Delighting in God's Blessings

The answered prayer.  We have all desired for our most personal prayers to be answered and over the course of our lives some have been answered exactly like we would want, others have not been our chosen outcome and others are still in the process of being unfolded.  

If ya'll remember correctly, when I started this blog and made my first post HERE, I made it known that I was reading a devotional by Karol Ladd each Monday to learn and grow and that I wasn't an expert.  Today's scripture comes from a book of the bible I was unfamiliar with and comes from a story I had not heard before.  

"I asked the Lord to give me this child, and he has given me my request.  Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life."  And they worshiped the Lord there. 
Then Hannah prayed: "My heart rejoices in the Lord! Oh, how the Lord has blessed me! Now I have an answer for my enemies, as I delight in your deliverance.  No one is holy like the Lord!  There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God."

1 Samuel 1:27-28; 2:1-2

Hannah, the woman praying above, was saddened for years and years for not being able to concieve a child and was also ridiculed for years by others.  She prayed to God every day and as time went on got more and more saddened that she hadn't had a child yet, still she prayed.   She wondered how God would let her suffer so much, but God had a plan.  Out of her perseverance and prayers to God she eventually had a son named, Samuel .  He grew up to be a faithful servant of God and a leader.  This scripture above shows the joy in the Lord she had when she had her son and the thanksgiving she showed him out of her joy!  The example of Gods perfect timing and the praise we should give Him when our prayers are answered.

 

What I learned today is that as moms, we should strive to pray to God with peace knowing that He has a plan for us, for our families, for our children.  We should find joy in the answering of that prayer - whether its what we saw coming or not.  Its so easy to drop to our knees and pray and lay our needs out before the Lord, but its not as easy (or easy to rememeber) to praise God and thank Him when our prayers are "answered" - whether its what we "wanted" or not.  I am going to try and take a moment each day this week to stop and thank God for all that he has blessed me with and even though Pax is little, he knows we pray and I'm going to pray special prayers with him thanking God for all he has.  Have you seen the movie "Facing the Giants?"  If you just answered no, then you must see it.  Its basically the gist of this devotional, you praise God no matter what - and in time, he will bless you.  (Matthew and I have a copy I can mail to you if you want to borrow it)   

 

Choices this week:    

• This week I will choose to give all my cares, concerns and requests to God in prayer.
• This week I will choose to spend more time thanking God and delighting in his blessings.
• This week I will choose to teach my children to thank God in their prayers.

Prayer:

"Lord, I praise you, for you are good and you are powerful.  I praise you because you have a plan for my life.  I trust your plan.  Thank you for all the ways you have already moved and worked on my behalf.  You have blessed me so much! Thank you for being my rock and my refuge as I wait on you for the blessings to come.  Be glorified in my life!  In Jesus's name I pray, amen."

 

You know, I have some very personal and heavy prayers I have been praying lately, it hadn't occured to me that maybe the reason God hasn't responded to those prayers yet was because I haven't been as diligent and heartfelt with my thanks for all he has answered.  It's much easier to view the glass half empty than half full sometimes, just being honest... you know its true.  I know I am a blessed girl, I tell myself that all the time.  But do I tell God? :/  I'm gonna suck it up and find more "Delight in God's Blessings" this week - I hope you can too!       

Rich and Rewarding Loyalty

I Hope you had a great week last week deriving your strength from God to help you get through it :) I did that today more than any other day last week - had to swallow some difficult news that ultimately just made me so thankful to God for everything I have in life.  On a sweet note, Paxton is now pressing his little hands together when its time to pray at dinner and says his version of 'Ah meh' after our dinner table prayer.  After months of him watching us he is doing it on his own :)  THE sweetest thing and sound to this mommas ears :)

This week, our devotional is all about loyalty to your family.  Loyalty through your actions, your words (both said and written) and your thoughts - your whole self.  Todays scripture is taken from the book of Ruth.  Ruth was the daughter in law to a woman named Naomi.  In this particular scripture below, Ruths husband had died, Naomis son, and therefore according to law Ruth no longer had an obligation or loyalty to her mother in law.  Yet, as you will read, she remained loyal. 

