Marvel In The Beauty

I go through life, day to day, running from one thing to another.  I am planning the next day, crossing off my to-do list and racing against the daylight hours to get it all done.  But does it matter if I have a clean house?  Does it matter if I plan the perfect day of school?  Does it matter if my to-do list gets shorter?  Does it all really matter that much?

 I try to do it all.  It's exhausting.  I can't do it.  Not alone.

This new year has been a turning point.  I am searching out God and His word more than ever before.  I am learning the characteristics of God in an entirely new light.  Each day brings me to a new realization about who He is and how true His love is for me.  There is a new spark in my heart.  My soul clings to His promises and looks to Him for answers.  I read more of His word.  I trust in Him more and more.  I take out piece after piece of the worldly me and throw it away.  I'm making room in my heart.  I want to know my God more deeply now than I ever have before.

I am finding Him in the littlest and biggest of things.  A pink rose growing through a fence has a meaning.  It is God's way of telling me He sees me and loves me.  "Here is a rose just for you, your eyes, destined to be at this place, at this very moment."   

Never think He has abandoned you or forgotten about you.  He loves you more than you could ever fathom.  Look around and see how His creation speaks to you about His unending love.  It is written in the stars.  It is sung from the birds.  It is whispered in the wind.  You are His beloved.  He sacrificed his one and only Son so that you could live eternally with Him.  He is waiting with open arms for you to run to Him.  

Start running!

  

Amanda

The Making of A Warrior: Battling for God

I posted this one a while back, Making of A Warrior.  I just read over it again and had to share it once more.  Click here ---> "Making of A Warrior" to go to my post.  I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me!

Blessings,

Devotions for the Whole Family

Prayer and devotions are an important part of the day.  It is a great way to get your kids introduced to daily time with God.  I feel it gets harder as you get older and busier, to incorporate it into your life if you haven't done so already.  Establish the habit early on.  Why not start young, so your kids center their days around devotions rather than trying to fit it in later?

We have been using The One Year Devotions for Preschoolers.  My kids have loved this one.  It has great pictures to look at.  The daily devotions each share a story, a bible verse and a prayer that we repeat.  Jman and BG spend a lot of time just paging through the book.


We also have God's Mighty Warrior Devotional.  This is a devotional that focuses on boys age 4 - 7.  The Bible verses are a little longer and there are articles that delve further into the verses.  There are also pages to write down prayer requests and answered prayers.  My oldest is 5 and really gets into the stories and activities!

I have personally used a few and have enjoyed them all.

Grace For The Moment by Max Lucado.  This devotional is uplifting and real.  It speaks to one and all.

My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  This devotional really makes you think about your character, as well as God's.  It can be transforming, if you want it to be.  

Come Away My Beloved by Frances J. Roberts.  This devotional will speak to your heart and encourage you.

Tramp For The Lord by Corrie Ten Boom.  My husband recommends this one.  :)  It isn't a true devotional, but can be read as one.  It is a book with short chapters, each centered around a Bible verse.  It is a powerful book!  My husband has multiple copies and gives them away.  That's how much he enjoys this book.

If you want to read Corrie Ten Boom's personal story, you can find it in the book titled The Hiding Place.

I pray that you find the time for family devotions and that this list may help get you started or give you new ideas for continuing your family time!

Blessings,

Amanda

Early Morning Blessings

Being a mother of three, one being an infant, I tend to get less sleep than I'd like to.  It is partly my own fault because I stay up too late, but I enjoy my quiet time after they go to bed.  I will stay up usually until 11:30 or midnight, and then wake up around 6 or 6:30 to feed Lulu.  Then, I go back to bed until the kids wake up.  I have been telling myself for a while that I need to start waking up earlier.  I am more of a morning person and had been in the routine of waking up early to workout and do devotions, especially after getting in a routine once BG was born.  I have been slow to getting back in the morning routine since Lulu came along.  I've been keeping up with my workouts and devotions, just not as uninterrupted as I'd like.  I'm usually trying to do push ups or lunges while 2 boys think I'm a tunnel and a little girl tries to climb up.  Let's just say my workout was not a stress reliever!

I've finally started waking up early again.  It is truly rejuvenating.  Beginning a day in God's presence, gets my attitude jump started in the right direction.  Everything seems to fall into place and everyday chores don't seem as tedious.  It is fun to watch the boys' expressions when they find out that I've already worked out, read and had breakfast before they got up.  It really shouldn't be that big of a surprise!

