Spread the Love!

It feels as though the whole world is a little less friendly these days.  As all the groups are protesting all the other groups, and as all the politicians bash the other politicians, it's so easy to get wrapped up in spreading it around.  One little click of a button, and you can feel as though you've helped your cause.

But have you really?  Have you researched the article that you're sharing to verify it's sources?  Have you really thought about the message it's portraying? 

I don't think that there is anyone who truly doesn't know the state of our planet and the disrepair of the hearts in it.  All you have to do is turn on your TV, radio, phone, tablet or computer, and you are bombarded with the bad. 

By that little click, or that conversation over the water cooler, we choose what is important to us.  What can you do today to share the good?  Or better yet, what can you do today to add a little good to your world?

I'm not here to tell you how to use your social media accounts, I just wanted to put an idea out there.  What if instead of sharing an article protesting something, we shared an article showing how someone showed love in that same instance?  What if we made it a mission to spread the love with the awareness?

If you look hard enough, you can always find something great to share.  It could be as simple as sharing that a couple of weeks ago, there was nice man who waited while I unloaded my groceries so he could put my cart back for me.  

Or maybe there was a super long line at the grocery store, but the cashier still tried to make conversation with you.  You can almost guarantee that she's had at least one rude customer during her shift, but she's still trying.

Maybe you looked up at the sky and noticed a beautiful cloud, or a neat bird, or the sunset/sunrise was just breathtaking.

I have this little sign up on my wall that says, "What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?"  What would you have woke up to this morning if that were true?

Heavenly Father, I thank you for all of the blessings in my life.  I thank you even for the events that don't feel like blessings at the time, because I know you are working behind the scenes to help all things in my life be good.  I ask that you would be felt and heard over all of the noise in the world today.  That people would turn to you more than Google and Facebook.  That they would look around and try to make their little piece of the world a better place.  I pray that you would open the eyes of our hearts to see others as you see them.  And I thank you for loving us, even though we are broken.  In faith I pray.  Amen.

He Is Faithful

To all of the parents slogging through the trenches of raising littles, I salute you.  Or at least I would if I had the energy to lift my arms.

It's hard, isn't it, this always being on call?  It feels like we are always being pulled in 60 different directions at once, and we don't really know which way to head first.

At church this morning, we heard a message from an out of town speaker, who wanted to share his story.  He was raised in a Christian home, went to a Christian school, and as a teenager, decided sports were much more important than pursuing Jesus.  So he didn't.

Then one day, he chose to go to Thailand with Youth With a Mission.  He was going to use his basketball skills to reach out to the lost teenagers.  Except what he didn't realize was that they didn't actually like basketball.

Enter Plan B.  He met a man who spent the 70's as many spent the 70's, wearing tie dye clothes, long hair, and having an attitude of free spiritedness.  Right up until that man met Jesus.  He was never the same again.  And now he was mentoring this kid who hadn't really turned his back on the Lord, but had never really tried to get to know him either.

Plan B included going to Bible school in Asia, planting churches, learning to preach and heal, and becoming so passionate about all of these things that he stopped pursuing God again.  He was so busy pursuing others in the name of God, that he forgot to spend time just talking to God.

After a few years, he was so burnt out, he had to come back home to rest.  His body and soul were starving.

My life feels like that some days.  I get so busy trying to raise my kids up with manners and morals that I forget that I can't receive the rest He promises to all of us who are weary and burdened.

I have to stop.  I have to listen.  And I have to remember that He is faithful.  He will give me the strength to get through my days, if only I would stop trying to have all of the strength myself.

He will fill in all of the holes I will leave in my imperfection, if only I trust Him to do so.

He will help me to rest in His peace, if I could just slow down and seek him.

He is faithful.  It is us that need to be still.

So to all of my fellow parents, who feel like this part will never end, have faith that it will.  And it will be filled with children who don't need us so much anymore, and we can finally rest.  At least until they are teens.  Then just maybe, we will wish for the days that we are in the midst of right now.

But to get there, without feeling like a continual train is hitting us, we need to rely on His promises, not our own "strength".

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for these beautiful children.  I am blessed that you have chosen to give them to me, even on the days where I feel so unprepared to have them.  I pray that you would give me wisdom and grace, each and every day.  I ask that you would fill in any gaps that I leave, as I am sure to leave them.  I pray that you would let me see them through your eyes in those hard stages, so that I would be able to show them your unshakeable love.  I pray that you would help me to rest in your when I feel weary and burdened, and that you would hold me up with your unfailing strength.  And most of all, I pray that I would know, deep down, that I am never alone.  In faith I pray.  Amen.

Just a Smile

My Facebook feed was filled with the news this morning.  No, it wasn't a national disaster, or a school shooting or anything like what we've been seeing lately. 

