{{Hugs}}

My oldest princess has been so independent from the beginning. 

She crawled at 5 months, walked at 9 months, and had a new baby sister that needed our attention one month after her first birthday.  She didn't seem to have much time or need for snuggling- she was on the go and she was the big kid, not the baby. 

Recently, she has been doing more growing up.  You know that kind of growing up that happens when you are almost nine, when you start changing, and everything seems so overwhelming?  Along with that changing and growing up has come a lot of emotion- tears and frustration and bickering. 

I felt this ache in my heart as I realized how quickly she is growing up and how disconnected she and I have been this winter.  I"ve been frustrated with her and she's been frustrated with me and more than a few nights I've cried and prayed about how sad I was to be losing my little girl to the tween years.  As I prayed, God gave me some direction that was different from what I expected.  You know what He told me to do?    

Hug her more.      

I was so surprised.  Every once in awhile she's asked for a hug or snuggle time, but it always seemed to come when I couldn't (or didn't want to) give her that kind of attention.  It appeared to come when she wanted out of something like going to bed at night or when I was right in the middle of something like cooking dinner or finishing a project and my answer had to be, "I can't right now.  I'm busy."  

I hadn't noticed how little physical affection I had been giving her lately, and I hadn't noticed how hungry she was for it.  Until I started giving it to her. 

Instead of opening the door in the morning and saying, "Rise and shine.  Get up for school!" I've been going in to her room a few minutes early and snuggling with her until she wakes up.  At school, I won't let her leave my car in the morning without a kiss and hug goodbye, and throughout the day, I've tried to grab her as often as I can and hug that little girl that she still is and will always be to me. 

I didn't know hugs were her love language, or how empty her little love tank had become, but she's blooming lately and seems like a new, more peaceful girl.  She needed Mommy hugs, and I'm so thankful God showed me she did, because what I didn't know or expect was how much I needed those hugs, too. 

I love my girl! 

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Down in the January Dumps

After I wrote my last post and hit the publish button, I realized it sounded so chipper and as if I've got this weight battle and everything else licked.  I am very grateful for what I'm learning from Lysa's book and for the success I've had lately, but I'm also all about transparency.  After I hit publish, the rest of my week has truthfully felt far less than victorious.   


Because December went so well, I thought I had somehow sidestepped the winter blues.  Ha Ha.  They're laughing at me now.  No sidestepping allowed, I guess.  January kicks my hiney every year, and here I am again.

When it comes to the blues, I know I can't be passive about getting better, and I know the things I need to do that I haven't been doing lately.  But I thought I'd throw it out to all of you, too.  Do you struggle with winter blues?  What helps? 
 
January is hard but thankfully January is temporary.  Spring always come! 

Love, 

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Adventures of Super Mom: A Day Off or Just An Off Day?

Wednesday night, I snuggled up to my husband in bed and said, "I'm excited because tomorrow I get a day off.  There's no school so I don't have to set the alarm, and I don't have to be Mama Taxi Driver.  It's going to be a great day!"
 

As I fell asleep, I fantasized about a day of reconnecting with my kids.  The girls had been so busy lately, maybe we would go for a bike ride.  Maybe we'd play board games or snuggle on the couch for a long cozy chat. 

Then I had the bright idea of starting potty training.  Prince Charming has shown interest, and has had some successful bathroom visits over the past few months, with a four day weekend ahead and no where to go, wouldn't this be the perfect time to give potty training a shot?

I sighed contentedly and fell asleep with great expectations for the next day.  

Ha!  Isn't it funny how a day can unfold so differently from what we expected it to be?   

Here's what really happened:

1.  Because of a late school event the night before, we woke up to all of the dinner dishes waiting for us: stuck on, greasy meatloaf crusted plates and pans = grumpy start.

