Due to some personal reasons, I will be taking a break in writing. I’m hoping the break will be short but it will be all in the Lord’s timing. Check back soon & in the mean time keep on laughing!
16 MayTime off
07 MayMay it be
” . . . Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with chlid and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. . . . “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:30, 38
How incredibly impressive. There was no doubt, no rebuttle – only instant submission. There was no “But God . . . do you know that Joseph could leave me? . . . what will people say? . . . how do I explain this? . . . why me? Wow, to be able to answer as Mary did, so faithfully “may it be to me as you have said.” How much more faith resonates with that statement than the ones I’m more likely to utter. ”But God . . . do you know what moving again means? . . . how are we going to handle another deployment? . . . when will this crazy work schedule end? . . . how much more can I take?
Lord, may our hearts be as Mary’s, prepared for anything you are ready to pour out. Help us to view everything with a servants heart. Every situtation we encounter may we be able to joyfully utter those words. “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” Now that is true submission & faith.
01 MayThrough Him
Tuesday night as I made a quick mental run over all I needed to accomplish on Wednesday I began to panic. I first began to panic because I had alot to do & then I panicked because I hadn’t thoroughly developed any ideas in my mind for this weeks devotion. I quickly pushed the fear aside, uttered a “Lord, please help me, where do I go this week?” prayer & went on my way. While I had hoped to post yesterday, the Lord had other things in mind. Yesterday I had a lesson to learn, which would ultimately turn into this weeks devotion. Don’t we serve such a faithful God? Happy Reading!
I woke up yesterday immediately dreading our day. It was grocery shopping day, the day I had been putting off for a while. We were bare bones in the cabinets & I couldn’t put it off any longer. The night prior I had made out my 2 week menu & grocery list, all the while silently wondering if we couldn’t begin some sort of family fast. I was tired & did not have the energy for 1 early morning, 4 small children, 1 full shopping cart & a race against the clock for a nursing baby. Just thinking about the trip made me exhausted. But seeing as we all have come rather fond of food I was going to have to bite the bullet and go. My beloved’s work schedule wouldn’t allow him to join us so we were on our own. Or so I thought. As I got ready I just began to pray, “Lord help me please.” As I shared with the Lord my lack of excitment (although who truly gets excited about a grocery shopping trip anyway?) he brought back to my memory a verse, so simple yet so teeming with truth.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
As simple as my prayer was it would leave me standing in amazement at the end of the day. The Lord had heard my simple utterings for help & had spent the entire morning sending help my way. From a “happen chance” conversation with my neighbor who decided to come along & bring her older children offering their help, to the sweet employees who at every turn took every opportunity to assist me, including the woman who refuses to allow me to unload my cart with a baby strapped to me.
As I drove away from the commissary in thankful appreciation for how the Lords grace was poured out that morning I began to reflect upon the verse again focusing on the ” . . . who gives me strength” portion. I was so thankful that on that morning He chose to give me strength through the hands of those around me. As you tackle yet another PCS move, or another TAD for your husband (you didn’t really want to celebrate your birthday anyway did you?!), to even just the day in & day outs of life, remember You can do all things through Him.
15 AprVictory
If you had asked me when I was younger, what my favorite day of the week was, without fail it was Friday. I loved Fridays & the anticipation it brought as the weekend drew near. There were friends to see, places to be, sleep to be had & if I was lucky very little homework to be crammed in. Now that I’m a mom the stark reality is there are no days off, just days of less work. Hopefully. Sometimes. Now I love Mondays. The anticipation of a new week. The week that I’m going to get it all together. Then Friday rolls around, I’m behind & exhausted & decide I really do like Sundays better. It’s my husbands only day off, a day spent together as a family. We enjoy church, family naps & lots of playing & laughter to get us ready for the new week.
Celebrating this Easter season though, Sundays took on a whole new meaning to me. With the children being older, Easter was incredily meaningful this year. On Good Friday we spent the morning reading out of the children’s Bible, the story of redemption from the cross to the resurrection. I watched the sobering moment my 5 year old had, as she looked at the pictures of Christ on the cross (a far cry from the true reality but enough to catch her attention) and realized that it was her sin he died for. And mine. And yours. We dyed easter eggs on Saturday & later in the evening re-told the story as we made Resurrection cookies together, to be enjoyed on Sunday morning.
All day Saturday a thought kept crossing my mind, one that made me re-evaluate the way I’ve been looking at things. Then on Sunday morning when our pastor touched on it during his message, I knew it was a truth I had better hold on to. So I share with you the same question the Lord asked me.
