I have seen and heard far too many times that “Christians” have a bad reputation. People say we are judgmental, hypocrites, and sticks in the mud. We have all met these kind of people. They always have an opinion and always feel the need to point out what you are doing wrong. As Christians we can become so involved with our little churchy bubble that we forget to look at what is truly going on around us. The truth is, getting outside our bubble is what we are called to do.

Something we have to constantly keep in mind is that people who aren’t Christians don’t think the way we do. When we speak up against controversial subjects such as abortion and gay marriage we need to stand up for truth yet tread carefully. I am in no way saying we need to be ,”politically correct.” I don’t believe in that! We do need to be sensitive to the fact that they don’t have the Holy Spirit living in them giving them discernment. Before Jesus saved and redeemed us we were no different. Our goal should be to attract as many people to Jesus as possible with the small amount of time we are allotted on this earth. To be condemning, pushing sin in their face is not showing them Jesus and is not going to change their mind.

People are watching and see how we react rather that be on a post we put on Facebook or the comments we make on others post. We want to be the kind of people who are contagious. When a non believer has a bad day we should be the first people they want to call. When they are having a great day we should be the person they want to celebrate with. When we live to love them they can’t help but see Jesus. I think we can all admit that it is hard to let your light shine when you’ve isolated yourself. I know, I’ve been there. When you feel ridiculed for your beliefs or feel as though you don’t fit in you want to hibernate with all of the people who think the exact way you do. Doing the exact opposite of that is what this world needs. Here a few small ways we can show people what it truly means to be Christ followers and draw them closer to Him.

Ways to be contagious and fun

• Encourage, encourage, encourage. Who doesn’t like to be around someone who makes them feel great about themselves?
• Pray for them, and even tell them you are.
• Don’t preach but persuade with truth. Share your experiences and how God has bought you through.
• When people do something you don’t approve of DON’T SHAKE YOUR HEAD! Ask what they need from you to help mend situations gone bad.
• Don’t take life too serious. Laugh at yourself always.
• Do take their life serious, and realize it is a life to be won to Christ.
• Walk what you believe, don’t just say it.
• Be ready at all times with answers to questions about God that they may have.
• Remember that you can still remain true to your values without sticking your nose up when they say a cuss word in front of you.
• Love them because He first loved us.

Linked to Raising Arrows

Intending to truly be thankful… heart, mind, and spirit.

Intending to have the kind of smile from Jesus that lights the room.

Intending to remember and get swallowed up in every drop of chaos.

Intending to have many deep belly laughs.

Intending on long conversations at the supper table instead of hurrying to get up dirty dishes.

Intending on keeping Jesus center of our family with the presents being last.

Intending on enjoying every morsel of food.

Intending on lingering in my husband’s kisses.

Intending on loving these babies the way God does.

Intending on giving my time, money, and thoughts even when it hurts.

Intending on throwing worries out of the window and remembering God’s promises.

Intending on not caring if we watch Frosty the Snowman for the zillionth time.

Intending on not interrupting my Grandpa’s stories.

Intending to stay up late too late snuggling on the couch.

Intending on waking up too early for the first cup of coffee.

Intending on keeping the Christmas music blaring.

Intending on keeping our pace SLOW.

Intending on making lots of hot chocolate.

Intending on whispering prayers all day.

Intending on crying when I’m feeling the lovey dovey pregnancy emotions take over.

Intending on not caring about my makeup smeared all over my face afterwards.

Intending on a lot of pajama, coloring, and movie days.

To be intentional is to do something on purpose, to be deliberate.

To accomplish my list takes a purposeful choice each and every second of the day.

Let’s live in this, when the craziness attempts to creep in and steal our joy.

Intentionally giving God the glory for His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love.

At some point or another every single one of us has had anxiety over something in our lives. My anxiety has only increased since becoming a mother. To feel entirely responsible for another human being is a huge undertaking that can make any one breathe a little quicker. I am finding that anxiety also comes along with age. The older we get the more we are exposed to the terrible things that go on around us. This can leave us feeling worried all the time about things that have happened and even about things that haven’t. The definition of anxiety is the feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. The synonym listed is fear.