2.  Potty Training-  I'll spare you all the gory details, but after several tantrums, an extra large bottle of bubbles dumped on the bathroom floor, and an absolute REFUSAL to point his "thing" down so he wouldn't pee on Mommy's face, Prince Charming made it VERY CLEAR that he was NOT ready for this new skill.  I tendered my potty training resignation after only two hours of trying.  : )

3.  By this time in the morning, a large crowd of neighborhood kids invaded the house stopped by to visit.  Gone were my dreams of quiet, cozy fireside chats in the living room with my kids. 

4.  Then Littlest Princess found me to tell me the upstairs toilet was clogged.  While she came looking for me, Oldest Princess went in and flushed some more trying to "fix" the problem.   By the time I made it up the stairs, a crowd of children had gathered to see the fascinating toilet fountain that had flooded the bathroom floor and was seeping in to the hallway carpet. 

I sweetly asked them all to exit my home while I figured out how to stop the fountain and clean up the flood.  (Confession- maybe not so sweetly at all.  Maybe I'm a little afraid of the stories they told their parents that night of my teeny tirade) 

5.  I'm still trying to block out the memory of the screaming match with my children outside in the front yard for all the neighbors to see and hear while I convinced my oldest two that it was their duty to watch their little brother while I rescued our home. 

And then it happened.  

I walked back in the house, into the laundry room, and reached up to the top shelf and accidentally knocked this container of Oxy Clean down on my head.  : ) 

It was at the moment, standing in the laundry room, covered in white powder, watching water leak from upstairs, that I finally just laughed.

I couldn't help but see the "I Love Lucy" comedic aspect to what was happening and there really wasn't anything else left to do but laugh at myself.     





And It Was Only Noon!

Being Super Mom is just harder work than you think. For some reason, though, I don't think I'm ready to ask for another day off any time soon.

Here's to us all having a weekend with low expectations!  LOL!

Happy Friday!

Love,

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"Life Piled on Life"

Our town recently hosted a hot air balloon rally, and each morning on our way to school that week, the kids and I would see the balloons.

We pretended our minivan had magically transformed into a hot air balloon and the other balloons were escorting us to school.

The girls' backpacks served as parachutes as they leaped from the van onto the sidewalk below.

I've always thought hot air balloons were magical and loved our early morning show.

Then on Saturday, we got to see the balloons up close at the park for a night glow. It was beautiful!

When we arrived, all of the balloons were deflated and waiting to be filled.

Watching them inflate, I was reminded of a line from Tennyson I read recently:

"Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'

Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margins fades

Forever and forever when I move.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!

As tho' to breathe were life,
Life piled on life..."



I felt their pain and heard them sigh,


"How dull it is to pause, to make an end. To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!"

But then they were filled!

And they glowed!



And they were no longer dull.

It reminded me of how important it is for me to be filled, too. When my life feels deflated, and I don't feel special enough, I need to remember it isn't more doing that I need, just more filling.

Thank you, Lord, for making the ordinary extraordinary when it is filled with you.


Love,

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Getting Rid of Worms

The worship leader leaned into the mic and invited all the kids up to the front of the church this morning to sing before they were excused for Sunday School.

The girls drug Prince Charming with them, but he was more interested in taking off his new shoes than singing, so he ended up back with the grown ups as a spectator.

As I settled him into the chair next to me, I heard her announce, "We're going to sing, 'Cast Your Burdens Upon Jesus'. How many of you know this one?"

Instantly, I lifted my head to make eye contact with Oldest Princess and we shared a knowing smile between each other.

She could not have picked a more perfect song, I thought as I looked at my daughter on the stage.

This week my girls will be starting a brand new school. Homeschooling was a wonderful thing for us for a season, but God has opened up a new door and another great opportunity for the girls. I'm excited about it. I see it as an awesome opportunity, but poor Oldest Princess isn't so sure.

The looming unknown is killing her. She's had tummy aches and isn't sleeping well and keeps asking me a million "what if" questions. I've been worried and anxious for her, wishing school would just hurry up and start so she could settle in and stop fretting.

I heard the worship leader ask, "How many of you like to fish?" This time both of the girls perked up. This was definitely an analogy they could relate to!

