Friday, February 28, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 Amplified Do you see that part at the end there? where it says you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet)??? joyce meyer pointed out that that is basically like a VACATION FOR YOUR SOUL. and not because god will take away all your problems. nope! not that at all. it's because no matter what your circumstances are, what situation you feel is impossible, IN THAT MOMENT, IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE, he will give your soul (mind, will, emotions) a rest, because you can actually turn those problems over to him in prayer and he will take care of it. while you relax and enjoy life. LIFE CHANGED. that's not to say that i don't freak out about stuff occasionally read: everyday. but i am LEARNING and go back to the cross instead of drowning in guilt and hopelessness.
you're gonna need to read this.
another blog to live by.....jami nato's blog.
seriously, go read her post from today and let it change you.
this girl talks about some GRACE. and she talks about it often.
i've begun to understand grace this year like never before. i mean, it's incredibly refreshing.
listen to what i heard joyce meyer say yesterday in one of her podcasts "hope for the uptight". yeah, i tend to be kind of uptight, so it hit home.
first, she quoted the amplified version of matthew 11:28-19
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will [o]ease and relieve and [p]refresh [q]your souls.]
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest ([r]relief and ease and refreshment and [s]recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.
Do you see that part at the end there? where it says you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet)???
joyce meyer pointed out that that is basically like a VACATION FOR YOUR SOUL. and not because god will take away all your problems. nope! not that at all. it's because no matter what your circumstances are, what situation you feel is impossible, IN THAT MOMENT, IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE, he will give your soul (mind, will, emotions) a rest, because you can actually turn those problems over to him in prayer and he will take care of it. while you relax and enjoy life. LIFE CHANGED.
that's not to say that i don't freak out about stuff occasionally read: everyday. but i am LEARNING and go back to the cross instead of drowning in guilt and hopelessness.
so jami nato and joyce meyer have been working together to change my life and they didn't even know it. i hope it changes you today too.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
blogs to live by [naptime diaries]
blogs changed the way i live. they changed me. i am who i am
today because of the grace and mercy of jesus, my parents AND
BLOGS.
i'm not even kidding. as a young adult i was scared to death
to have children. i thought it sounded exhausting and difficult (it is). but oh
man, it is so much more than that!
i'm not really sure
how it happened, but somehow, when i was just dating derek, i found a whole
"network" of blogging women who were moms. i saw how they raised
their children, i saw how they ENJOYED it, i saw how they loved their families
and taking care of them (even the hard, messy parts). and it clicked
IMMEDIATELY. i was like, "oh, i can do that. i can be that mom/wife."
for some reason i grew up thinking that kids were bratty,
and that moms got together to gripe about their children. disclaimer: my mom
didn't do that, but somewhere i came away with that impression.
Now that I see how fulfilling and sanctifying being a mom
and wife can be, I feel the need to share my wealth of blog mom knowledge and
inspiration. I mean, DAILY I find myself encouraged by these moms, and I’m
always wanting to share my list of daily reads with fellow moms or moms to be. in the future I can look back here to my blog and also send friends here who are needing some
encouragement.
so the first one i want to highlight: NAPTIME DIARIES
i would describe this blog as light-hearted, inspirational, and full of christ-centered encouragement.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND HERE
Naptime Diaries is my little home on the internet that is about Spirit, Truth, Family, Community, and Color. This is me telling my story as I endeavor to grow in all of the things. I pray that it reads like more of a coffee date and less of a trophy case.
FILLING MY DAYS
I'm a wife to a handsome man planting a church in downtown Charleston.
I'm the mom to four of the potentially loudest and cutest children on earth.
I tell my stories here on the blog, I design prints for our family business - a scripture print shop, and I believe in the community that we are building here - on The Influence Network.
WHO I’M WRITING TO
Even though I've been blogging since 2006, I started writing Naptime Diaries intentionally in 2009 for women like me who had small children, big dreams, and scarce contact with the outside world. Though most of my children have gone off to school and my naptimes are now filled with online work, I keep writing to her - the mama who craves freedom, passion, and intimacy with the Lord. I don't write only about motherhood and all are welcome here, but she will always have my heart.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
refreshed
oh, how refreshed i feel after being off with my babies for two ice days. on a monday and tuesday, no less! so the weekend got to just roll on into the week, and that made me very happy.
i told derek last night that even though i know god didn't send the wintry mix for my benefit only, it sure felt like it. last week, with moving and working, life just felt like too much. i missed my babies and questioned if teaching is really for me. sam hasn't really been sleeping at night, and he was getting over a little sickness, and i felt like a horrible mom sending him to school each day.
but then, the ice days. i don't mind so much that we'll be going two more days into the summer. i needed those days this week.
it's incredible how much i've learned about god through this teaching job, how much i've learned to trust him, how strong he really is through me. but still, i often wonder if i made the right decision. but when i start wondering, i start praying. i do know that if god wants me home with the boys, he'll get me home with the boys. and if not, he'll be with me through it all.
so that's what's on my mind this wednesday.
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