, broken world is contorting what God says is pure, holy, and right. And the rabbit hole we are all in is stripping us all of our constitutional freedoms, but sisters, friends, please rest assured that if your hope and trust are in Jesus, no matter what the world does, says, or threatens you are free in Christ.

Silent But Not Gone, Learning to Be Content

God has been doing a work in me.

Many times I have sat to write, but then I stop. God says not now. Wait.

So I have been waiting. But I have not been doing nothing.

I went to New Orleans. I refreshed my mind, body, and spirit. I came back with a renewed purpose: personally, professionally, and spiritually. God reaffirmed in me His plan for my life. And slowly but surely I am working towards that.

• I am joining the choir.
• I take my mornings slower. I let my children (& myself) wake gently so we can ease into our days.
• I take the time to rest when my body needs it ( I had the flu a few weeks back and my PCOS is flaring).
• I am no longer trying to please everyone.
• I am pausing in my day to be with Jesus.
• I am praying more.

And I am learning to say no. I feel that my marriage is stronger (this past Saturday was our 5th anniversary!!!), my bond with my children is better and that I am enjoying life more. I am reading for pleasure (Christian authors), working out moderately, tending to my house, and learning to live simply.

My father moved out a week or so ago. Time is flying by. But by him doing so we have shifted how our house works for us. We no longer feel cramped on each other. Not saying my dad cramped us, but we do see that we have way too much stuff. And though we have purged many things, there is more to be done. I shared on my Facebook page a sermon that I deeply love. One of our pastor's, Dr. Gamble, taught on the subject of being content. And to me it was powerful. I received a rhema from the passage he shared.

1 Timothy 6:8English Standard Version (ESV)⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Read that verse. Food and clothing. Dr. Gamble said clothing could be interpreted to mean covering (shelter and clothing). Not free Wi-Fi, a 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, and a bursting closet. We are to be happy with food and clothing. Everything else is a blessing.

The two verses leading into verse 8 shed more light. We need to strive to live for Christ and be happy:

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

This sermon really convicted me but also inspired me. This world is temporary. The steps I have been taking to enjoy life, enjoy my family are guiding me on how to be content. To quote Dr. Gamble, "We should be the most content people in the world." But I know there are times when I am not content, when I think I need or deserve more. What I deserve, what we all deserve is death. Thankfully we have a merciful good Father who loves us and blesses us. What can you do today to simplify your life? What can you do to stop being so "busy" that you do not have time for God? This is not to condemn, I am just as guilty. I get caught up in the stuff and forget about the one who died for my sins. But let me challenge you to press pause on life, and take inventory of all the stuff that is not food and clothing. Do you need it all? Or can you live without it? It is an adjustment but it is easy to live without much of what we all have.

Life Lessons in the Humdrum

This has been a wonderful weekend for my little family. Especially in contrast with our crazy week!

Last Sunday I broke my pinkie toe, all week long my husband has been at church for the annual Christmas Program, at work myself we had 5 Christmas programs - on top of the regular things that go on daily.

To say that I was ready for the weekend (even though it promised to be just as crazy!) would be an understatement.

Saturday morning found my daughter and I taking little brother to my parents so they could watch him. Her and I then went to her 3 year check up. She is healthy and bright! She acted shy, but considering the craziness in the week prior that is not unexpected.

The rest of the weekend has been wonderful. I attended our church's Christmas Program, sewed a shirt for my daughter (my third project on my sewing machine!), went in depth on the Messiah's Star, was inspired by why Jesus is our greatest gift this season, cooked for my family and baked brownies with my daughter.

When history looks back on December 12th & 13th, 2015 nothing we did will be recorded for children to learn about in school.

But for my daughter, even though this weekend was filled with normal (for this time of year) events many lessons were imparted on her. Someone my husband and I both know posted an image on Facebook stating that high school should teach: balancing a check book, sewing a button, changing a tire, etc. It caused us to have a conversation, and initially we both agreed but then the thought came to us: if the school's teach that, what do the parents teach their children then? I recognize that a few generations back family dynamic's changes when many women had to go into the workforce. But with that shift in family dynamic's, many things that were once taught in the home were no longer taught. Home economic class's tried to help bridge the gap, but society changed its standards on what basic's people were expected to know, so home ec went to the wayside.