It was the news that our community had lost one of our "less fortunate."  

He was a simple man, with no earthly possessions.  He had no home, no bed, no vehicle.  Just his clothes, a guitar and a smile. 

And yet the news of his passing had blown up my whole feed. 

It all started when the fires forced our evacuation last summer.  This gentleman was bussed to a nearby city, and then he seemed to vanish.  Some people would say they had seen him and talked to him.  But then, even after we all made it home, he never did.  There were search committees organized to go as far as 5 hours away from us.  It was spread on the news.  And we never stopped searching. 

He was finally found, but not in the way we had hoped.

How is it possible that this one man had such an effect on our communities? 

He didn't donate thousands of dollars to those in need.  He was one of those we considered in need.  

I believe it's because, in a way,  he gave us everything he had.  He gave his time to those who wanted a friendly ear.  He had a smile for everyone who passed by.  He gave it all.

Chances are really great that whoever is reading this has no idea who I'm talking about.  But maybe you know something just like this man.  Someone who doesn't have much, and yet continues to share themselves, because that is what they can do.

And maybe we can pay tribute to them by learning from their actions.  We can give of ourselves, even if it's just to smile as everyone who passes by.  Maybe that's all they need today, is to see a friendly face.

I think sometimes we get consumed with the thought that we can't help because we don't have enough.  We are short on funds.  Or we are short on time.  Or maybe we just don't know where to begin.

Maybe, just like this beautiful soul learned, all it takes is just a smile.

I don't know what challenges you are facing today.  I do know to some of you, those challenges are going to seem insurmountable.  I know that this gentleman certainly didn't have it easy, but I do know that he managed to spread joy to those around him in the simplest of ways.  So I challenge you this week to find someone who needs nothing more than your smile, and give it to them.  It can't hurt to try.

Heavenly Father, I thank you today that I was blessed enough to have met this man, and many others like him.  I pray that he is with you now, and that he knows the incredible impact he had.  And I pray that we would be inspired to remember that your love is ever present, and that it doesn't need to be complicated or time consuming for us to show it to others.  Show us those around us that need just a smile, or maybe for someone to lend them an ear.  Open our eyes to those people, and enable us to remember that we are able to be the answer to their prayer, if only we would say yes.  In faith I pray.  Amen.

In Spite of Me

Do you ever have a moment where God really puts you in your place?  I do.

Today was one of those days.  My husband was playing drums during worship, and it was the end of church.  They always do one closing song.  I was praying for my father in law, and giving thanks for all of the blessings.  The song said something about mountains, and this feeling just slammed in to me.  I wasn't the only one who felt it either.  At exactly the same time, the worship leader reacted.

I have no idea what he was praying for.  We both tried to continue singing, neither one of us being very successful, but the congregation sang on.

It's a surreal feeling when you aren't the only one being bombarded by His love.  I didn't know how to feel that both of us were being so affected at the same time, but I was certainly glad that He made us know that he was hearing our prayers.

I feel like the more willing I am to feeling His presence, the more I can.  Does that make sense?  When I put myself to the side and concentrate on His voice, I get better and better at hearing it.  I just have to work harder at hearing it.

Then this afternoon, I was listening to my daughters paint their nails.  My oldest was treating my youngest to birthday celebration nails.  My oldest has a birthday coming up, and wants everyone to be in on the festivities.

My little is pretty fidgety, as most 3 year olds are.  Sweetie was being so patient, adding layer after layer of her own nail polish, waiting to start her nails until Munchkin's were done.

I was sitting in the other room, reading, trying to decompress from the last month.

And all of a sudden, I hear Sweetie, cheering on her sister for sitting so well, even though she knows its hard for Munchkin to sit still for very long.

There was that voice again.

It was letting me know that in spite of me, and trying to make myself responsible for everything and everyone, He's got this.  He's filling in the holes I leave behind in my imperfection.  And He's there with them as much as He is with me. 

In spite of me, He will succeed.  Not because of me.  So maybe I can let go of some of that pressure, and realize that I just have to show up and listen.

I don't know what your day was like, or what challenges you are facing.  They are probably much larger than mine.  That's okay.  He's bigger than all of it.  He's got this, and He's got you.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for all of the blessings in my life.  I thank you for my littles, and the wisdom they bring to each and every day.  I thank you for the challenges they bring, that help me to grow as a parent, even on the days where I am fighting the opportunity to grow.  I thank you that even though I'm stubborn, you are even more so.  I lift up all of those that are struggling to still their hearts and hear that small, still voice that is waiting for them.  I pray that they would hear Your voice, and feel your love like never before.  I faith I pray.  Amen.

Trust Like A Toddler

We were at church last Sunday, worshipping and singing, when I noticed something.  Now, I have had small children with me every weekend that I have been at church for my adult life.  This is what happens when you become a Christian when you get married.  Lol.