I have recently questioned my life as I have had the opportunity to listen to testimonies in Bible study. All of these women have had terrible things happen to them which in turn bought them closer to God. In my mind I started thinking, “What terrible thing is gonna happen to me for God to bring me closer to Him?” I have been feeling anxious wondering what this terrible thing would be. Fear was starting to settle in, when it does, it grips on tightly. My sweet husband reminded me of part of the simple verse, “Be anxious for nothing.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. How can I be so blind to not see satan behind all this. When I live in fear my eyes are on myself. That is the last place they need to be. Even the fear of inadequacy, our eyes are still on ourself.

This God we serve is a God of love who works ALL things out for good to those that love Him. He tells us to be anxious for nothing but in every thing give thanks and make your request be made known unto God. This is a command. Isn’t this where happiness is? To know that I am safe just as a child feels with their Dad. He equips, protects, and pours blessings even in ways we may never expect. This is all such a simple truth, but can get lost so quickly due to our incapable minds of understanding God. The good news is we don’t have to understand or try to figure Him out, we only have to trust. Then there comes the letting go of our need for control… good grief I could go on and on…

My conclusion is that God is good all the time, all the time God is good. I’m so thankful it’s not all up to me, He’s got this!

Recently, I have been feeling the urge to let go of commitments and things on my to do list that are distracting me from these precious ones during the day. I’d like to look at this as not, “Letting go,” but, “Making room,” for the more important.

The first thing I’m letting go of in order to make more room is Bible study. Although this is a very wonderful thing, and I benefit greatly from it, this is just not the right season for me. Between taking care of my husband, taking care of the kids, homeschooling, and managing my home its easy to feel overwhelmed at times. I feel God leading me to focus my strength and energy on one place and to do it well. I have been feeling like I am merely running here and there to lots of good things, but I am doing them below the potential God has given me. I am going to be trying an online Bible study and see how that works. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!

The second thing I plan on letting go of in order to make more room is my Iphone. Dont get me wrong, its helpful, amazing, and convenient. But…its also a nuisance, distracting, and aggravating. From phone calls, texts, email alerts, Facebook alerts it’s just another one of those things shifting my focus from where it needs to be. Boundaries is the key word here. I am feeling bombarded by this world with every little sound it makes. I am going to attempt to go back to my sweet little flip phone. I’ll let y’all know how that goes as well:)

I am hoping these two small changes will make a difference in some of the clutter in my mind and put it back to an eternal perspective. My goal is to slowly start adding to my list to lift this burden that was never intended to be there. This job God has given me must take priority.

In what ways are you making room for the important in your life?

Ever wondered why you are the way you are? What is it the way you were raised, temperaments that were passed down from generations past, or people who you surround yourself with? The older I get the more I am seeing that God gave me this personality for a reason. He does this for all of us in order to weave together His perfect plan, from the perfectionist all the way to the laid back procrastinator.

I would describe my personality as goofy, laid back, and rebellious. I know that these were God-given to tailor to my family and their specific needs, just as my husbands and children’s personality were meant for my needs. I have not always been so laid back, but I think God has formed this out of necessity for not going insane when things don’t go my way. As far as the rebellion, I’ve always had that. God is using it in greater ways for His glory than the, “Not listening to authority,” idea you get when you hear someone is rebellious. Instead, He is showing me not to follow crowds and basically do the opposite of the world.

Today, let’s stop comparing ourselves to others we wish we could or should be like. We have these God-given personalities for purpose. Let’s use them for His glory!

As I go through this life and am faced with the ups and downs that come along with it, I have realized that this here wife and momma needs to become a fighter! Not only for myself but for my home and family. It is no secret that the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. You better bet that the more you love the Lord then the more he is waiting to pounce at any opportunity he can get. I have gathered five different ways to bring out the fighter in me so I can stand boldly and protect this sweet family of mine.

The crazy crew I’m fighting for.

1. Be a prayer warrior. Honestly, I’m always a little leery of this phrase. After all, we should be praying all the time any ways. This isn’t just some spiritual gift that some have and others don’t. This is a command and it is for our own benefit. What I mean by the phrase prayer warrior is to pray with a vengeance like you and your family’s life depends on it, because in actuality it does. I often struggle in this area. I’m slowly trying to train my mind and heart to pray throughout the busyness of days. Even simple words directed to God amidst chaos do not go unheard. When we are talking to God, rather it be thanking Him for a moment, or asking for help, our hearts are directed to Him. There is such power behind that, and most of the time we are never even aware of it.