Do you live your life as if it is Good Friday or Resurrection Sunday?
You see while the message of the cross is what our faith is based on, the story doesn’t stop there. While we celebrate the cross & Christ gift for us all, do we live our lives in the victory of that miraculous resurrection?
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:56
When we face challenges or tough situations do we live as if we truly know Christ rose from the grave? When we send our husbands off to battle, when we face months of lonliness, when we bury a parent, friend or even a child, when there are more bills to pay than money in the bank, when the doctors grim face matches the grim report, when outsourcing leads to another round of layoffs, or when we just don’t get our way, do we still believe in the resurrected Christ & his victory?
” Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Because over 2000 years ago a stone was rolled away, we now can stand, with our feet firmly planted beneath us & say “I will not be moved!”
02 AprInto your hands
“Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” Luke 23:46
His time had come. His purpose for coming to this world had been fulfilled. Jesus had spent his entire life, up until his last breath, walking in obedience to his father. Everything he said, did & was, was drenched in a desire to carry out his father’s will. Jesus knew his father’s heart, his father’s passion for His children. For you & I did he commit this incredible act of love. Lord, may we remember this incredible sacrifice & choose to live our lives not for our pleasure but rather for your purpose, so that your gift of life may not be in vain. May our lives be a witness to those around us of the incredible story of death, resurrection & ultimate life through you. Father, into your hands we commit our lives.
24 MarObedience
It seems so fitting that as we prepare for the Easter season that during my quiet time I would find myself in Luke, now reading about the death of Jesus. Yesterday as I wrapped up reading chapter 23, the last verses jumped off the page at me. With these simple verses my heart & faith were challenged. These few verses have called into question my obedience & as you read I pray that you will find yourself challenged as well.
“The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” Luke 23:55-56
Not much is mentioned about “the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee.” But volumes are spoken by her simple act of obedience. This woman followed her Savior to Galilee only to watch him die. She saw death in its gruesomeness unfold before her eyes. We know that her heart was broken by what was transpiring.
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.” Luke 23:27
I imagine these women holding on to one another, barely able to walk, stumbling along as their heart wrenching cries filled the streets of the city. But yet they continued to follow Him in faithfulness.
“But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.” Luke 23:49
These women had a faith & love for Jesus that wouldn’t allow them to turn back. They had seen death with it’s ugly hold & the perverseness of man, but still they held on. It amazes me that after all of this, “they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” After all that they saw transpire, they still desired to be obedient to the Lord. The unpleasant view of their circumstances never colored their judgment that God still reigned. And that obedience was still desired by Him.
How many times have I watch a situation unfold, far less dramatic than death, and struggle, sometimes even failing, in my own obedience. The “death” of a desire, the “death” of a friendship, the “death” of a situation that I just can’t wrap my mind around, all bringing my sin & ugliness to the surface wanting to push obedience out of the way. My obedience should never be based on situations, but truly comes down to one thing, my love for my Savior.
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15
“This is love for God: to obey his commands.” 1 John 5:3
My hearts desire is that you & I will meet “death” in whatever form it may come, with the life of obedience. Obedience to the one true God who alone can breath life into any circumstance.
19 MarHope
The Christmas I was 11 years old all I really wanted was a diary. A place to put the treasured thinking’s, daily events & life plans of my pre-pubescent mind. At the time I was an only child but I knew I had to keep my life musings under lock & key. So I was so excited when my grandmother took me to Hallmark & let me pick out a diary, complete with a combination lock, full of blank pages that I was going to fill. I faithfully began my journaling only to realize a couple of things. Most 11 year olds are not very poignant nor do they lead very exciting lives. My faithfulness in writing began to waiver. Coupled with the fact that I then lost the combination code I believe my coveted diary finally made it into the trash a couple of years later during a room purge. So here we are present day & I’m still not good at journaling. There are seasons though where I find journaling to be cathartic & the best release of any pent-up emotions. Thankfully I have more life musings than I did at the ripe age of 11 & I love being able to flip through the books & read about an answered prayer or a time of testing & trial where God moved as only He can.
I recently came across a journal entry from this time last year. We were going through a trial as a family that shook us to our core. Through our hope in Him & the faith, tears & prayers we shared, the Lord faithfully delivered us on the other side. It was amazing to look back, seeing the refining fire we were in & to see how He rescued us. So today I share parts of this journal entry, praying it brings you the same hope it brought me.
