Need A Dose of Hope?

I am happy to welcome Laura from Outnumbered Mom to my blog today. She has such a sweet spirit. I know you will love what she has to share with us today.

I remember looking around the family room littered with trucks and balls and blocks and thinking, “What in the world do I think I’m doing here?”

A tribe of four boys can easily take over a house, and at times, I wondered if the Lord had made a mistake. I had one sister…NO experience with little boys, let alone a pack of four.

And there were days it seemed like I’d never dig out—from under piles of dirty socks, Legos, little cars, and lots of dirt and sand. And it seemed like I was doing the same thing every day, day after day. Just getting through, making sure 911 wasn’t necessary and there was food in tummies.

I needed a dose of hope. Don’t all moms, once in a while?

So, where did I look? Psalms is such an encouraging place to dwell.

“I lift my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)

And there’s more! It’s not a long chapter, but it’s filled with reassurance.

Then there were those days when I set out to do everything “right.” I was going to turn every angry word away with a soft answer, I was going to love the unlovely…only to lose it thirty minutes in when I found the boys trying to slice a banana with the ceiling fan.

Armed with a mental list of “I wills” and “I will nots,” I approached too many days with faith in what I could do—not in what God would do.

You know what I’ve realized? He’s the God who makes the impossible possible.

He brings life from death.
He brought light from darkness.

He turned the world upside down, fulfilling the Law that appeared on stone tablets. And the more I read the Bible, the more convinced I am that He’s the God of the unexpected.

He’s called the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace. Would you not expect him to come from a pristine line? But look the genealogy in Matthew.  It includes not only a king who sinned, but a Gentile woman and a harlot.

Tucked inside those names are stories of hope.

From David to Ruth to Rahab, we see the hope of the Gospel. This is a kingdom turned upside down. Matthew, who had lived the life of an outcast as a despised tax collector, doesn’t cover up those who fell or led less than pristine lives. He includes them, reminding us that our inclusion in this family is dependent on God—not on our birth, our status, or our performance.

No matter where we begin, He finds us and grafts us in. We are adopted into the royal bloodline, related forever to the King of Kings.

What greater picture of the hope of the Gospel? Foreigners, outcasts, aliens, He welcomes home.

How can we do less?

And on a personal note, in that spirit, I celebrate with open arms. Our family is beginning a journey that will take my son and daughter-in-love from Kentucky to India and back again. And they’ll return with a child in their arms. To read their story click this link.

Yes, there’s hope—and it’s found in the Gospel. In One who opened His arms wide to make us—the undeserving—His own. And He doesn’t stop there. If anyone needs power and strength, it’s a mom, and at His feet, there’s plenty to spare.

That’s not to say the road won’t be rocky at times, but there will always be One who loves us—and our children—by our sides.

So when I look around and “What in the world am I doing here” flashes through my mind, I remember.

I’m leaning on the God of the unexpected, and that seems to work pretty well for a mom of four boys.

He’s always there—the One who makes possible the impossible.
That’s hope.



I want to thank Laura for sharing with us today. It's something we cannot hear enough,that He is our hope. Be sure to hop over to her blog and check it out. You will be inspired for sure.

Laura Lee Groves, author of I’m Outnumbered! One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys, is a writer, speaker, and high school English and creative writing teacher. She inspires and encourages moms on her blog, Outnumbered Mom.

Verse For the Year

My verse for the year is this one:

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

I know that the only way to do the things I desire to do will be with God's strength. I know I cannot do things in my own strength. I have started changing my eating habits last week and my flesh will most certainly fail in this new journey,but I know God will not fail me if I rely on Him. I have some fruits of the Spirit to work on too. I need to be more long-suffering, more gentle, more patient. Must I go on down the line? In my own strength I cannot do these things. I have to rely on God. I want to rely on God. It's my flesh that likes to take the reigns back and say, 'Heather you can do this.' Jesus is in my heart, God's Spirit lives inside of me. I can do it in His strength.

Anyone else there with me? Are there things you want to change this year, but you know you cannot do it yourself? If so, then you have come to a great point in life. Once we realize we cannot do things on our own, God can use us. He doesn't really need us, but He wants us. That should make your heart leap. So though my heart and flesh will fail, sin, slip up, and make mistakes, I can take comfort in the fact that God is my strength and portion forever, and He never fails.

Do you have a verse for the year? Share it with me!

My One Word

Purge.

I really did not prepare to do a word. I've had a pretty crazy year and last few months. I kept hearing the word purge the past few months. What does that word mean? The Webster's defines it as follows:



 

1

a : to clear of guilt
b : to free from moral or ceremonial defilement

 

 

Kind of an unpleasant word to talk about isn't it? I prayed years ago, almost 7 or 8 for the Lord to make me moldable. I was a young college girl and I do not think I realized what I was praying. Because the Lord has been doing just that this past 6 years. It has not been that fun or easy. It is necessary though. So is to be purged. Jesus isn't coming back for a dirty, dingy bride. He's coming back for a white, spotless bride. I am part of the bride, therefore, I have to be cleansed, purged, and spotless. My desire is to let God purge me of myself. My self-righteousness, my selfishness, my stubbornness, my attitude, my agenda, and so much more. It will not be fun or easy, but it is necessary. A lot may have chosen nice words. Words that seemed not so harsh. Sometimes in order to get to those words, we have to go through some not so nice words. So many believers want the end result of a purge, but do not want the process. I certainly do not want the process, but if I want to be as Jesus, I must go through it.

What is your one word? What about a verse. I have one of those I will write about next week sometime. Have a blessed weekend!

