Good Morning so welcome to the new Thankfulness Challenge weekly post. Every week (hopefully we will talk about 5 things we are thankful for…..EVEN the hard stuff!
Ephesians 5:20 says….
giving thanks always and for EVERYTHING to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (emphasis added) ESV
So leafs get started.
1. Im thankful for Sunshine. It has been an incredibly LONG winter here in NY. The warmth and the sun combined makes for all things new. Spring came as an amazing reminder that we all have those deep dark winter moments. things seem bleak and oh so stark, but each spring life is renewed!
2. I am thankful for my sons autism. Yep a lot of days it is REALLY REALLY hard BUT this struggle keeps me thinking outside the box, it keeps my eyes open to other moms who need to see HOPE face to face, just like I did! It gives me the opportunity to minister to other moms like never before. It gives me an open door to talk about the HOPE that is Jesus! AND I get to be the mom of a kid who sees the world far differently than most. he brings my attention to sounds that I can’t notice and he sees details missed by almost everyone. And On those super special days he welcomes me into his usually closed off world!
3. I am thankful for a properly working washer and dryer…..after 3 years of struggling with a set that had almost daily temper tantrums, my eyes have been opened to a new sense of freedom!
4. I am thankful for a very skilled husband who can fix LOTS of things…somewhat related to the above but also to faucets, showers, tractors, build furniture and paint!
5.the ability to smell…..I know that really sounds silly but we have a friend who can’t smell or taste. And you know what..she doesn’t really dwell on what she can’t smell or taste, she is thankful for the things she can’t smell or taste! What a blessing she is!
SO my dear friends what are your five things you are thankful for?
Loved Back to Life: How I Found the Corage To Live Free, is Shiela Walsh’s answer to the many questions of how she’s doing now, and what’s happened in her life since she left her job as co-host of the 700 Club. Shiela spent time hospitalized for sever depression and stills struggles with it to this day. Shiela talks openly and bravely about the darkest of times and the really hard questions of life. She has opened eyes and paved pathways for those who are hiding in those dark places afraid for various reasons and encourages all to step out into the light!
I’m not going to lie….THIS BOOK DEALS WITH HARD STUFF.
It took me a long time to get through it. This isn’t an easy read. It really forces you to look inward, and dot lookl not just at the surface but deeply. Now I choose this book back in January, and I read the description, but nothing could prepare me for it! It’s been a rough six months for our family and to be completely honest I needed every inch of this bbok. Every chapter, every sentence, every word!
The book is littered with my notes, highlights and underlines.
One of my most favorite quotes comes from the last chapter,
Flying home that day I realized that we are all “disabled”; it’s just more noticeable with some of us than others. Some of us are blind or in wheelchairs, while others of us are angry and bitter. What matters is what we are going to do with our disabilities.
WOW!
That’s how I live my life with my “physical” disability (remember I’m legally blind) but there are other things…..things that we are condoned to keep quiet about…..
Today our world is littered with broken, bitter people who need love and instead receive judgement. By loveI do not mean a soft, quiet thing, but a powerful source for good. Love breaks down and builds up. It is transforming. Judgement however, brings condemnation and fear. It is cowardly because it distances itself from the pain of life. Rather than healing what is bent. It cripples and abandons…….
True love, love that speaks truth and yet refuses to abandon others, gives people oppertunity to change. It even motivates them to change. (CHAPTER 8)
If you have struggles ( and just like the first quote I mentioned states) we all do, then this book is for you! If your heart needs some remodeling read this! It has made me aware of areas that need work and as long as you approach this book with willingness God will use it greatly!
I give it 5 stars!
(I received this complimentary copy for review from BookLook bloggers and in no way was compensated for a positive review)
One of the harder things in childhood is dealing with losing a pet. Whether the pet runs away or dies or has to be given up for adoption because of some unforeseen issue it can be devastating to those Continue reading “Losing a Pet -Life Without Daffy”→
Ahhhh, I love that feeling of a fresh start. It is EXACTLY what this weary soul needed. Though like never before this next year seems so uncertain…..but I am embracing that! There are some really exciting things headed our way this year as well. I have a very new perspective on life one that only really comes through tough stuff!
A couple of the great things I’m looking forward to in 2015:
1) once again I will blog through Hope For The Weary Mom. BUT it’s expanded….by quite a bit! I will be serving on the launch team as well this time around…SUPER EXCITED! My copy should arrive soonish!
2). Summer…I know you’re thinking “REALLY MARY?” The truth of the matter is that I NEED MORE SUN, MORE WARMTH AND MY KIDDOS OUT OF SCHOOL!
