There are days when it feels like my efforts go completely unnoticed.
It doesn’t matter where we’ve gone, what I’ve tried, or how many errands were run. Someone’s mood is less than desirable. The one thing not accomplished or that was missed on the shopping list is the one thing being talked about. And it seems to get bigger…overtaking everything else.
We tend to focus on the negative, don’t we?
The one thing that didn’t work out instead of all the things that did.
The item we would like to have, ignoring all that we do have.
The unfinished work versus the completed tasks.
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Sometimes it’s hard to keep my mouth shut.
My brain is always working, spewing out thoughts and feelings. When my brain isn’t in conversational overdrive, activity is the name of the game. Doing and productivity push me to want to conquer my never-ending tasks.
Sometimes the better thing is to be still. The better thing is to listen rather than jibber on. The better thing is to step away from the pressure of my day and enter in to sacred secrecy with God.
Jesus said to a frantic and frazzled Martha–the one I know–the one trying to get it all done and get it all right:
… you are worried and upset over all these details!
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Oh friends … tell me I am not alone today.
I struggle so much with my purpose here. With why I do what I do all day long … elbow deep in diapers and dishwater, I am overwhelmed.
And then-I read things like this.
Daniel 12:13.
As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.
The knowledge of, the security of where we are headed should utterly transform how we live while we are waiting.
How do we “go our way?”
Every thought, breath, word, and deed … every dirty dish, massive laundry load, floor mopping, toddler wrestling match, slow count to ten before I engage, should be tempered by the truth of the gospel.
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Susan, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom, here to let you moms with babies or toddlers know about an app that offers pure, wholesome music and educational videos. This post is sponsored… which as you may know is extremely rare here on 5 Minutes for Faith.
Baby’s Brilliant is an app designed specifically to soothe and engage babies and toddlers with musical and educational videos. Unlike sites like YouTube which contain inappropriate videos and are loaded with ads, Baby’s Brilliant only includes pure and wholesome content.
They have specifically selected and recorded many religious songs for parents to share with their little ones.
For parents with multiple children of various ages, this app can help engage your baby or toddler for a little while during your busy dinner preparation time or when you’re focused on helping with homework.
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In the post “Pursuing Peace” we talked about how the peace of God within us requires that we take action. We also discussed that true peace from God is not just a state of mind or a demeanor, but it is also an example we live out that will draw others to Him. So, that being the case…
How can we pursue peace? What actions can we take in our everyday lives in pursuit of peace?
1. Do your part. This means not getting even, controlling anger and not reacting. It also means choosing relationship over being right.
2.
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I am usually not good at reading the Old Testament. I guess it intimidates me more than anything. Seeing God’s wrath is intimidating but it is also important to learn about. It’s a characteristic of our God because He is just. His justice points back to the cross and all He is given to us in Jesus Christ, God’s precious son, sacrificing himself for our sins.
Seeking my desire to know and grow closer to God, in a way that wasn’t as comfortable, led me to start reading 1 Samuel.
In 1 Samuel Chapter 2, I marveled at Hannah’s wonderful prayer of thanksgiving to God.
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In the early years of marriage when the care of babies and young children kept me busy and often tired, I struggled to maintain a consistent daily schedule to read my Bible and spend time with the Lord in quiet conversation and prayer. I heard many, many messages and multiple formulas on the subject and was attempting to read my Bible through in a year, but was regularly falling behind and constantly experiencing guilt and discouragement.
Until I heard a lady in my Sunday school class share that she had just completed reading her entire Bible from cover to cover. She had five children and two were under the age of two, and she joyfully exclaimed, “It took me two whole years, but I read every word – cover to cover!”
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You and I know the battle well. We live it day after day.
Watch your toddler. He will wander past the street, the stove, the electrical outlet, etc., completely ignoring the potential hazards, and then one day he gets too close and you say, “No.”
And that’s all it takes for you to spend the next hours, days, or weeks moving him, distracting him, scolding him, and and putting him in “time-out” . . . all in an attempt to prevent him from doing something you know will hurt him.
Paul wrote in Romans:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
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