They raised their hands high in the sky, and I heard Littlest Princess bragging to the kids standing next to her, "I caught a King Salmon" as if that made her more qualified to sing the song than the rest of them.

"Well, I want you to take the things you are worried about and pretend they are worms. OK, now hook those worms onto your hook and cast them upon Jesus to take care of for you. And grown ups, I want you to stand up, too, because I know you have burdens, too."

It was so sweet to watch us all casting our lines of burdens away and on to the Lord's capable shoulders. I began thinking of all the burdens that have weighed me down this summer and decided I wanted to be free from them as well.

After church we took a picnic lunch to the park, and Oldest Princess and I found some time alone. Walking across a bridge, we looked down at the stream flowing below it and talked about how much we both needed that song this morning.

She smiled and said, "Mommy, I hooked ten worms onto my hook."

I asked her what her ten worms of worry were, and she ticked them off one by one on her fingers, "School, school, school..." and then giggled. So right there on that bridge the two of us started singing:

Cast your burdens
Upon Jesus
For He cares for you!

We cast our worries right off the bridge and imagined them washing away down stream. Feeling lighter, we ran from the bridge to the swings, competing to see who could swing the highest as we sang even louder this time.

Higher, higher, higher, higher
Higher, higher, higher, higher
Lift Jesus higher

Lower, lower, lower, lower
Lower, lower, lower, lower
STOMP Satan lower.

It was one of those impromptu moments that will remain a sweet memory for me. It felt so good to be the crazy lady in my church dress swinging and singing at the top of my lungs with my little girl as we released all our cares and worries.

If anything is burdening you today, I hope you'll join Oldest Princess and me. I highly recommend finding the closest swing, hop on, and start singing. Feel the freedom that comes as you cast your burdens upon Jesus and lift Him higher.

Do you have any specific worms on your hook today? You can leave a comment or send me an email and I'd love to pray for you.

Love,

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Rest for the Weary

During my study time, I read this paraphrase of Matthew 11:28-29 and felt like it was a memo of love to me this morning and figured I couldn't be the only one who needed it.

So here is an invitation today to you from Jesus:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. (The Message)


Learning the unforced rhythms of grace today,

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But God, Isn't this the Wrong Way?

Warning: You are about to enter the realm of my wandering, rambling thoughts. It probably won't make a lot of sense. : )

So what are you doing, Lord?

It's so weird. I've been taking steps- (albeit tentative, nervous steps)- in a certain direction that I THOUGHT God was leading me in. Now there are new ideas, things that may be coming from Him, but appear to be going in the OPPOSITE direction than where I thought He was leading.

And it is quite possible I could be making it all up and this new direction isn't coming from Him at all. Confusing, huh? : )

Then there are remaining questions of unanswered things that I thought He was doing and then didn't. There still seems to be so many loose ends floating around inside of me, and I can't imagine how He is going to tie up those loose ends. I guess I just have to trust that He will.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Ideas, ideas, ideas...

What are God ideas and What are Becky ideas???

And even if we turn around and walk in what feels like the WRONG way, isn't God capable of getting me to the RIGHT place anyway?

In your prayers, above everything else, beware of limiting God, not only through unbelief but also by thinking you know exactly what He can do. Learn to expect the unexpected, beyond all that you ask or think.

See each time you intercede through prayer, first be quiet and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, how He delights in Christ His Son, and of your place in Him – then expect great things.” -Andrew Murray

I love the title of Lysa TerKeurst's book, What Happens When Women Say Yes to God? That phrase has been running through my mind all morning, and I keep responding, "What happens when you are willing to say yes, but don't know what to say 'yes' to?" Guess I better read the book instead of just the title. : )

Oh well, no matter which direction He's leading me, He's definitely working IN me. Guess there is stuff in there that needs some remodeling.

Lord, please bring clarity and direction to the chaos of all my scattered ideas, half done projects, ambitions and dreams.