“. . . and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. . . . but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:25
Hope does not disappont us because God does not disappoint us. Through this fiery trial we will individually, as a couple & as a family be refined. We should come out of this very differently. If we do not then we will miss out on an amazing journey God has for us.
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
“I” nor “we” can do this in our own strength. It’s not our fight, while we ultimately take action, we follow Him into battle. He is our deliverer & will bring us through this. I do not hope in us but rather I hope in Him.
“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:25
Ultimately though, I hope for Him to be glorified.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
Lord, may you reign in this situation & may your glory be revealed as you give us beauty for ashes.
10 MarGod is Love
Happy Belated Valentine’s day! I had really been looking forward to my Valentine’s day post and the opportunity to share what I had written a couple of years ago. With our new arrival though I spent Valentine’s day wrapped in the love of my family and the mental fog a newborn brings. So I come to you now, a couple weeks later, thankful for the old addage “better late than never!” Maybe if I was feeling really witty I could have made it work for St. Patrick’s day & I could celebrate the fact that I’m a few days early. But if you read the part about the newborn fog, just know that I’m still there some days. Okay, lets be honest, most days! 
Here’s to praying the fog clears enough to resume my once a week attempts at writing. In the mean time, Happy Reading!
February 2007
Today is Valentine’s Day. For the longest time it was my favorite holiday. The hearts, the bursts of red & pink & a desire to be loved wholeheartedly, what could be more romantic than that? This year, as he was last year, my beloved is overseas in a sandy desert sans the hearts & speckling of smile inducing color. There will probably be no delivery man today holding an arrangement of my favorite tulips. No Godiva chocolate to hide from the children & slowly savor. Probably not even a phone call. Now that I’m loved wholeheartedly the economic version of Valentine’s Day seems unable to convey the feelings & love in my heart. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful husband whom I cherish, but on this deployment has blessed me with even more. The Lord has truly shown me daily how I’m loved wholeheartedly by Him. Which has always been quite an eluding concept for me to grasp. I knew He loved me but knowing it & walking it out in daily life has been two different things. We know the word says in 1 John 4:16 that God is Love. It seems interchangeable God & love, they are one in the same. You really can’t have one without the other. Keeping that in mind it causes us to see the Valentine’s day favorite, 1 Corinthians 13 in a whole new light. Let’s read the following verses, replacing love with God.
God is patient, God is kind.. . He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
God never fails. So short & sweet but ringing loudly with truth & clarity. I miss my husband terribly but am so thankful for the opportunity for the Lord to speak in my life during this time. How much more can I love my husband, the people around me or even myself when I can begin to fully understand the depth of God’s tangible love for me. During this deployment & the ones to come, God never fails.
13 FebAnd baby makes 6 . . .
On Wednesday we welcomed with joy our newest daughter. We are home, doing well & adjusting to life with 4 small children. Please excuse the brief absence from writing while we get settled into our new routine. I’m hoping to be back soon, writing & rearing to go. Until then, here’s to laughing at the days to come!
06 FebComfort
“As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you . . . ” Isaiah 66:13a
Being 9 months pregnant I cherish the quiet, however rare they may be, weeks around here. I’ve often been told I have two speeds, fast & faster, but these days snail-pace-slow works well for me. While this week has been one of those wonderfully quiet & slow weeks, it has come at a price. The sicky bugs have invaded our household. We’ve had snotty noses, upset tummies, headaches & various ailments of the sort. We’ve had lots of movies, pj’s & cudding on the couch days. We have also unfortunately had lots of crying days as well. Maggie in 2 year old splendor has really had a rough week. I struggled one morning to juggle cooking breakfast & offer her the much needed comfort & cuddling she was so desperately wanting. Emma, as precious as only a big sister can be, offered Maggie the opportunity to cuddle with her while I finished up in the kitchen. Emma’s offer was only met with louder wails from Maggie who choked out a “No, I ant (Maggie speak for want) mama.” While Emma’s cuddles would have helped me out, I was secretly proud that Maggie knew where her true source of comfort could be found at that moment & only mama’s arms would do.
That moment started me thinking upon times where I myself have needed comfort. Battling times of illness, loss of loved ones, rough days with children or a husbands hectic schedule; There have been many opportunities for God’s amazing comfort. Often times though I’ve robbed myself of His comfort, instead allowing substitutes to take its place. While a slowly savored piece of chocolate, dose of retail therapy, or heart felt cry have its place, it cannot take His place. May my heart cry be that of King David’s “May your unfailing love be my comfort.” Psalm 119:76.