As a busy, full-time working mom, I try to accomplish as much as I can in a day. I am usually okay with the messy house, unfolded laundry and cluttered kids’ rooms from time to time. But lately, I’ve been anxious and uptight over the fact that I can’t seem to get caught up. I’ve been short of breath, suffering from headaches, body aches and restless nights. I’ve had a busy couple of weeks, but nothing out of the ordinary. My day-to-day activity is pretty routine: I get up, get myself ready, get my children off to school, go to work for 8 hours, come home, help with homework, feed my family, do household chores, get the kids to bed, catch up on my favorite blogs, check my email and throw myself in bed somewhere around midnight, or later.
Category Archives: Devotional
wake up
I pushed my red Target cart forward thinking of all I needed to get. I wandered past an endcap with the 50% off sign I stopped and looked at all the things I didn’t know I might need to have. Notecards, cute little media boxes, and stickers caught my eye. As I stood there I heard a loud noise.
Then darkness.
The power went out.
I didn’t know what to do. Do I move forward to the 70% off signs in the toy area? Do I stay here? Do I go back to the light of the doors? And then another noise, and slowly lights began to flicker on.
Hello! I was There
One of my Facebook friends left the following post the other day:
My daughter’s school records have the wrong date for her birthday. Now my five year old thinks her school is right, and that I don’t really know when when she was born. – Hello! I was there!
Too funny! As a former Kindergarten teacher, I remember how quickly a five year old can get confused, how often a child believed me over their parents. I used to tell all moms and dads, “I will only believe half of what comes to school; will you will only believe half of what comes home.”
Soaking Up God’s Presence
Are you aware of God’s presence? It’s easy to miss sometimes. Especially when we’re focused on other things like our trials, our goals, or our exhaustion.
As are so many others in this recession, my family has been fighting a long and very emotional battle with unemployment. With God’s prompting, I wrote a book about it. And now I’m tired. So. Very. Tired.
It’s common practice for me to fuel my spiritual tank with daily time devoted to God. This precious time is valuable. It’s time for me to soak up God’s presence, worship Him, pray, read the word, and listen quietly for His guidance.
Teaching Through My Imperfectness
As a mother, I’ve observed how my daughter watches me. In some cases, I think she learns more by watching what I do than by listening to what I say.
As a child of God, I want to be a Godly mother, but as a human, I’m a sinful being. With my flaws and insecurities, I’ve been wondering…what do I want my daughter to learn as she watches me?
I want her…
To learn forgiveness – to see me ask for forgiveness and to forgive others, just as God forgives me.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.
A New Year’s Question: What do you put your faith in?
I was at the grocery store the other day standing in line when I happened to see a young mom by the lottery ticket machine. She was small with wispy blond hair and she looked about eight months pregnant. She was darling.
One hand rested on her belly as the other hand pushed the buttons on the machine.
As I finished in line and passed her on my way out, I was struck by the hope I saw in her eyes as she bought those tickets. And I could just picture what she was thinking…
I hope I win… It would mean better times for me and my baby.
Are You Starting the New Year with a Purpose
I’ve been thinking about time alot this week. Starting a new calendar is a big deal. I love having a clean planner, dates stretch out fresh with possibilities. No appointments scribbled out yet and no reminders of my problem with procrastination or promptness, just clean white pages waiting to be filled.
Did you know that God cares about time?
I did a search of the use of the word “time” in the NIV Bible, and discovered that it is used 888 times. The first verse which includes the word “time” is in the Book of Genesis, the first chapter, where in verse 5 it says:
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.”
Walking Forward In Hope
As I slowly begin to pack away all that is Christmas, my thoughts move towards the coming year. It will be a year full of promise, full of life, full of dreams come true. How do I know this? Because God delights to give me good gifts. The new year and all that it holds has already been written. It’s just up to me to walk forward with confidence, laying hold of the promises that He has already prepared for me.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.