I want to follow, not lead.

I want to follow, not drag my feat.

I want faith and courage and wisdom to lead the way, no longer held back by fear and procrastination and rabbit trails.

Remember, Lord, how in the fourth grade Mrs. Hall called me "her little absent-minded professor"? Not much has changed since then.

So instead of this fretting, I'm going to just be quiet and worship You. Then I'll see what you do next.

Love,

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Allow Them to Use Their Gifts

This is the devotion I wrote for church this week. Portions of it are excerpted from my book, And Then You Were Gone: Restoring the Broken Heart after Pregnancy Loss which I'm excited to say will be published this spring by Pleasant Word. I'm looking forward to seeing what God wants to do with our story.

From God's Word:

Click and Read Hebrews 10:19-25

Key Verse:
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

Church was an almost unbearable place to be after my miscarriages. Each week I would think to myself, “OK, I’m fine today,” but the desire to leave would hit immediately as I entered the building.

I tried week after week to “be strong this time” and would make myself sit down in the sanctuary. As worship began, the music stirred emotions, leaving me vulnerable, and the tears would inevitably start falling. I knew, “I have to get out of here or I’m going to start bawling,” but I realized walking out would allow everyone to see I had been crying. If I stayed, I wouldn’t be able to keep from sobbing and causing a scene. I was trapped. Choosing to leave the sanctuary, I wandered around until the service ended trying to get myself under control and presentable before anyone could see me.

Picking up my daughters from their classes, I would run into well meaning people who were unaware of the situation. They would look at me with a quizzical look and innocently ask, “Now when are you due again?” It was awful explaining everything, watching these sweet people become mortified because they had hurt me by asking.

This struggle continued for months. It was just too painful and embarrassing to be there, and there were constant reminders of what I lost. Churches are full of pregnant women and babies. One service ended for me when I opened the bulletin and read the advertisement for the upcoming Father/Son campout.

Knowing I needed to be there, by God’s strength I continued to show up to services and Bible studies week after week. I was constantly embarrassed by my weakness. Telling myself, “I’m not going to cry this time,” didn’t work. I always ended up in tears. I hated being so publicly emotional, but I didn’t know how to stop it.

There is no verse in the Bible that says, “God helps those who help themselves.” Most Americans believe it is in there somewhere because it is a cultural tradition, yet the truth is God helps those who run to Him in weakness, and rely upon His grace.

He also places us in a spiritual family so we can be helped by each other. Our key verse says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

As difficult as it was to control my emotions when I was at church, had I been able to stop the flow of emotion or hidden my pain, I would have robbed other believers of an opportunity to use their gifts to minister to me.

I was amazed how many times God lined up specific people to minister to me during those times I struggled to be at church. When I left the sanctuary, some woman who had also miscarried in the past would “magically” appear to pray with me. When I felt alone and emotional, someone would hug me. When I needed a word from the Lord, someone would read scripture that spoke directly to my heart. When I was in Bible Study, people said things they didn’t know where meant for me. I experienced the work of the Spirit through the love, prayers, hugs, words of prophecy and wisdom that came from the flesh and blood people in my church family. We have a large church, but it became small as people poured out love on me.

Some of the best comfort came from women who had been there. They could minister in a way no one else could. After she read 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, my friend Jeanine began praying she would have an opportunity to comfort someone else in the way she had been comforted when she miscarried. If I had run away from church and fellowship, then I would have not been a part of that prayer being answered.

It feels good to be used by the Lord. When we are weak, we allow others the privilege of being used by the Lord in our circumstance. Pastor Bob tells us often that when Christians go off on their own they “get weird.” We need each other. As we draw near to God, He often sends us to our spiritual family for some love and comfort. Don’t run away.

Excerpt from And Then You Were Gone: Restoring the Broken Heart after Pregnancy Loss. All rights reserved. Do not copy or use without author's permission.

Personal Application:
Do you ever find yourself embarrassed over your emotion or weakness at church or around other Christians?

