A Time to Uplift

Photo Credit:Kristina Smith

The idea of being a vessel that God can use to build up other people is not a new idea; it's not even a new idea here on the blog. If you've been following this blog for any amount of time you know that I am passionate about encouraging and building up others! The Bible is clear that we are to walk along side one another, bearing each other's burdens and investing in the lives of those around us. We are a selfish people though so this doesn't come as easily or readily as we sometimes wish it would.

Have you ever been around someone who you would swear it costs them money to offer up a word of encouragement, to give a hug or even smile at you? I have and it can be so incredibly disheartening when you are in need of love, kindness, compassion, empathy, etc. and the person you find yourself with in the moment or the people you are surrounded by in life have clearly given themselves a limit on how many positive words and actions they can extend that day, month or year! Thankfully I serve a God who is available to all those who will call on Him, and he is the perfect comfort in times of need. BUT, just because He is always there and just because He is the one we should be turning to first does not mean that the rest of human kind is off the hook when it comes to this ministry of encouragement.

("Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." ~Gal. 6:2) 

Those of us who live in Maine were saddened today to hear about one of our meteorologists who was found to have committed suicide. It is incredibly sad anytime we hear of someone succumbing to the depths of their despair and taking their own life, whether they are a local "celebrity", a family member or the neighbor we hardly thought of...and it happens daily. This affects not just adults but youth as well. In one of my counseling classes we learned that every 24 hours an estimated 6 teens will commit suicide; about 1500 will make an attempt! People of all ages are broken and they are desperate for healing. People who are struggling begin to reach for anything that will anesthetize the pain and emptiness. And sometimes the only option they feel they have is to end their life. Many Christians will say and have said that, "if only they knew Christ this wouldn't have happened." While I agree a life in Christ, surrendered to the one who can make all things new is a great first step to healing, it is NOT a cure. Christ-followers are just as capable of deep depression and despair as someone who has no relationship with Christ because sin still exists in us. One of our dear senior saints, who was a Christian and who was a member of our church for many, many years took his own life a few years ago. So, please, don't be so insensitive and ignorant of the issue as to insist that if a person only had a relationship with Christ, these things wouldn't happen. It's not true and its an incredibly dangerous and discouraging mindset.

I believe every single person on any given day needs to be uplifted. And God uses us to be ministers of  His love and compassion so we do have a responsibility to make sure we are building up those around us. I want to make it clear that I know suicide is a desperate last move to put an end to the pain and suffering and it in no way compares to someone who is having a "bad day". Depression and a "bad day" are very different and we need wisdom from God to know the difference. That being said, we are surrounded with people who are suffering on so many different levels and they often suffer silently and alone because they are embarrassed, they don't want to be a burden or they feel many around them are too busy to be bothered to help them. To be uplifting, or to "build up" or "bear one another's burdens" is FREE! It costs you nothing except time to offer words of encouragement, a listening ear or to visit with someone who needs a friend and "time"...time belongs to God. Each minute we are allowed to continue living on this earth is ordered by God. He controls our beginning and our end so we have no right to behave selfishly with time that is given to us as a gift. We are all busy with so many things but we need to make sure that we are not so busy that we can't take time to minister to someone who is hurting or discouraged. Sometimes all it takes is a "word fitly spoken" (Prov. 25:11) to bring someone up out of a bad day.

So what is the practical application to all of this? I'm glad you asked! Educate yourself on the signs of depression, first of all. Depression is a real thing and it exists among Christians and non-Christians alike. Know the signs and be ready to offer help to someone who is showing signs of depression. This is an area I feel the church is neglecting, some are even ignoring but its prevalent, which means it is needful to understand and know how to help those who are suffering. Not everyone who is down is depressed though and this is where wisdom comes in. Make it a point to pray and ask God to show you who is in need of being uplifted and then listen to His leading. I promise you each one of you reading this will have contact with at LEAST one person today who would benefit from a compliment, a text asking  how they are doing, a card in the mail, a phone call, a hug or a smile or maybe even a visit. Not sure where to start? Start at home. Who do you live with and what do you think they could use from you? Family members are often the most overlooked when it comes to building up and yet they are the ones God gave to you...so don't neglect them. Then look to your neighbors, your church family, co-workers, the cashier at the grocery store or the lady at the post office. People are everywhere and they need to be uplifted. Start today being a vessel God can use to minister to those who are hurting.

A Time to be Disciplined

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like 

a city that is broken down, and without walls.

Proverbs 25:28

It's that time of year again when we start to set goals, or make "resolutions" for the coming year. I have a love-hate relationship with this time because while I love the idea of starting fresh and setting goals for the new year, I hate that I will likely fail. I will start off excited and on fire to begin my newfound "plan" only to see the fire within die down after a few short months. And it is very discouraging. Thankfully God's Word comes jam-packed with encouragement for the disheartened! I can remind myself of verses like Matt.19:26: BUT with GOD all things are possible! (emphasis added) 

The past few weeks my mind has been consumed with thoughts of my grandfather, naturally. He is gone and I miss him and so I think about him and all the great memories I have of time spent with him. As I was thinking about my goals for the new year I realized how each goal I had required one thing...self-discipline. Which then reminded me of how disciplined my grandfather was and it seemed fitting that my goal for this year could somehow be a tribute to my grandfather. 

I went to the Bible and searched for a verse that would be my verse for the year, a verse that would challenge me and encourage me to pursue the goals that I wanted to set for myself; I was led to the one above. One thing I have learned is that if I want to meet a goal I have set, I have to have a plan and that plan must first begin with the understanding that it is only through God and His working in me that I will be successful in accomplishing that goal. I don't care how strong in the Lord you are (or think you are), there is nothing we do that we do on our own. God must get all the glory and all the credit for anything we have ever accomplished. Any accomplishment is His accomplishment; Anytime we overcome a trial, obstacle or sin in our lives it is because of Him! 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:4-5

The next step for me, is to write down my goals and write down a plan on how I will work toward accomplishing that goal. This is not a fool-proof plan because remember...I fail...a lot! But writing everything down does mean I have more of a chance at succeeding so I do it. I have a journal that I am keeping and the first page has the goals and plan of action written down. It goes something like this:

1. Daily Bible Reading: 52 Week Bible reading program; journal key thoughts after reading

(52-Week Bible Reading Plan)

*I've done this one in the past and I like it because it mixes things up; I like variety. Print off the chart and keep it in your Bible.