2. Surrender no opportunity. We have all heard Christians and non Christians say, “Never go to bed angry.” This is a statement that holds true, however the reasons go very deep. This not only means to fix problems with your spouse before the next day. This also hold true to any offense that has been made our way. It delights satan when we have been offended. He would love nothing more than for us to harp on words that were spoken by whomever they may be. He is the one in our brain replaying the tape recorder over and over again and laughs as we get madder and madder. Let’s stop this in its tracks and give over no opportunity to weaken our spirits. He wants us weak so he can take his chance to pounce on us or our family. Solve your issues with anyone right away as if you and your family’s life depended on it, because in actuality it does. This will not only form a hedge of protection for your family but will influence the offender and your children.

3. Gather your army. I heard a phrase at Bible study, “Run to the throne and not the phone.” I 100% agree with this. When issues arise we should run to Jesus and not the first person we can think of to call. However, every good strong fighter knows they need other strong fighters around them. They need the accountability, the trust, and someone to help them up when they’ve fallen. We all will fall, so we need our armies close. Surround yourself with them like as if you and your family’s life depended on it, because in actuality it does. This also means that we pick up other members of our army when they fall, or perhaps fight alongside them as well.

4. Look at the big picture when the little one stinks.  Oh man… this one gets me. In the middle of those crazy, hectic days when the kids are fighting, your running on little sleep, and everyone and their brother wants to call ya, it hard to keep your boxing gloves on. Most of the time I want to throw mine out the window. When we look at our current situation instead of the big picture of God ordained interruptions its easy to grow weary. In all this, we are not praying, and we are giving the devil major opportunity to succeed. We must keep our vision. Someday, the vision might be to simply keep everyone alive, fed, and make it to bed that night. Even in that, there is hope to make it through those tough days. Other days your vision may go further into the future of the kind of people you are trying to train for God. Either way, when things are tough, look up to God and ahead. Do this as if you and your families’ life depended on it, because in actuality it does. When things are easy remember to look down at those sweet faces and enjoy.

5. Be determined, not overtaken. We must wake up each day with war paint smeared on our faces in determination to rise above, receive grace, and give it.  Do this as if you and your families’ life depended on it, because in actuality it does. Rather we want to believe it or not, we are in a war zone. This could be with the world, or even our own flesh. The best news of all is that we are not alone in any of this. We can feel undertaken at times, but we truly never are because God has already won the victory. He is on our side and is whatever we need Him to be at any given time. Some days he may be our revolver to blow satan’s head off. Other days He may be our bullet proof vest to protect us from blows from the enemy. There may even be days where He is simply are place of rest and refuge to recuperate from the battle. He is so good to us.

Never give up when things look hopeless, others are in the same battle. You never know, there may be someone in your army praying on your behalf 🙂

Sharing this with: The Prairie Homestead,  A Mama’s story, Raising Arrows, The better Mom, The Modest Mom, What Joy is Mine, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Heavenly Homemakers, Time Warp Wife, Thankful Homemaker, Mamal Diane, Teaching What is Good,  A cat like curiosity, Mom’s the word, conerstone cofessions, A proverbs 31 wife, Some of the best things in life are mistakes, Let this mind be in you, A Wise Woman Builds her home, CSAHM Parenting Linkup, Deep Roots at Home, Graced Simplicity, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well, Hope in Every Season, Jill’s Home remedies, Little Natural Cottage, Our simple country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows, The Purposeful Mom, Consider the Lillies, Happy and Blessed Home, Homemaker by Choice, Your Thriving Family, My Joy Filled Life. New Life Steward, Hometead simple, Christian Mommy Blogger, Let this Mind Be in You, Heart Reflected

I’m sure most could tell that from my post on Monday that I have been having a bit of a hard time lately. From hearing about a precious babies’ passing, a miscarriage from a friend, and the passing of a beautiful Godly woman. I have been in the dumps and just not feeling like myself. I was so disgusted and aggravated at how one day I can be on fire for the Lord and the next day feel like I’ve fallen so short. Through this small brief period in my life I have realized that I will always fall short, He never will. I succeed when I get back up and grab God’s hand.