Remember that by allowing yourself to be weak, you allow others the joy of using their God-given gifts in response to your circumstances.

Dear Lord, Prevent me from running from fellow believers when I'm feeling weak or am hurting. Thank you for providing a spiritual family to comfort me and for giving them gifts to help me in my time of need. Thank you for the joy we all feel when we get to use our gifts to bring comfort to other people. In Jesus' Name I pray,
Amen

More of God's Word:

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. - Romans 12:4-8 (NIV)

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Speaker Bio Sheet Complete...Check

I'm feeling so much better today! Thank you for your words of encouragement and love.

I just finished creating my speaker bio sheet tonight. It was one of those things that was hanging over my head, and it felt so good to finish something tangible after the conference. I'm ready to take a giant leap of faith now and step out toward something that has been growing in my heart for years. My first speaking event is on the calendar, and I'll be sending out the bio to local churches.

I feel inadequate and scared, but ready to point hearts to the One I love. It's all about Him anyway.

Goodnight!

I'll be drawing for the giveaway tomorrow morning when I get done cleaning my neglected kitchen. : ) There is still time to enter if you haven't already.

Love,

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Fighting the Blues Again

I've had a rough couple of weeks.

It reminds me of January, when I was stuck in this fog. I've just been blue and discouraged and overwhelmed.

But today, I'm feeling more hopeful and ready to fight the blues.

So here's my prescription for myself:

1. Read the quote on my blog banner. CELEBRATE the beauty in my ordinary, but WONDERFUL life.

2. Gratitude: If I'm intentional and really look, I'll see gifts from God EVERYWHERE! Count my blessings one by one...I think it's time for another edition of my 1,000 Gifts posts.

3. Quit wasting so much time online. I am embarrassed to admit it, but in these blues, while feeling lonely and bored and restless and stuck on the couch, I've spent way too much time surfing the net, email, Twitter, my blog dashboard, Facebook, etc. searching for connection with the world, for friendship, affirmation, and validation of the things I came home with in my heart after the conference two weeks ago. Remember that old song?

Looking for love in all the wrong places...

4. Movement and fresh air and sunshine. I've been stuck inside and immobile this week with a back injury, so now that I'm healing, I really need me some endorphins. Even if that just means walking around the block.

5. Prayer time and Worship. Time to get my eye off of me and on to Him.


I'm ready for some fresh perspective, and a cheerier blog post next time. Thanks for indulging me tonight. : )

By the Way-

Don't miss my latest giveaway from Zonderkidz ~

And not to use manipulation or anything, but comments ALWAYS cheer me up. Hee Hee. : )


Love,

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Great Expectations

Remember our jaunt through the neighborhood and how it didn't quite live up to what I envisioned? : )

Well, I should learn the danger of expectations. Life rarely lives up to the expectations a romantic, sentimental girl can dream up. This Easter was no exception.

If you read my last post, you can see that Saturday was a blast. We had so much fun that day, and the fun continued into the evening. We went to the Saturday night service at church and my girls got to wear the beautiful dresses Grandma made for them. Two families joined us afterwards for food and more fun. The guys played Texas Hold 'Em and the girls sat in my living room and laughed until we were crying.

Saturday was fun, but the whole Easter experience this year was a letdown for me. I love Easter so much and wanted it to feel special, especially spiritually. The Saturday night service was just fine, but I had a hard time feeling connected, and it just felt wrong to be celebrating at night and not on Easter Sunday. It was quick and the music wasn't my style.

Sunday morning, Dad left on the airplane and my husband had to work, so Mom and I and the girls had a lazy day. I didn't even shower that day. I was grumpy and irritable and felt so guilty for not creating the right Easter environment. I worried that Mom would regret coming to our house and wish she was home. I didn't feel the joy that I usually do celebrating the Resurrection.

My kids were perfectly happy playing outside in the dirt, but there is a neighborhood church that backs up to our property and I could see the kids getting out of their cars in their Easter clothes. I felt like the neighborhood HEATHENS!