 

 

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends!!! I pray you have a blessed day. Remember, today is about Jesus and giving. We are all here because of Jesus and his sacrifice. God has been so gracious to us.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
                  Luke 2:7-14


                     Our Precious babies on Christmas Eve 2012.
 

 

 

My guys. Love them so much!!

 

My babies and me. They are my everything!

 

 

 

 

Singing happy birthday to Jesus! They were so excited!

 

 

Merry Christmas!!!!!

What Child Is This?

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
  Luke 2:6-7

I'm a Mother to 3, so I know how the anticipation builds as you await for your little one to arrive, but I wonder what Mary felt. She had the Messiah in her womb and she would soon raise the Savior of the world. She literally had the Savior living inside her. Wow. That just blows my mind when I sit and think about it. I imagine she was nervous, scared, excited, and a little worried. More than anything, I know she was humbled and willing. May I be that way when He calls me to do His will, whatever it may be. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures from the boys Children's Church class.

Aaron's footprint as the manger for baby Jesus.

 

My sweet Aaron. He is the middle child, 3 years old.

 

 

Daniel's footprint as the manger for baby Jesus.

 

My handsome Daniel. He is the oldest, 4 1/2 years old.

Preparing For Christmas

It's 3 days till Christmas! This is my favorite time of the year. I love the cold weather (when we get it ha!), celebrating the birth of Christ, and to give. I've been doing an online study with She Reads Truth blog. It's an Advent study and it has been very humbling. I love looking over the Word and seeing all the things that led up to the birth of Christ.

Here in our home I've been trying to make some of our own traditions for Christmas with our boys, along with my husband. My boys are getting old enough to enjoy and participate too, which makes it more fun! Daniel is almost 5 (will be in a month), Aaron just turned 3 in October, and Johnathan, well, he is still small, only 17 months. So here are some of our traditions:

We started our Jesse Tree at the end of November and will do it until Christmas Day. It's really good to do with the boys and they love it.

 

 

We also like to bake cookies. Who doesn't like to bake cookies anytime of the year, but especially when they have delicious seasonal ones. These are Peppermint Sugar Cookies. It's our chubby Gingerbread man.

 

 

I love to do crafts with the boys. I try to do them throughout the year, not just during the holidays. They decorated their own paper Christmas trees and we hung them on their door.

 

 

We also send out Christmas cards, the traditional ones. I love a card! So we stick with the traditional paper cards.

 

 

The boys have gained my love of Christmas. We decorated their door and they love it!

 

 

They helped a lot with decorating the Christmas tree too. I am usually OCD with that thing! I like it just right, but I put that aside and let them put the ornaments on or tell me where to put them. It's pretty!

 

 

They love the star and call it the Star of Bethlehem. We had a bow first because our original star broke, so we had a bow on there until I bought another start.

 

 

Something new I did this year were making ornaments. I found a foam ornament kit at Target and we did 3 a piece. It was fun and they are cute, aren't they?

 

 

Something I have always had at this time of the year, is a candy dish. It is a must! Mine beloved one broke, but I found this cute Christmas tree dish at Ross. Love it!

 

 

 

We also did shoe boxes with our church. They send them to Mexico with a dear Pastor friend of ours. We took the boys to Dollar Tree and let them pick out a lot with our guidance. They loved doing that. It was our second year to do so. We do a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve and open one gift that night. We want to teach them that Christmas is about giving, not getting, but it is okay to get. I think we are doing a good job. Share some of your traditions or way you prepare your heart for the birth of our Savior.

 

Something to leave you guys with. My oldest came to me earlier and said, Mama, I don't think I deserve any presents. I asked him why not son? He replied, because of all the days I have been bad ( he meant by disobeying us and being mean to his brothers). I was pretty shocked. We have talked to him about all that and how we don't deserve to live, but because of Christ we can. We are very blunt and open with him and the 3 year old, though they are young. I told him he was right, but that I didn't deserve Jesus, but God sent him anyways because He loves us. I told him our love for him is not on his performance and we love him no matter what, but when he does disobey it upsets us. Love isn't based on performance, but love will compel you to perform. By that I mean, when you love the Lord you will obey Him. If Daniel loves us, he will obey us. Pretty deep stuff. I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

 

 

 



 

 

 

Giving To the Undeserving

I'm so glad that God has not given up on me yet. I am a work in progress, but He sees fit to continue showing me grace. So why don't I show it to others? Oh, but I do, I show it to my family, most of the time. What about those people who I do not think deserve it? Ouch. That's what He spoke to me earlier today. Why don't you show her grace? My reply, because she doesn't deserve it. It's my heart, not hers. He's asking her to do other things, but He's asking me to do this one.

Does anyone feel me? There are those who have hurt you or your family members and you just do not think they deserve anything good. They may not be cold, hard killers, but they do not show love like they should and you know it. They aren't really mean, but it's laziness or pure oblivion. Haven't I been there though? I can recall times where I was lazy instead of doing what I knew God wanted me to do. I can also recall times where I was totally oblivious to what God wanted me to do. You know what? I can remember someone coming along side and serving me. In essence, that is what I would be doing for this person and to be honest, it urks me. It grates on my nerves, because I know she does not serve how she is called too. There goes my heart again.

I have to let go and give grace. I have to let go and pray for her. It is so hard though. I pray I can let go a day at a time and began to see her through my Savior's eyes. A soul in need of refining, just like mine.

Here are a few scriptures to minister to you all. Blessings!

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
    John 13:34

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13