My neglect always led to feelings of guilt and fear of what I was going to find when I went downstairs to check on her. Finally, tired of waking up feeling like a failure before my day even started, I prayed and pondered – what was this dream trying to tell me.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I was living out my own version of Julie Ann Barnhill’s book, Motherhood: the Guilt that Keeps on Giving.

Can you relate?

My children are grown with children of their own, and I still feel like I could have and should have done so much more . . .  even though I gave parenting my all and then some.

Praise God! My heavenly Father came to my rescue – Again!

He reminded me that although it is true that I was not then, I’m not now, nor will I ever be a perfect mother, there are no perfect mothers. We are simply doing our best, and that’s what matters.

He reminded me that mothering like every other aspect of my life is covered by His grace and that is sufficient.

He reminded me that my children and grandchildren are His. I have not been called to be perfect nor is it my job to make them perfect. I have been called to love  and guide them by pointing them toward God’s love . . . and that I can do.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

It’s been a while since I’ve had a “puppy in the basement” dream. Of course, I still have my mom guilt moments. Sometimes I think they come in the job description. However, now I try to quickly give those feelings over to God’s grace; trusting that His loving forgiveness is sufficient to cover my many weaknesses.

So, take a moment today to remind yourself of how very much the Lord loves you, forgives you, and covers you with His grace . . . then go hug your kids.

Photo Credit

And Christmas time?

Well, sometimes Christmas time hurts and looks nothing like we think it should look.

Know that right now, as I write these words, that I am praying for you as you sit behind your screen and read my words.  You are not alone.

I am writing to you because I’ve experienced those kinds of Christmases. Maybe my story is different, but I’ve been there in my own way. In those times when I’d push my cart through Target envious of those with carts bursting over the top while I added pennies in my head. I’ve sat in a hospital waiting room while my husband recovers from cancer surgery two floors above me. I’ve watched my baby sick with no explanation of why. That’s part of my story during Christmas.  And those kinds of years, well, they’re hard. You kind of feel alone watching as everyone else moves joyfully around you.

I wish I could take away the hard stuff, make it better, fix it. But, I can’t. But, what I can do is tell you just a little bit of what I did during those hard years and pray that for a moment your heart can rest and feel a bit of His peace.

So, my words to you are to stop looking at all the stuff that the world tells us to have at Christmas. At the cookies, and presents, and decorations, and bows, and glitter, and glitz, and caroling, and cards, and parades, and pictures, and parties, and stockings, and candy, and all that stuff. For this time, this season in your life, look only at the baby in Luke 2.

The baby Jesus who humbled himself and was born in a stable.

For you.

Right now.

In your life no matter how messy it may be.

Look only at Jesus. 

I remember having to intentionally turn my eyes from the world’s idea of Christmas and stilling myself to rest in Jesus. Not stuff. Not glitter. Just Jesus. My eight year year old Brennan was only two then and he would pray at night. His prayer was simply - Jesus, Jesus,  Jesus. I learned from him. So when my heart ached or I was scared or envious or sad or anxious or afraid I’d pray - Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Jesus is Christmas.

The circumstances in life are not.

My prayer for you, wherever you are, is that the peace of Jesus fills your heart this Christmas and that you may find His joy. You are loved. And you are prayed for.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger… Luke 2:6-7a

It’s true in every family.

The sister who always seems to be critical and competing.
The aunt married to your mother’s brother who continually tells you how to raise your children.
The grandparent who insists on telling the same unpleasant story every holiday.
The child who complains and won’t eat anything on the table.
The uncle who insists on arguing about everything and anything.
The ____________________________. (You fill in the blank.)

We all have them. Difficult family members who put us on edge and make us wonder if it’s all worth the effort.

Here are a few tips I’ve gathered that might just help:

1. Cover the day with prayer – Start now. Pray for each person by name and ask the Lord to bless them and your time together.

2. Make table assignments – If you know that Uncle George doesn’t get along with Aunt Patsy put them at opposite ends of the table.

3. Keep everyone busy – Give them jobs before the meal, and plan a game or project for later in the day. Have the children take photos or make place-mats. Set up your Christmas tree without the ornaments – and let them decorate it while you are in the kitchen. You can always move them later if you don’t like the placement.

4. Invite someone new – Inviting someone who is alone for the holiday,  it helps to keep everyone on their best behavior.

5. Write, I’m thankful for you because notes – Place each person’s name at the top of a piece of paper. Without signing any names have each family member write down one or two reasons why they are thankful for them. Read them aloud at the end of the day – and gift each person with their list to take home.

What would you add?

