Do you ever have those times where you hear someone say a word or phrase, then you read about it, or it keeps being said over and over in a million different places? I’ve always felt that when that happens, it’s for a reason and it’s something I need to take in and focus on. Evidently, God has been wanting me to focus on the word perspective this entire week. Perspective is defined as your attitude toward something. I am seeing over and over again that your perspective can make a break you as well as those around you.

My thoughts started encircling the word perspective while I was reading a book I just got. Its Called Three Decades of Fertility and it’s about motherhood with all of the challenges and blessings it entails. There are 10 chapters in the book with each one having the testimony of different women. I have read 4 so far. Out of everything in this book, the thing that sticks out the most is these women’s perspective on life. Every single woman had good things in their life as well as bad. They shared it all from miscarriages to babies surviving with beautiful stories. Another commonality they all shared was that at some point (or many points) they felt as though they couldn’t handle the pressure of raising children. The financial, emotional, and physical demands were more than they could bear. They felt God was leading them to have more children but didn’t think they were capable. They went through depressions, misery, and self-pity. Once these women hit rock bottom they called out to Jesus whom had been there just waiting. They asked for restoration and change in perspective. Once they did, there circumstances didn’t change, instead it was their joy and attitude about life. I’m seeing over and over that our circumstances will fail us constantly, but its our perspective through God’s eyes that never disappoints and helps us to roll with the punches of this life.

Another eye opener for me was the death of a friend of mine named Sherry that was in my Bible study class for the past two years. She has been fighting against an aggressive brain tumor to keep her life and be on this earth for her husband and two small children. I have been receiving email alerts from her caring bridge site of her progress in between Bible study sessions. Let me just say that her and her husband Jeff have an eternal perspective that is absolutely amazing and encouraging, and honestly those two words don’t even describe it. It’s easy to see in the emails that her husband has sent out recently just how intimate they know Jesus. God has encompassed them and surrounded them in a way that is breathtaking. From His perspective, Sherry was healed yesterday morning when she stepped into eternity which has been their prayer from the day one of her diagnosis. God Whispered once again to me, “Your thoughts are not my thoughts.” When I ask Him for wisdom and to see things through His eyes He delivers it and it can change your life.

God has worked miracles on Tim and I the past few years. This does not mean that we are never in the dumps or have terrible days. Heck, I had a terrible time with my two of my patients at the hospital the last time I worked and I’m sure there were some curse words said under my breath.  But… He redeems, renews, and forgives. I know where my strength comes from, straight from the Holy Spirit. The minute I forget to call on His name my attitude and perspective are drawn on myself, and I am such an imperfect failure. Who wouldn’t get in a bad mood looking at that? But when I shift my eyes toward God and eternity, life has new meaning. I’m able to keep walking in joy, confidence, and love and hopefully grab hands to come along the way.

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

When I listen to my mom talk of the horror stories of drama that my sisters put up with in their middle school and high school careers, it literally makes me feel nauseous. I too have been there and can remember it so vividly. From the gossip, back stabbing, and tears they are not all fun times to recollect. As I did my usual pondering while the kids were out playing I was thinking and hoping that maybe since my children will be home schooled they won’t face the kind of stuff I did, or what my sisters are having to go through right now. Then it dawned on me… I am no longer in school, I am a grown woman with a family of my own, and I do not see my peers on a regular basis; yet I still face judgements and ridicule on a daily basis. I remember my mom telling me that adulthood was a lot like a grown up middle school. The only difference today is that my peers and my school are no longer my world. I now have my own priorities and things to keep my mind off all of the people in this world who’s only agenda is to bring you down. In reality this really doesn’t stop the fact of wanting to be liked by others and be everyone’s friend. I suppose as you get older you realize how impossible that is, but it’s only human nature to still have the yearning.