2. Exercise at least 3 X a week: DVD workouts at home 

*Because I still have little people at home and going out to exercise is not really an option, I find I am more successful with this goal if I find something that I can do at home. I really like Jillian Micheals  30-Day Shred DVD and it is effective if you stick with it....that is the key...stick.with.it!

3. Better eating habits: Journal Food

* Everyone is different but in the past I have found that I make better food choices if I am writing down what I eat. 

These are my goals and I am praying I am able to stay the course throughout the whole year. Two tools that I am implementing to help me stay focused are an accountability partner and reading a book that goes along with my goal of being more disciplined. When I was serving as a counselor at a Christian camp this summer we had staff devotions each morning. The devotions that we heard were taken from a book called: The Disciplines of Life by V.Raymond Edman. I have started the book but it is a challenging read and there is much to chew on so I think giving myself the year to read it is reasonable! I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something good to read! 

Have any of you reading set similar goals for yourself this year or in the past? Were you successful or not? I would love to hear your stories so I can glean from your victories and learn from your failures! Maybe you don't have any goals other than to survive another year...that's okay too! I've definitely been there. I am just in a season in my life where I have the time to consider making some significant changes to my daily routine and I am trusting God to help me!

I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me. 

Philippians 4:13

A Time to Keep them Innocent

A couple weeks ago one of my sons walked through the door and asked me if I had heard about the "evil clowns" who were lurking in the woods waiting to kill children.  Not exactly the topic of conversation I was hoping to have with him after school but there it was. I had heard rumblings of clowns but honestly had not taken a lot of time to find out what it was all about. Was this true? Was it a rumor? Naturally now that it was in my home, staring me in the facing waiting for an answer, I needed to do some research! 

 I don't know how you are when it comes to informing your children about current events but I am one of those parents who feels strongly that my kids don't need to know about everything going on. I don't think young children should be burdened by current events. We don't allow them to watch the news and even do not watch videos of news clips in their presence. We skim the surface with regard to the police shootings and racial tensions. We shelter them from news stories involving violence. We make them aware that terrorists exist and why they want to cause harm but again, we leave out the gory details. And even in this volatile election season, we keep the information to a minimum; they know who is running and we talk about the election process but that's about the extent of it. I intentionally do this because I remember how I was as a child. I scared very easily and to this day I have a very active imagination. I don't need any help being afraid of evil. My mind conjures up scenarios perfectly fine on it's own! I guard myself against the news and truly don't spend a lot of time reading it. I ask my husband to tell me what I need to know because I absolutely WILL lose sleep if I have too much information. As a child the worst time of year for me was Halloween. Everything about Halloween creeps me out. I just don't like it, I never have. It was also my mom's favorite holiday so our house was always decked out with scary faces and a fake cemetery and to her credit, she did an amazing job decorating...which is why I was so successfully frightened. I remember not wanting to get up in the night to use the bathroom because some of the decorations scared me so much! 
Getting back to my kids. Clearly stories that children hear become exaggerated. In my research I never came across any credible report that supported the idea that clowns were murdering children, which is what a student on the bus told my son. I made sure to tell my son with much confidence, these were made up stories. Before I did that though I took the opportunity to talk to him about fear and what God's Word tells us. Since I struggle with fear, I have verses that I turn to and that help me put my fears to rest. I shared with my son my own struggle with fear and reminded him that God is with him no matter where he is. I pray every day when my children walk out of the house that God would put a hedge of protection around them and keep evil away. Every night when I go to bed I pray that God would put a hedge of protection around us and keep evil away. I have learned to have confidence in God to answer that prayer. This is not to say that God will never allow anything bad to happen because of my prayers. I just know that IF something bad does happen it is all in God's control and part of His perfect plan and I don't have to fear what man can do to me. Which leads me to the verse that I shared with my son and which helps me:

When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.                    ~Psalm 56:9-11

Unfortunately we live in a society where children have access to just about any news story they want. They own tablets and phones that allow them to search the internet and learn about every horrible thing that is going on. The sad part is that so much of what we read on the internet is either not true or grossly misleading and our young children do not have the discernment necessary to identify the truth from the fiction. I also feel we live in a society where adults want children to grow up much faster than they should. I understand that there will be some reading this that disagree with me, and I do respect that. For our family though, we have decided that it is in their best interest to shelter them from many of the issues facing our world, at least until they have the maturity to handle the information and we have had the time to lay a foundation, based on God's word, so that they can wisely handle the information. Sometimes, because they go to school and they hear what other kids are talking about, they are made aware of things I wish they wouldn't and that is something we need to leave in God's hands. As parents, we have to be ready to answer our children's questions and so when they come home asking about clowns, we do our due diligence but always bring it back to God's word...what does God's word say to help us understand how to handle this information or help put our fears to rest. Always, always it comes back to God and His Word. Parents, don't forget what we are told in Romans 16:19:

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

We have a responsibility to keep our children innocent to evil. There will come a time when they need to know certain things and it is our responsibility to determine when that time is. Let's just be careful to not rush their childhood. Children today are under an incredible amount of stress; we see it all the time and it's sad. I have a hard time not being afraid of things I hear about and I am an adult who has some wisdom and some discernment to be able to process the information and bring it back to God and His Word. Imagine how a child feels when they hear some of these scary things but have a limited ability to process that information; many children also have limited resources at home to help them process the information! 

The reality is that there is a lot to be concerned about and even fear in this world but I don't believe our children need to carry the weight of that burden. That's our job as parents, that and to protect our kids as much as we can from harmful information that is just too readily accessible to them. I am thankful I have a God that is faithful and trustworthy to lean on in times of trouble, fear and uncertainty. I am thankful for the many reminders in His Word to not fear but to have faith and confidence in God that He is FOR us and is in control... that's the story we need to be sharing with our children!

 

Women Building:The Blueprint

Every wise woman builds her house; but the foolish plucks it down with her hands. ~Proverbs 14:1

In this series I am talking about what the verse above states...a woman who is wise builds up but a foolish one tears down. It was important to me though, before getting to the meat of what the Lord showed me about how we can build up rather than tear down, that I touch upon a few basics. What is "basic" to one may be very new and not-so-basic to another and I don't want to take for granted that someone reading understands what I'm talking about! In the last post we talked about laying down a solid foundation. If you missed it, you can read it HERE. 

