ONE THING...

     Have you ever noticed that one thing leads to another?  It seems to work with both the good and the bad.

     Think about a choice of a cookie for breakfast or a banana -- which one leads to a healthy lunch?  Usually the banana.

     What about speaking to our kids in a gentle voice or losing it -- which one leads to a calm response later in the day?  Usually the gentle voice.

     But when we're totally honest, it's hard!  There are "cookie days" when it's just easier to reach for a cookie than a banana.  There are "losing it" days when it's just easier to let it out than hold it in.

     Those are the days I see my desperate need for God and His grace and I'm filled with wonder and thankfulness for who He is because of who I'm not!

     Have you experienced God's grace pouring out in your life, Moms, or are you too busy dumping heaps of guilt over your head like buckets of icy, cold water?


     The enemy of our souls is thrilled when we berate ourselves for our weakness and failures, but God is NOT -- He sent Jesus to cover all the "cookie" days and the "losing it" days!  He loves us as much after the cookie package has been ripped into as He did before.  He loves us as much after we've let our voices reach loud levels, but we don't get it, do we?

     We live in a culture that tells us value and worth are based on our performances; whether we realize it or not, we are all holding a red pen in our back pockets getting ready to tick the "F's" on our own report cards.  Take out that red pen and snap it in half -- it's mocking the grace that God extends and wants to extend in our lives.

     Yes, when we are His, God continues to call us to holiness - to becoming more like Him - BUT He does not condemn us when we fail, He pours out grace like sweet smelling bubbles in a warm bath.  May we listen for His voice in our lives and not the voices of everything else that surrounds us.

     Sink into those bubbles and let Him heal your heart.  As we accept His grace, we'll become ready and wanting to reach out for His help -- then those days will slowly become fewer and further apart, and we'll discover new levels of grace and blessing.

"From HIS fullness we have

all received, grace upon grace."

John 1:16

 

FEELING RUN DOWN

 
     There are just those days -- you know the ones -- where you just feel like you don't have what it takes to make it through the next hours, let alone days, that lie ahead.  That's just the reality of life, isn't it?  Somehow being told that those days are "normal" can make it seem more manageable, but something more is available to us that we shouldn't ignore...God's strength.

     This is true strength -- the kind that only God can pour into our lives when we've reached a low point, a hard place, a dark time.  

     Our God, Creator of all things, who is so intimately involved and concerned with EVERY detail of life, cares.  He truly cares.  And He's promised in His Word that when we are weak, His power will be made perfect in us (II Corinthians 12:9).

     I have a poem that hangs on a wall in our home and I stop to read it word for word every so often.  Alone, it's just a poem, but combined with God's promise to fill us with His strength, it becomes of great encouragement...

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts seem high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When you care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must -- but never quit.


Life is queer, with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out;
Stick to your task, though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with one more blow.


Success is failure turned inside out --
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt --
And you never can tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit --
It's when things seem worst that YOU MUSN'T QUIT.

     Quitting can feel like the easiest solution -- it may be with our toddler who won't obey, our teenager who's pushing hard or our spouse who's not home enough.  Whatever is causing us to be run down or overwhelmed, we can take it to God.  He wants to join us in the middle of the mess, not stand back and watch us quit.

     Tell God where you're at and ask Him to come, in His power, into your dark moments and He will.  He really, really will!

"Don't quit in hard times;

pray all the harder."

Romans 12:12