Easing into my week with Grace

This morning, I lay in bed an extra thirty minutes, actually make that almost an hour,  after I awakened, dreading a little what lay ahead—the taming of the house from the aftermath of celebration. I feel a little like the toad in Wind and the Willows when he took the wild ride in a car he didn’t know how to maneuver, creating a bit of havoc along the way, and now the price had to be paid.

I know my home will not be totally uncluttered until after New Year's. I am so very grateful that our children grew up helping, as much work as that took, so I am not left to do all of the cooking and clean up. They seem to be partners in it all by now. But I am treasuring the days and soooo thankful to have them home. I know there will be a big hole when they are gone.

Our Christmas was filled with great family time, hilarious laughter, a few bad attitudes and bah humbugs, feastings, and snow and very cold weather, which makes for more tea, coffee and hot chocolate mugs strewn here and there. ! No matter how hard we as moms try, there are still sinners in the house, but also, redeemed, and all in all, with grace extended, we made it!

I walked down the stairs to survey the damage—wrapping paper and Christmas bags that needed to be put away. Mugs with hot chocolate residue, piles of the kids’ gifts in their own corners, a full laundry basket, and dishes soaking in the sink from left over sticky toffee pudding and caramel sauce. (Lifegiving Table book has the recipe.) 

I made my morning cup of tea, proceeded to my bedroom and pushed all small messes in my room out of my sight from my quiet time chair, lit a couple of candles and plugged in my one strand of Christmas lights above my window, and slowly sipped my warm brew.

I had inserted an instrumental, Celtic hymns cd and sought to bring peace to my soul. The first song that gently filled my silent room from a very old but favorite instrumental brought inviting lyrics to my mind, “Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me, …, Come home, come home, you who are weary, come home.”

What a loving, gentle call to me as a busy mom this cold, snowy morning. Jesus wants to meet with me to love me, to give me peace, to give me perspective. He, who is my home, is waiting for me and will be with me.

I then opened up a little devotional book that I read most mornings which has bits of scripture for each morning and evening. There, right in front of me were His words of life to sustain me,

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” I Cor. 15:58

He knows about my work as a mom! He lovingly reminded me that my toil is not in vain. He understands how much I need to be encouraged because He understands weariness—Be steadfast—hang in there—commit to a heart of steadfastness, choose to be steadfast and immovable—why? Because, my work matters, it is changing history, one life at a time—I am soul-building—it counts.

The next verses struck my heart, “And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we will reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9

“Don’t lose heart, Sally, I see you, I know you, and I promise that all those prayers you have been praying, all the choices of faithfulness you have made when no one else saw, I saw. You will reap a harvest. Remember, I see you and I love you and I am waiting always to speak loving words to you, because you are my own daughter.”

He had tenderly, earnestly called me to himself this morning. My piles and duties and responsibilities, have not changed, but once again, after being in His presence, I am changed. I will turn on music while I work, and I might even dance a bit around my messy kitchen! My words will be softer and my actions more patient, because He has filled me and given me courage. I can rejoice because He is here, He has met me and will be with me. Yet, I see that my heart and joy and tone establishes the whole family in joy, and my celebrating life in the midst of it all, creates in them a willingness to follow my lead.

With Mary, his own courageous, steadfast mother, I will say, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior.” Luke 1: 46-47

Many of you might have missed last week's mini-podcast about how to find grace when you are waiting for answers to prayer, or waiting for a season of life to go away, or waiting to find an answer to your difficulties. I put it here again because several people wrote to tell me it was their favorite podcast ever--and it goes with this blog post. Because of the busy season, you may have missed it. Grace to you in the midst.

Episode 122: Grace for those who are waiting for God's answers

Go HERE for Episode 122

May His peace be upon you today.

Blessings and grace, Sally 

Finding Real Rest After Christmas And A New Podcast!

Episode #123 Finding Real Rest After Christmas

PODCAST: DOWNLOAD

ITUNES: SUBSCRIBE

I just finished our fried chicken Christmas feast with the kids, and sighed with relief knowing that I had almost finished my seasonal marathon one more time. The days after Christmas are filled with cleaning up, putting up, putting away--and still people want to eat and have our attention and wear relatively clean clothes or at least underwear. Our lives as women and as mamas are indeed stretching. 