Me and my husbands new motto is, “Less is more and I don’t care!” I’m sure that sounds funny, but over the past couple weeks we have realized that we are doing too much and holding on to too much. I heard an awesome saying in Bible study the other day. BUSY stand for Being Under Satan’s Yolk. How true is this? I’m so thankful for a time of revaluation. The I don’t care part of the motto is not only about not caring what others think, but about taking the pressure off ourselves. Ever since the beginning of the summer my husband and I have had numerous serious talks that stemmed from the time we put our house on the market, but not near enough laughs. Don’t get me wrong, we have sill being enjoying life, but we have had burdens on our back making sure every step we take is the right one and over analyzing everything. We made an agreement last night that we will make no more plans. If we want to build our kids a tree house we aren’t going to ponder about…well how long will we be in the this house to make it worth our efforts. Heck no! The kids would love it, we will have fun building, so daggonit we are gonna do it!

I think as Christians, rather we want to believe it or not we can be legalistic in our thinking. Our burdens become heavy, when in fact the burdens of the Lord are light with freedom attached. For instance there is nowhere in the Bible that says I have to make fresh bread every week, my kids can’t watch cartoons, I have to wake up at the crack of dawn, or even that my blog post have to be posted by 8:00am. These are pressures we put on ourselves for no good reason. Today I decided to slowly retrain myself to let go of the expectations and legalistic thoughts. He has already bought me at a very high price, no matter what awesome things I do today I can’t make Him love me any more or less.

As part of my training I slept in. I pulled every baby in bed with me and snuggled. I didn’t worry about my precious coffee, homeschooling, or the fact that my blog post was not yet written. When we ventured downstairs I made pancakes for My Zoe Bell without feeling the need to make double batches to save for later… nope just made them for breakfast right here and right now:)

While I made breakfast the cartoons came on! They even had my husband intrigued:)

I’m thinking that school today will consist of books and Candyland. These simple changes have already made a world of difference in me, my husband, the kids, and our home. God gives what you need just when you need it, even if it is to just ENJOY. Has God been revealing anything to you lately?

Ya’ll I’m not lying when I tell ya that ever since I wrote my post about perspective last week the devil has been on me, and I have had a very hard time having a thankful heart. Its been a great, but challenging week. At times it just feels like death, sickness, and disappointment are lurking around every corner and it can hard to be thankful when you are anxious about what could go wrong. I have learned this week that I want to drink  up every bit of this life till the last drop. I want no regrets. Not the bungee jumping kind of stuff but the quality purposeful time stuff. This very moment my heart has been absolutely torn up over a mother I know who’s son we are praying for a miracle to save his life. With all of these injustices of the world on top of  the normal stressers of life it is hard to always find contentment in the Lord.

I have also been having issues with feeling overwhelmed about staying on top of all my responsibilities. There is the budgeting, meal planning, homeschooling, cleaning, Bible studies, meeting the needs of family members, and returning phone calls that have had been so bogged down this week. In fact, just the other day I was so annoyed with myself that I thought about putting a post on Facebook to let every one know what a big fat phony I am and how I can’t even take heed to my own advice about keeping my perspective with God where it needs to be. I am the kind of person that when I feel there is a problem standing in my way, I just want to fix it… NOW. I have seriously contemplated selling everything we have got, buy a big camper on a piece of land, and start over. I fear I may be trying to run from problems at times, but when I think about my reasons maybe its just a realistic solution that I am crazy enough to take.

Please forgive me as I rant about my issues, but just maybe someone else needs to here about my problems:) So hear are my issues and how I want to eliminate them.

1)I am tripping over clutter and stuff all day long rather it be from my kids, my husband, but most of the time myself. I feel that I spend way too much energy just keeping up. I’m loosing those precious moments to minister to my children, family, and friends. Even a phone call I’m returning can turn into a big deal. My thought process automatically thinks DOWNSIZE! With less rooms = less mess. Out of necessity you have to get rid of clutter and only have your essentials. Imagine your children only having the toys that they actually play with at their disposal. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? The time I spend cleaning messes all day could be used for reading to the kids, doing all the darn crafts they love, or simply doing something, anything with them without multitasking 10 other things.

