Joy is a Learned and Practiced Response Way # 17

Joel, my lego man, now composer.

Way # 17

We choose to be joyful even when we feel like complaining. 

Memory Verse:

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." Phillippians 4:4-5

Many years ago, when Joel, (my wonderful composer son), was a little boy, he played legos for hours a day. He would design elaborate cars, towns, houses, roadways, playgrounds--whatever he could imagine. We all admired his skill. When he was 9 years old, he worked for months and months on a town that became an elaborate creation, around 5 feet wide. On top of this he placed some of his best car designs. We all marveled at each stage of development of his wonderful creation.

One day we hosted a new family for lunch. When Joel took the boy his age back to his room to play, the little boy rushed into the room and began hitting and destroying the whole of Joel's creation before we could pull him away. The devastation was complete and broke the hearts of our whole family as we had been bragging on his enormous Lego city for months.

The little boy's mama said, "Oh well, boys will be boys!"

Joel was heart broken and seemed to have a cloud around him for several days. As a child I used to think Joel was a whiner, but time had taught me that he had a very strong sense of justice.  I learned that if I sat down with him, eye to eye, and talked to him about how he was feeling, he would open his heart, reveal what was bothering him, and then he would not whine any more. Sympathy was what he desired.

On this particular week, I went into his room with him and sat down on the carpet floor. We looked at the demolished legos, and I held one in my hand. "Joel, I can't even imagine how bad this made you feel. I would be so hurt. What bothered you the most?"

"It was the injustice of it all. He had no right to be so destructive. I had never done anything to him. It took me almost a year to build all of these pieces. I just thought it was so unfair,"Joel ended with a sigh.

"I so understand and want you to know how very, very sorry I am. It was unkind and unjust."

Then I prayed with him and blessed him.

That night, he said, "Mama, I think I can be strong now and build a whole new city. I just wanted someone to listen to me and to understand. Thanks, Mama."

And off he went outdoors to play with the other kids.

Dealing with Disappointments

Life is a constant challenge, every day, all the time. Things quit working, someone makes a mess, a Christian friend offends us or rejects us, life just isn't fair.

Jesus said, as a warning to us, as an instruction of how the world would be, "In this world, you have tribulation."

Tribulation can also be translated, "great stress." He forewarned us about what a fallen world would bring.

But what can make it worse is children and adults who whine and complain all the time and never learn to walk within the realities of a fallen world. When we have tribulation of any kind, Jesus admonishes us to "Take courage."

Have courage, change your attitude from hurt to brave, from overwhelmed to "I can move through this with God's grace."

The habit of whining and complaining turns quickly into nagging and an attitude of self-absorption--which destroys hope, light and beauty. God is so clear about how he felt about the complaining of the Israelites. It led them to disbelief.

They wandered in the desert for 40 years because of their complaining hearts and disbelief. This story is a great warning to our children as we are teaching the this way. When we choose not to practice trusting God, turning our hearts to faith and thankfulness that we are not alone, we are prone to wander in wilderness in our lives.

It is not wrong to be sad or depressed because of a tragedy, because God is the one who supplied our ability to have emotions. We need and long for people who will sympathize with us, we need to have comfort for pain, brokenness, injustices in life. God wants to comfort us and we heal more quickly if we have someone who will help bear our burdens. For my sweet boy, this was a tragedy.

But for Joel to become emotionally healthy and strong, I had to help him learn not to stay in the complaining/whining place but to learn to move to an attitude of gratitude. "God will comfort me. God will help me grow stronger. God is just. He understands. He is with me."

The past year, I have been reading lots of books dealing with healthy relationships and learning to recognize safe people--those that can be trusted to act in a healthy way and to grow in relational strength. One of the "unsafe" people is the one who blames everyone, who sees herself as a victim, and who never takes responsibility for the problems of life and never admits the consequences of her own foolish choices. Blaming others or God keeps one in the wilderness.

There is a point when staying in a place of blaming, complaining and being a victim becomes an unhealthy pattern and view of life.

But as moms, as women, we must understand that a habit of always complaining comes from choosing to see ourselves as victims and not trusting God with the difficulties of our lives.