Being a conservative Christian woman can be tough in today’s world. There is a pendulum that swings far from one side to the other as far as extremes go. The truth is, we can all only speak for our own convictions the Holy Spirit places on us. As long as they line up with God’s word then I feel we need to just leave people alone unless we are going to pray for them or encourage them. An example of this is that some Christians believe alcohol should never touch your lips. If this is their conviction, then I pray that they hold fast to that and trust God. Me on the other hand, I love wine. Honestly, I’ve never felt convicted about this. Drinking it til I’m drunk is an entirely different thing that I have no part in as it is sin. If you are a Christian and get drunk every Friday night it is in no way my place to judge you. In God’s eyes, my judgment is no different from the person getting sloppy drunk, in fact He hates it. He wants to see His people waiting with open arms when a fellow believer falls.

I have felt ridicule for the amount of children I have or am going to have, for homeschooling, or for simply being a goody-goody. Honestly whenever I feel a conviction from God about something new instead of obeying the first time like I teach my children to do, I admittedly first think, “Oh gosh what’s so and so gonna think about this? They will for sure think I’m crazy now!” I’m just wanting to shout it out through the words on this blog that I am praying for boldness, to follow hard after God no matter the judgements or ridicule that will follow. I’m praying to be quick to give answers from the Holy Spirit when I am questioned with my convictions. No, not in an ugly way, but the tender to way that God desires in hopes to shed a small light on an issue and have someone think differently about a situation. I’m praying to live a life worth living. I don’t have to be loud and boisterous, but I can certainly live the life God has given me walking in His grace for others to see. That in itself is the most powerful witness to others.

My advice for my sisters is to live the life worth living, approval from the world will NEVER come when you belong to GOD, but it’s ok. His grace and mercy covers all, reveals all, and loves all. You are precious to the ONE that matters.

My beautiful sister Emma on her 13th birthday.    My other beautiful sister Lily working hard at Chick fil a:)

One of my life long friends from middle school whom holds no judgements and loves me as I am.

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

image courtesy of hin255/freedigitalphotos.net

Most people have heard this their entire life. I have even said this statement myself. “It doesn’t matter if you are having a baby boy or a baby girls as long as it is healthy.” Just over a year ago this statement has started to strike a nerve with me. Not that anyone means anything by it when they say it, I certainly never did, but what if my baby isn’t what society would consider healthy? Then what? Am I not supposed to want it?

Just as in my previous post about God having a plan for everyone before the beginning of time. That goes for the, “Unhealthy babies” as well. I can stand as a testimony of my amazing sister Mallory who has severe autism. She has never spoken and has had seizures the majority of her life. She lives with my mom and step dad and will the rest of her life unless she is with me. This so-called unhealthy baby is now a woman who is such a blessing and a joy. She is wanted, loved, accepted, and beautiful. She knows nothing but God’s love and has never been tainted by this world. Trust me, she is closer to perfect than any of us could ever dream to be.

When someone like this is born into your family I strongly believe that the Lord keeps His hand on those families to equip them with the love and patience they need to persevere when things can be difficult. It would be an extreme understatement to say that we have experienced amazing blessing because of Mallory in our lives. I want to proclaim it from the rooftops that I would be honored if we were blessed with a child that needed extra grace from God to care for. I have seen the blessings overflow and felt the joy. I’m sure others would think this is crazy but Tim and I have considered adopting a child with special needs one day when God leads us in that direction. If it hadn’t been for Mallory I would have never learned these invaluable life lessons or have been able to teach my children. I am going to try my best to break my own habit of making the comment to parents and try to share a different perspective when the comment is said to me. Any one else ever pondered on this comment? What are your thoughts?

I guess I will start from the very beginning and try to give people a little bit of background information to lead us to where we are right now in our lives…here goes.

About 4 months ago my husband and I stumbled across a piece of property with lots of acreage, a roomy farmhouse, an amazing price, and a lot of work. It seemed like the kind of place we had always said we wanted. Sure, there were a few things about the property that would have been more ideal. However, we saw what we thought was the deal of a lifetime and tried to jump on it.

