Rising

      

If you pour yourself out for the hungry and
satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness and

your gloom be as the noonday.  
Isaiah 58:10

 

Dear Sister-friend,

I have been memorizing Isaiah 58:10 because today because it has penetrated my mind and soul in a fresh way.

Over the last several years I have been praying for a breakthrough concerning my own inner battle with gloom.  There had been a gloom that had hovered over my relationship with my two of my children.  I had become weary of trying to pour love, encouragement and help into hearts that seemed equivalent to pouring water into a basket.  Ironically, my own heart needed some sewing up.

As a result of not wanting to "mess up' anymore I withdrew and became silent.  Being an extrovert, silence can easily turn to distance and coldness.  However, this was not the answer and I knew that I was not to give up.

Due to the encouragement and the inspiration of my mom’s Facebook prayer group instead of withdrawing into myself … I withdrew into the arms of my loving heavenly Father.  Instead of striving … I sat at the feet of my Lord.  Instead of trying so hard to pour out … I took the time to allow the Lord to pour in.

With renewed spiritual strength, taking care of some physical issues and rest … today for the first time in years … I jumped into the pool with my kids and we had fun.   The noonday sun shone brightly upon us and the light of Christ penetrated the shadows. 

Your Turn

Ask the Lord to lead you to a group of sister-friends who will pray with you, encourage you and provoke you to a deeper walk with the Lord.  But most of all … as one of my favorite preachers Pastor Ben Krandell drilled into our mind and soul with his southern draw … “Never ever … Never ever … give up!”

Loving Father,
I praise You!  Thank you for endurance and the Holy Spirit given grit that doesn’t allow us to give up and for Sister-friends who inspire. 

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

"O death, where is your victory? 

O death, where is your sting?"

But, thanks be to God who gives

the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:55,57 ESV

 

 

 

 

Praying

As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, 

I will show them marvelous things.

 Micah 7:15 (ESV)

Dear Sister-Friend,

This week, due to minor surgery, I had the opportunity to crawl under my shield (my blanket) and indulge in the presence of the Lord through prayer, journaling, reading the Word, enjoying Christian literature, listening to sermons and "face-booking" with beloved sister-friends.  I love how the Lord will take something like surgery and turn it into a gift.

The greatest gift-lesson that I came away with is the reminder of the awesomeness of prayer.  I am by nature a mover and shaker, fix-it, let’s do it, kind of woman.  Even with my leg wrapped, I took a moment to get up and dance! 

However, this week the Lord reminded me that I can stop doing half of what I do as a mother and simply turn to Him in prayer.  That translated to less teaching (aka nagging), cleaning (oh yeah!), playing, running around to take kids to various activities, and even … our family devotion times.  For goodness sake does it have to be so long, I can hear my kids chide! (LOL)

Here is a very simple and seemingly trivial example, but for me it was profound:

One of my children has a habit of leaving the soap soaking in a small bowl of water.  With five children in our household we purchase lots of soap and shampoo so this innocent childlike behavior was “bugging” me.  My first reaction was to take time to teach (Ok …NAG) my child about being considerate, responsible, and blah, blah, blah.  Instead, each time I saw the soap soaking in the bowl of water I simple prayed that the Lord would lay it on his/her to put the soap away properly.  Today, after his/her shower I found the soap in its proper place.  To me this was a small but profound victory!

Your turn:

Take sometime today to hide under your shield and indulge in the presence of the Lord.  Here are two links that may inspire and encourage your prayer life to a greater depth beyond soap J:

Myranda Morales

http://musingsofamssionary.blogspot.com/2013/05/musings-on-burn-out.html

The Power of Spirit Lead Prayer - Tim Williams | Times Square Church Sermons

www.tscnyc.org

***********

Holy Lord,

We were created to fellowship with You, each of us has a unique place in your heart that only we can touch.  If we are to busy that can not take place.  Father, cause us to live within the healthy boundaries that you have set for us, not doing to much and not doing to little … but simply listening to Your gentle voice and following your leading as we raise our children for Your glory.  

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Note:
A special thanks to my dear friend Erika of  Erika Thomas Typografix who taught me the concept of "my shield aka my blanket." 

After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. 