Scripture tells us, "This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice, (as an act of our will), and be glad in it. 

How essential it is that we move from complaint to committing our difficulties and issues into the hands of God so that our children, our friends, will learn how to do that when they face stress. This includes little issues as well as big. We have the opportunity to work with our children in the hard or unfair situations, and to model to others in our own unfair situations, to help them to learn to be strong--to mount up over their difficulties. This is what character training is all about--helping our children to become stronger one day at a time.

We choose to be joyful--even when we feel like complaining.

The past couple of  years, I have watched a couple of my oldest children seeking scripture over and over again to become a peacemaker, to choose to be gentle, to choose to forgive, to actively trust God when unfair circumstances came along.

I have been amazed watching them choose to be faithful because scripture and training was the foundation of their hearts. And then I have been amazed once again at the results of their pathway of obedience--peace!

I wish I could give them and myself a "G" rated life where everything was fair and all people were healthy and loving. But that is not reality.

Instead, teaching how to love, how to be joyful as a choice, is what shows the reality of God's spirit in our own lives and teaches our children tools that will help them to be strong when they encounter inevitable trials as they become adults.

Will-training is something I have written about many times. It is our will that chooses to have faith in God, that learns how to persevere under trial, that chooses to love the unlovely, that shows generosity to the needy. The will to obey God is what makes heroes, strong marriages, healthy relationships, legacies of faithfulness.

As we gently enter in to the recesses of our children's hearts and understand their feelings, we can then teach them to learn to be strong inside, but practicing a grateful heart, with an understanding that our heart's attitudes are the place where real strength and spirituality take place. Gentleness and patience leads our children to embrace these attitudes.

We speak forward into their lives, into what they will become.

"You are becoming so strong inside--just like a hero who saves people in a scary battle. Florence Nightingale saved lives by taking care of the wounded amidst a terrible war. I believe God will use you to help many because you are learning to become strong inside, to choose to be joyful when life is hard and you are a great blessing of grace to us all."

This week, look at your own heart. Is it joyful? Are you modeling to your children an uncomplaining spirit? We are the picture of what our children will really learn as we train them.

Own Your Attitudes, Own Your LIfe

Regular Rhythms of Life Build Life Long Values 23 Way # 16

The table had been prepared for my homecoming.

Way # 16 We take personal responsibility to keep our home neat and clean at all times.

Memory Verse:

The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced labor. 

Proverbs 12:24

Time changes from so much travel had left me so exhausted, I thought I would fall asleep standing up. An unusual 7 weeks of traveling, (2 family weddings) and a visit to Joy and 3 speaking engagements, had found me coming and going constantly to the airport to different sides of the country. Walking out to our meeting place at the airport, Joel whisked my bags from me, placed them in the car and then drove me the hour home from the airport.

"We packed you some cherries, Mom, cause we didn't know if you would be hungry," Joel informed me.

Home sweet home called my name as we drove into the driveway. As I walked in the door, candles were lit, music was wafting softly and the table was set with a warm bowl of soup and crusty herb bread. Fresh flowers and a welcome home sign greeted me in the sweep of entering the front door.

"Welcome home, mama. I bet you are ready to sleep in your own bed for a long while," Sarah commented as she put the last bowl of soup on the table.

I waited many years to know if all of my training and providing had gone into their hearts and minds, but now, the values they carried out each day in their own lives told me the lessons were all going to the core of their being, claiming them as their own.

Memory Verse: The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced labor. 

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"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

May I be the first one to say how glad I am to be in this place. Finally, finally the fruit of my labor has come to fruition. My children have "caught" it.

They take initiative, when they are home, to make our own home inviting, a prepared sanctuary, a solace to my soul, a place that says welcome when I get home from necessary trips.  Now, the values that I had in mind when I prepared my home in this way, year after year, month after month, day after day, have become their own standard of what a home should "speak" to people when they come here. And they do it without being told, because of all of the years of me training them and making them help me daily, straightening up, lighting candles, putting on music, making a meal, setting the table, over and over again.. Training takes lots and lots of practice and patience.