The result is many people grew up, went through school and are now in society without some basic life skills. In our household we are big on being "throw backs." I love gardening, sewing, canning, cooking, and pretty much anything related to the domestic's. My husband has taken it upon himself to learn carpentry.

We are imparting these skills on our children. Our daughter helps with cooking, sorting laundry, and cleans up her playroom. Today our son "assisted" his father in changing out the loads of laundry. Obviously at 13 1/2 months of age our son cant do too much, but he can observe. And you would be surprised what a child observes. Case in point: driving home last week from work, kids and I got stuck in traffic in front of McDonald's. We don't eat there, so my children have never experienced their food, or would have any knowledge of their menu. My daughter exclaimed from the back seat, pointing at the restaurant, "They make pancakes!" Now, again, we have never eaten there, but she was right. How? Kids at school have brought pancakes from McDonald's and eaten them in the morning room at school. Now my daughter cannot read, but some how she made the connection - probably the golden arches on the bags and then she saw them on the sign by the street. Something in passing, she normally only spends no more than 15 minutes a day in that room, and most of our parent's don't send breakfast, but just the few times she has seen it stuck with her.

Now I share all that to share this. The area around my children's pediatrician office has a very present homeless population. When my children and I left the house yesterday I grabbed a blueberry muffin (made fresh that morning) and a banana for my breakfast. But, as per the usual, I didn't make time to eat it. So after my daughter got the all clear at her check up, we headed home. At the main intersection before the highway there was a gentleman standing with a sign. Well, I didn't have any money (I rarely carry cash on me), but I did have that food. I will say, that normally, being a woman, I don't roll my window down for anyone - I have heard too many stories. Then you add my child being in the car, my gut reaction would be to double check that the doors are locked. But I did something different yesterday morning. I grabbed the muffin and banana, rolled my window down and gave it to the gentleman. He thanked me, said Merry Christmas and he went back to the corner.

Abigail asked why we were feeding him. I explained that not everyone has a home or food like we do and sometimes they need help. I also told her that Jesus tells us to feed those who are hungry, but not only that, but sometimes, when you help those in need, you are actually hosting angels. Hebrews 13:2 NIV, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Something in what I said resonated in her, because she was satisfied with my answer.

So, like I said, nothing major happened, but maybe, just maybe I planted a seed in my daughter, a seed that, with repeated exposure, will grow into a desire to help those in need. In January Stone has his 15 month check up, and it being January it will be cold. Maybe I will be more mindful and I can be better prepared and share more than a muffin and a banana with someone in need. The Bible has much to say about helping those in need:

• Matthew 25:35 (NKJV) - for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in
• Proverbs 28:27 (NKJV) - He who gives to the poor will not lack, But he who hides his eyes will have many curses
• Proverbs 14:31 (NKJV) - He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.

There is a song by Casting Crowns, Slow Fade, that sums up a good reminder when it comes to parenting:

Be careful little eyes what you see
Its the second glance that ties your hands
As darkness pulls the strings


It's meant as a warning, be mindful of what you put before your eye's, but can be an inspiration too. We must be cautious of what we expose ourselves, and our families, too. But we also need to make sure we expose our families to the works of the Gospel. We need to feed the homeless, serve at church and in our community, help the elderly, and tell other's Jesus love them. Our children need to see us living out the love of Jesus.

Seeing

Right now I am sitting on my bed the window is open and my dog is laying behind me on my pillow (the dog is spoiled). I look outside, the sun is shining, our large oak tree is shading our back yard, and there is a soft breeze blowing.

It truly is a lovely day today. Just enough chill in the air that I am enjoying my 3rd cup of coffee today.

My mind is heavy. So much is going on these days. I feel an ever looming presence of darkness around the world. Yet another mass shooting happened this week past. The two individuals who orchestrated this tragedy - my heart breaks thinking of them. What went so wrong in their lives that they would attack and kill people who were celebrating at a Christmas Party. What went wrong in their brains that they would leave behind a 6 month old child.