Meanwhile the home we have currently been in for around four years is in a very desired area of Mint Hill. We have a white porch that goes along the front of our home that is perfect for evening porch swings, or morning cups of coffee. We have a nice sized yard with plenty of trees for shade for the children and places to climb. We have the perfect amount of space to where we aren’t crammed but are the perfect kind of cozy. We are within a 30 minute drive from most of our family and our church. So what kind of crazy people would want to leave a place they loved so much? We thought we were.

From the beginning we have struggled with putting our house on the market. We prayed continually, and had a gazillion late night talks. After much consideration we decided to take the plunge and list our house on MLS. Tim’s mom Donna had just gotten her real estate license so it seemed as though the stars were aligning. To make things, “seem,” even more perfect the house we were placing our offer on was on the brink of foreclosure. We were happy to have the opportunity to keep a woman from loosing her childhood home. We were so excited to be taking such a big step until we pulled out of our driveway for our first showing. Every part of us wanted to grab those people by their shirts and not allow them to go in our home. We took the kids down the road to Wendy’s to grab a Frosty while they walked amongst our memories. The conversation we had that night was not fun. We were scared to death we were making the wrong decision and were driving ourselves crazy! Looking back I wish then we had listened to those uneasy feelings we were getting. We shrugged them off, knowing that it would be a hard process, and that we were just being too emotional.

To say things got harder from there would be an understatement. We prayed, read God’s word, and seeked council from anyone who would offer words of wisdom. In one way we were so excited to go on this new adventure we felt God was leading us, but the uneasiness never went away, and the peace never came. ( Well… I thought the peace came, but compared to what I feel now there is no comparison)

We faced one obstacle after another with the buyers of our home. It never ran smoothly from the time the offer came in. The first big upset came when just a few days prior to the closing they decided they needed to push the closing  back over two weeks. At this point the majority of our home was in a POD unit in our driveway. At that point our stress  levels hit an all time high. I really don’t mean to sound like we were getting upset over such petty stuff but when you’re in the middle of it, it consumes you. We had no choice but to hang in there until the contract was completely up, which was this past Wednesday on the 28th. We made things very clear that if the loan did not close on the 28th then we were through. They continued to reassure us the 28th was going to work multiple times. We were still a little nervous to get our last-minute belongings packed. Good thing we didn’t,  because two days before closing they wanted yet another extension.

At this point we had a HUGE decision to make. We were no longer obligated to them because the contract had run out. But did we really want to walk away only to unpack our stuff into a place we had just taken them out of?  As it urns out, yes we do! Now let me clarify, the decision was no easy one. Once again, after much prayer we together decided to stay in the home we fell in love with 4 years ago.

Once the decision was made the peace and relief that flowed into our hearts is indescribable. This is what we had both been searching for the entire time and thought we had until we felt this. If I can just be 100% real and honest right now. I have no idea why it took us so long to see the truth or why God had us walk through these obstacles. I do know that I am thankful for them and the bond this has strengthened in our marriage and our walk with God. Is it going to be easy to unpack that POD? Nope. But my confidence, hope, and trust in the Lord have all been restored and I’m ready to pick up the pieces of this messy torn apart house. One of the many things I have learned through this is that there is no way I can predict how God is going to work. I feel very convicted of trying to fit God in a box or put Him into my plans. He is sooo much bigger than that. Even though there may be nothing wrong with my plan, when I ask for His will to be done , it will. Simple as that. We stand humbled and grateful for all the prayers and well wishes we have gotten from everyone. As far as our dream house…Iv’e got it, and it’s the people who fill it up that make it the dream.

Ok, so here recently, I decided I just don’t stinking care anymore. But I’m thinking maybe that’s not such a terrible thing. Ya see, we have this dream to be out in the country on a little piece of land to grow our family and homestead. Well we actually feel like it’s more than a dream…  maybe a calling… our passion. Let me tell ya, nothing has been easy! From the real estate games, showings, and negotiations it has left me an emotional wreck. Though I hate to admit it,  when things haven’t gone my way I have questioned God. I wonder if He is testing me to see if I will trust Him, or if satan is tempting me to take my focus off God and try to control the situation myself.