And after the fire the sound of a low whisper…

And behold, there came a voice to him …

1 Kings 19:12 and 13b

Longing

Never again will you be called

"The Forsaken City" or "The Desolate Land."

Your new name will be

"The City of God's Delight" and "The Bride of God,"

for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his bride.

Isaiah 62:4 (NLT)

Dear Sister-Friend,

Here is an excerpt from a journal entry written to my adopted children before we officially met almost eight years ago.

The Lord has not forsaken you even though the world has!  The system has called you forsaken but the Lord claims you as His own!  You have a mighty and godly spiritual inheritance awaiting  you.  I am so excited for you. This has been a long process.  I have found myself becoming impatient but, it occurred to me that you are waiting too!  Your waiting must be seven times harder.

During the time of this journal entry my heart ached for the thousands of kids stuck in foster care or an orphanage that were waiting and have continued to wait for years.  Their waiting is painful and filled with hopelessness.

Sister-Friend … has the Lord called you to adoption.  Does it feel long, invasive, and downright frustrating?  Embrace your feelings, acknowledge them because they are real, they are legitimate.  Now, I’d like to encourage you seek the Lord for Scriptures that you can turn into prayers for your soon to arrive child or children.

***********

Father,

I praise you for the miracle that is about to take place.  For those who wait upon You will never be disappointed.  We will never be disappointed because You are faithful.  You fulfill the longings of our hearts!

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

Crushing

Recently, I read the foreward of book entitled Desperate:  Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sally Mae and Sarah Clarkson.  Here is an excerpt:

“Sally, I feel I owe it to you to warn you about what is ahead.   All of those easy-schmeasy comments about giving birth and having a baby and being a mother are just lies.  You are going to hurt like you never imagined …. I just want to warn you that this is the hardest thing you have probably ever done in your life, and if you are not ready for it to be hard, you will become quite depressed!”  

(Kindle version).

Whew!  Honestly, I wish I would have read that fifteen years ago.  I was one of those pregnant mom’s that some snickered at.  I loved being pregnant!  It was easy and I was on cloud nine!  Even the delivery seemed fast … only four hours!!!  However, I was not in the least prepared for what was to follow.  Within days I was gripped with fear and anxiety.  As a teacher, I knew just what to do.  I had curriculum to follow or create, a bell schedule to tell me when to teach, eat and leave for the day … everything was mapped out.  

Now I had 24 hours a day, everyday with another human being whom I was responsible to feed, cloth, teach, love, etc… and I had no idea what I was doing so I read lots of books and it only made it worse … because my little baby did not follow the rules of the book!

Sister-friend, being a mother is hard!  Don’t let anyone fool you!  No matter how easy they make it look … it is hard work but you were created for this battle and I assure you that as You press into the Lord … He will give you strength and His mighty power to accomplish all that He has asked of You triumphantly!

What is the hardest part of motherhood for you at the moment?   Believe God for a solution!

Father, 

We delight in You!  We praise You in advance for Your strength, Your power and ultimately Your victory.

In Jesus Name Amen.

   

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  (Ephesians 6:10 NLT)

Transforming

The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. 

May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him …

(I Kings 8:57-58a)

Dear Sister-Friend,

Yesterday, a friend sent out a prayer request, “Please pray for me, as I don't want to misrepresent the Lord to my son.”  That prayer request stopped me in my tracks.  I had to admit that there were a number of times that my reaction to one of my children was truly a misrepresentation of Christ.  I had to quickly to repent.

As I studied I Kings 8:56-61 (ESV) this morning … my heart was especially drawn to verse 61 “let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statues and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”  

Using the Blue Letter Bible Concordance/Interlinear on my phone I learned that the Hebrew Interlinear Tables defines the following words …

·      “Let your heart” or lebab (H3824) as the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul,   understanding  … as seat of appetites … emotions and passions

·      “in His statues” or choq (H2706) as a prescribed task 

·      “His commandments” or mitzvah (H4687) as commandment (of code of wisdom)

It is my desire that the Lord would transform us as mothers from the inside out.  First, that He would consume our hearts with his emotions, passions, mind, etc.  Having His heart, we then might be enabled to live out the prescribed tasks He as given us (whether it be as a mother to a grandchild, a foster child, an adopted child, a special needs child, a biological child, multiples, or another situation) with wisdom to respond properly in any given situation. 

