Expectantly

Recently I was reading the start of Psalm 37:7 " Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him", and the word "expectantly" stood out to me. I'm guilty of coming to read the word and pray, but not waiting in expectancy for Him. If I am praying for closeness and to deepen my relationship with Him, shouldn't I be waiting with joy and excitement for my time with Him? Shouldn't I be eager to be with Him, learn about Him, and hear from Him? 

How often do I pray and ask God to work, but not live or even pray like I expect Him to be enough and to come through for me? My heart longs for a deep relationship with the One who created me. My hope is to live a life that reflects the One whose grace has saved me. How do I do this? By making time each day to come expectantly to spend time in His presence. To pray, read His word, and wait with hope and expectancy of hearing His voice. By trusting that His words are absolute truth. And trusting that He cares for me more deeply than I can imagine, and will take care of my needs. 

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? -Matthew 6:26-27

Father, thank you for your deep love for us. Help us to seek you with expectant hearts and minds. To trust that You are always with us, always in control, and ALWAYS enough. May we have content hearts that seek and love you above all other things. Amen. 

                        

When You Seek True Rest

 So much noise. All of the
arguing. The stress. The Sadness. Busyness. 

Maybe your heart is like mine. Searching and longing to get back to that place of peace. Of true rest. To find some stillness. The place where your heart is able to let go and find peace and calm. 

I’m so thankful for a Heavenly Father who offers me this true peace and rest. Peace that is not dependent on my circumstances. How much work I got done. If my house, my kids, my job, my health, are all just what or where they need to be. Peace that is mine just because I am His and He gives it to me freely. 

Friends, I know how hard it can be to truly be still when not only the busyness of our daily lives is loud in our minds, but the weight of such heavy things in our world are making our hearts and minds spin too. 

But He is there. And He is waiting eagerly for you to come to Him. Seek Him and let Him fill you with His peace. Let Him give you true rest. He is what our souls are longing and searching for. 

     “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭                    Philippians‬ ‭4:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Beauty in His Creation

 There is such peace and joy to be found in the beauty of nature. ☀️Thank you God, for the daily reminders all around us. Help me to slow down and truly appreciate the beauty all around me. 🌻

Fix These Words of Mine in your Hearts & Minds

Years ago I realized how important it was for me to truly dig into my bible. To know the word of God for myself, not just trust on what I had heard from others. And I realized the more I dug into God's word, the more I memorized it, the more it changed me and my relationship with Him. I realized that seeing reminders of His word throughout my day made such a huge difference for me. So if you were to come over to my house, you would find sticky notes of verses stuck to mirrors and inside cabinet doors. I also started to decorate our home more with signs that reminded me of his truth. 

In God's word we are called to remember Him and His word. And as I look around my home I can see verses that remind me of different times in our lives that we needed certain verses to cling to. Reminders of his goodness. 

And as a parent, I wanted to there to be visual reminders for our children as they began to read. Our oldest in about to turn 8 & is really starting to love to read any and everything he can. I had bought a new sign from a very talented friend and was planning to get it hung up yesterday. I was showing the boys the sign as they were playing in the basement and our oldest read the sign to me. I asked him if he liked it and he said yes. 

And as he was walking away he said,  "the goal is not to love ourselves, it's to love Jesus". Which is a sign I have sitting at the bottom of our basement stairs. He told me he reads it every time he comes down the stairs and has it memorized. 

Earlier that day I was talking with my husband about the importance of having God's word available around our home. And I had wondered aloud if the boys would notice what the different signs we hang around our home say. We work hard to be intentional with our time so that our boys see the importance of time in their bibles and spent with God. But I am seeing that the messages we leave around for our children are picked up, even when we can't always see it. We need to be just as intentional with our words and the messages we are leaving with them. 

 "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates..."

Deuteronomy 11:18-20

Lord, let the messages found in my home be messages of hope. Messages that point others back to you. Reminders of who you are and your promises over us. I pray that each person who enters our home leaves with a reminder of your love and goodness. I pray that my boys see messages that fill their minds with thoughts of you and your truth. Thank you for your word and the reminders of the importance of remembering You, now and always. 

A New Year

There is a major battle that is going on. And it is happening between my ears. And I bet the same is true for you. Every single day, the world, Satan, you name it, are filling our minds with lies and negative thoughts. I knew my negative thoughts were there. I just didn't realize how much they were affecting me. I needed to be reminded of the freedom that is promised through Jesus. And find some practical ways to renew my mind.
I recently read two books that I feel like, go together perfectly! Rhythms of Renewal by Rebekah Lyons and Get Out Of Your Head by Jennie Allen. Friends, I hope you find the time this year to read these books. I promise they are worth your time.
Reading is something that helps me relax and fills my cup. It is one of the things that I noticed I was missing when I was spending entirely too much time staring at my phone screen. So I challenge you to find your joy this year. What is something that brings you joy, that you haven't had the time to do? Maybe you don't have the issue of wasting time scrolling like I struggle with. But if you do, put down your phone and go outside for that walk. Read that book. Paint that picture. Cook a meal together with your family. There is so much freedom and joy to be found when we create things and spend time in community with others.
I want 2020 to be a year of spending my time wisely. Making time to be with others. Time to do things with my family and friends. To love others well, as Jesus would have. To think of others first. To rest and restore my soul. What do you want your time to be filled with in 2020?

GOOYH

Rhythms of Renewal

Eyes To See The Best

Our last week has had it’s share of tough moments. Some harder than others. In the past I have struggled with letting my anxious or angry thoughts run wild. This tends to result in me struggling to stay motivated or ending up with a full blown, excruciating headache. But I have been working hard to take my worries straight to God. And to rest in the peace that He is always with me, always in control, and loves us beyond what I can understand. And then choosing to intentionally see the best in the world around me. Find that joy. See the blessings. 

I plan to share more soon, about two books that have been life changers for me. But for now, here are some things I found while looking for the beauty & blessing around me. 

 

Another gorgeous winter sunset, out my back window. And a boy full of joy, enjoying the outdoors.

A loaf of fresh bread baking in the oven, while my little guy waits patiently to taste its goodness!

Celebrating Grandma’s birthday. Spending the day making memories together.

Thank you Lord, for all the little ways you show up each day. Give me eyes to see you all around me. And a grateful heart for all that you provide for me each day. I’m so richly blessed by all the good things you have surrounded me with!

Weakness

Reading in Matthew for my She Reads Truth study today and I always get stuck on this verse about Peter. Upon remembering the words of Jesus and realizing he had denied him, he wept bitterly. While my heart aches for Jesus throughout these chapters, at this point my heart always aches deeply for Peter. Because his flesh was weak, just like mine. It opens my eyes to the countless times I give in to sin (in little and big ways) each day. My flesh is weak. But thankfully I know the rest of the story. I know that it is in my weakness, God uses me. I can’t do it on my own. But when I let God work in and through me, His power is made perfect in my weakness. And I am lead to a place of deep gratitude for Jesus & His gift of grace through the cross.