I want to start a good habit, one that leaves an impression on my children.  I want to instill the importance of reading God's word.  If I can also show them that exercising can be fun and keeps them healthy, all the better.  Jman already asks if certain foods are healthy; he knows healthy food makes him grow big and strong.  And all little boys want to be bigger! 

It is such a blessing to be a mother, wife, daughter, sister...but the best blessing is that I am a child of God.  I live each day to glorify Him.  I want to exude Christ in everything I do.  There is nothing sweeter than His love!  

Slowing Down

I am definitely a "Let's get this project going and get it done" type of person.  Lately, that's all we've been doing; little projects.  Between unpacking the last few boxes that have been set aside for an unknown reason, organizing rooms and home school materials, finally cleaning out the garage so Nate could park his car inside, and the everyday hustle and bustle, I had been feeling exhausted.  It's a lot of work!  I realized I wasn't taking time for me - physically or spiritually.  I quickly got that fixed.

Jillian Michaels, welcome to my world (again).  That's all I'm going to say about that!!  :)

We have started attending a new church and really enjoy it.  We are getting connected with a newcomers class and meeting new people.  God really does have His hand in every aspect of our lives.  We have trusted Him every step of the way on our move and are discovering more and more about Him and ourselves.  It is fulfilling and wonderful.  Taking time to slow down, read His word, wonder at His creation and worship Him has been uplifting.  All the stress, work and exhaustion begin to dwindle and I question why I wasn't keeping up with my personal time!!  How often do I need to get something done only to find out it really wasn't that important.  I need to worship God and praise Jesus for his gift of salvation!  Everything else falls into place.  I can do all my working, organizing, cleaning, etc once I take care of my heart first.

Praise God for His mercy, grace and everlasting love!

The Making of a Warrior

I resumed going to Women's Bible Study at our church last week, after a winter break. The study is on becoming a warrior for God. It was a new idea for me, so I was intrigued! I had never really thought about what it meant to actually be a warrior. Here are a few points that were made that I had to share. They are too important for me not to!

1. God's sovereignty and providence in all things: When things seem hard to understand or even just plain odd, assume God is up to something. Similar circumstances can result in very different outcomes.


2. What does it take to be a spiritual warrior: Be willing to be changed. Let God shape you and pour Himself into you. Give up control "Let go and let God". Trust both God's ability and willingness to lead, guide, and help you. Learn to use your spiritual eyes over your physical eyes; spiritual eyes "see" more than our physical eyes, for example angels. Rethink your perspectives and pursuits (1 Timothy 4:8). Acknowledge the battle going on around you and understand what it is (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Invest yourself in learning how to "Fight the Good Fight".


3. A Warriors Oath: "I am committed to the process of becoming totally involved and available to do whatever God wants me to do: I will put Him above everything and everyone. I will fully give my life to the purpose of fighting the good fight and to overcoming the powers of darkness that threaten all of humanity."


4. Jesus was harassed and hounded on earth for 33 years. He suffered even unto death. He never gave up because He never stopped thinking of us. He sweat blood because He knew what He was facing. Yet, He didn't back down and run from His mission when it got really tough.


5. So when He calls you to pick up your cross and follow Him, will you? It's not easy. When he asks you to defend what He gained (the dominion and power from dieing on the cross) are you ready? We will need to be prepared. Will you go to battle for your children's hearts and souls, for your marriages, for your neighbors?

This list was taken directly from the handout I got at bible study. It's a lot to think about! I was filled with a renewed passion to stand up and stay strong. It will take a lot of work, but it is worth it. I want to keep Satan down and God up. I know I need to prepare for battle and stay focused on God's word and will for my life. I can succeed; we can succeed. With God's power, we can do anything! Here are a few passages that were also given to read. They helped put into perspective what I need to focus on for preparing to be a warrior.

• Jeremiah 18:4


• 2 Corinthians 4:7-8


• Acts 5:38-39


• Mark 10:27


• Proverbs 16:9

I hope this gets you motivated to keep your heart focused on the Lord and started on your own transformation into a warrior!