Today I want to talk about the blueprint we are given for building. Every good and wise builder uses plans when he builds. A blueprint is simply a "detailed plan of action"and tells the builder everything he needs to know about the structure he is working on from the layout to materials. As women who are desiring to wisely build up we too need to have a detailed plan of action if we want to be successful in our building. So where do we go?  I go to God's Word, the Bible. In it you will find all the information you will need to build successfully and you will also find out how you can be foolishly tearing down! Too often we think we can be self-sufficient and do this thing called life on our own...and maybe we can. But I believe if you want to successfully build up your life and the lives of those around you it is imperative that you turn to God and search His Word, our blueprint, for a detailed plan of action. 

One thing as I talk with ladies that I hear pretty much from each of them is that finding time to be in God's Word daily and consistently is a challenge. And this crosses all age groups and seasons of life. What worked at one time in the life of a lady may not work anymore when circumstances change. I recently ran into this when one of my child's school schedule changed. My elementary school kids start school later but once they get to middle-school the time school starts is earlier and the school is farther away meaning a longer bus ride and much earlier pick up time. I was used to getting up early before any of the kids were up but with this change came the loss of that time because now I had a child to get up and get on a bus during the time I would normally use for reading in God's Word. I have continued to find it very challenging to find a time of day that works consistently for me to find that quiet time. I know I'm not alone in this. Over the years I have had wise women share with me different ways they have been successful in being in God's Word regularly...and the fruit of it is how  they are wisely building up their families and those around them. Here are a few things that I found to be gems of advice through the years:

1. Use night feedings as an opportunity to be in the Word. When Owen was a baby I was sharing with a more experienced mom how I was struggling to find the time to read my Bible every day. She could have been very critical and judgmental of me and pointed out all the ways I was foolishly using my time but instead she lovingly nodded her head in understanding and shared with me that she would use her night feedings with the babies to do her Bible reading. This made so much sense! It was the quietest time of day in a house with little children, no one to interrupt you and you had to be awake anyway to feed the baby so why not read. She even suggested writing some verses or passages of scripture on a note card and just meditating on the same verses for the week and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak in the silence. I don't know why I hadn't thought of doing that prior to our conversation but it turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice I received as a new mom. 

2. Feed your soul before you feed your stomach!  A few years ago I attended a Ladies Conference and the speaker was talking about being in the Word regularly. One thing she said that stood out to me and that I came home and implemented in my own life was how, if we are struggling to be in the Word consistently, to try disciplining ourselves to not eat anything until we have spent time feeding our soul with the Word of God. This was so practical and made so much sense! I can't say I have done this well every day since that time but overall it has helped me a lot to be in the Word more and reminded me how it is just as important, if not more so, to be fed from God's Word as it is to be fed with food. What is great about this advice is it not only places the priority on God rather than food but it also will likely cause you to do your Bible reading in the morning, at the start of your day...when we need it the most! I am not one to tell anyone that their Bible reading has to be done at a certain time of day but in my own life I know that when I start the day off with God I am going to be more successful in responding to my spouse, my children and the unexpected things that come up then if I neglect to spend time with God at the start of my day. 

3. Get Creative! Every season of life presents challenges. The mom of young children doesn't have it harder than the retired mother. The full-time working mom doesn't have it harder than the stay-at home-mom. The mom who homeschool's her children doesn't have it harder than the mom who sends her children to school. The unmarried lady doesn't have it harder than the married lady. EVERY life has challenges...the challenges just look different. One thing we need to stop doing as women is comparing our lives with each other. Because each of our lives is different and presents different obstacles, sometimes we need to get creative in how we spend time with God in His Word. Sometimes it's just reciting verses we have hidden in our heart and meditating on them when we are in the shower. Sometimes it's sitting down for 30 minutes each day, at the same time and reading the same amount of verses. Sometimes it's listening to the audio Bible on your commute. Sometimes it's reading between appointments on your smartphone Bible app. My point is that spending time in God's Word doesn't have to be the same for everyone. It's doesn't have to be a set amount of time, at the same time everyday. Your time in God's Word doesn't have to look like mine; what is important is that it is happening. Sometimes you have to get really creative in order to make it happen...and that's OKAY! Do you have creative ways you have implemented Bible reading into your day? I'd love to hear about it and I'm sure other reader's would too! 

If your desire is to be a woman who wisely builds other's up then you need to discipline yourself to be in God's Word regularly. Knowing what His Word says allows us to understand what He expects of us and then we can put that knowledge to use as we build. We are told in Psalm 19:7-8

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Everything we read in God's Word is right and perfect and what we glean from it makes the simple wise. You cannot expect to be wisely building if you are neglecting your time with the master builder and allowing Him to instruct you. If you have never taken the time to do a word study on the words wise and foolish I would encourage you to spend some time in God's Word doing just that. It is amazing how much God has to say about these two traits. Do you have a detailed plan of action for how you will build wisely? If not, then start today and begin by going to God's Word and allow Him to teach and instruct you and give you the plans you need for successful building.

***Next we will talk about WHERE we should build!***

A Time to Slow Down

Being still is something that I need reminding of often! I am not one to sit around and do nothing, I don't relax well and I definitely like to keep myself busy. While this can be positive in so many ways in one very big way it negatively impacts my life and that is when it comes to knowing God. I very often have to be reminded to slow down and spend time quietly with the Lord. Why is it that I know it is only through Him that I can accomplish anything and only because of Him I have the strength to get through each day and yet I have to constantly be reminded to "be still and know God"? 

These past few months have been a whirlwind of crazy for me. Each thing I had on my plate were things I believed the Lord was in favor of me doing and were given to me by Him as opportunities to be used of Him, but they were also things that required a great deal of time, study and perseverance. I was recently able to finish up my last class, earning me my diploma in Biblical Counseling. Now I can take a breath for a little bit until I begin taking classes for the Masters Diploma and focus on marriage and family counseling in the fall. While I am really looking forward to beginning this program, I am also thankful for the break from 4:30 mornings of listening to lectures and writing paper after paper! 

I was also asked last year to speak at a ladies banquet but just before it was to begin it was cancelled because of a family emergency. They asked me to keep what I had prepared and save it for this year and I just recently came back from speaking at this banquet. In the year that I had to study the theme verse and seek the Lord as to what direction He wanted me to take with it I learned so much more about who God is, who He wants me to be and what changes needed to be made in my heart so that I could be better used of Him for His glory. I am so thankful that I was given an extra year to prepare because the devotional took many shapes and forms over the course of that year as the Lord spoke to my heart. It finally became clear to me what He wanted me to say, just weeks before I was scheduled to present it. There were a lot of sleepless nights as I wrestled with whether or not I was handling His word appropriately and if I was having the right heart attitude as I wrote it...and of course pridefully worrying if I would meet their expectations!