A mama has to be a servant leader to provide a wonderful sanctuary for her own children, so that they will want to be a part of continuing to make it sanctuary. What they "feel" and love will cause them to want to duplicate. And sometimes, the laboratory of life is a mess and you can't quite see what is being accomplished except just existing. Those days of ear infections, new babies, a broken washer, holidays, and life! But building the ideals into the warp and woof of life as children grow with you, creates habits in their lives.

As a mom, you have to practice with your children, what you want them to possess as their own.  A good piano teacher instructs her students in how to do the scales and then shows her student scales again and again, and then listens to her students do the scales, in order for her pupil to learn the basics to become a skilled pianist. Similarly,  a mom has to instruct, show how to do something, watch her children learn to do it and then do the process all over again.

Whatever you want your children to learn to take initiative in (manners, hospitality, serving others, cleaning, working diligently), requires you to define what your goals and ideals are, and then putting into the daily schedule of your life, modeling, patiently instructing, encouraging and training.

Often, moms have said to me, "Your children were just naturally strong or smart,....," But each habit and value of excellence came at the expense of lots of hard work and investment on my behalf-sprinkled heavily with the grace of God. Over and over and over again, year after year. No one becomes excellent of character automatically from lectures but from practicing skills, responsibility and chores together with contented spirits--this is the way we  build values that they will learn to cherish. we all felt we were part of a "team" that worked together towards the same goals.  Wisdom and skill require time, instruction and practice.--modeling combined with gentle and patient instruction.

And so, one of the most important ways of training into our children is, "This is not just my house, it is your house. We take care of it by keeping it a place of life and beauty together. How do you want others to see your home? What do we do to make it a place of refreshment for all who come here?" And then, you, the mom, make the standards every day, and you show them how to do all the tasks, and you give them responsibility.

I am not a detailed person, so working at this ordering of my home was learned as I trained my children, little by little.

Then when they are young adults, they all live the same ways in their own apartments and homes. All come home to say, "I love how we took care of our home and had beauty and order and feasts and fun." And so they do what they were taught to do all of their lives--they take initiative to keep it a place of beauty when they are home because it is the oxygen they breathed in and out each day of living here.

Don't be discouraged if it doesn't seem like your children are paying attention. They are and they will, in time, come to think of your standards as their own, as they participate in the rhythms you establish day after day. I promise, in time, when they are old, they will not depart from it. Stay faithful!

Having a long term view of Life!

What did they say? If you missed the webcast.........

Find the new book, Longing For Paris, HERE! So fun to be at the webcast with all of you precious ones.

For those of you who were not able to attend, here are some of the highlights.

"Become more godly that your children would see what godliness looks like because they're not seeing it in the culture."

"Anything great takes investment. Nothing great happens without instruction, training, obedience...you're shaping the leadership of the next generation."

"God does give dreams. The starting point is "seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you". A part of seeing God do things bigger than your capacity is saying, "I am Your girl, God! I will obey you. I will follow You. As I am doing that, Lord, show me how I can live into the possibilities You will use me for in my lifetime."

"Following God's voice and turning off the voice of culture is the way you'll have a better impact."

"In the baby years you're literally shaping the brain waves of your child to prepare them for the future. The mundane work you're doing every day--teaching manners, shaping appetites, etc. --will also make YOUR soul greater."

"The mundane work you're doing every day... these are the things that will make your soul greater because a leader always becomes greater when they take responsibility for people."

"Dreams come out of the life you've been given. Dream 'your' dreams. Believe God is capable of doing things. Take risks and step out in faith."

"A part of dreams is working hard and aspiring to great things and saying, "God I don't know what you have for me out there, but I will be faithful here""

"'I started to say, 'Lord, use these hard times in my life to help me be more compassionate.' You will learn to turn the world upside down by being faithful where you are today."

"Don't live by guilt. A lot of women allow their insecurities and failures to define them. That is not God's will for you. He defines you as beautiful, royal, forgiven, restored, beloved."

Coming Soon: An Own Your Life Webcast! 

I will be doing another webcast soon--in a couple of weeks! Stay tuned and come back for more inspiration, fun and fellowship. I so enjoyed being with all of you.