Reflections

Quiet time with the Lord is something that I have struggled to fit into my day, especially since having kids. I really wanted to remedy this, so I just picked a book in the Bible that I had heard a verse from recently. It happened to be the book of James. I have read through it before, yet I'm always amazed at how much I learn that I never did before. God knows exactly what we need, when we need it. It has been convicting and eye opening. I have been focusing on developing a more intimate relationship with Christ and I've realized that even though I think I'm a very patient person and keep a lot of thoughts to myself, I have a lot of work to do! I keep getting the message that my kids see my impatience too often and I interrupt much too often. It is almost in neon: Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; Watch your tongue; We are justified in faith by our actions; We should not praise God and curse man with the same tongue; Wisdom from heaven is all pure, peaceloving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere; We ask God for things with selfish motives; Do not judge others or speak slander. I am getting the hint that I have much to do! My character is never done and I can only continue to mature in Christ and grow in wisdom. Every chapter has caused me to write and write and write about my downfalls in my journal, but I am uplifted after it all. I know that I am realizing that I am not complete and will never be, especially without the continual interaction with God that I so desperately need. It is very liberating.

Today, I focused on the lesson of being arrogant. I was most struck by the single point, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" 4:14b. I took a moment and pondered this. I chuckled and thought, I am always so caught up in getting things done, keeping this clean, worrying about this or that, when really, I need to focusing on the big picture: my heavenly prize awaiting me at the end of my short existence. As long as I do this and continue to guide my children towards Him, I can be assured that I am running the race the best that I can!

Work, Work, Work!

Do you ever feel like your To Do List only gets longer? I feel like that lately. Mine consists of Learning time with the boys: calendar time, Bible time, reading, art projects, activity time, science/math time and play time. Not to mention my Bible study time, workout, meals, cleaning, laundry, basement help, relaxation and time with Nate to name a few things. I'm tired just typing all of that! This week, I've really started to be diligent about sticking to my learning time with the boys and personal time of workout and Bible study for myself. It has been refreshing and satisfying to keep it up. Though, I haven't really worked out all the much in the past couple of weeks since I've been fighting the flu and a cold. So when I started my walking dvds this week, I was hurting after the first walk. The second day, I did another walk and a brief Jillian Michaels 'No More Trouble Zones' circuit. Brutal. Then today, I did a 2 mile walk again. I sat on the couch and complained to my sister about sore legs this evening. :) I'm hoping I can roll out of bed tomorrow!

It's fun to cross things off my To Do List, but it is more gratifying to watch my boys learn about God's love and other fun topics like birds and bugs. I consider these things much more important to accomlish daily than cleaning or doing laundry. I'm thankful to have all these things to keep me busy. I never do seem too overwhelmed. God is faithful! :)

Mom's The Word

This past weekend, I attended the Hearts at Home conference in Rochester, MN. It is a Christian conference that focuses on the needs and concerns of moms. It was amazing! I didn't know quite what to expect, but found myself soaking in the worship music, the workshop speakers, and the word of God!

It was a weekend filled with music, laughter and tears. Christy Nockels, of the group Watermark, was the worship leader. She was filled with the Spirit. Christ was shining through her songs. She did an amazing job!

The main speaker was Jill Savage. She had such a powerful message. It focused on the Power of Words. We want our words to bring life to people, lift them up and inspire them. Yet, so often we speak the exact opposite. I was forced to look at how I speak to others and really evaluate it. Am I glorifying Christ in all that I say? Am I speaking affirming, accepting, appreciating and apologizing words? It was an eye opener. Jill really asked us to look inside of ourselves and renew our minds. Jill has a list on her website called "God's Truth About You..." and it is filled with God's words that we can use to replace the old thoughts in our minds. Begin the transformation!

As a side note, she spoke during one of the small workshops. It was called Living With Less So My Family Can Have More. It was about living with less stress, less activities and less money so that we can have more to give our relationships. She spoke about attitudes to have: Counter-cultural mindset, Contentment, Sacrifice, Simplicity, Frugality and Faith. She gave a lot of good ideas for frugality. I recommend checking out her website for some ideas. It was great!

One of the other speakers I got the priviledge of listening to was Susie Larson. She was fabulous as well. The workshop I attended was entitled Growing Grateful Kids. It focused on teaching our children to be thankful and have perspective and gratitude. I was struck by one of her opening sentences. "We cannot impart what we do not express (possess)." I had to wonder if I am doing all that I can to become the woman God wants me to be so that I can show my children all he wants them to be. No pressure! Susie presented all of her points in such a real way that I truly felt like I could succeed. The fact that God pursues my children and me, lifts many burdens of motherhood. I will just remember that the pure in heart see God and that nothing is impossible when we humble ourselves to the Lord. Pure and humble; Christ-like.

I took away many ideas and truths from this past weekend. If nothing else, I was reminded that God loves me, despite the flaws and mistakes. I am His chosen treasure. We are all His chosen treasure. Live knowing this and praise God for it!

~Blessings~