Once we had our POD 85% packed our buyers decided to push back the closing by 2 1/2 weeks which threatens us of not being able to  move to the country house. I would be lying if I didn’t say it wasn’t difficult or that I hadn’t shed a tear in frustration. Just today I realized something, I was never in control to begin with.

“A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.” -Proverbs 16:9

Just because things aren’t going my way doesn’t mean they aren’t all part of God’s perfect orchestrated plan. My only job is to trust Him with all my heart, not lean on my own understanding, enjoy the ride, and tell of His goodness.

So no, I don’t care what happens. I’m feeling determined to not let this petty stuff on this earth steal the joy God has given me.

What are you putting back in God’s hands today? ( Even if you have to place it in His hands more than once)

The topic of this post is controversial, but I hope to shed some light on it in a awesome simple way.

image courtesy of hin255/freedigitalphotos.net

Not too long ago our Pastor preached an encouraging sermon on God having a plan for your life. He preached that nothing is by accident but is apart of God’s intricate design and plan for His glory. My mind wandered…or was led to thoughts of those lives we take from the mother’s womb everyday.

I don’t want to get caught up in the debate of when conception or life starts. Honestly, I don’t think it even matters. We can so often get sidetracked on all the technical definitions that we can miss the point. I believe this is satan’s ploy. We were all part of His plan before the beginning of time. The point  at which an egg and sperm unite is just the physical proof of the plan. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Jeremiah 1:5

I wonder what would happen if we could truly wrap our heads around that verse? These aren’t just embryos or whatever you want to call them, that we are killing. They are chosen by God, just as we were as part of His will and good pleasure. Now I don’t know about ya’ll but that’s amazing.

This God we serve doesn’t just sit up in heaven on His throne, “Keeping an eye on us.” Oh no, He is a micromanager. David says in Psalm 139:13, “For you formed my inward parts: you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” He is involved in every single detail of this universe He created.

• Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them by name.
• Job 28:24 For He looks to he ends of the earth and sees everything under heaven.
• Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs on your head are all numbered.

Let’s remember that all these so called, “accidental pregnancies,” hold the life of someone with a purpose and plan. Jesus thought of this life as He was hanging on the cross dying for our sins.

Mommas, we need to encourage one another to be faithful to the plan God has for us and let Him knit that precious life inside us that He loves.

I’m linking this post 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 find myself these days questioning my attitude of MODESTY. Even saying that word makes me feel like an old fashioned frump, but nonetheless my views on the entire issue are slowly starting to shift. I think the definition of modesty for most people is very different. I’m trying to only focus on my convictions and not put those on other people.

However, my mind has been opened a little further since I now have a son. I am seeing more and more everyday how impossible it is to shield his eyes from all of the images that are thrown in his face on a daily basis. My daughters are also going to constantly see images and feel as though they never measure up.  Don’t even get me started on what my husband sees, the mama bear comes out! I have a lot of eyes to protect, including my own.

As I type out this post I realize how deep this issue really is.When did things change? When did we start accepting half dressed women on advertisements at the mall where I take my children? I need to do some praying on the right standards to set for myself and my girls. It all starts with me and my attitude. I can’t let them see me cast judgment, yet I have to exemplify a true woman’s beauty.

I’m thinking this is going to be tough. I am up for the challenge. I want to show my family what beautiful really is.

Beauty is respectable to my husband and those around me.

Beauty is a smile that lights up a room with a contagious laugh.

Beauty is accepting others as they are, yet staying true to your convictions.

Beauty is the stretched skin where a baby used to be.

Beauty is the farmer’s tan from swinging your kids on the swing set.

Beauty is confidence to know who you are in Christ.

Here is an awesome, thought provoking speech on the evolution of the bikini. It only takes one person for you to say hmm.. I think she’s on to something!