Your Holy Responsibility

God has entrusted to you the stewardship of your home and children. The cultivation of a work ethic is, in itself, a daily work. When your attitude and vision are right, all that remains is the work of faithful training — reminding your children to pick up their clothes, wash the dishes without complaint, keep their rooms clean, and complete their chores thoroughly.

That kind of training wasn’t necessarily my favorite part of mothering, but in hindsight it was one of the most vital. The habits, the chores, the tasks, the projects — they all helped to train and shape my children into adults who could work hard, with good attitudes and striving for excellence, in every aspect of their lives. Their ability to work, learned in my home, has equipped them to attempt anything they can imagine. That is a gift that will keep on giving.

Read more about this in 10 Gifts Of Heart.

Tea Time Tuesday: Celebrating The Beauty Of Advent With Malcolm Guite

My friends, with Advent upon us once again, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite podcasts over the years, as I have done for the last few years. Please enjoy this episode with Malcolm Guite as we discuss the beauty and celebration of Advent.

Click here to listen.

One of the greatest values in celebrating Advent is that as we repeat the same thoughts and traditions, year after year, they tend to become all the more meaningful to us. With each year that we celebrate Advent, its beauty seeps deeper into our hearts.

Advent mirrors the quiet but soulful longing that grows deep inside where no one sees. We cry for the touch of our creator amidst the whirlwind of trying to make it through one more busy day. Painting a smile on our face, we stuff down the cries that remain silent to those around us, where we want someone to notice, to care, to save us.

We must open our hearts to expose the doubt, darkness, questions to find Christ humble, gentle, waiting to comfort us.

Advent is a joy that helps us hope.

Advent is when we give voice longing in our hearts. Advent is also when we confess our own participation in the brokenness of the world. Advent, then, is not only about longing for Christ to come again and put everything back together; it’s about repenting and receiving grace so that we get to be put back together now.

But Advent is not only about longing for Christ to put the world back together, not only about repenting and letting Christ put us back together; it is also a chance to participate in bringing wholeness to others.

As we enter the Advent season, could we as the people of God, be a part of the answer to the longing in people’s hearts?

The first candle that was lit was the purple candle in the Advent wreath as a symbol of Hope. Whether we sense God or feel a great void or doubt about his presence, we believe He is the hope of the world. The longing we have in our hearts for this world to be set right will come to pass. There are brief glimpses of joy that remind us of this hope. Until then… we wait.

I hope you enjoy this podcast, my friends.

21 Books To Read As A Family This Christmas

Almost every day when my children were young, we had devotions and read-alouds — sometimes at night, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at tea times. I kept baskets of books everywhere — in every room, in the bathrooms, in their bedrooms. And each year on birthdays and Christmas and other holidays, they all received books as gifts and I helped each of them build their own libraries.

It was our goal to give our children the resources for brain food, feeding their imagination with what was good, true, beautiful.

Christmas is a wonderful time to engage with stories like this as a family, gathered by the fire with cookies and tea.

Our family has over 100 Christmas favorite titles — too many to share. But I hope you will enjoy some of these stories below.

The Little Match Girl
By Andersen, Hans Christian
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Tea Time Tuesday: Learning to Live For What Matters

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” ~Hans Hofmann

A cloudy, misty Monday morning, much like today, found me pondering some confusing issues in my life.

Seems that no matter where I am in life, there is always the illusive — God hiding Himself and His wisdom in some area of my life, in which I have to seek, pursue and grasp for His guidance to figure out answers to my life questions.

Even as the mists hide the mountains, so God chooses to hide answers from me at times.

The phone rang and I found out that someone very dear to me had died. Attending his memorial put life into perspective again. I saw a man whose life had been given to loving others.

I had been deeply pondering the balance in this hectic life of modern culture. What really matters. What must be done. What does God want me to put aside?

A culture separated from God's wisdom over the centuries must surely provide lures that will destroy and distract from Him, from what is eternal, from what is true. Yet, to throw away those things which are not necessary, I must constantly be straining my ear to His voice and not to the voice of those who would draw me to vanity or more strife of busyness. And so I regularly plan getaways to find some answers to my life's cry for simplicity and peace, in the midst of the whirlwind of life.

My friend’s death, for the moment, clarified for me what mattered and opened a window for simplifying my life.

And these are some of the thoughts passing the corridors of my mind today. Join me today on my podcast to hear my story about this precious one.

Peace of the Lord to you this day.

Give Your Children The Gift Of A Spirit Filled Mom

Holidays are filled with fun, but also stress. When our children were young, our home was loud, teeming with antics, opinions, laughter, and of course, lots of expectations from my children — the food, the traditions, movies, tea times, time alone "just to talk" amidst so much cooking, washing dishes, the stress of different personalities.

So many times, I would have such high expectations. And so many times, fusses would spoil the moment, or burned rolls that I had spent so much time making and then forgot the timer, or adding family members and friends who did not get along.

There is so much potential for happiness and good memories, and also stress when the larger family comes together. Or when the toddlers just want attention and to be fed, now! Or teens who are moody. You get the picture! All normal seasons of life.

This Thanksgiving, give your children the gift of a Spirit-filled mom. One who is committed to offering love, gentleness, patience, joy, faithfulness, self-control.