I am praying that each of you enjoy a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. We have so many reasons to praise the Lord for all that He has done for us. Remember He chose our parents and our siblings. He did it for a reason.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. Ephesians 1:4-6 (NLT)

Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:24 NIV

“Spencer! Spencer!” Amy called around the house looking for her son. Hearing stumbling from above, she walked to the stairs. On the top stair was Spencer – seizing. In distress, he had been searching for his mother. He knew she would help him through this storm. Like a dance they rehearsed, each knew their parts – neither chose them. His head drawn, voice gone, and arm jerking; he tried to take a step.

And fell – into the arms of his mother. She guided him to a safe spot and sat beside him. Together they waited for it to be over.

I spent the next day in the hospital emergency room with Spencer and Amy. As I listened to my friend recount the story, I was struck by the mental image of the falling and catching. I couldn’t help but notice the similarities to our relationship with Christ. When we are in trouble and stumble, He hears us. Sometimes, like Spencer, our voice is gone; we haven’t the strength to call. But in our hearts we cry out, “Help me.” Hoping, wishing desperately that miraculously He will hear us and will come.

And then He does.

So when you are falling back reaching anxiously for something, anything, your Heavenly Father is there. He catches us and guides us to a safe spot. Christ lovingly sits beside us and waits for it to be over. He didn’t stop the storm, but like the devoted mother of a child with epilepsy, He sits and waits with us for it to pass.

Are you in distress? Do you have a fear of falling or maybe failing? God will catch you. Just lean into His arms and trust. He will bring you through.

Lord, I pray for each person who reads this post today that is in desperate need of a safe landing. So many are hurting. Father, cover them with Your grace. Help them find shelter under Your wings and let them know You will never leave or forsake them. Amen.

***You can read more about my friend Amy and her courageous son HERE. Please pray for God to be in all of the medical details of Spencer’s life right now. And stop by to give my dear friend Amy a word of encouragement.

Yes, I know that October brings us one month closer to winter, and for those of you who live in the frozen northern lands like me that means snow, but I really am grateful for a new start. Somehow when I flip the calendar over and see the month — the new month — it fills me with hope and opportunity.

You see, September was hard. September didn’t go as planned. Our family was sick most of the month. When you have a family of nine a long lasting cold really becomes a long lasting cold. And things didn’t get done. Including my September post for 5 Minutes for Faith.  It was on my schedule, but then the very cute orange schedule book remained on top of my kitchen cabinet for weeks.

These weren’t my plans.

I had planned to start our homeschool year ahead — with plans photocopied, and trips to the orchard, and nature walks. I had planned to have my meals scheduled and shopping lists prepped. I had planned to stay ahead on my laundry. Wait. That’s always my plan, but somehow that one never seems to work.  I had planned to keep on top of my blog writing — get my posts done, add some extras, and more. I had planned to have the kids join different groups and have weekly park days. I had planned to get up early.

My plans didn’t happen.

Instead my September was full of trips to the doctor, neb treatments, and more trips to the doctor. It was making chicken noodle soup and reading with a couch full of littles who coughed away. It was of gathering leaves and bringing them indoors for everyone to admire. It was of writing in the wee hours of the morning, and apologizing for being behind.

I could have been upset. Irritated. Annoyed. I could sit in overwhelm. In feeling behind.

But, I’ve chosen not to. You see, the Lord knew my September even before I ventured into September. He has my days written on the palm of His hand. He knows me. He knows my children.  Even in those times that don’t go as we plan we can still honor Him and bring glory to His name. I had to surrender my agenda and adopt the new plan. The day to day, moment by moment plan.

And it was good.

The Lord honored those chicken noodle soup days in September.

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24 NIV

How about you? Have you had those seasons in life where you know you just need to let go of those plans and rest in the day to day?

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52 NIV

From the very first moment I found out that I was pregnant with my first child, I just “knew” that I was going to be a “boy mom.”  I don’t know how or why, but I just knew that God knit me together to raise boys. The exciting, adventurous, rowdy days could be a challenge, but the sense of purpose was like a mission for me.

Twenty-two years old, married less than a year and completely overwhelmed with this next stage in my life, I cried out to the Lord and asked Him into my heart. I had no idea how to be a Christian, how to be a wife, how to be a mom but I sought His direction with every bit of my heart and soul.

As I grew in my own faith walk, my child grew right along with me. I read every single parenting book I could get my hands on. I took pages and pages of notes on what my son was doing, what he was eating and how often he went to the bathroom (yep, I was one of “those” moms).  God brought me this child for such a time as this and I intended to do the best that I possibly could.

I started by praying.