Sweet Dreams.

Sally

Bored? Join Sarah Mae and Me Tonight to move to Flourishing!

"Bored! Bored! Bored!"

So, Sherlock Holmes said with his whole heart, as he pronounced how he felt about his mundane life!

(Made me laugh out loud! I like this man!)

Tonight is the last night all of us will be home together and what did we do? Watch a Sherlock Holmes.

I realize that not all of you are Sherlock fans, but with older children who love England, have lived there and love mysteries, Sherlock is a by-product. One of his recent episodes started out, "Bored! Bored! Bored!"

Tonight, Sarah Mae and I will be talking about just what to do when you are bored or feel like you will never live your dreams. Join us. Find out from her HERE what to do to join us--buy her book and share the evening.

All of us get restless. I can identify with Sherlock!Once in a while, this fog creeps upon me and makes me suddenly uproariously allergic to the mundane. It's as though I can't breathe! And I put my mind to thinking of escapes, adventures, fun things I can do to rest my spirit and to just have fun. You just can't live intensely and seriously all the time or you will explode!

So, I have been scheming  and designing a strategy for fun in my weeks ahead so that the work load and daily things don't overwhelm. And I would love to know, what is your favorite REAL thing to do when you get bored? It can't have facebook or reading online in the answer.

When my children were younger and I was about to explode, these are some of the things I would do:

1. Put them all in the car with a book on tape and take a ride into the mountains with a frozen yoghurt at the end of it.

2. Take everyone to a big bookstore like Barnes and Noble and get myself a cup of coffee--that only I sipped, while they explored.

3. Go to a local park and ask a family to meet us for a picnic lunch.

4. Go to Focus on the Family and let the kids explore while I just sat.

5. Find a French cafe for breakfast and ask a friend for time alone just for me. (Yes, I had to find someone to somehow stay with the kids, but I would trade with a friend at times and occasionally Clay could watch them for me on weekends.)

6. I keep a secret fund that I add to every month--like a savings account for Sally. And I have taken trips, bought something I wanted, gotten a massage, or gone to a movie all by myself!

7. I love outdoors, so I would take the kids to the national trails not to far from our home and hike and wear them out so they would take really long naps!

8. I love hot baths and salts in the bath and candles.

9. Ask Clay to plan to take the kids for a whole morning so I could sleep and stay in my jammies as long as I wanted and do whatever I wanted without any responsibility!

10. Clay married me when I had been adventuring all over Europe as a missionary. He has understood this from the beginning and even told me he knew it was in my blood and that we would save for it! I love planning places to go with my children and one other friend with her children. Even if it is to the museum an hour away, or a concert in the park, or a historical house nearby. I always kept places in mind. If the kids and I were ever about to explode in a day or every one was fussing. (lots of snowy days here!) I would just stop what we were doing, call this a field trip day, and jump in the car and get out---getting everyone out--often outside--sometimes quailed the nagging fussing little attitudes. Too many sinful people shut up in a house for too long can make for  very trying day--leaving home and deciding to play was a way we all made it. And still all of my kids have actually grown up and become responsible adults. I was just never afraid to have fun.

If I was bored in my home, I could be pretty sure they would also be bored. And so we worked hard and then when explosion was near, playing hard and having fun was much better than one more lecture or correction--and it made us all happier, too.

So, what do you do for fun when you are bored and about to explode!?

Find out what we do when we get lonely or bored!

Leading Through Serving as a Life Habit 24 Way # 15

Way #15

We work with a cooperative spirit, freely giving and receiving help.

Memory verse:

"Two are better than one, because they have good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.But woe to the one who falls when there was not another to pick him up." Ecc. 4:9-10

For my birthday a few years ago, we gathered with some close friends and our kids and Clay. According to our tradition, everyone tells the birthday person why they appreciate them or how they have been blessed and then the birthday person gets prayed for and blessed by all who are at the celebration. We have practiced this for many years and we have seen our children's souls practically burst with the goodness of life-giving words and prayers just for them.