3) a week away…..writing in our camper COMPLETELY ALONE! I haven’t been that alone for nearly….ok ever! There will still be lots of people around but…not my kids or my hubby. Weird!
4) the Raising Generations Today Conference in October. I am serving in a couple of areas on the leadership team…and I am VERY excited about this conference and all it stands for!
And there are a bazillion other little things that make me excited for the coming year.
And no matter what comes sailing our way, I will rely on God to help us embrace it!
So what’s heading your way in 2015?
Are you excited? Scared? Embracing it?
This morning as I sat and did my devotions I was confronted with a verse that chiseled pieces from my heart. It’s not something I struggle with consistently. It stems from low points, those valley moments. Sometimes valley moments leave me wanting to hide in a storyline…I Love a compelling story! It’s the girl in me. It kind of tykes me outside of my circumstances and allows me to enter a land that has happy endings.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks with our 6 year old. I can’t fix the issues he struggles with. I just can’t . It’s not like a splinter. You remove the foreign body, put an antibiotic ointment and a bandaid on it and in a few hours it is forgotten….for a healthy 6 year old anyway. And this week has been even worse because they have had no school, no school = no rigid routine. No rigid routine= mass chaos inside this little boys head! I’m still relatively new to this so it was a great insight into the possibilities for summer!
But all of that said, sometimes we need to step outside of our reality. That’s why people like TV, MUSIC, MOVIES AND FICTION BOOKS. and in and of themselves, they aren’t bad things
BUT. Sometimes, sometimes we get blinded by a good storyline and get sucked in. We get blinded to all the peripheral sin going on. And that is dangerous territory and that is exactly what happens to Lot as well. Though his circumstances are slightly different. The land he goes to is “good” but the people surrounding him are not!
2 Peter 2:7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);
Pondering all the false prophets I let into my life. They may not just be spiritual teachers, but those I am following in my day to day life. Do those people live like God commands or do they pay lip service and live another way OR does it blatantly go against God’s word and I allow it into my life to numb my mind and heart to what God calls sin. Lot does this by living in a city rampant with sin, he offered his daughters to the crowd, he had a husband chosen from the horrible city to marry his daughter. COMPROMISE, doesn’t just affect us, but our families as well. We can see the effect of compromise on Lot’s daughters.
In our everyday life we make compromises. Compromises aren’t necessarily bad. It’s when compromise hurts ours our others walk with God, that it becomes horrible. And recognizing it quickly is key. It’s amazing at how fast this can happen especially at your lowest points!
So here are steps to help combat this moments
1. Be in Gods word daily! A new thing I added recently is listening to the Bible. Some days are just too insane to add sitting for 10 minutes. I can hide God’s Word in my heart by listening to it while I wash dishes, fold laundry or make dinner!
2. Memorize these verses
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
AND
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
3. Put Pure things in! Get lost in the Chronicles of Narnia, or Anne of Geen Gables, Little house on the Prairie. There are positive alternatives out there. You just have to make the effort. And if you are thinking oh those things are hokey or out of date, Well I promise you this in 10 years so will the stuff you are into now!the point isn’t graphics, animation, cool effects. Thats changes in this world so fast these days. What matter is purity. TRUTH.
4.ask yourself If the kids can’t watch it, Why? And then should I be watching this? And if the kids should walk in while I am watching this what would it communicate to them? Would it communicate a double standard? There are something’s that young children should not see…the news for instance, some documentaries. Adult conversations. (We didn’t let our kids watch the Bill Nye/ken Ham debate,not because it was bad but because there were sensitive adult subjects that an 8,7,6 and 3 year old are not capable of processing yet)
5. This new one I added after reading Courtney Joseph’s book Women Living Well! Would I invite these people into my house to have sex on the couch in front of me and my children? Seriously think about this! This IS what we are doing!
It all comes down to this: : it’s a perspective change. We try not to let false teachers in but every once in a while one sneaks in. It’s a good reminder that despite a “great storyline”. Sometimes we need to shut off a TV show or movie, put down that book, and change the radio station! Because it may have a great beat, or a funny or compelling storyline but if the circumstances surrounding the storyline or lines laced into that great beat go against God’s word thaen we are not guarding our heart! This is not easy and convicted my heart as I am constantly reviewing why we do what we do in our family……does this fit into 1Corinthians 10:31 and Philippians 4:8-9
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
AND
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
If it goes against these then we are in danger! Our children are in danger, because hypocrisy jeprodizes faith in the greatest of ways.