I finally gave up and had a good prayer time and God started pointing out to me how all of the problems were about feelings and expectations. I wanted everything to feel right. I wanted to be in a celebratory mood, but I just wasn't. I also felt responsible for making everyone else feel something special. I'm the mom, right? It's my job, right?

In my prayer time, I started to realize that the miracle of the Resurrection is still just as miraculous even if I didn't feel it this year. The gift of salvation is still mine, not because of good feelings, but because it is fact, and I've accepted it by faith. Truth is solid, unchanging, and not dependent on emotion. Emotion is unpredictable, and deceptive.

So, the holiday traditions may have fallen flat this year. Oh well! I can have the joy of the Resurrection any time I want it. The same truth will be true forever. The grave didn't hold Jesus. The grave won't hold me either because I'm His! What a miracle!

The funny thing is I'm actually feeling it today. Guess I'm just a day behind. : )

I hope that this truly was a joyful weekend for you all.

He is Risen Indeed!

Love,

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First Fitness Goal Reached! Yippee!!

I was just typing up a post on my fitness blog, and was so excited, I thought I'd share my little success over here, too.

I started working on some fitness goals in September, and I just reached my first one this morning. My first goal was to lose 31 lbs. and I officially did that this morning. The next goal I'm working on is doing a 5K race in May. I still have a ways to go to reach my long-term weight-loss goal, but I'm feeling so much better.

Life has been so full of blessings this week. I'm so thankful! I'm especially enjoying SUNSHINE.

The January blues and fog seem so far away now. I'm thankful!

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Chance to Win a Great Prize

What a bad blogger I've been lately! I'm sorry. I've just been so uninspired lately.

Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me. I am feeling a lot better and the blues are lifting. I still really need our inversion to go away and our sun to shine again SOON!!! The weather girl said maybe tomorrow!

Madeline Grace, one of my favorite three-year-olds in the whole world, mailed me a picture of the sunset that she colored. She knew it was my favorite color and sent it to cheer me up. Boy did it! Thanks Madeline!

In other news- : )

I wanted to tell you all about a giveaway one of my blogging friends is hosting this week. Dani at icrafty.com just wrote her 100th post and to celebrate she is giving away a $30 giftcard to either WalMart or Old Navy. All you have to do is leave a comment and say hi to be entered in the drawing. Tell her Becky sent you. : )

Leave me a comment, too, just so I know you're all still there even though I've been such a bad blogger. : )

I'll be back soon!

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The Fog Won't Last Forever

My plan to get more sunshine is going to be seriously challenged this week. These are pictures of the sky around my house today. Aren't we having lovely weather? : )

Unfortunately, this inversion is trapped in our valley, so the fog is here to stay for the rest of the week.

As I was snapping these pictures this morning, I noticed the sun trying to break through the fog and I felt so hopeful. I was reminded that this is a season and won't last. Spring always comes and spring here is so beautiful.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement after my last post. It means a lot to me, and I can feel them.

I'm so thankful that because I belong to Jesus, I never have to go through anything in this life alone. I am carried through every challenge, every trial, and every January when the winter blues come rolling in. : ) I could not do life without Him, nor without the people He's surrounded me with that love me.

Loving you back!

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Fighting the Blues

2009 hasn't been such a happy new year for me yet. I've been in a funk that I'm trying so hard to get out of, but it isn't easy. I felt the clouds rolling in about mid-December, and it just got worse as we went through the Christmas season.

I've been trying to put my finger on the cause so I can find a cure, but everything affects each other so much, it's hard to know what to blame- hormones, lack of sleep, lack of sunshine, lack of exercise, chemistry, etc.

While I was talking to my friend on the phone, she said something that I thought was great advice. She said, "Just remember to think about what is true and real."

When she said that, it just hit me how much I've been looking at life through a lens of how I PERCEIVE it lately, not as it ACTUALLY is. Weariness and sleep deprivation have a way of clouding things, making hurdles seem like permanent problems.