I believe that last part weighs heaviest on me. I have a child twice that age, and now a 3 year old. Both are still my babies, even if my daughter does insist that she is big. We traveled the day after Thanksgiving to Pennsylvania. Both did amazing on all the flights. But going through the airport I opted to babywear our son. And that decision flagged me for additional screening. Every check in had my hands being swabbed for residue of some kind.

Let that sink in. Because I was wearing my child on my body I had to be swabbed for residue. What on earth is wrong with people! When it sunk in personally, my blood went cold. There are ladies, women out there who would sacrifice not only their own life but the life of their child in the name of....martyrdom, religion....stupidity.

Luckily, in spite of Paris, and all the tragedies going on in the world, we traveled without event. But it has had me thinking. I am thankful to God for our safe travels and to His angels for guiding and protecting our way.

Our Pastor, Jon, a while back wrote a booklet on the topic of angels. Some think that angels are the chubby cheeked babies flying around with a cloth diaper, but that is not what I envision. The Bible numerous times talks of Michael, a mighty warrior of an angel who does what God commands. I envision a personage that is strong, looming, tall and a presence to be reckoned with. I have read the books by Frank E. Peretti, This Present Darkness & Piercing the Darnkness. In fact I am going to reread both (normally this time of year I grab all things Christmas to read, but this year I feel I need to do things differently). Both of these books talk about normal (well kinda) lives of people, but shows the parallel of what is going on in the spiritual realm. Angles delivering messages to each other, fighting the powers of darkness, darkness trying to take people over, prayer strengthening angels.

Oh, Rhema! Prayer once again is in my life. Have you ever thought that maybe you have an angel in your life, but that angel is weak because your prayer life is weak? That maybe if you started to praying regularly (like going to the gym) your angel would be stronger and more able to do God's will for you.

Now for the meat of what I want to convey today. We read out of Philippians this morning in Sunday School:

Philippians 2:6-8 (NKJV)
⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 
⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

If the verse is unclear to you, this is a description of Jesus. Of the wonderful deed he did by becoming human.

From there we connected Isaiah 6:1-7 (NKJV):

6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 

² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 

³ And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 

⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

We lingered a while over the verses describing the seraphim. We discussed trying to imagine what they look like. We voiced trying to imagine the entire scene. How breath taking it would be. And how terrifying.

Hollywood is pretty good about creating creatures on screen that come from books. But I think even Hollywood would fail at creating this scene.

My mind carried the thought that maybe more people would believe if they could see the seraphim like the one's described in Isaiah. But I captured that thought. I realized that seeing such majestic creatures is going to be reserved for those who believed without seeing. The Bible tells us that angels are the messengers of God, that the go between earth and heaven doing the Father's will. We do not see them with our human eyes, but they are there. By faith we believe it. My mind further reasoned people say that if they could see Jesus they would believe, but humanity has already proven this to be a false statement. Jesus walked the earth and was severely rejected to the point of death.

From the Book of John, Chapter 20:

²⁴ Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 
²⁵ The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
²⁶ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 
²⁷ Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

When we get to heaven, I believe our eyes of faith are going to see things that our minds on earth cannot even fathom.

And as it is the season of Christmas, the words about Santa ring in my ears, "Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing."

Life Never Stays the Same

I have a plethora of issues on  my heart and mind. Going to put that right out there. So much has happened in the past 2 weeks in our country and in my own life that it has taken me some time to process it all.

Let's get personal first.

Last Thursday my son passed out at school. Luckily for me, I am the director (think principal) of his school, so I was in the building. It was terrifying, I aged a decade I swear, but he is perfectly healthy. It took a drive to the ER, a transfer by ambulance to Texas Children's Hospital, 2 EKG's, blood work, swabs, and a total of 7 hours to get a healthy diagnosis, but we got there. Little dude can hold his breath when upset, and can pass out. Apparently it is "common" (to quote the nurses and doctors), but really only 5% of children do it. If we can get him to catch his breathe when upset he should not have an episode. If he still passes out, and we are aware we have to make sure he doesn't hurt himself passing out. Again, I aged a decade as did his three teachers, but we are all just happy he is fine.