The Lord gave me insight into a verse that I had never really seen and I believe it will help me tremendously as I attempt to counsel women. Last year I didn't see the connection between the verse and what I felt the Lord leading me to do with my life but today I am confident He used it to give me a vision that will be valuable as I try to help people. I also want to share what the Lord has shown me and reminded me of here with you and I plan to do just that. There was no way I could have shared at this banquet all that the Lord showed me because the time just wasn't there. On the blog though I can really dive into the different things the Lord showed me and hopefully be a blessing and encouragement to those reading. My plan is to create a series titled, "Women Builders"...or something like that....and it will consist of different blog posts over several weeks.

I'm excited to finally begin working on this series and I pray that it will be as much a blessing to the reader as it was to me as I studied it. For this week though, I plan to "be still and know God" because I have neglected this too much over the last few weeks. I trust that you too will be able to find a quiet space this week and allow the Lord to speak to your heart and show you all the great things He wants to do in and through you...if you will let Him!

A Time for New Every Morning

With a new year comes new resolutions; thoughts on how we can do things better in the year to come. We think about all the changes we want to make and all the time we want to redeem. I know I have the tendency to do this; Instead of beginning to eat right today, I will wait till Monday...the start of a NEW week. Instead of exercising this month, I'll start next month...at the start of a NEW month. This past week at prayer meeting, one of our deacons did the preaching and this one verse in Lamentations really spoke to my heart; the Lord has used it to help me ponder some things and it has given me a renewed understanding of God's mercy.

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." ~Lamentations 3:22-23

Sometimes we can know something but not really know; we don't allow it to be true in our hearts so instead it just remains knowledge we hold in our head, never allowing it to do any kind of changing within us. I am so incredibly thankful that God's mercies are NEW EVERY MORNING! If you have not taken the time to ponder that lately, I encourage you to do so now. Maybe it is because I have a harder time extending mercy that it is difficult for me to believe that each morning, no matter how badly I failed the day before, is NEW; a blank slate and I get to start over again. That is an incredible truth! It's a truth that I want to intentionally believe in my heart and put to use in 2016. If I mess up I don't have to wait until the start of a new week, month or year because in God's economy, each DAY is NEW! 

I have absolutely no idea what 2016 holds for me or my family but God does know and I trust him to be preparing our hearts to handle whatever He has for us. In spite of not knowing Gods plan for the year to come, I still have goals that I am working towards; goals of losing weight (is that ever off the table?!), goals of being a better mom...not a perfect one but a better one, goals of continuing my education in counseling and seeing what doors God opens in this area as I work towards helping people. Most importantly I have goals of growing closer to God, surrendering my will to His and seeing how He wants to use me, my time and my resources for His glory. Will I fail? Absolutely. I will have failures and successes along the way but in the midst of all those is a God whose mercies are new every morning and whose faithfulness I can count on! What a tremendous blessing that is. I am excited to see what the new year will bring and I am excited to put to use the idea of God's mercies being new each morning; not waiting for next week, month or year to make changes but each day purposing to do better than I did the day before, relying on God to help me.

A Time to Stop Shaming

I recently read a blog post written by a woman who wanted to make sure the rest of us knew she wasn't fooled by the "perfect" lives we try to portray on social media and how she had the collective "us" all figured out. I only got halfway through the article and then had to stop because her article did nothing to convict me of portraying something I'm not and frankly sounded more like the rantings of a bitter woman who is very dissatisfied with the life she is leading and clearly seeing other people happy or at least attempting to be happy, angers her. I would cite the blog post here so you could see for yourself but my blog is not about spreading that kind of negativity so I'm not going to; I'm sure a quick search would lead you to it...or one similar. 

That's the thing with social media. I will be the first to admit that I love my daily dose of Facebook because it's an easy way for me to stay connected with people; something that is difficult to do when you are busy raising a family. However, it has become a place where people feel very free to say whatever they think with very little regard to other people's feelings. It has also become a place where shaming of every kind is taking place. We have all seen and heard about the "mommy wars", I even wrote a blog post on it [A Time to Judge Me]. It is also a place where a person will now be shamed for having a happy life, happy marriage and happy children. When did we become so cynical that it is hard for us to believe that a family can be genuinely happy? When did we become so bitter that we

doubt a picture of a happy couple is real? When did we become so dissatisfied with our own lives that seeing posts about a person being thankful and happy for their spouse and children and life in general upsets us? 

Why is it necessary for us to know the "dirt" behind the photo? Why can't a frazzled, stressed out mom who has been taking care of her children who maybe haven't behaved the best the past few days or maybe were sick and cranky, post a photo of that rare second when the child was happy as a reminder to focus on the good and not the negative? Why can't a couple, who in reality have arguments and disagreements like every other couple, post a photo of themselves and celebrate the love they STILL have for one another despite the ups and downs marriage has brought? Why do we feel the need to tell people that if there is ANY negative anywhere in their lives then they are not allowed to focus on the ups but should instead dwell on the downs? 

I love seeing photos of couples who are happily married and in love. I love seeing photos of couples who have stood the test of time & the "for better or for worse" moments and I love seeing photos of families enjoying each other and being happy; even if it's only for that one day, minute or second because everyone deserves to celebrate the good moments. Families are falling apart and that is no secret. There are a lot of hurting moms and dads and in effect, a lot of hurting children. Families need help, they need support, they need love, they need encouragement and most of all they need to know there is a God that loves them more than any one person could and who wants to help them succeed. I want to spread THAT message! I want to like every happy, joyful picture I see, not because I'm naive and think that that a happy picture is a total representation of what is going on but because that person is making a choice to focus on the good rather than dwell on the negative and that kind of focus is what is going to save marriages and save families!