What a perfect time to ponder what it looks like to find rest, to engage in peace of heart and mind, to invest in our own well being. I hope that our podcast will be encouraging to you. And I have a series planned for January and February that will help inspire you to reset your life focus or at least bring it into clearer vision so that you can feel excited about the spring months ahead--as sometimes these are the times that s-t-r-e-t-c-h out and can tax us to our toes. 

I hope our thoughts will give you cheer this holiday week and that you will take a deep breath in your lives. Grace to you today and you ease back into your holiday week for one more yearly event-New Year's!!!!! 

Sally

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Today, Sally and Kristen begin a three part series on peace and rest of heart that accompanies Kristen's new book, Finding Selah: The Simple Practice of Peace When You Need It Most. Our adrenaline may be low after the holidays, the blues of winter setting in, or perhaps our circumstances in life or the posture of our hearts match the bitter cold outside. The good news is that God desires to meet us wherever we are and bring rest and peace to our souls. He long to walk with us, to fill us up with Himself and with beauty that whispers Heaven to us. We hope you can gather a few friends together, read the book along with us and be encouraged that Hope and Rest are here, even in the most hectic of days.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT:

-What are we holding onto in our lives that makes us crave rest so desperately?

-How to take time to identify the areas that are draining and overwhelming you.

-How becoming aware of areas where our life feels dissonant or unsettled is a way that God can speak to us and help us to turn to him.

- Understanding the word Selah as a pause that gives us time to reset,restore, prepare, and listen to the song God is singing over our lives. There is a re-orientation of our lives to God's heart when we rest and take time to bring our burdens to him.

-Withdrawing vs. drawing close to God and others

-What happens when we live in denial or attempt to avoid quiet time with Jesus?

-The truth that God offers us a soft embrace.

-The promise that is conveyed in the verse: “Be still and know that I am God.”

-How we can looking to the Psalms to help us form words for emotions that feel too big for us or that we feel numb to express.

How do we endure in difficult circumstances we have no control over?

The gift of steady and mundane mercies with our children. The way we are refined by the gifts of those rhythms.

Mothers as metronomes in their homes-setting the tempo.

LINKS:

-Psalm 136

-Mozart studies in the Cultivating Life With Sally Community Website

A free gift and a special offer just for Podcast Listeners!

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After you Pre-order Finding Selah from your favorite retailer, Simply fill out the form HERE at KristenKill.com to receive a Finding Selah Playlist, and digital copies of the Make My Life a Psalm Prayer Journal and The Flourishing Heart Planner: Selah Winter- a resource that will transform the way you engage your heart, soul, mind, and strength as you worship God this winter season! 

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The Father God Celebrated Christmas First!

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,“Glory to God in highest heaven,and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”Luke 2:8-14

Our heavenly Father was the first to celebrate Christmas. He was the first one to document the birthday of Jesus—supernaturally, with music performed before humble shepherds and faraway kings. When I think about the wonders of the first Christmas—astonishing, bewildering, unimaginable beings appearing on the earth, extraterrestrial choirs filling the sky, a heretofore unknown star rising in the heavens, learned kings traveling from afar, a virgin birth in the midst of a love story, an old woman and an old man marveling and speaking of the Messiah as the baby is dedicated—I can’t help but think they were part of God’s plan to help us celebrate Jesus’ arrival.

Christmas is a time when we bring friends and family into our home to be refreshed. It is a time of personal worship and a time of joy. It’s a time of work and preparation, but all to say “I love you” and “God loves us and is worthy of our celebration of Him.” In these traditions we understand that God wanted us to put aside special times for the passing down of His story and His love.

How will you pass down and celebrate the celebration of God on this day we celebrate the birthday of Jesus? May your Christmas be full of His love, peace, and hope!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas-y Raspberry Soup! A must-have in our home at Christmas!

Once on a hot summer's day, I was searching the streets of Budapest, Hungry, for an apartment where a Christian contact was awaiting our arrival. We called the telephone number that we had been given, but no one answered. Our instructions, as young missionaries working in a Communist country behind the iron curtain, were to find a local cafe and wait one hour until we called again. (Sometimes if the secret police were near by, and a family was expecting us, the hosts would not answer the phone in order to warn us to stay away.) And so, my friend and I found a tiny, smoky cafe and entered to see if we could find something delicious to eat while we were waiting. We found a tiny, round table in the corner with a lovely woven traditional flowered table cloth, fresh carnations in a red clay vase and soft music wafting in the background. Seems we had found a jewel of a place.