My daughter and I are doing great. Only the occasional meltdown happens now. Getting her to "help" me cook in the evenings really has helped our relationship. Plus I put in a sticker chart reward system of a.m. and p.m. must have's so she knows what I expect of her. It has worked out wonderfully - I owe her a Scooby-Doo movie now because of it.

My husband and I are doing great. The incident with our son was hard, but we were together. Luckily his day worked out to where he met me at the ER and was beside me the entire afternoon. Having him to lean on was a saving grace - I might have melted down if I had been solo.

Here lately prayer has been a major presence in my life. From church, Sunday school, friends, to books - pray is the theme of my life right now. And I have spent much time in prayer and reading on prayer. And what I can tell you is this - everyone needs to be praying. For each other, for the unsaved, the unborn, America...honestly, the world. We live in a broken world, people have the wrong priorities, people are not respecters of life, and time is running short.

• Starbucks, the red cup, and Christian Uproar!
• The 2016 Presidential Election - Dem's and Rep's
• The attacks in Paris
• Syrian Refugee's
• Mother's killing their children
• Sex stings and pornography raids
• Black Friday
• Happy Holiday's vs. Merry Christmas

Honestly the list can go on and on. Let me talk the first and last two issues right now.

Christmas

According to http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract4.html the word Christmas has its roots as follows:

Here let it be noted that most people think that the word, "Christmas" means "the birth of Christ."  By definition, it means "death of Christ", and I will prove it by using the World Book Encyclopedia, the Catholic Encyclopedia, and a book entitled, The Mass In Slow Motion. If you are an honest, sincere and discerning Christian, please read on; if not, you might as well stop right here.  The World Book Encyclopedia defines "Christmas" as follows:  "The word Christmas comes from "Cristes Maesse", an early English phrase that means "Mass of Christ." (1)  It is interesting to note that the word "Mass", as used by the Roman Catholics, has traditionally been rejected by the so-called Protestants, such as Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and so on.  The word "Mass" is strictly a Catholic word and thus, so is "Christ-Mass." ...As previously stated, the word "Mass" in religious usage means a "death sacrifice."  The impact of this fact is horrifying and shocking; for when the millions of people are saying, "Merry Christmas", they are literally saying "Merry death of Christ!"  Furthermore, when the fat man in the red suit laughs boisterously  and says, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas", he is mocking and laughing at the suffering and bleeding Saviour, who died for our sins.  He does this while parents place their little children into his waiting arms to hear his false promises of gifts that he says he will give them.  Consider what you are saying when you say "Merry Christmas."
I share that for those who get into an uproar over people saying Happy Holiday's. Technically insisting that people say Merry Christmas is laughing at Christ's death. Happy Holiday's means Happy Holy Day.

For those of you who got into a tizzy over the Starbucks's red cup for this holiday season - grow up already. They went simple and basic - honestly more of us need to do that during the holiday's. They are not anti-Christ or even anti-Christmas because they put out a red cup. They still have their Christmas blend of coffee. And never once have they had a cup that promoted Christ, the manger or the star over Bethlehem. Their cups have been more winter than Christmas. So by going red they are not bashing Christians.

I really am still puzzled by the uproar over the simple red cup. And for those people said their names were Merry Christmas so that it would be written on their cup and the Barista would have to say it - shame on you. That is not showing love, that is being rude and childish. You are giving Christianity a bad name by trying to force Christ on people. Jesus did not say shove the Bible down people's throats. He told us to share the good news (i.e. the Gospel).

Oh Black Friday. I have never been apart of your madness. I have zero desire to camp out and get the best deal. I dislike large crowds, my heart has minor palpitations being in large crowds, which is why I am grateful for online shopping. If I didn't enjoy picking out my own produce and groceries I would for sure sign up for someone to deliver it to me.

