Monthly Archives: August 2014

A Renewal Prayer for September

September has always been, to me, the season of new beginnings, even more than Spring. Maybe it is because the end of Summer brings with it the crisp freshness of cooler air. Or perhaps all of the hopes for the first days of school are forever etched upon my memory. September is a season of fresh starts, second chances and renewed vision. New school supplies, the end of loose schedules and the return of routine can be simultaneously sad and exciting.

Maybe you are sending your oldest to college, or your youngest off on their first day of preschool, maybe a grown child off to military, or your only kiddo to their first day in a new school; Maybe you’re Homeschooling for the first year or sending your children off to Public or Christian schools, maybe it’s your first season with an empty nest.

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Motherhood As a Threshing Floor

Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from Him.
Psalms 127:3 (NLT)

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My Bestie, whom I refer to as “my Gayle” (because every one of us harbors a secret Oprah fantasy, right?), and I were talking about the frustrations of motherhood one morning. It’s something we talk about most mornings, in one fashion or another. It is a popular theme among my friends. We are high achievers. We like to do things well. We have (or had) spectacular mothers, and struggle with doing and being to our own children what they are to us; despite our world being vastly different than theirs…but we try.

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Remaining Steadfast Through Uncertainty

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I’m currently struggling through a season of uncertainty. It’s not just one thing, but several things that are threatening to move me out of a place of security and into a place of full dependance on God to bring me through. I believe that He will. I know that He promises to never leave me nor forsake me. His plans are to prosper me and not to harm me.

But every now and then I fall out of trust. I doubt His plan while worrying about where the next dollar will come from. I fret over change and the unknown. It’s uncomfortable.

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What’s Around the Corner?

Credit:SusieKlein

 

My dad loves hiking and taking extended walks. I have an early childhood memory of taking a long hike with him while our family camped one year. I can hear him singing with us kids as we turned another corner on the winding path.

“What’s around the corner?…Just another corner!”

We laughed as we came around each bend and sang the little song again and again. As I think about that scenario now, I wonder if we were actually lost and my Dad was just being very successful at distracting us!

In May of this year, just three short months ago, I had no idea what was around the corner for my family and me.

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Eat Better, Not Less

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I’ll admit to being fluffier than I used to be. Things like having babies, stress eating, and an honest love of chocolate haven’t helped my waistline. Over the last few months I’ve started noticing more articles from experts urging us to eat better, not less. In other words, the secret to health is not consuming less food but consuming better food. And they have a point. For most of us, moving away from the standard American diet of quick-fixes, drive-through meals, and prepackaged foods, for lean meats, produce, and whole grains results in a healthier diet and a trimmer body.

Does that same principle apply to us spiritually?

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When Your Efforts Go Unnoticed

Col. 3.23

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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3 Tips to Beat the End-of-Summer Blues

I love August. This month usually breezes past us, which is good since those fluttering calendar pages are about the only breeze many of us get. But along with the warm temperatures, August also gives us a glimpse of the fall.

summer grasses and sky

I can hear the marching band practicing at the local high school. The evenings turn cooler. The mountains here in Virginia are lush and green and the weedy undergrowth is fading into fall colors. I enjoy these simple pleasures, and then my mind wanders.

Autumn deadlines, family responsibilities, travel schedules, busy college football weekends, etc.

Like clouds before a summer thunderstorm, these concerns accumulate and darken my mind.

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When Martha Learns to be Mary

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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