All of my children communicated the most wonderful blessings to me. Nathan said, "Mom, as I look back on my life, I am beginning to realize just how much time you invested in our lives. From daily devotions, manners, learning to do chores, educating us, correcting us, providing lessons and leadership opportunities and counseling us on every possible subject. I just want to thank you for investing so much time and giving up yourself to make my life strong. Everywhere I go, I hear your voice wisely telling me what to do."

I was quite surprised. I had waited years and years to hear these words, but the thoughts seemed to ripen in their minds as they reached adulthood. As pondered all of these wonderful words of life given to me, I realized that investing in a child's life, mind, soul, heart, habits, education, takes lots and lots of time and training. But the daily training--NO not this, but this; no not this, but this, ........(a thousand and thousand times)! This is what it takes to shape a strong soul.

Self-actualization is a term  that has come up in conversation a lot this week. All of my children have talked about how they grew into thinking they could bring light to their dark world because of the way we trained them and talked to them, over and over again. We spoke forward into their lives--into the adults they would become.

"I believe God has a special work for you to do in the world. You are my right hand helper and you have learned to work so responsibly. "

"I love seeing your heart of compassion. Bringing all your friends from your drama club was a gift. You are such a good influence in their lives. Thanks for helping me clean up all the dishes from their time here. I know you will be a leader of women."

"Maybe you will write great works like Lewis and Tolkien did. You have such a grasp of truth and beauty and such a great way of expressing it. I know it took a lot of hard work to write your essay. Great job. "

"There is no limit to what God might do with a heart that is completely His. He would love to bless your ideas and dreams if your heart is His. Your diligence will pave the way. "

This idea means giving your children a real sense, inside, of who they are, what they were created to do, understanding their amazing capacity to live life with redemption and influence by living in to God's will and owning His design for their lives.

"This week's Way, number 15, is all about giving your child a sense of being a servant leader as a part of their self-image. Part of perceiving oneself as a leader is thinking inside that God has made them to serve and that it is a glory of a person to serve well. But another aspect of this perception is building a strong family sense of community.

Each morning, after breakfast, I would put on lively music and have all of the kids do the same chore to restore our house to order before we began the day. We would all rock out together on the same songs while one put the dishes in the dishwasher, another swept, another straightened the room where we would be reading, etc. I would, as often as possible--(we all have grumpy, discombobulated days!)--but mostly, I would thank them.

Before we had guests, each of us would have an area of picking up, setting the table, putting up a personal welcome sign, (welcome, Joel!--or whatever),  lighting candles. And I would tell them how much I appreciated them making our home so beautiful.

Our ministry conferences, each had tasks. Little ones would welcome moms with a basket of chocolate they would pass out. Older kids would run the book tables. Each year, all of them had to give a short talk, greeting, song or prayer at the conferences. "You all are the best book people will ever read. The Clarksons together, are used by God, to help mamas all over the world, to see how important it is to raise their children for God's glory and to build a strong generation."

As a matter of fact, having our children serve together for many, many years is one of the key components to the reason they all have a perception that God has also called them to impact their worlds for God's kingdom.They heard these messages in our devotionals, they heard us speak them to adults at conferences and they practiced right beside us, doing what we were teaching them.

Teaching the passages of Jesus when he laid down his life and served others, (feeding the 5 thousand and seeing how God used even a little boy to serve in a miraculous way, holding the children, healing lepers and those who were weak, etc.) and then I  would often say to my children, "God is making you so strong inside. You are such a help to your little sister or you have worked so hard.  Just like Jesus!" or "I couldn't do without your help." or "I know that God made you to be so strong inside--you are such a help and you have been so cooperative today. I couldn't have such a wonderful house without your help. Thanks so much."

A big part of our perception of serving when we are older and humbly helping others comes from practicing helping others and hearing about the importance of serving others when they are young.

As you learn the truth of this way, have a grid to encourage your children that family is always to help each other, and that they are so very precious to be willing to serve others. Giving your child a self-image of perceiving that God wants to use them in their world, will shape their work and service the rest of their lives. Giving them practice to serve each other will build strong relationships between siblings when they grow up.

I'm so thankful to have you here with me this summer as we study our 24 Family Ways together.