So right now, I'm taking some time so think about what is really real about this little trial I'm going through- not what my hormones tell me is true, or what my circumstances feel like, but what is really TRUE.

I'm also trying to eat better, and as I'm looking at this upcoming week, I'm going to schedule some sun time (or at least be outside even if the sun doesn't come out) and some exercise time and see how that all helps.

I've also just been going through a time of resisting prayer. I don't know why. Prayer time is so important to me. I need it so much and always feel so good after spending time with God, so why am I resisting something that I love so much? Making that a priority is another goal for this week, too.

Here's to a better week! : ) I'm sure thankful Spring is on its way. : )

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Seek The Lord Sunday

Desiring to make Sunday a special day for the Lord, Daiquiri is hosting a weekly "Seek the Lord Sunday" meme on her blog, asking other bloggers to post about the topic of the week.

This week's topic is:

Which Bible verse 'speaks' to you lately? Tell us about it!

I had a hard time choosing one because there have been three that have been speaking to me in unique areas of my life this week. I finally settled on the first one.

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (NIV)

It is the word set that speaks to me. As a woman, thoughts and emotions often rule me. When they do, I ride an emotional roller coaster of up and down feelings. But this verse gives me something active to do, a way off of the roller coaster. It's very practical. I am not a slave to how I feel or think. This verse tells me I have the ability to rule them, not be ruled by them, simply by changing what I think about.

There are countless distractions and "earthly things" calling for my attention and focus, but they are lesser things, of lesser value to the eternal things I should be investing my life and attention on. The earthly things are unsatisfying and do not last.

If I lose weight, it comes back. If I buy new clothes, the first time I wash them they begin to wear out. From the day we walked into our brand new house, it began to get old. I'm enjoying decorating our bedroom right now, but I can't expect it to bring me deep satisfaction. It won't be exactly how I envision it to be and all the new trinkets will get old, too.

If all I think about are these fleeting things, I'll be depressed. Living for what the world values and strives after is like eating cotton candy or a Krispy Kreme donut....fluff that melts in your mouth, leaving me unsatisfied and just wanting more. Eternal things are like the feast my dad makes on Christmas day- ABUNDANT SATISFACTION! : )

I remember watching the Apprentice on TV and thinking about Donald Trump and all he has. He won't be able to take anything with him when he dies. All of it will be gone. Watching the show, I'd say out loud to his image on the TV screen, "Donald, what investments have you made for Eternity?" (Yes, I do talk to my TV often) : )

Instead of dissatisfaction, thinking about things of eternal value brings God's peace. And, oh, real peace is sooooo satisfying!

Stop by Seek the Lord Sunday and see what verses are speaking to other bloggers today.

Love,

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Feelings Vs. Truth

(If you are here for Lysa's recipe swap, you can click here to skip to that post. I'm sorry that I forgot to link directly to that post)

Arriving at a huge road block in our adoption journey has not been easy. My emotions have been all over the map.

My feelings have been telling me God has tricked us and betrayed us. I remember the call He placed on my heart and my husband's heart. Neither one of us desired to adopt, but God did an amazing and miraculous work on both of us that led us to the point of being able to say, "Yes."

Then our hearts moved from being able to say yes, to desiring this new child very much. But our journey to obey has met obstacle after obstacle and now we are unable to move forward. Whether or not this is a temporary or permanent stop along the way, we don't know.

So, is it true that God tricked us into wanting this, into beginning the journey? Did He set me up for further disappointment? Can I trust my feelings as trustworthy? The answer to all of the above is no.

I am so grateful that truth is not dependent upon how I feel or upon circumstances I don't understand. God has given me a resource for unchanging Truth, the standard to measure all circumstances against. The Bible.

I can see the fault in my emotions by reading this:

"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I can trust the call we heard by reading this:

"When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." John 10:4

I can trust God's heart for orphans by reading this:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

I can learn how to respond to this by reading this:

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

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