I was trying to pay attention to the songs, all while watching my 3 little bundles of energy race around, when I noticed something.  My littlest, Munchkin, was moving back and forth between the adults.  She would walk over to someone, hold her arms up, and have complete confidence that they would reach down, pick her up, and hold her safe.  Now I know, this was not a stressful situation, she was not nervous at all, but it was an eye opening moment for me anyways.

You see, I have been struggling a lot lately, trying to manage (or maybe control) my little world.  Having to organize, set-up, and research for Sweetie and her Aspergers diagnosis is a part time job these days.  Trying to pay the right amount of attention to my Little Dude, who has struggles of his own, not including being a boy who is always surrounded by girls.  And my Munchkin, who is in the midst of potty training.

After a particularly exhausting adventurous weekend, wherein my Dude attempted to cook breakfast for us as a surprise, but mostly just managed to burn flour and eggs to a cookie sheet on top of my stove, then discovered that Pam spray on the floor made a great skating rink, my SUV had an electrical fire, and my Munchkin made her own skating rink in the bathroom with all of the liquids she could get her sweet little hands on, I was done.

I walked in to church, dropped my kids off with my in laws, and walked out crying.  I couldn't do it.  I was never going to be enough for all of these little people.  God must have made a mistake when he decided to give me these little bundles of joy, because I was in no way equipped to do this whole mothering thing.  I was failing miserably.  I mean, who ignores their children so much that they can get in to so much trouble in just a couple days?!?  Why weren't the Child Services people knocking on my door right now?

I was a mess.  My sister in law came downstairs and prayed for me, and told me that I was the perfect Mom for these kids, even if I didn't feel like it.  God doesn't make mistakes, including making my family. 

And then she proceeded to tell me how jealous she was of me as a mother.  I was always taking my kids to cool places, giving them memorable experiences.  I was homeschooling them so that I could pour everything I had in to their little lives.  I worked from home, and worked part time outside the home while managing to do all of this. From the outside looking in, she couldn't believe that I could do all of this, and keep it up as long as I had.  And that she had always wanted to be that kind of Mom, but just never managed to.  It struck me as kind of ironic that someone who I considered to be an amazing mother would be jealous of me, especially when I usually feel like such a mess.

I told her how I loved that she has great relationships with her kids, and that she knows all of their friends.  She's one of those cool Mom's that her kids like to be around.  Mine are just stuck with me.  Lol.

We prayed, I fixed my face, and then I went back upstairs.  My littles decided that they didn't want to do church any more that day, and I just didn't have any energy left to fight them to stay, so we went home.

And then the next weekend, I watched my little girl, go from family member, to friend and back again, completely confident that they had her.  And it dawned on me.  I wasn't enough.  But I was never supposed to be.  I was supposed to reach my arms up to my heavenly Father, and trust that he had me.  Because he does have me.  All day, every day, even when I feel like an abysmal failure.

In the midst of all my mothering angst, my 3 year old already had it figured out.  When I need Him most, I just have to seek Him and it will all work out.  My job is to lean on the Father who will always pick me up, not to carry the world on my shoulders and feel defeated when I can't hold it all up.

I have decided that the weekend where I felt so destroyed by my life, I will choose to view as a triumph.  I loved my kids, and hugged them.  Then I cleaned the floors, my husband fixed my truck, and we moved forward.  We didn't stay in the hard days, or dwell on them.  We triumphed over them, because we kept going, and chose to learn from those moments. 

I took pictures of the mess, before we cleaned, so that I can look back on these days and remember these little moments, that one day, will be treasured memories.

And then the next weekend, God chose to show me that he was there, in it all.

I don't know what you are facing today, but I do know that He has a plan.  And it's a good plan, even if it feels more like a valley than a beautiful mountain view right now.  And that there is someone who is looking at your life, thinking about how amazing you are, and how they wish that they had a quality you don't even remember you have.  I know that some days, it feels like no matter how much you give, it will never be enough.  So on those days, remember you are enough, and that you are here on purpose, for a purpose.  A purpose so much bigger than you can even fathom.  Think of my little girl, holding her arms up, knowing she will be held, and know that you can have that same thing, if only you trust and ask.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you would hold close those who are feeling defeated right now.  I pray that you would bring people in to their lives that will lift them up to you, and will let them know that they don't have to be perfect.  They only need to be who you created them to be, and to strive to be better than they were before, not perfect, just better.  Or at least trying to be better, even on those days when you feel less.  I pray your wisdom and discernment over parents, and I pray that you would help us to give grace to our children, just as you show us grace.  I pray that we would have the same trust as my toddler.  And I thank you for granting me the ability to breathe life into these littles.  In faith I pray.  Amen.