But Ruth insisted in staying loyal to Naomi. "See," Naomi said to her. "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods.  You should do the same."
             But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back.  I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live.  Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.  I will die where you die and will be buried there.  May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to seperate us!"  So when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her, she stopped urging her. 

Ruth 1:14-18

 

In a world where when the going gets tough people get going - its important that we take a loyalty reality check and ask ourselves if we are completely loyal to our loved ones when they need us.  Do we pull back and act as if nothing is wrong, do we talk about them to our girlfriends instead of with them? Do we bash our husbands for all his shortcummings versus praise him for everything he does thats wonderful? Do we fuss at our children for all they're doing wrong or remain loyal to our goal of building them up by focusing on what they're doing right? After all, they are real people with real little feelings :).  The list could go on and on...  This week - we are encouraged to be as loyal to our families and children as the Lord is loyal to us and Ruth to Naomi.  As hard as it may be to remain positive and uplifting when we would rather retreat and go away - being present and available to those we love and care about shows the ultimate love which is loyalty (remember those wedding vows?) Too bad we don't have to say vows to our children when we have them.

 

Choices:

• This week I will choose to guard my mouth and only speak well of others.
• This week I will choose to do a self check of my loyalty toward family and friends.
• This week I will choose to teach my children about the richness and rewards of loyalty.

Prayer
"Faithful Father, I praise you for being loyal, trustworthy, and loving toward me.  Help me to reflect that same type of loyal love toward the people in my life.  Give me the courage and strength to guard my tounge and my actions.  Keep me from hurting the ones I love through disloyal words or deeds.  Thank you for my children, my family members, and my friends, and help me to honor them with loyalty and faithfullness.  In Jesus' name I pray, amen." 

I have found myself lately being super motivated on Mondays, but by mid week sometimes forgetting what I am supposed to be working on for the week (oops :/)  So, this week I made a "poster" to print out and put in a place that can remind me all week long.  If you want to do the same just right click and save it or print it for yourself.   

 I hope you have a great week and sorry this is late in the evening or maybe even Tuesday depending on when you read this - like I said, whirlwind of a morning :)
    

Who Gets the Glory?

Supermom - we've all called ourselves that before :)  Not very often but it has happened.  Too often more than not I aspire or try too hard to do it all (don't we all?).  I'm admittedly a little bit bossy and somewhat of a 'take control' type girl, but motherhood has softened me in that department.  One thing I am super guilty of though - is taking the glory for myself. Gasp.  Matthew gets home from work, errands ran, house is clean, dinner cooked, Pax happy - yeah, who's your wife now? :)  (Okay, I don't really say that in my head but if I did that's what I would say)  The scripture below paints a different picture though and this mornings devotional helped me to re-focus my thought process and the label 'supermom'. 

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you.  If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.  Therefore, tell the people.  'Whoever is timid or afraid may leave and go home.'" Twenty two thousand of them went home, leaving only ten thousand who were willing to fight.
       But the Lord told Gideon, "There are still too many!"

                                       Judges 7:2-4

 

Yikes, I was so confused when I first read that, I read it like 5 times.  Karol Ladd clears things up though...  I am going to quote her, "Gideon started out with a superarmy.  But God was not looking for an army that could 'do it all'.  He wanted a humble army that would look to him for its success and recognize that victory was found in him alone, not in self sufficiency.  God eventually whittled down Gideon's army to three hundred men.  He granted the victory, and the honor went to him." 