Each moment, as we make the choice to "clothe" ourselves with the Spirit who lives within us, we will have a holiday worth remembering because we will be bringing His life, our source of all light and strength, to reflect everywhere we go, and all in our lives need and will be blessed by His love through us.

I am thankful for you, my friends. May you have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Tea Time Tuesday: Building Your House of Faith

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Dt. 6:6-7)

“Why do you think you and your siblings all love the Lord as adults?”

One child looked thoughtfully and answered, “I think it was the French toast, buttered pecans, and maple syrup!”

This has become a famous saying about our family. It reflected a bit of what is true. For our children to learn to love God, they must see our love for God in ways we sing around the house or enjoy a cool drink on the porch, enjoying summer flowers, watching an exquisite sunset, or "Kiss me goodnight, please," bedtime moments.

God intended that we as adults enjoy our days and have the ability to be satisfied in the days. We weave into them pleasure, fulfillment we were intended to experience as we walk hand in hand with our God. If we see passing on faith as just a duty, our lives will overflow with duty, pressure and we will become discouraged and weary in our own lives. We were not made for God so that we could be slaves of works, but He wants to enjoy and be close to us as a parent would their beloved children. We must perceive the proper vision of His love and commitment to us if we are to pass on a faith that will engage our children.

But the real influence comes all the moments of the ways we live our lives in front of our children. Of course we read scripture together every day and talked about God's love and reality as a way of life. Yet, It is not just about passing on doctrine, but as much about relationship, love, beauty as it is the concepts we teach them.

Discipleship is woven into every moment of family life, when we rise up, when we sit down, whenever we are alone with our children, or gathered together as an entire family.

Join me on my podcast to hear a story from our home.

Bringing Beauty Into The Small, Dusty Days

So many of our days as mothers feel hidden and inconsequential, the long hours relentless. It can seem like what we're doing, day after day, is pointless or small. But these tiresome house, these dusty days, have so much beauty and purpose tucked into each moment.

When we dare to recognize this beauty and understand the influence this day can have on our children, we're able to see and cultivate beauty in the messes, the challenges, the breakfasts we barely got on the table. We have the ability to bring God's beauty into what felt like an unimportant, chaotic day.

Read more about this in The Lifegiving Home.

Becoming A Mother Was The Most Fulfilling Work I Ever Pursued

My investment in my children was about more than all the routine work of motherhood, and even more than my spiritual influence as a discipler. In the bigger picture of my life at home, I was civilizing my children, and shaping their hearts and lives. I was cooperating with God to mold them into well-rounded adults.

A culture who has lost the imagination of the importance of motherhood leaves children at risk. Children are the next generation of adults who will make decisions from the foundations of their souls.

Each mom has a different puzzle but she has to keep what is a priority to God at the center of her decisions in life, and when she seeks the heart of God, her legacy will be one of faith and faithfulness and will have implications for eternity.

Tea Time Tuesday: Seasons Come, Seasons Go

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

When we moved into this house, I mused to my children, “See that tiny aspen tree in front of the house? Someday, it will be tall and filled with shimmering leaves that will delight us to our tiptoes. And we will watch it turn golden and its leaves will slowly dance down as snow falling upon our grass. Then we will be amazed at its beauty, how it grew through all the years.”

I still had a teenager in my home them and young 20’s children. Now all are adults who have forayed into the world of writing, speaking, teaching in places far from home. Eighteen years passed in the blink of an eye. Just like the years my children and I sat in my living room with each season, delighted at the beauty. My children grew, changed, found their own seasons of beauty and growth as they went into the world.

As a young mama, I never knew how deeply connected and loved I would feel with these, now my deepest, best friends, grown up. I do miss them every single day. I wish they were sitting with me in my living room once again. I didn’t understand how beautiful God’s design for family, that it would be the place that held us, shaped us, defined us, grew us into a tight community.

Recently, 2 children and a daughter-in-law sipped tea, listened to the music, watched our leaves gently dance to the ground as the breezes played with the delicate pieces of gold. Now I know the seasons pass swiftly, I cherish every minute I have with my precious ones, and thank God for all the years, what He was weaving into my life as the greatest blessing I would experience here on earth—belonging to my people, being safe in their friendship.

I wish I had known not to waste the day of small things when our friendship was being formed, the days of singing them to sleep, of reading stories together, of feasting on home-cooked meals, of sharing the birthdays, Christmases, tea times and talks.

Today, sweet mama, you are building a gift of love for yourself that will bless you your whole life. Cherish this season with your precious ones, cultivate some delightful moments that will fill your heart and theirs. Watch it grow into something beautiful.

I Have Learned To Value Home Even More

“Learn from Me,” Jesus said, “for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

And so, I must ask myself, does my heart remain humble as I serve my family in our home—as I wash dishes, plan a meal, clean a toilet? Are my words lifegiving and generous, serving to strengthen those who share my home? Is my heart, like the heart of Jesus, always on those I serve? Do I bow willingly in the dust and stink of my own life because He was so willing to spend His life in giving, serving, loving without thought of Himself, even as He approached His death?

Because He has always offered a sense of place (the original garden, the land of milk and honey He promised His own wanderers, the place in heaven He is preparing for us to enjoy), I have learned to value home even more.

Read more about this in The Lifegiving Home.