“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” - Zechariah 4:10 NLT I walked down the hall into my daughter’s room only to find her entire toy box and dollhouse emptied onto the floor. She looked up and smiled. She’d just gotten to the age where I could let her play in her room by herself while I grabbed a few minutes to get things done around the house. So why was I groaning about the mess instead of being glad at how she’d occupied herself having fun? As a mom, the new phases our kids grow into can sometimes mean things getting harder--not easier--for a while. When they first start eating solid foods, it might mean more time spent planning meals or trying to please a picky eater. When they first ...
Category Archives: Genny
A Guest Post – Praying Moms
**Please welcome Esther Feng of For Such a Time as This who is guest posting here today. Praying Moms by Esther Feng As moms, we pray for our kids. We pray in the car, we pray while we’re changing diapers, we pray over sleeping babies. Some days, we’ve used every parenting tool in our tool belt and there’s nothing more to do but ask for some divine intervention. We pray when the big issues of life stretch us beyond what we can bear. We’d give anything for tangible assurance that God is listening to us. But, there are lonely times when there’s no evidence that God hears our prayers. Nothing changes, and we are desperate to see the hand of God both in the mundane and the grand landscape. Evening and morning, and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud; and He shall hear ...
Worry into wonder…
Are you worrying about something right now? One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Matthew 25:6-34… “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" I don't know about you, but I can be pretty good at worrying sometimes, especially if I'm concerned about the well-being of my kids. Which is one of the reasons I love this verse so much. I like how it says, “Therefore... do not worry" It doesn’t suggest that I stop ...
Long after the gifts…
My son had his ninth birthday a couple weeks ago. After he left for school that day, I went to the store, got him a balloon as a surprise and a couple dozen donuts to share with his class. When I showed up in his classroom, he beamed. His teacher helped him to clip the balloon to his desk and his classmates oohed and aahed at the donuts. I could tell he was surprised and happy. About two hours later, as I was out running errands, I got an email on my phone from his teacher... "Your son can't stop smiling. It's too cute," she wrote. And it made me smile, too. I loved making my son feel special, and it felt even better knowing my surprise had brought him so much joy. It got me thinking, too. Is that how I am with the gifts in my life? Does a smile stay on my face ...
Grace is…
Grace... is the unexplainable hope that washes away the accusing whispers that dance in the darkness and hide behind the mirror and say, “You need to be thinner and thinner and thinner.” Grace… is the light that calls you toward something so good that you’re scared to trust it. You might even ignore it at first, thinking it’s not for you. Instead, you try to get better and fix things on your own. You try to be strong. Confident. Perfect. But hours of 3:00 a.m. sit-ups, calorie counting, dieting, scrutinizing, and hiding, will make a person fall. Yet Grace… is the mighty hand that will catch you and promise you that you don’t have to be perfect. That you are loved exactly the way you are. Grace… is the gentle voice that lifts your chin, tugs at your heart, and encourages you to believe. And when you do, Grace rains and pours and washes away moments, days, years, of worry and trying, trying, trying, on your own. Grace… restores your dreams, fills your heart, melts your fear, and opens your eyes so that you are ...
A Moment of Grace…
Last year, my son went through a phase of independence. At just seven years old, he no longer wanted me hugging him around his friends, calling him buddy, or kissing him when I dropped him off places. But during that phase, one day as I was writing at the kitchen table, he did something that surprised me. Out of the blue, he walked over and climbed onto my lap. At first, I thought maybe he was hurt or upset about something. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Nothing.” He smiled. Then he wrapped his arms around my neck, rested his head on my shoulder, and hugged me. I hugged him back. Tight. “Love you, Mom,” he whispered. “Love you, too.” I could barely get the words out. And I wished the moment would never end. A minute passed, and he slid off my lap and ran upstairs to play. But his hug stayed with me. And as I remember that day, I realize: that’s ...
Grace instead of punishment…
A while ago, my husband got a new phone system in our house that made working from home easier for him. One of the features of the system was that the phones intercomed each other--a convenient thing when you needed to ask a quick question from upstairs or downstairs and didn’t want to yell. My daughter thought it was a great feature too and had fun calling from room to room. Especially at bed-time. One night, literally a minute after we'd put the kids to bed, we heard the intercom… Beep. Beep. Beep. I picked up the phone. “Mommy?” My daughter said. “Can I have some warm milk?” “No, Honey. It’s late. You haven’t even tried to get to sleep yet.” “But, Mommy?” “What?” “I’m starving.” “You already had dinner and brushed your teeth. It’s time for bed.” I went to hang up the phone. “Wait, Mommy. If I have crackers, do I have to brush my teeth again?” “You can’t have crackers.” “But ...
Are you confident?
I sat there in a room filled with people, my heart pounding. I was about to share my story of struggling with an eating disorder in college with a few dozen teenagers. I was a mentor to teen moms through Youth for Christ at the time, and I had volunteered to speak that night. So why was I nervous? I knew that I was meant to talk about what I'd gone through. Here was a room full of girls, each facing their own challenges, and I wanted them to know they weren’t alone. I wanted them to know that we all go through difficulties, even if our situations are different. And, mostly, I wanted them to know how God can make a difference. Like He did for me. But, even though I knew I had a message of hope to share, I didn’t feel confident. And as I thought about it, I realized why. I was ...
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Genny Heikka
Managing EditorGenny started her career life thinking that the business world was where she wanted to be. But after her daughter was born and she began reading books to her, she realized that what she really wanted to do was be a writer...