 

You know why its so hard to "do it all"?  Because we're not supposed to! Along with help from our husbands, God wants us to seek him, use him, rely on him and ultimately give Him the glory.  He doesn't want us to be "self-sufficient" he wants us to be "God-sufficient".  He is looking for moms who will look to him for guidance, wisdom, direction and strength.  When we try to do it all - we seek/get the glory - whether that's our intention or not.  But when we rely on God and get our strength from him then He gets the glory.  I don't want Paxton to grow up thinking that he has to derive all his own strength from himself -what a way to feel defeated.  I want him to know that he gets his strength from seeking God.  If I don't do that - how will I teach him to?  Bottom line - God doesn't expect us to be super moms.  We can bask in those days when we feel like one and give ourselves a pat on the back, we just can't forget to thank our God too.  And by all means - on the days we feel less than super - seek Him, rely on Him and praise Him for after all, motherhood is a war in and out of itself! :)

 

Choices:

• This week I will choose to see the God-possibilities instead of my own inabilities. 
• This week I will choose to be God-sufficient rather than self-sufficient.
• This week I will choose to give God the glory and not myself.

Prayer:
"All sufficient God, I praise you, for you are all power and all wisdom.  I recognize that I'm not a supermom.  I can't do it all.  I praise you that you can! Thank you for loving and caring for me and my family.  Teach me to be responsible, humble, wise and strong.  Help my children to grow up to be well-balanced adults who follow you, so that you may be glorified.  Thank you for being the protector of my family and the guardian of each of our souls.  In Jesus's name I pray, amen."

Going into this week - I am going to strive to depend on God's help and not just depend on myself or Matthew.  We are all awesome moms - there's no doubt about that- but we are awesome because God made us that way.  We do awesome things because God helps us - and we are going to raise awesome little ones only with God's help!

Have a happy Valentines week! :)

Courage and Commitment

As a mom I don't want to show unhealthy fear to Paxton.  I want to protect him from all fears and never ever have him worry.  Although, while I don't think kids need to deal with adult issues (thank you Dr. Phil) I do think that it is healthy and a necessity to teach him that fear brews courage and courage is powerful. It's inevitable and healthy for him to learn how to deal with fear.  Matthew and I are his example and the platform from which he will learn how to deal with fear and ultimately how to overcome it.  This is where the bible and the promises of God are so sweet.      

Be strong and very courageous.  Obey all the laws Moses gave you.  Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do.  Study this Book of the Law continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it.  Only then will you succeed.  I command you - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 

Joshua 1:7-9

 

Life is tough - there are seasons in life where all is bliss and then are seasons when all is h-e double hockey sticks.  On a smaller scale- there are days, hours or one specific situation that is particularly difficult and fear is the natural response.  Am I handing this ok? Did I respond the right way? Am I messing my kid up? Is he going to remember this? We have to stand up as moms in those situations, brush fear aside and use courage to help us through it.  Where do we get the courage? From God.  In the scripture above God is talking to Joshua, and is basically commanding him to be strong and courageous, why? Because God is with him.  He tells him to study his word, so that he can obey it.  The same rings true for me.  I need to study Gods word because it strengthens me and reminds me of His power and His ability to protect me.  If I don't know this and own it, it scares me to think Paxton won't know it either.  I want him to grow up feeling strong and courageous to take on the world, stand up for his beliefs and go after his dreams.  When it comes to my role as a mom I am reminded to be strong and courageous not only for my sake, but ultimately for Paxton's too.  God is with me!

Choices
-This week I will choose to let go of the familiar and hold on to God's hand.
-This week I will choose to study and meditate on God's word.
-This week I will choose to teach my children that God is always with them, so they will 
 have the courage to stand up for what it right.
-This week I will choose to:

 

Prayer

 "Great and mighty Lord, I praise you for always being with me.  You guard me and protect me like a Good Shepard.  Thank you for your presence! Keep me from being overcome with fear; fill me with your peace instead.  Help me to be strong and courageous in my role as a mother.  Thank you for your Word and the power it has to transform my life.  Help me to study it, meditate, on it, and obey it, so that I can be successful in everything you have called me to do.  In Jesus' name I pray, amen."

I feel like fear is where our faith comes in.  "Our faith does not lie in trusting God to stop the storm but in trusting Him to enable us to walk through the storm" (Jill Briscoe).  This leaves me wanting to cling to and read God's word to restore and replenish my Faith in knowing that God is always with me on this difficult journey we call Motherhood. :)