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Building a Self-image of Leadership: A Rare Gift to cultivate Way 14

24 Family Way # 14

"We take initiative to do all of our own work without being told."

Memory Verse

Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, 7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, 8 Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.

As young children, my little ones were facinated with nature. Living on 200 acres of wildness in the middle of Texas provided many opportunities to catch and classify butterflies, catch bugs, put snakes into large jars to observe, (I found one on the kitchen cabinet!) and to see how God had built lessons of life into the very warp and woof of his world.

One evening about sunset, Nathan and Joel were running ahead as we sauntered on our traditional walk after dinner. With the summer hours at night, we still had full light. Joel was captivated by a tiny any that was carrying a leaf almost 5 times its size. l

"Mama, if a tiny little bug like that can work so hard for his family ants, maybe we could do a lot more than we think."

Three days later, we received a shipment of a printing of one of our books. Boxes were stacked high and would take quite some work to empty them onto our shelves. Late in the afternoon, however, Clay came out of our little office and found Joel, sweating profusely in the Texas summer heat, but he had emptied 30 boxes of books neatly onto the shelves with only 2 more to go. It was quite a task, and we were amazed.

"Joel, this is amazing! What made you decide to do this?"

"Well, when I was thinking about the ant and how he carried so much more than we could ever imagine possible, I thought, I want to be like that ant! I want to be strong and dependable. Something came into my head and told me to empty the books." (Yes, he really said that--9 years old. Maybe the Holy Spirit came into his head! :))

Romans 5: 8 tells us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He saw our failures, our sin, our heartbreaks; He heard our cries; He, out of the driving force of His own nature that always causes Him to redeem, He took initiative to serve us an then die for us.

When we learn to take initiative, we reflect the out-reaching character of Christ. LIttle by little, as we train our children patiently and teach them to take initiative to be responsible, we are giving them a strong character and familiarity to take initiative when they are strong adults. There will always be work to do and so the one who takes initiative will always be in action. Initiative teaches believers to be responsible with the work of God.

Jesus says that the harvest is plentiful and the workers few. Why?

Because many people wait to be asked to help.

Those with the character of Christ are out in the world with eyes looking for people to help, work for the kingdom to be accomplished.

Initiative causes us to start a small group Bible study for women in our own home because we see a need--not because someone asked us. Initiative causes us to reach out to strangers to show them the love of Christ.

A spirit of initiative says, "I am God's and I will live my life for His glory. I will be His eyes to look out for places I might help, love or redeem, in the spirit of His initiation to me."

From early years, we always told our children that God had created them with a personality and skills and drives in order to bring light and His truth into their worlds. Teaching them to be responsible for themselves and for others, made them familiar, when they were adults, with the need to reach out to others and to invest their lives, even if it took a risk, to bring His truth into their own worlds.

When we talk to our children throughout the moments of their days and create the vocabulary and train them to learn how to think of themselves as responsible, we are preparing them to live a story of servant leadership. And when they see us taking initiative to help, to reach out to and to teach others, they will develop a self-image of one who is especially called by God to take initiative to bring light to their own dark worlds--all for the love of God's design in their own lives and for their own love of their heavenly Father.

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Remember to enter the giveaway for tickets to the Women of Faith conference.

Join Angela and me for lunch on Saturday!

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Come to Women of Faith Conference as our guest! A Great Giveaway!

Angela Perrit and I celebrating our Book, You Are Loved!

You Are Loved!

You are precious, just as you are!

God sees you in your circumstances and with your own personal puzzle and he sees you as a woman of great value.

Do You feel loved, forgiven, acceptable today?

Passion for helping women to know that God's love for them has been a part of my heart messages for a long time. When you understand that you, as you are, with all of your flaws and mistakes and bad attitudes, are cherished by the God who rules the universe, your life will be changed. There is nothing you can do to earn God's love--it would never be enough! But, He, out of the kindness of His heart, loves you as a Father loves his little one, his own child, and He has compassion and grace to give you every day.