I prayed this prayer for my sons…”That my sons would be good godly men who knew, loved and feared the Lord. That they would be the leaders of their families, that they would love their wives and treat them with honor and respect. That they would be the leaders that God created them to be, that they would stand firm in the face of temptations, that they would seek Him first in all they do and that they would do the right thing even if it is the hard thing.”

To this day, I still pray this prayer over them. If you have absolutely no idea where to start in raising godly men, then let me suggest that you always start by covering them in prayer.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 NIV

Now that my boys are knocking on the door of becoming adults, I see the seeds that we planted while they were little have been watered over the years and God has been doing a good work in their lives.  It doesn’t happen overnight and it is never too late to get started on raising godly men.

If your boys are in preschool, then get started now by;

• Praying over them,
• Reading an age-appropriate Bible with them,
• Praying with them,
• Attend church where the Kids Ministry is more about ministry than babysitting,
• Talk to them about God

There is so much more to raising godly men, so make sure you come back on January 31^st as we talk about getting started with Elementary, Middle, and High School boys, as well as some practical ideas for raising godly men of all ages.

Father God, you have given us such a precious gift in our children.  We want to be moms who raise our kids to passionately pursue you all their lives.  Father, as moms of boys we know that we have a special responsibility to raise up godly men who will lead their families with a purpose to serve you.  Thank you for this honor Father, we don’t take it lightly and today, Father we commit these young boys to you.  In Jesus precious and holy name, Amen.

Reclaim your commute.

It sounds simple enough, but what does that really look like?

If you are like me, you like to multi-task and the commute is the perfect time to get phone calls made or even just chill out to some great music. However, what if we did take these three words to heart? What if we took the time that we are in the car every day and gave it over to growing in our relationship with Christ?

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Here’s what it could look like if we put down the cell phones and turned off the mindless noise.

We could:

-          Listen to audio books by Christian authors, Pastors, speakers that challenge us or inspire us,

-          Listen to sermons or podcasts from Pastors from all over the world,

-          Record our own podcast full of prayers, Scripture or promises from God and listen to it,

-          Pray without ceasing for our marriages, kids, extended family, friends and those God brings to our hearts,

-          Memorize Scripture

Can you even imagine what the benefits of this would be?

Think about it…you would grow closer to God, you would probably have a better start to your day, and your prayer life would grow exponentially. If I had to guess, I would even say that your whole outlook on the ups and downs of life would dramatically change as well, not because things aren’t as bad as they were before but quite simply because your faith in Him would overshadow the other stuff.

Some of you might be saying, “Well, I’ve got my kids in the car with me all the time how am I supposed to do that?” and that is a great question. What if you reclaimed your commute with them too?

There are so many fantastic resources for mommies to have in the car for the kids, try some things like these:

-          Veggie Tales,

-          Adventures in Odyssey,

-          Kids Praise & Worship CD’s (you’ll be surprised at how awesome some of these are),

-          Record your own CD of you reading from the Bible and play it in the car for the kids (they will love to hear mommy’s voice on the radio),

-          Talk to your Kids Ministry Director/Pastor at your church, they will have some great ideas too.

Three simple words…Reclaim Your Commute…what would our lives look like if we all did this?

Father God, we want to be women who are passionately pursuing You. Father, help us as we start this New Year to reclaim our commute for You and You alone. We want to be women of the Word, full of Your truth and wisdom. Guide us as we embark on this fantastic journey. Lead us Lord, here we are…in Jesus name, Amen.

Now it’s your turn…

Are you going to join me as we Reclaim our Commute?

What does that look like for you?

What are some ideas that you use to Reclaim Your Commute?

PS – The sermon I was talking about was this one, Disciplining Your Mind, check it out…yes, I am biased because it was my husband preaching, but I really think you’ll enjoy it too!

fools are leaky faucets, dripping nonsense.”

Proverbs 15:2 The Message

Nonsense!

Wow, what an amazingly fantastic word.  I know we “know” what it means, but digging a little deeper, look what I found out about nonsense…

According to Merriam-Webster.com nonsense means;

1a : words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas    b (1) : language, conduct, or an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense (2) : an instance of absurd action

I’m not a rocket scientist or anything but I can tell you this…I do not want to be a leaky faucet dripping nonsense, do you?

This Christmas season there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for you to gather with friends, family members, and probably other believers as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

We have an amazing opportunity to do something completely different this year.

We can lay down all the useless dribble that surrounds our life and truly focus on the most important things this Christmas.

Less of;

* Me

* Words

* Stuff

* Distractions

and oh so much more of;

* Him!

This is not always something that is easy to do, and if you have a run away mouth like I do (Big Mouth 1 and Big Mouth 2), then you’ll know that this is not something you can do on your own.