Our waitress immediately knew we were Americans and talked to us in broken English. We asked her if they had a specialty. Her reply was, "Have you had our cold raspberry soup?"

I had never heard of any kind of berry soup, but we couldn't speak a word of Hungarian and as berries were in season, we took  a chance.

Heaven couldn't have produced better fare for us that day! Light, sweet with a touch of sour, whip cream and berries--all cold and smooth.

Every Christmas when I have friends over for lunch, we always have cold raspberry soup as the starter--red for Christmas and special for a unique tradition--a favorite taste of our family and a celebration whenever we eat it. So here is my recipe:

Chilled Raspberry Soup

Ingredients

2 bags frozen raspberries or around 18-20 ounces. I thaw them the day before I make the soup in my fridge.

1-1/2 cups water

1/4 cup white zinfandel or sweeter wine (if desired--not necessary) Do not use a very sour cooking wine.

1 cup cranberry apple juice or cranberry -raspberry juice

1/2 -1 cup of sugar to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground cloves

1 -2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 (8 ounce) container  raspberry yogurt (I use Greek yoghurt)

whipped cream or sour cream--depending on preference

Directions

In a blender, puree raspberries, water and wine if desired. (Taste to see if it is the right consistency for you--some like it thick, some like it thinner--juice or water will thin it.) Transfer to a large saucepan; add the cran-raspberry juice, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. (I have had sweet raspberries and some that were sour. If they are sour, they will need a little bit more sugar. Be sure it blends in.)

Bring just to a boil over medium heat.

Remove from the heat; strain if you want it totally smooth,  and allow to cool. (I grind my raspberries so much in the blender that you cannot notice the seeds, but sometimes cooks strain the seeds out to make it totally smooth.) Whisk in lemon juice and yogurt. Refrigerate long enough to cool. To serve, pour into small bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream.

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 This is a simple treat to enjoy--we put a big dollop of whip cream on top of our soup--yuuummmmmm!! Enjoy.

The soup is best served cold so allow at least 2 hours in the fridge to cool off--or over night as it is so lovely when chilled. As to servings, that depends! Sometimes I serve it in little fruit cups, so it goes a long way. Just figure out about how many ounces everything adds up to and divide it by the size of bowl you want it to serve. (In other words, if you do one batch and it is 32 oz of raspberries, 3-4 cups liquid (another 32 ounces) then you have 10 6 ounce servings (which would be large) or more if you do smaller bowls.

Enjoy and use as a tradition--it is a surprise whenever I serve it to people who have never heard of it and it is delicious and nutritious!

(This recipe and more are in my Lifegiving Table Book--as well as other favorite recipes our kids love and traditions in the Home book, as well as other rhythms of life in Different--a great trilogy.) 

The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

By Sally Clarkson

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

By Sally Clarkson, Sarah Clarkson

Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him

By Sally Clarkson, Nathan Clarkson

Grace For Those Who Are Waiting & a Podcast

Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:31

At Christmas, we feel we should celebrate, should be happy, should be caught up in the joy of our savior coming to the world. But the reality is that even as the world was in darkness waiting for a savior to give them hope, so many of us find ourselves in a season that is fraught with some heartbreaks that others may not see. We have longings that are not fulfilled, or prayers that seem unanswered, or stories that are, for the moment in dark places.

And we find ourselves in a place of waiting--waiting on a job, waiting to get pregnant, waiting to get married, waiting for our prodigal to come home, waiting to figure out how we will pay our bills, ..., waiting, waiting, waiting. 

This is the very reason our precious savior Christ came. He looks at us and has compassion, mercy, kindness, love. He saw the longings of our heart, heard the cries of our prayers. And the people who were longing for the issues of their lives to be settled, were the very ones He came to give light and hope to, to carry their burdens. 

I am not good at waiting, never have been. Yet, along the many times I have had to wait for God's own timing in light of my own prayers, I have learned that waiting actually has purposes for our own well-being that I did not understand as a young woman. 

For so many of you who find yourselves waiting on God for answers or help this Christmas, I hope and pray these thoughts will encourage you. I hope you will enjoy the podcast today and share it if there is anyone in your life who finds themselves waiting for God's answers. 

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"Be strong, let your heart take courage, yes, wait on the Lord."