Angela teaches women the to love God's word and to study and understand it every day, and she had a similar passion. We wrote a book together, You Are Loved, and have seen this simple message go all over the world. We were so thrilled when so many thousands of women  responded to our book, and have written us letters and shared it with their friends--and we loved hearing from so many of you.

Fast forward a year, and we were amazed and thrilled to see that The Women of Faith conference wanted to use our book as a part of their national conferences this year, along with the theme of their conference, LOVED. Thousands of women attend each conference where women are encouraged and inspired in their Christian lives. We are praying for thousands of women's lives to be transformed as they grow in their personal understanding of His love and commitment to them.

Women of Faith

To celebrate a new release of our book, especially for these conferences, as well as in other stores, Women of Faith has generously allowed us to do a really fun giveaway for the precious friends who follow our blogs and ministry.  How would you like to win a VIP Ticket to the Denver Women of Faith Conference, and get one for any friend you want to bring, and then meet with Angela and me for lunch? You would also receive a set of books and some other fun prizes. We will be there together and look so forward to celebrating with 2 women for the weekend.

Tyndale, who published my last book, Own Your Life, has partnered with us in this new venture and have agreed to give away the Women of Faith book set--a journal, our Bible study, and a special devotional put together by the women of faith speakers.

Be sure to enter soon as we will give the tickets away in just a few days. Tell your friends, share the news and you maybe you will be the winner. Angela and I are looking so forward to sharing this weekend with a couple of you!

Below is the way you can enter to win the tickets.

Thanks for sharing our excitement! You can also order our book for your small group or just for you!

Bring your friends to this conference in Denver and join us and other friends at the inspirational conference for Women of Faith. Find out more HERE!

Hope to see you there!

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Yumm! My Daily Bread.

A house full of adult kids, friends, and soooo much  eating and talking over and over again. I am having so much fun hanging around my peeps--even though it is constant eating/washing/eating/ washing. This morning I was making scrambled eggs for 7 people. I had bought 72 eggs last Saturday. When I went to make the eggs this morning, there were only 5 eggs left! Cakes, cinnamon rolls, breads, breakfasts took all the eggs!

Yesterday, I got 2 big boxes of blueberries and made 3 pans of blueberry lemon bread.

As the summer sun glistens this morning, I am drinking my strong cup of tea on our deck and the tantalizing aroma of fresh blueberry muffins being baked to perfection fills my kitchen.

I love summer fruit and of course blueberries, they say, is a strong anti-oxidant. They also help strengthen the brain--which I really need these days!

Creating a happy home for my family involves feeding the soul-but many a soul has first been opened by feasting. But, beginning each day with a warm, fresh, daily bread to excite the taste buds gives everyone a good start to the day.  the wonderful fragrance of something baking in the oven, pre-disposes all of those in my home to have an open heart to my messages. As we eat these warm muffins, I will share the words that Jesus used to encourage me this morning and I know all hearts will be open to my messages because their stomachs and tastebuds will be satisfied and happy! Heart, body and souls satisfied all at once!

This delicious recipe will definitely warm and delight your soul.

What is your favorite summer recipe?

From my soul to yours:

* 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour * 3/4 cup brown sugar * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 2 teaspoons baking powder * 1/3 cup vegetable oil * 1 egg * 1/3 cup milk or 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt * 1 cup fresh blueberries (you could also use frozen) * 1/2 cup white sugar * 1/3 cup all-purpose flour * 1/4 cup butter, cubed * 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (very important!)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. 2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. 3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. 4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Diligence: The Golden Key To Life 24 Ways #13

"Patience and Diligence, like faith, remove mountains." -William Penn

Way #13

 We are diligent to complete a task promptly and thoroughly when asked. 

Memory verse:

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing. But the soul of the diligent is made fat."

Cinnamon-pecan pancakes with scrambled-cheese-sour cream eggs provided the perfect entree into our Sunday morning devotion. Psalm 37 was the subject--waiting for God, cultivating faithfulness, staying faithful. A feast always leads the way to great discussions and today was no exception.