2) debt, debt, debt… We currently only own on our mortgage, but let me tell ya that it drives me crazy! I hate it! We are working diligently to pay it of as soon as possible, but most of the time I feel that it isn’t good enough. My solution, DOWNSIZE. I don’t want to waste another year of my husband working his but off to pay for a place for us to live. If we are going to work then let it be for the good of others or even our children’s future. I would rather invest in the time in them having their daddy home and invest in the lives of others who aren’t as fortunate rather that be financially or with time. We are called to help. How can we if we are to busy working to pay the mortgage off?  Sometimes I try to tell myself to relax but there has to be a reason why it is so passionate in my heart.

3)Disciplining the kids. It can be very frustrating to be upstairs and hear your children fighting down stairs. Another awesome solution is to DOWNSIZE. Sure it would be tough to not have as much space but what would it be like to be able to discipline and train right along side of them all of the time.

Perhaps I am naive but it seems that the problem is our attitude to have more stuff, and in the meanwhile our discontent grows and our distractions and to do list double. Yes, I am thankful for a nice home, 4 bedrooms, my husband’s job and work ethic, and every toy and kitchen gadget you could imagine. I am also thankful for clear vision of the order in which priorities belong. I don’t want anything to hinder me from experiencing God’s blessings and giving them to others. My mind has been cluttered and I’m ready for the challenge to be different and prioritize my life.

…Fast Forward….

okay…fast forward a few hours when I typed out the beginning of this post. I have talked with my husband who settled this crazy girl down. Ya know, to be a relaxed and go with the flow kind of girl I can get wound up at times pretty easily:) I was tempted to delete all I had written, but thought some my appreciate a look in to my heart. (Even though as I my fingers were typing my blood pressure was through the roof!) Tim reminded me that no matter how good my intentions are, God still has His own agenda that I play a part in. After all like I’ve said before, it’s not about the circumstance but…sigh… my perspective. God, keep working on this poor girl!

Sharing this with: The Prairie Homestead,  A Mama’s story, Raising Arrows, The better Mom, The Modest Mom, What Joy is Mine, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Heavenly Homemakers, Time Warp Wife, Thankful Homemaker, Mamal Diane, Teaching What is Good,  A cat like curiosity, Mom’s the word, conerstone cofessions, A proverbs 31 wife, Some of the best things in life are mistakes, Let this mind be in you, A Wise Woman Builds her home, CSAHM Parenting Linkup, Deep Roots at Home, Graced Simplicity, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well, Hope in Every Season, Jill’s Home remedies, Little Natural Cottage, Our simple country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows, The Purposeful Mom, Consider the Lillies, Happy and Blessed Home, Homemaker by Choice, Your Thriving Family, My Joy Filled Life. New Life Steward, Hometead simple, Christian Mommy Blogger, Let this Mind Be in You, Heart Reflected

I have had numerous people ask me lately, “How do you do it all? You’ve got three small children with one on the way, write a blog, home school, and still find time to bake! ” The first secret is I don’t do it all! Not even close. In fact, I have felt anxiety rise a bit as we are reorganizing and moving the kid’s bedrooms upstairs. Things are messy, crazy, and basically there is just crap everywhere. I was then reminded for the millionth time by God that, yes this mess needs to be cleaned, but not all at once and not over the priority of my family or over my health by stressing.

The Lord is slowly healing that broken perfectionist bone in my body. I have come to the point in my life that I have realized it all wont ever be done or caught up. There will always be a mess to clean, a nose or butt to wipe, or a pile of laundry along with stacks of dirty dishes.

My second secret that I have recently started doing is I pray for God to prioritize my day for me before I start anything. I pray for Him to give me the time, energy, and patience to accomplish what His will for me and the kids is that day. I have found that when I pray that way, He has miraculously multiplied my time. I don’t go to bed at the end of the night thinking,”Ugh I didn’t get anything accomplished today!” Instead I feel empowered that I managed my home and children well. What God saw was important got accomplished through His strength in me. As our family continues to grow my list of responsibilities and messes will follow. But I do know that whatever He has entrusted me with, He gives His amazing grace to not only get the job set before us done, but to do it well.

So here it is ladies,  my biggest and most important secret…It is not about me, but about Him, without Him I can’t do anything, with Him I CAN do it all that He has called me to do.