Psalm 27: 14

Daily duties cry out each Monday morning, as I slip down the stairs, still sleepy and in need of my morning cuppa.  Still after all of these years, last nights late night dishes accost me--coffee cups, plates with dried on snacks, all sorts of Sunday evidence that we spend hours together relaxing, eating, laughing and messing--and now it must be dealt with, again.

Then there are the issues of life still there to greet me--the worries, money issues, problems with children, pressures on family and marriage--all still there, piled on when Monday morning comes and has a new week of challenges to greet me. Seems in the midst of all the chores that daily need to be done, there are always those bigger ones also hovering over us. Each of my older children are in a crucial period of waiting on God to move His hand of providence. Car purchases, waiting on marriage, jobs, taxes, bills, futures, as well as the demands of a teen fresh out in the world armed with her driver's license and looking for places to venture to--and still each day, they live in my home, wanting to eat again, and wanting to wear somewhat clean clothes and still leaving trails of life all around.

When they were little, there were so many issues to worry about--discipline, training, health, education, exhaustion, loneliness...

Waiting, waiting,working, fretting, wondering--what is going to be the end to all of this? These people in my home with various issues, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, dreams and legacies of difficulty and more work?

Waiting on the Lord for answers and for life to change and for help to come has been my most common challenge throughout life--waiting to get married, waiting to get pregnant, waiting to have the baby, waiting for them to sleep through the night, waiting for them to be out of diapers, waiting for them to become more mature and responsible, waiting for them to read, waiting for life to someday be easier, more manageable, waiting for me to be mature some day...

How do we manage to exist through all of the mundane, the fretting, the fears and waiting times with grace?

Learning to wait is a grace for a woman who fears God.

Waiting with a gentle spirit is a miracle--a beauty, an acquired habit that comes with practice and experience. Choosing to take today in its stride--choosing to see the glory of the moment in the midst of frantic children, choosing to look for beauty and the fingerprints of God in the midst of the messes requires a heart decision--Psalm 27 says, "Let your heart take courage--let it--make it, choose to let your heart fill up its boots to the power of God's abiding grace.  Choosing to believe that my prayers have not hit the roof of my home and gone no further, but that God indeed is present.

I love Psalm 103--He is mindful that I am but dust. He knows my limitations. He knows my flawed personality. Yet, He is a Father who has compassion on his children--on me. He does not require my perfection, He requires my heart, my eyes turned toward Him. He is the grace that will make this day possible, this moment livable.

Always, my only hope and my only strength and my only way to cope has been an utter abandonment to God, knowing that if He doesn't work, if He doesn't move in the midst of us through His Holy Spirit, if He doesn't take m paltry fish and loaves and make it into more than it really is, I do not have a hope of making it. I relinquish my desire to control and yield this moment, this day and hope that He will show up.

Feeling overwhelmingly weary, desperate and fearful in life is not a sin.

But what we do with the weariness or fear or doubt is when sin becomes a possibility.

"For evil doers will be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord will inherit the land." Psalm 37: 9

"Those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40: 31

One of the most important ways my children learn faith is to watch me wait on God's timing-- in grace, through all the trials of my life--but to wait with grace in my living. They learn the grace of making it as they watch me put a flower in the vase, lighting a candle, surround our home with music, life, hope that says,

"God will show up. He is with us. He hears us and will answer, and I am going to prepare the day by celebrating life looking to the time we will see and know His presence and faithfulness."

And yet, when I look back, I am amazed at how much I see how faithfully He has worked--to see the miracle of children grown, fine, loving, passionate about ideals--how did it all happen? To see the His hand that seemingly, seamlessly sowed my years together into a grace of a beautiful life of blessing, love and life--how did it all come about? One day at a time as He faithfully, lovingly brought all of my child-heart love and faith into a work of eternity.

Waiting with hope, in courage, patience, in love and humbly--it is the grace of the life of a godly woman that ends in seeing the miraculous hand of God, and she bows before Him, as the child with the basket of fish and says, "Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your miracle."

May God grant you the faith to wait for His answers, His work, His steadfastness as you give Him this season the gift of a submissive, loving heart, which is our spiritual work of serving Him. 

Christmas Cheer Abounds!

From my earliest childhood, I remember Christmas as a time of lights, sparkles, smells, color and delight. Most nights in December, I would sit under our tree and look at the lighted lovliness and dream about life and what I might someday  become. Romantic thoughts of every kind floated through my head.

