“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
What gets you out of bed on a lazy, rainy morning to brave a day of errands? What keeps you going when nothing you’ve planned is working out? When your kids are defiant and your husband just doesn’t ‘get you’ and you’re friends, well, are only online?
If you’ve been reading my posts and following my writing journey, you know it’s been an up hill battle. I write and study and attend writer’s conferences and write some more and get rejections. Then I start the process all over again.
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“I’m scared you’re going to get hurt again,” my daughter told me a couple nights ago as I was tucking her into bed. Ever since I’d broken my arm and tore my knee at the beginning of the summer, she’s been concerned about me, constantly reminding me to wear my knee brace and walk slowly.
I promised her that I’d do everything I could to make sure I didn’t get hurt again. Then I kissed her on the forehead and started to leave her room.
“Mommy?” she asked before I got to the doorway.
“Yes?”
“Be slow when you do things, okay?”
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M.J. Corrales
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 NKJV)
When was the last time you were slapped in the face with God’s truth? Oh, sure, we read about it in the Bible, sit in church and Sunday School and listen to it every week, and perhaps even have a daily quiet time when we study it. But when was the last time the truth in the Scripture jumped up and hit us right where we live?
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Jeri Stuckard
It was the day before Valentine’s Day. I stood there in the bathroom reading the pregnancy test strip. It was screaming the unmistakable word: PREGNANT! My husband and I had planned on having two children, possibly three. And, here it was…baby number two on the way. Shaking, I walked into the kitchen where my husband was standing. He had just finished talking to his sister on the phone. Ironically, her daughter gave birth to her second child that very day! I don’t remember exactly what I said but I believe it went something like this: “Honey, we got an early Valentine’s gift…I am pregnant.”
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Did you play the kids’ game “Blind Man’s Bluff?” One person would be blindfolded or close their eyes while another called out instructions to go through an obstacle course of sorts. It could be a simple journey around the front yard, or it could be a maze of the kids’ creation. It took trust to be the blindfolded one; kids don’t always play fair. The good-hearted ones would give sincere instructions, but there was always that kid who’d rather get a laugh by leading the one who trusted them right into the obstacles. Seeing it happen—even to someone else, made it harder to trust the one leading.
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Last week I endured one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life. My second grader threw what could best be described as a full scale hissy fit during her first soccer practice. She flung up her arms, wailed and insisted she couldn’t do it, ignored the coaches’ gentle prodding and begged me to come onto the field to practice with her.
It was a mess and my insides were screaming from humiliation. I felt like I tried every parenting tip I remembered. Deep breaths, encouragement, briefly removing her from the situation, and attempting to get her to discuss her feelings–the whole bag.
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As I am sitting here writing this afternoon, God has graciously allowed our children and grandson to head for home. Surgery went very well, and the first step of this multi-step process is complete. Abundant thanks to the many of you who took time to stop and pray for him.
He did very well through the hospital stay, yet as expected the first night following surgery was a difficult one for our little guy. The only way he was comfortable was lying flat in the crib, but he wanted the security of having his mommy or daddy right next to him.
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I’m guilty of looking to the future more than living in the present.
When my babies are older, then I’ll get some sleep. When my preschoolers can be more self sufficient, then I won’t have to work so hard. When my kids graduate, then I’ll be able to do things for myself.
While I’ve learned that sometimes looking to the future helps to get me through the tough times in the present, I still have to learn to find more joy in the moment. I’m at a wonderful stage in my children’s lives. My youngest is seven, and my oldest just turned 15.
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