It’s taken me a very long time to figure out that less of me and more of Him is by far a better way to live that I would care to recount, but I am learning more and more each and every day to let go of the other stuff and cling hard to Him.

For far too many years I was a leaky faucet.

I don’t like that, but it’s a part of my story.

Thankfully He continues to show me there is no room in my life for the nonsense.  There is, however, tons of room for Him, which is ultimately what He’s been trying to show me.

Father God, you are truly the most important thing in our lives. Help us to lay down the useless dribble, turn off the leaky faucets and ultimately become the spring water flowing from the wise. Guide us this Christmas season to be more like you. In Jesus name, Amen.

What is one thing you can do today to turn off the leaky faucet?

Let’s be the women He wants us to be, who share the spring water flowing from the wise.

Praying for us as we journey together…Melissa

the bills are piling up,

the laundry is never ending,

the dishes have formed a mountain in the sink,

the job you used to love is now a chain around your ankle,

the friends you thought would be there forever have stabbed you in the back,

the storms of life blow you from side to side as if you are merely a paper boat in the midst of a perfect storm.

When you feel like no one is left that really cares, cling to the words that David spoke as he prayed to God in Psalm 17:1-8 NIV;

¹ Hear me, LORD, my plea is just;
listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
it does not rise from deceitful lips.

² Let my vindication come from you;
may your eyes see what is right.

³ Though you probe my heart,
though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
my mouth has not transgressed.

⁴ Though people tried to bribe me,
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
through what your lips have commanded.

⁵ My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not stumbled.

⁶ I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

⁷ Show me the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their foes.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings

Isn’t it great to know that He hears all of our prayers, knows all of our struggles and is there with us to hide us in his shadow.

You, my friend, are the APPLE OF HIS EYE!

So, the next time you feel the storms of life beating you down grab an apple and remind yourself just how special you are to Him!

What a perfect reminder of how much He loves YOU!

Father God, thank you that in the midst of the storm we can cling to you, that you are there with us, that we matter to you!  Father, what a gift it is to know that we are the apple of your eye, remind us that when we forget, in Jesus name, Amen.

Never did I think a girl that grew up in a small town of rural Kentucky would ever have a heart for missions.  Let’s face it; I grew up in a tiny little place that had one blinking red light, a roller rink, and a main street that was lined up with lots of mom & pop stores.

I loved growing up in a small town and still wish I had a chance to raise my boys in that small town life, but God had other plans.  When I was in high school my parents decided it would be a great time to start over–go on a great adventure per se–so we packed up our whole small town life and headed for the big city of Miami, Florida.

Oh yeah, you read that right, we went from one little blinky light town to the hustle and bustle of life in Miami.  I had never been a part of so much diversity, so many cultures and so many people. The adjustment took a few years, but this was now my home.  God, in His great goodness and mercy knew that I needed to get out of that small little world so that He could open my eyes to see that He was planting in me a Heart for Missions.

Fast forward a few years and I met my husband, also a southerner transplanted to South Florida. We got married and quickly started our family.  Over the course of our married years God began a new work in our hearts and lives and called us both to ministry.  It was an incredible adventure and we have seen so many highs and lows throughout the ten years we have been in ministry, but in the last four years God has stirred us up yet again and watered those seeds into our Heart for Missions.

My husband, a small town country boy from Alabama, has been to Cuba (twice), Guatemala (where he met our Compassion daughter Erika), and now Haiti (twice).  I have gone to the Bahamas to work in an orphanage and even our oldest son started down the road to missions work this summer when he went to Haiti with my husband.

I have no idea what God is going to do next, but I do know that He is growing that seed right in front of our eyes…it’s an amazing thing to watch as He grows in our family a Heart for Missions.

How about you?  Has He been creating a Heart for Missions in you?

Here are a few of the organizations that we serve with…

check them out, pray about it, then see what He has in store for you and your family!

Foreign Missions

• Great Commission Alliance (GCA) ~ Haiti
• Compassion International
• Operation Christmas Child

Local Missions (South Florida) – look for similar ministries in your area

• Sheridan House Family Ministries (South Florida)
• 4 Kids of South Florida
• Taylor’s Closet (South Florida)
• HOPE Women’s Centers (South Florida)

Also…if you have any other great organizations that you serve with please leave a comment so we can find out more about them too!

Father God, open our eyes to see where you are leading us, open our hearts to be ready to receive the invitation from you and create in us a willing spirit to go where you send us.  Create in us a Heart for Missions as we seek to serve those you place in our path.  In Jesus Name, Amen.