One of the gifts my mother gave to me through this sacred season was a love for hospitality--sharing this sparkly life, love, friendship, beauty with those in our community.

My father was, for most of his life, a real extrovert. He loved people and the more the merrier. Often, we would have 100 people in to our home--they just spread all over the house and the yard and the porch and everywhere. Sometimes it was friends from church or neighbors and kids or other times, business associates and people in a larger arena. But all felt comfortable to spread all over our home, on furniture or sitting on the floor or on a blanket in the grass--people everywhere coming together to share in moments of life. 

In preparation, all of us kids were given rooms to clean, goodies to make in the kitchen, dishes to wash, lawns to mow. We were the staff that my mother learned to employ. Because it was a part of the oxygen we breathed in our home, we all became used to hosting people in our home. And so, my children have also grown up decorating tables, cooking, putting lights outside, and providing the candles and music that adorn each event in our home. Sometimes that meant they would have to share their bedroom and sleep on our bedroom floor. But always it was an adventure we engaged in together. 

The messes are not all tamed ever--there is always a pile somewhere or dust or a smudge--but who would notice with all the people living and laughing and sharing life. And so perfection was never the goal, but reaching out to people to serve them was our goal.

A cake stand filled with greenery becomes an easy centerpiece. And of course books everywhere.I have collected red jars over the years for just plain candles--as the candles look beautiful--but cinnamon or apple red candles make my family sneeze, so there are odorless.

I look back to my childhood years as the time I learned all about making my home a place of life and food and fun--to my mom who taught us to work, to greet, to serve little trays of food around the house and to learn to love serving the life of Jesus in the walls of our home.

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

By Sally Clarkson, Sarah Clarkson

Of course, I must have a tea table--tea represents to me serving another, making a moment to really share hearts, thoughts, words of love--it takes time but restores hearts!

The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

By Sally Clarkson

And of course it is hoped that all who enter will find here the peace of our precious Lord, and take His comfort and presence and worship home with them in their hearts after we part company.

Peace be with you today!

These books might be the perfect gift--inspiration to inspire yourself and your sweet friends to practice lifegiving hospitality!

Creating an atmosphere and rhythms daily through a lifegiving home will build a legacy of love and faith in your home. 

A Lifegiving table, where Jesus's truth, wisdom and grace is celebrated every day, will lay foundations of understanding and convictions that will carry through a lifetime. 

The set builds a wholistic picture of cultivating faith for a lifetime. 

Happy Hospitality in your home this week. 

Of all women, I Am Most Blessed! & a podcast with Joy

Twenty-one years of Mom Heart Conferences was a highlight of our ministry through the years. 

Twenty-two years ago, Clay and I were together pondering our lives and the choices we had made along the way in our marriage. Having spent 3 years together in missions in Europe, and five years in church ministry, three in seminary, we were beginning to feel as though God wanted us to step out in faith to start our own ministry.

As we looked at the landscape of culture, we saw marriages falling apart, young adults leaving church and the faith they had been taught by the droves and the morality of adults becoming corrupted more each year. 

(If God puts us on your heart to support the work of Whole Heart, you can Donate HERE.)

Whole Heart Ministries Begins!

By faith, we left our church job, moved to a small country town in the middle of Texas and started "Whole Heart Ministries." As we look back on the story of our lives, we are deeply grateful and blessed to have been a part of what God wanted us to do in our lifetime in this world. 

And we are so very grateful for you! I am, like Mary, most blessed to have been able to walk this road and to have met and been encouraged by so many of you.

Thank You!

Every week, we receive letters, emails and messages from so many of you whose lives have been touched or changed in some way by our ministry. We are so very blessed by you and all the people who have engaged in this ministry with us and who have told us they have been changed and inspired through out messages. 

As we ponder the countless thousands who have engaged in our ministry through the years, through conferences, through the publishing and launching of 20 books and Bible study guides, the development of an online ministry, our blogs, podcasts, small group and international ministries, the Bible studies and conferences that are taking place all over the world, we are humbled by what God has done. 

But we could never have done it all without all of you who have responded, helped, worked side by side with us and supported our projects and ministry along the way. We thank you with all of our heart! Every year, about this time, we look back to remember just what God has done. 

As I mentioned above, 21 years of Mom Heart conferences all over the United States was one of the privileges of our lives. We loved meeting with so many sweet women who became dear friends and kindred spirits over the years.