Yes, there are those out there who will always feel the need to impress and portray something that isn't reality but I believe they are the exception, not the rule. The majority of people on social media are just trying to live their lives to the best of their ability and sometimes if they need to make something look a little better than reality to help them feel better, then just let them! If we want to be people who love the way God tells us to love then we will be patient & kind; we won't be rude, envious, boastful, proud or easily angered & offended. My family is made up of 9 imperfect people who have good days and bad days. Despite the ups and downs though we are able to genuinely put a smile on our faces and have genuine love for one another in the midst of our circumstances because we have the joy of the Lord in our hearts. So post those happy moments and don't let anyone bully you into believing you shouldn't just because your life isn't perfect. That's what life is: An imperfect existence filled with perfect moments and no one should be shaming you for sharing it!

A Time for Two Wishes

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children
 walk in truth." ~3 John 1:4

As a Christian family it can be difficult at times to explain to other Christians why we feel so strongly the best place for our kids to be educated is in the public school. In comparison to the people who only have a negative opinion about it, there are few who support our decision and even fewer who share our vision of the kind of difference we can make there. I've never been one to shy away from a fight; not one I believe in anyway. Yes, things have changed and we don't agree with all the changes but I also know that you can't make a difference if you walk away from the issues, someone has to stay and try to make a difference. Our difference won't be lobbying legislators in hopes of repealing Common Core. That would be great and there are people called to that kind of fight. The kind of fight I'm talking about is on a smaller scale, closer to home. The change we feel called to make is by offering support to the teachers who work effortlessly to do what is best for our children; to let them know how much we appreciate them when they are forced to teach a curriculum they don't care for or have to implement a set of standards they know will only frustrate the students. It's the kind of change that shows other's God can still be a part of a child's classroom when our own children bring their Bibles to school to read during free time or on the bus, that He's there when a teacher allows one of our children to share from God's word what we believe about the creation of the world, He is there when we commit to teaching kids about who God is during our weekly Good News Club, He's there in the lunchroom when a fellow classmate asks one of our children who is this God they believe in? He's even there in our children's homework assignments if we have taught them that no one, not even the public school, can take God out of their hearts if they want Him there. Yesterday one such homework assignment came home that proves this point:

Overlook the several grammatical errors that it appears even the teacher missed because the grammar is not what's important here...not this time. What is important is what is seen in the heart of Owen. The boldness he had in sharing his heart in a homework assignment not knowing how it would be received by the teacher. What is important is that rare glimpse into the heart of a child who very rarely lets people know what is going on inside. To say I was proud when I read this is an understatement. The courage it took for him to write this, knowing that he may be mocked by other classmates (because let's face it....these days anyone who claims the name of Christ is fair game for ridicule) touched me. It's the kind of courage that can only come from God. Last winter we spent our family devotion time in the book of Joshua and had the boys hide the following verse in their hearts: 

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Joshua 1:9

He put the truth of that verse to work in that homework assignment! It may seem small in comparison to the battle Joshua was called to but even Joshua had to start somewhere. As Christian parents we need to be preparing our children for battle and teaching them to take courage in the face of opposition. They are never too young to learn this very important life lesson and I am thankful for the opportunities God is giving my kids to stand up for what they believe in their school, with their teachers and among their peers. Not every family will be called to put their children in public school; wherever you are called though, that is where your battle is and you have a responsibility to teach your kids how to stand up for their faith.
If you ask Ben and I what our two wishes are we'd say we don't believe in wishes, but we do believe in prayer and our two prayers would be that each member of our family would "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" and that our children will always "walk in truth". Pray for our children that God would continue to use them for His glory and that they would continue to have hearts willing to do His will. He CAN do great and mighty things through them...even in the public school.

A time for "I don't do baths!"

"Any man can be a father, but it takes someone

special to be a dad." ~Anne Geddes

I'm going to make this simple. I was away and Ben was left to hold down the fort here at home. One evening I received a text that read: I DON'T DO BATHS!

Assuming he was just being melodramatic about a task he's not crazy about I didn't pay it much attention and replied with: Oh come on! Your mom is there to help you. :)

What I received next was a series of texts with pictures of the most hilarious bath time I've ever read about. Enjoy!

 It all started as a fun bubble bath. Lots of happy girls.

 Then Tess started wincing and holding her rear.

And then the faces started.

 Then, there it was. Bigger than most grown men.

 So we went downstairs and Oma rinsed hair...

...and Emma peed on the floor.

Then I had to clean the bathtub.

It grossed us all out.

 But we recovered.

A Time for Change...Again!

Have I ever mentioned I don't like change? Well, I don't. I like structure, schedules, consistency and familiar surroundings. I can handle spontaneous as long as it's organized...I sound like so much fun, don't I?! This is one thing I love about God. He NEVER changes. He is always the same, unfailing, loving God and I don't have to worry that He's going to change His mind. For someone like me, that truth is a real comfort.

As I've shared before my morning routine is pretty structured and it works for me...well, worked. It was my "alone" time, while the house was quiet where I could get up at 5, have my coffee, read and do a couple chores and just prepare myself for the day ahead. Sadly, sometimes things change and you have to restructure your day or at least leave room for things to go a little differently. With a new school year came a new schedule for our oldest, who is now at the Middle School in another town. This is the age when the three towns in our district come together in one school so that puts us about a 30 minutes drive from the school....on a bus it's an hour and a half! So while I'm still getting up as early as I used to, I now have someone who needs to be up with me and instead of reading I'm making breakfast, lunch and keeping my 11-year-old, non-organized, son on schedule. Once he is on the bus I have about 40 minutes before the others start waking up and I begin the process of getting all of them ready for school.

Things change! That is reality and I need to deal with it. Some of the retired ladies at our Bible study yesterday were commenting on what an adjustment retirement is; They went from having the house to themselves all day, making the decisions, having a set routine to now having their husband home and the routine getting thrown all off. It made me realize how true it is that there really is a season to everything! I say it all the time, it's sort of my mantra but I guess I hadn't realized how that statement penetrates just about every aspect of life. No matter what stage of life or what season of life we find ourselves in, it all comes with change. Some changes are big...retirement is a big change. Some of the changes are small...a new school schedule is a small change. The thing I have to remember is that God knows all these changes. None of it is a surprise to Him and if we choose to trust Him with these changes then we can trust He is going to give us exactly what we need to function successfully with these changes. I can choose to grumble and complain and focus on how this is affecting me negatively or I can choose to see the change as something positive and seek out what His will is for me in the change.
One blessing I have already seen is that I now have some one-on-one time with my oldest that I didn't have before...and it's every morning! There are no distractions and no interruptions. We can open up our Bibles together and read while he eats breakfast. He also gets home before the other kids do, so there is even more one-on-one time. For my son, even he has chosen to see this as a positive. A couple of the things he said to me were, "well I'm up at that time anyway" and "I like the long bus ride; I get to talk to people." I do think as time goes on that getting up that early will not be as easy and I do think the long bus ride will get old but because we are choosing to see the good and positive in these changes, God is blessing us and we are thankful for the goodness He has shown us the past few weeks.