Each year, we gather the the kids from all over the world to have Family Day, (a celebration we began over 30 years ago.), and so my mama heart is so very happy to have everyone home. Amidst the gathering on couches, going on long walks, eating out, hiking, I just sit and smile in my soul. To see their faithfulness amidst living in secular culture, and to watch their integrity grow as they strain towards pleasing God is what I always hoped would happen.

I always hoped they were listening to our family devotionals but now I know the verses and wisdom was being planted in their hearts, even when I could not see.

Keep training, keep straining towards His ways, and you will find a harvest of righteousness--the kind that will keep them persevering in their lives, staying faithful to relationships, seeking to serve God.

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Quitting jobs, quitting school, quitting on marriage, quitting on friendship, quitting on God, just quitting is acceptable in every area of our lives. Often we use the word grace as an covering to all people in all circumstances who make wrong decisions, who fail to be wise, who prove to be lazy.

Just "quitting" has become an acceptable choice, an excusable choice. We blame others for our difficulties instead of choosing to be diligent to overcome our challenges. A lack of godly character is at the base of Christians having no impact on culture. Christians are as likely to except mediocrity as non-believers.

Yet, God gave us the capacity to "muscle-up" in life in order to be conquerers, to defeat the darkness, to work to completion. How many times have I been sorely tempted to give up on some of my ideals--my children have tested my patience and faith. Homeschooling challenged me to the core. Repetitive financial issues have tempted me to believe that God did not hear my prayers. People's negative voices in my life have caused me to second guess my ideals, and tempting me to think they did not matter.

Yet, God's word kept telling me to persevere, to be diligent, to overcome, to keep going. And by His grace, now I am so very thankful that He increased my capacity to work hard when I had grown up lazy. He stretched my faith so that I could live long enough to see His faithfulness. He kept me faithful through the hard times in marriage so that now I have a heritage of unconditional love.

We read that one of the fruits of the spirit is faithfulness--faithfulness is staying diligent to remain at the task or issue at hand. Paul, who suffered so much at the hands of persecutors, knew the importance of diligence.

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:58

Learning the importance of diligence in every endeavor of life is essential for fruitfulness in life. Though the world is in rebellion against God and His design, and thus our work is challenging, our relationships are fraught with pain, His spirit of redemption comes alive when we are diligent to complete the tasks we have been given to complete. Diligence is the energy, the inner will of determination to keep going, that provides the power to overcome in life.

I was not prepared to do housework, wake up with littles all night and then be responsive during the day. Diligence is a road, a direction, not a perfect rule to keep. It is moving toward maturity, not perfection.

When a mama trains her children, bit by bit, to work harder, to keep going, to develop an inner sense of integrity in work, faith, service, friendship and love, this child will become strong inside. To have a habit of diligence, to own the value of diligence in one's heart, provides the power, the strength to keep going--to move the mountains in his life.

Daily life is where diligence is trained and learned. As our children watch our diligence, and experience our love, they develop a heart to be diligent as we are. Giving children work to complete develops moral strength. Helping children to persevere in difficult relationships teaches them to be faithful in adult relationships.

If we do our children the disservice of taking them out of all difficult circumstances, then we are guilty of giving them a weak character. Diligence is a gold key to becoming productive and influential in life.

This week's way is crucial to the core of our children's character and will even help them to learn to stay faithful in times of doubt. When they learn to be diligent in one area, it spills into all areas of life. This is why it is crucial that we train this attribute into the very core of our children's values about themselves. We do it by gentle, daily, little by little, consistent training over a young lifetime at home.

But when it grows in the heart of the child, he will become the person who is reliable. This child will get the jobs he hopes for, work hard to reach ideals. If you love your child, you must patiently pursue this character quality in the life of your home and in your own life, and then you will see the ultimate reward of your own faith, as you learn to wait on God patiently and to work diligently in life to bring Him glory. May God find our hearts and works diligent as we see the blessing of His ways, in His time.

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Thanks again for all the wonderful notes and emails about how Own Your Life has encouraged and challenged you. Maybe it is the 24 Ways of Righteousness for women! I can't answer every message I receive, but I do pray for all of you and am so grateful to hear from you.

This is a great time to read Own Your Life to help center priorities for a new school year ahead.

You can find it HERE!