I am not anti-social, I am anti-large groups of people with zero respect for everyone else around them! But many people seem to enjoy it, they even make it a early event that all the women in the family partake in. I am not bashing it, but I am asking everyone to be mindful.

• Make sure you are not forgetting your family on Thanksgiving. Show your thankfulness for them.
• When shopping - do not feed into the madness that happens at some stores. No item is worth injury or even life.
• Remember - sometimes the greatest gift you can give someone is your presence not a present.

Now for my political rant:

The 2016 Presidential Election - Dem's and Rep's

The attacks in Paris

Syrian Refugee's

The above three items just all go together. And ladies, women in faith everyday, we must stand up and be heard. And vote!

I lean conservative politically. Small government, less taxes, people take care of people - the government does not need to be in every part of my life. So generally I vote Republican because they are the closest to my political ideals. Those running on the democratic side this election scare me. What they envision for the future is not what America is. I see them trying to change America into something that limits freedom, liberty and personal rights.

But I will be honest, not everyone running on the Republican side is conservative. I do believe a few of them are wolves in sheep clothing. And if they get elected they will do as the democrat's want to do. I see a few true conservatives running though, and my prayer is that one of them will rise to the top and outshine the rest. Not only that, but that America will see the truth and vote in a way that will get us back to God and His blessings. I believe that most of what is going on in America today is because we as a nation have left God and He is removing His hand of blessing off of us.

2 Chronicles 7:14King James Version (KJV)
¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Ladies, 2 Chronicles 7:14 needs to be our prayer. Not just for America, but for the world. Because what we have going on is not just about us here. It is about every single person on earth. Terrorist attacked Paris last week. And now France is fighting back against ISIS. And out of the attacks in Paris comes the Syrian Refugee issue. Our president is insisting that America accept more refugees with a system that has already allowed terrorist into our country. We need prayer, we need to be women of prayer. If you saw the movie War Room you know what I am talking about. If you did not, see it. It is such a great movie on what prayer can do in a person's, in a family's life.

Prayer is transforming, prayer is hard.

1 Thessalonians 5:17New American Standard Bible (NASB)
¹⁷ pray without ceasing;

We are instructed to pray without ceasing. Prayer is to be a constant thing. When you see someone, pass someone by, pray for them. While you are doing dishes, pray. While you are eating dinner, pray. While you are cooking, driving, showering, whatever you are doing, be talking to God. Make a time for Him each day where you are still.

There are times we need to be active, times to be still, time to talk, time to be silent. Right now we need to be seeking Him, talking to Him throughout our day, and being still in His presence so we hear from Him.

Let's be women of prayer and change the world. Because the way things are going, if something doesn't change, we will not recognize the world we live in.

Being Childlike

I am not one to goof off or like surprises.

I like routine, order, and structure. Chaos is not my thing.

But I have children. Which means surprises and chaos are daily companions of mine.

It also means that there are numerous frustrations in my day when dealing with my children, but more importantly with my daughter.

We constantly rub each other the wrong way and get frustrated with other. And it is aggravating to daily be upset with a child you created and love beyond the moon.

Last night and my husband and I had a long, hard talk about the situation and came up with some strategies. My daughter is a "daddy's girl" without any question. Her bond with her him is wonderful. Every now and then they butt heads but mostly it is piggy back rides, hugs & kisses, and fruit snacks on the couch. He pointed out he has never babysat, read a book, or taken a class on children. He plays and is silly with her. He goofs off with her and makes life a game.

I tried it tonight and it worked about 90% of the time. We still had a few hiccups. Baby steps and all. But joking around, tickling and having her help me cook really made the evening better.

Matthew 18:3 (NKJV)
³ and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Bible mentions that we must have faith like a child. My daughter loves hearing Bible stories, going to church and singing "Jesus Loves Me." She gets so much joy out of it all. The same joy that she gets when her daddy gives her rides on his shoulders, or she gets to pick out fruit snacks for them to share. So I am going to put aside (kinda) my need for structure and let our evening's flow. I am going to enjoy my daughter and my time with her by being silly and having fun that she enjoys.