So if you are like me and you don't like change I encourage you to embrace it and look for the positive. Change is an inevitable part of life and not all change is bad. Look for what God might be trying to show you, teach you and bless you with during the change rather than dwell on the negative. If you find yourself really struggling to find the goodness in a change you are facing then I give you this verse:

'Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.' ~Philippians 4:8

You can't go wrong when you put your focus on all the things this verse mentions!

A Time for the Right Perspective

It's been quiet here on the blog. Between having all the kids home for the summer and taking classes, I haven't had a lot of time for much else. However, quiet on the blog does not mean quiet on my heart and God has done a good deal of convicting, shaping and restoring. I hope you can say that you've had seasons like that. Seasons where it seems like you don't have much to say but it's only because you are choosing to be still and know God. He can't speak to us if we never stop talking or moving long enough to hear him; we can't make changes if we don't know where change needs to happen. It's interesting sometimes to see what God will use to stir your heart and bring about conviction. For me it was a lecture in one of my classes and a book the kids and I read aloud together over the summer.

 In one of my lectures the professor gave us an acronym: ALIVE. It stands for Always Living In View of Eternity. We were learning this as a tool to have in order to help someone we might be helping understand how our perspectives influence our responses to life's circumstances and how our response influences the outcome 100% of the time. We were being taught to challenge someone to think about whether or not it is God's Word that influences our perspective. Throughout our lectures and our teaching, while we are being taught how to help others we also, if we are surrendered enough to allow it, are being challenged ourselves to make positive changes and look at life with a filter of hope and life in Christ. I began to see that there were some areas in my life that I was not completely surrendered and this really grieved me. 

Then as the kids and I got to the end of our book on "Hero's of the Faith", we read about two men: George Mueller and John Wesley. What these two men had in common and what the Lord spoke to not only me about but the kids also was how these men told only God of their needs and trusted Him fully to provide; they were incredible stewards with what God had given them, giving back to God more than what they kept for themselves. I realized that I had fallen away from the kind of steward I wanted to be. I felt the Lord convicting me about letting HIM provide for my needs rather than trusting in my bank account to provide. I was also being challenged about what I spent my money on.

 As I realized that I needed to live my WHOLE life with eternity in view not just part of it I realized that this had to extend into how our family spent our money and on what. One night I sat down with Ben and shared with him what God had been showing me and not surprising to us, Ben had been feeling convicted similarly. I love how God does that and how only He can make two hearts one...it gives me goose bumps every time it happens. From there we talked about ways that we as a family can live with a perspective more focused on eternity and how we can be better stewards with what God has given us. We both wanted to involve the kids and make them a part of this work that God is doing in our lives. Showing our kids (and others too) practical ways we can practice what God is showing us is really important to us... so this is what we did...

We decided to give the kids an allowance. The kids work really hard around the house. They all have chores to do and for the most part they do them with sweet spirits and little complaint. Because we have seen how hard they have worked this past year we were okay with giving them a little compensation for their efforts with the intent of using the allowance to teach them about budgeting and being a wise steward with what God gives you. They will each receive 1/4 of their age per week (I told you it was a little compensation!). From that amt. they must tithe 10%, save 70% and can spend 20%. We thank Ben's parents for helping us with the percentages. It's what they did with their kids and I don't know about the others but it was a good system for Ben! We have also told them that for each need or want they have whether it is new sneakers or a new Lego set, we would pray about it and give God time to provide it in a way where we can get the item for the best deal possible instead of going out and just buying it brand new. We want the kids to see that God is ABLE to provide ANY need we have and as we as a family purpose to live this way, we are excited to see what God will show us. Keeping eternity in view will allow us to be more thoughtful on what we spend our money on and hopefully give us even more resources to give back to God. One passage from the chapter on John Wesley read:

“When you [John Wesley] were a young man, you made 30 pounds; you lived on 28 pounds and had 2 pounds to give away. The next year, you doubled your money to 60 pounds, but you still lived on 28 so you had 32 to give away. And when you made 120 pounds a year, you still lived on 28 and gave away 92!" John Wesley laughed and said, "I call it Kingdom economics!" ~Hero Tales by Dave & Neta Jackson

For Ben and I, of course there are set bills that have to be paid but aside from those things we are responding to the convicting of the Holy Spirit and leaving our budget and spending in Gods hands. We do not know what the future holds and there may come a day where we will have to live on less out of necessity; being convicted to live on little and need little may just be a blessing for the future that we have yet to understand! God always moves with a purpose and a plan and while I know becoming more disciplined in this area will not always be easy, I am excited to see God's plan worked out.  

A Time for a Funny Story

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to sit down and write something funny one or all of the kids has done. It's the last day of school today and it was not without its funny incident at the bus stop! 

Side Story: My amazing neighbors, for the past 6 years beginning when Noah was in Kindergarten, have put my kids on the bus at the group stop for us. This has made it so that I don't have to get all the kids dressed up and in the truck to go to the bus stop and has been an incredible blessing and help; especially during the times I had a newborn to care for. Since the weather is nicer and they want to get up to their camp earlier, I have been putting the boys on the bus two days a week for a few weeks now and it is for this reason I was fortunate enough to have this story to share! A big thank you goes out to my neighbors; we should all be so lucky as to have an "Ed & Elaine" living next door. 

Our new 6th, 5th & 3rd graders!

I was sitting in the truck as the bus was pulling up. The boys had begun getting out of the truck and because I couldn't see what was happening on the other side, just assumed ALL the boys were getting their bags and heading onto the bus. I only saw two get on and I knew the bus driver was smiling and mouthing something to me but I just assumed she was saying, "Have a great summer!" and smiled and nodded at her. A few seconds pass and she's still laughing and I see that one of the boys hasn't gotten on the bus and I'm really confused because I don't see him anywhere. I get out and ask her, "did he get on?" and she laughs, points behind me and says, "He's peeing! I was telling you, boys will be boys!" Sure enough, there's the boy heading my way thinking nothing of the fact that he was peeing....out in the open....and with a big toothy grin got on the bus as though nothing had happened. 