Dear Gracious Father,

Incline our hearts to You, that we will be able to walk in all your ways.  We desire to be mothers who influence our children in such a way that they would recognize You… in… part by their daily interactions with us.  

In Your Mighty Name, Amen!

Believing

“None of you must be worried or upset, when it looks as though everything has gone wrong’, Jesus went on, ‘You must trust me and believe in me, just as you do in God…”  pg. 370 The Children’s Bible.

Dear Sister-Friend,

Have you ever experienced the pain of dashed expectations?  Prior to adopting our children I wrote a letter to them.  One of the lines of the letter read, “We are all looking forward to getting to know you, spending time with you and playing with you.” 

You could only imagine the monumental guilt that I endured when my long awaited children arrived and within a very short amount of time all I wanted to do was crawl under my covers and hide.  Instead of spending time with my children I wanted to be alone and when I attempted to play with them … I was either bored out of my mind or war broke out.   The beautiful vision of binding the broken hearted and being the repairer of the breach was blurred with the cracks of anger, fear and frustration. 

But I knew in the core of my heart that the Lord had a plan and surely this beautiful vision turned nightmare was not it.  So I pressed in … I choose to believe in the Lord above my failures… when it was unbelievable…even when I was unbelievable.  I choose to believe the one who is Believable and can do the impossible.  Now seven years later … the beautiful colors are returning … spring is on the horizon.

Precious Friend,

List all the things that are going wrong…especially the ones that are going wrong by your own doing.  Now lift that list up and offer it up to the Lord.  Tell Him your fears and doubts.  Then turn to His Word and allow Him to encourage you.  Write down one verse that you can cling to until the victory comes.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You promise to turn to the rock into a pool, the hard rock into the springs of water.  I pray that You would take that which is dry, brittle and downright hostile and turn it into a place of life overflowing with living water.  Until that time comes may we have Your peace that transcends all understanding.  In Jesus name we pray Amen.

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock, into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.  

(Psalm 114:7-8 NIV)

Blossoming

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and                                                       the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.                                                                                     It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.                                              Isaiah 35:1-2a

Dear Sister-Friend,

One spring day,  I walked by my neighbor’s garden.  After a long dreary winter, hundreds of tulips and various flowers were blossoming in the spring sun.  I took a moment to soak in the glory.  I envisioned this precious sister-friend prancing through her garden picking flowers for the many people in her life.  This to me was a glance into my daughter’s future.

My heart rejoices at the Lord’s promise to me this week... The solitary places, the hard places, the wilderness places ... the winter season is almost over and they too shall blossom as the rose.  Specifically, my daughters will blossom abundantly.  Abundantly means to break forth, to spread, to fly as with wings.  Hallelujah, my daughters will spread their wings and fly with freedom and with delight.

What promise has the Lord given you for your child or situation?  If you haven’t received one yet, ask and you shall receive! 

Dear Lord,

Oh, how I praise your name.  Thank you for your promise that my daughters’ healing is at hand.  Their souls shall escape as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers.  The snare has been broken and they shall escape and be set free.  In the glorious name of Jesus, I pray ... Amen. 

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers:  

the snare is broken, and we are escaped.  

Psalm 124:7

Wondering

Dear Sister-Friend,

This week I have been wandering … a lot. What is God’s purpose for my life … right now … here … in this new season?  I have finished reading two books within the last 6 weeks.  One by a home educator  … she successfully home schooled four children who are adults living for Christ, is an author and ministers to women around the world.  An adoptive mom who worked full time and held a position of notoriety in the workplace wrote the other book. 

I keep thinking to myself … don’t we all have the same 24 hours?  How are they doing all of this?  What am I doing wrong?  Why am I not blogging, developing a website, writing that book, playing on the floor more with my kids or better yet home schooling them? 

Now, it is time to stop.  It is time to stop comparing.  I am not a CEO; I am not a home schooling mom.  I am me. 

Now, I am here… right here … in the presence of the Lord … He is washing my feet.  I am His and He loves me.  All is well.

And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.  (John 14:14NLT) 

Sister-friend, I pray that after walking through the muddy fields of life, you are receiving a foot washing today.

~Jocelyn