I was so shocked I couldn't even muster up words to say to him. I admit this is not the first time one of them has had to pee at the bus stop but I make them go farther into the woods and get behind a tree...sorry Ed & Elaine! Why this particular time he thought right beside the truck door would be a good spot is beyond me. I also don't understand why one of his brothers didn't stop him; they must have thought it was an appropriate spot too?

We're the Cyr family and apparently we like to leave our mark...in more ways then one! 

Happy Summer! 

If you liked this story, you might also like the post A Time for Rocks when Noah put a rock in his ear at school...and how we got it out.

A Time to Let Go of Excuses!

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 

~Proverbs 28:13

So the Lord has given me another opportunity to be transparent with all of you....great for you, not so great for me! I do love transparency. Some of the women I admire most are the ones who have been willing to mentor me through transparency. It speaks volumes and can often help but for the person who has to do the revealing, it's not always fun. As I share this, please don't get the impression that this is the first time something like this has happened to us; I just felt led to share this particular incident and highlight a couple valuable life lesson I am trying to ingrain in my children. 

No names will be shared but some of the details need to be brought out for better understanding. There was a band field trip. It was at an amusement park. It was a well-deserved reward for some hard work during this school year. It may come as a shock to you but for my two who were on this trip, it was their first time at a place like this because well....amusement parks with 7 little children are just too overwhelming for me. I was thrilled for my two boys to have this opportunity because it means I don't have to bring them, ha! We've done Storyland but this place had big rides, for big kids! They were so excited for this trip, and I don't blame them. I knew that my two boys would be in the same group and I knew who their chaperone was going to be; I couldn't have been more thrilled with the situation. 

It never occurred to me that morning to have a talk to my boys about their behavior on this trip, to respect the people in charge of them and to just overall behave and be mindful of what our expectations are. While they are not perfect by any means, this is an area these two generally don't struggle with. So I sent them on their way with a cheerful goodbye and skipped the pep talk. Whether it was a mistake or not I'll never know; it’s possible the outcome would have been the same had they had it. I was so excited to pick them up at the end of the day and hear all about the fun they had; I knew it would be an evening full of stories. It was full of stories alright; just not the ones I was thinking of!

When they got into the car the first thing one of the boys said when I asked how it went was, "Well, the chaperone was probably upset with me for not being patient; I was just really excited to be there". Alright, I thought, a little excitement is expected so I didn't say much about it. I decided I would just text her when I got home and make sure things had gone well. Lets just say her version of the story and the one I was getting were different. When I questioned said child and read the text to him that said he had taken off on her three times he looked at me confused and said that he hadn't run off on her. Life lesson #1: Children are always guilty until proven innocent; except in cases where they are accusing an adult of harming them (in those cases, parents should always believe the child and investigate). So with that in mind I went back to my friend and made it clear that I believed her but not being there I was going to need more details so I could get to the bottom of this; and she obliged. When I read to my child the first instance he ran off he immediately made an excuse. Life lesson #2: NO EXCUSES! Own your behavior and take responsibility for your actions. I immediately called him on his excuse making and explained that what he thought was considered ASKING her was actually TELLING her. The two are not the same and I made it clear to him that he did, in fact, take off on her. He knew better to give me any excuses on the next two points and so after a little scolding, a little reminding and a little scripture to reinforce what I was teaching I then had him sit down to write the chaperone an apology. Life lesson #3: Teach your kids at a young age to apologize and ask forgiveness. 

Why am I sharing this? Because making excuses is one of my biggest pet-peeves and I see it all too often. How many times have you heard a parent make an excuse for a child who is behaving poorly? How many times do we see adults making excuses for themselves? I could have done it in this case. I could have said, "Weeeellll, he was just so excited. Relax a little!" The bottom line and what I want my kids to understand is that we have the power, with the help of the Holy Spirit to rein in our emotions and our bodies. We don't have to get out of control, we don't have to be impatient, and we don't have to throw tantrums because we can have control over those things. Generally speaking, we choose our behaviors and I begin teaching this to my children as soon as I know they understand the words coming out of my mouth. That means my two-year-old does not have the luxury of throwing a fit just because he's two and not getting his way or is over-tired. If we begin teaching our kids young these very important character traits (or fruits of the spirit, Gal.5:22-23) then hopefully by the time they are adults they are the kind of adults who can take ownership of their actions and not instantly fall back on excuses. My hope is that my kids grow to be the kind of people who are able to say, "I'm sorry" and really mean it. That instead of blaming circumstances and people for bad choices they will be able to examine their own hearts admit they were wrong. 

I'm also sharing this because it was a reminder to me that parenting never ends and it requires constant prayer. Even when you think you've done a really good job instilling principles in your kids, they will still make mistakes. When there are several kids (and I'm sure it happens in situations with fewer children) there are several areas needing attention all at the same time and it can get overwhelming. I was reminded that my two older boys are not adults yet and while they are great kids and generally make good choices, they still need lots of prayer, direction and guidance. It's so easy to get focused on the younger ones because they need so much from you but that incident was a reminder that I really need to work on balancing my attention and realize that my older kids need me just as much as my younger ones do. It was a lesson in humility for sure and reminded me once again, to be extending grace to other moms; the same kind of grace I need. I'm most certainly thankful for this particular chaperone's grace in the situation; it made a discouraging moment a little easier to bear. The great news is there will be more field trips and more opportunities for them to put into practice the principles we are trying to instill in them. They will fail; they will succeed. How they handle those successes and failures will be the fruit of our labors!

Things Don't Always Go as Planned!

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped:therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." ~Ps. 28:7

When you are a planner, as I am, curve balls can be tough to handle. The past couple of weeks have been challenging as I try to balance life and my new adventure of going back to school. I have had to be more organized and manage my time more wisely than I ever have. And isn't it always the way that as soon as you begin to do something good, that bad things begin to happen. The enemy loves to see us get discouraged and on the verge of giving up and he has certainly tested me lately.

I was sharing with the ladies in my Bible study last week how my very first assignment was not without its glitches. Things I have never struggled being able to do on the computer all of a sudden became obstacles in me getting my work done. As a planner, my game plan has been to be one or two steps ahead throughout this whole class, so that when the unexpected happens I'm not at the last minute freaking out that I still am not done my assignment. I wanted to submit my first essay early so one evening after the younger ones were in bed and my older ones were busy working on motorcycles with their dad I decided to seize the opportunity to get it done. As I was writing the last paragraph the power went out! We were not in the middle of a rain, snow or wind storm. It was perfectly calm outside so it was confusing why it went out. We later learned that an accident had occurred up the road and took out a power line. We did not get it back that evening and by morning when I was able to turn on the computer, I found my work was not recoverable. And it hadn't been saved. So I had to start over.

Another part of my game plan is to get up early, before the kids do, to listen to my lectures uninterrupted. This morning I began listening to my lecture and shortly into it had to stop because Tess came running downstairs (at 5:30 am!). I had to explain to her that it was not wake up time and bring her back to her bed. Well, last night Jena threw up. When I walked into the room I learned she had thrown up again in the night, though in her bucket this time (thank you Lord!). I then proceeded to get the bucket cleaned up, made sure she was alright and then told them both to try and rest some more. I came back to my lecture and not long after had to stop again because the boys (being boys) managed to get into some mischief (have I mentioned my kids don't sleep?) and so I had to stop and deal with that. While I did mange to hear the entire lecture, I missed so much from all the stopping and starting that I am going to have to listen to it again.

Those are just a few things that have gotten in the way of "my plan".

I could choose to complain, whine, get angry or give up. I could make a choice to decide God is wrong and doesn't know what He is doing by sending these obstacles my way. I have decided however, to trust God. I'm not saying I do this easily though. It is something I have to purpose to do because my flesh instinctively wants to worry about the fact that all 7 of my kids could end up throwing up by the end of the week or get angry with fact that I am not as ahead as I would like to be despite all my planning. Instead I am purposing to look at all of this as "for my good" (Rom.8:28) and rely on His strength. I cannot do any of this without God's help. I need Him every hour and it is only when I make a choice to trust God rather than give into my flesh that I overcome the obstacles successfully.

God has been so good to me these past few weeks. When I lay down at night I can only think to praise Him and thank Him for what he allowed me to accomplish that day. He has been teaching me now more than ever, how to rely on His strength and it's been a precious gift amid some not so precious moments!

*I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR by Fernando Ortega

A Time for Changes, New Chapters and Much Prayer!

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man 

availeth much."  ~James 5:16b

Our lives get so busy don't they? At the beginning of each month I start making out my calendar and usually it's not filled in too much and I think it's possible to have a quiet month. It doesn't take long before those days slowly fill up with stuff though and before I know it the days get fuller and fuller. I've written before about the importance of having wisdom when it comes to commitments and not becoming so busy that you no longer have family time. This is not what I am talking about. I'm talking about the things that can't be avoided...a visit from family, appointments at the doctor, meetings, a birthday here and there, dump runs, yard work, date night! All things that are good and some necessary to do and all things that slowly fill up the calendar.

Over the years I have found myself daily praying for wisdom. Not just wisdom in raising my children (which is SO important and something we all need to be doing) but wisdom for the day to day. I'm so thankful for the verse in James that says, " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." I don't know about you but Ben and I need a LOT of wisdom when it comes to raising this family and navigating life and it brings us so much comfort to know that God wants to give it to us in abundance if we just ask!

One bit of wisdom that God gives and is so helpful in navigating life is the verse in Proverbs that says, "Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established (15:22)." There are so many times in life when we have decisions to make; big decisions or small they all require thought, wisdom and time to seek out God's will in the matter. One way that God helps us is by the people he puts into our lives who maybe have had to make a similar decision and can help us by offering insight that we haven't thought of. Sometimes they have just been around long enough and have seen people in similar situations make a mistake that had big consequences and they can warn us or they can be a prayer warrior for us as we are making the decision. It is so foolish of us when we let pride get in the way instead of using the wisdom God has put right in front of us: His Word and His people!

It is because of this that I turn to you, my readers (thanks btw...you have no idea what a blessing you are!) and ask for prayer. Life has been and is getting very busy. It is a good kind of busy as we see the Lord working but I have never felt more inadequate as I have recently. I am thankful that God chooses to use our family when He does but it is such a humbling feeling when He does. Who am I? God certainly does not need me to accomplish His will and yet, thankfully, He sets aside a small part for me to fulfill. I'm excited and impatient at the same time, to see what the future has for our family but we certainly need all the wisdom God has to offer us as well as the "multitude of counsellors". We also need prayer warriors and while I know we have several I also know we can't have too many! If you would take the time, when the Lord puts our family on your hearts, to pray for some of the specific needs below we would appreciate it so much! Don't forget to scroll down and learn about a HUGE prayer God answered for us!


Please Pray!

Photo Credit: Kristina O'Brien
Photography

* I begin taking classes on Monday as I work toward a diploma in Biblical Counseling. I need prayer for good retention of information, time management ability and direction as I choose my next classes.

* We need wisdom for a decision that we are in the process of making. I'm not able to give details at this time but know that your prayers would be so much appreciated. We want the Lord to be clear and close the door if it's not His will. We do not want to force God into any decision for our family and want to be sure of His will in this matter.

* I was recently asked to speak at a ladies banquet in June. Please pray the Lord would give me wisdom to know what He wants me to touch upon. This is one of those "who am I?" moments. I'm humbled by the request and want to make sure that any words I speak that day are of the Lord and not of me.

* Ben's position at work changed recently and while it is going very well for him it still has a bit of a learning curve. Pray for him that he would have wisdom and a good testimony before his peers and that God would continue to teach him what He needs to do this job well.

* That as a family we would purpose to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Eph.6:11)

***Praise***

With the changes for Ben at work came new hours, meaning he gets home a bit later than he did before. We, along with two other ladies, hold a Good News Club in our kid’s school on Friday afternoons; we just finished up our 6th year. In all those years, Ben has been the Bible story teacher but with the changes it looked like he would no longer be able to do that. When he first took the position he went to his new supervisor and explained the situation and was told that he could leave early on Friday's to finish out this year. We were still unsure about next year. We took to our faithful prayer warriors and asked that they pray for Ben to be able to continue leaving early on Friday's to teach, but if that would not be allowed, for God to provide someone different and make it clear who that someone should be. Two weeks ago, Ben went to his supervisor again and they discussed it. Without hesitation his boss told him he could leave early every Friday next year to continue teaching Good News Club! This is such a huge praise and we could not be happier with the way God answered. We are grateful to those who committed to praying about this with us. Your prayers were answered!