Books and messages have been at the heart of our ministry. We desire to help parents understand the biblical design of family, parenting and building a godly legacy. So far we have written 21 books and have 6 more coming out in the next couple of years! Stay tuned. (INCLUDING A NEW BOOK THAT CLAY MAINLY WROTE THAT WILL BE ONE YOU CAN SHARE WITH YOUR HUSBANDS--THE BOOK MANY HAVE ASKED US TO WRITE FOR MANY YEARS.)

Releasing the First part of May!

Because of my own background in discipleship, I have always wanted to build women into leaders so that they could create small groups that would support other women in their walks with God. We now have 2587 women in our greater Mom Heart Groups leadership and 341 in The UK, Ireland and Europe, as well as other groups all over the world who are studying our books in small groups. Go here to learn about them! 

I started a blog 11 years ago and have literally thousands of articles to inspire women as I learned from my own walk with God. 

I have loved, loved hosting a podcast in the last 18 months and am so grateful to be able to use this medium to reach women all over the world with the messages God continues to put on our hearts. So far we have had about 1,700,000 downloads, now reaching between 130,000 and 145,000 downloads a month. You can go here to find my podcasts. Or on Itunes or spotify at At Home with Sally and friends.

Because we love the idea of providing support, instruction in leadership, inspiration for growing in Christ and a place where like-minded women can find fellowship and spiritual training, my wonderful friends and leaders have developed a monthly membership course that also has a Bible study on Hebrews, A story about a famous composer and the impact of his life and music, recipes, traditions, videos or podcasts and more. Hundreds of women have subscribed and we are hoping to build more community here with a forum and more live evening events just for our members to encourage them. The amazing women designing this course have all sorts of plans for inspiration on this site for 2018. Find more information about how to subscribe HERE

Our conferences have now expanded to international arenas, including our first one in London, with three more planned for this year (London, mid-England and Edinburgh. Our wonderful Australian friends have hosted conferences for the last 5 years.

Storyformed is a new initiative that two of my friends lead to help families know about the best books to inspire their children to develop a storyformed life.

Our own four children Joy, Joel, Sarah and Nathan have worked along side us through all these years to help us in all the tasks of our ministries and are all now involved in their own lives of spreading kingdom messages.

Clay and I have partnered together through 22 years of ministry, praying together about how we can reach more families with God's biblical message of building godly generations in our homes. 

We have only been able to pursue this ministry through the years because of God's amazing faithfulness and because of so many friends, like you, who have supported Whole Heart Ministries financially, through working side by side with us and through your prayers. 

We hope many of you feel you have been helped and inspired by Whole Heart Ministries.

We would consider it such a blessing if you would consider supporting us financially as we dream in the years ahead of how we might reach more people with our messages. 

Thanks so much for all of your encouragement, your letters and love through all the years. We appreciate you!

DONATE HERE!

If God puts it on your heart to donate to our ministry, go here to do so. Thanks so much for your consideration. 

Clay and Sally and Sarah, Joel, Nathan and Joy

We would love to hear from some of you about ways God has used Whole Heart in your lives so that we can be even more effective as we plan the years ahead. 

We pray God's gracious blessings for you this season as we celebrate His advent.

(For more, read about where we have been in 2017 and where we are hoping to go in 2018.)

Enjoy Joy's and my podcast today.

The Gift My Children Want the Most & a new Podcast!

Guess who's home? One happy mama!

The past week, I have had my head down and working like a crazy girl to put cookies in the freezer, to go grocery shopping, to put the last touches on decorations with a deadline in mind! My Joy is the first to come home and I don't want to have anything to do that will compete with our time to just be together, fall apart, giggle, eat and enjoy the precious time that we will have together.

I am frantically preparing food for 7-10 of us for 10 days so I won't have to cook much while they are here. There are stockings and little stuff to buy--their favorite are the stockings! The Shepherd's meal for Christmas Eve, must be shopped for and cooked. The snowball cookies, oatmeal scotties, Hello Dollies and sugar cookies in all shapes with thick frosting--all will be expected. The hot drinks. The homemade meals.

So, in busyness I prepare.

But, really, there is one favorite gift that I can't buy, but will cost me a lot--that all of the kids want more than anything, but no one remembers to ask for.

 So, I concentrate at times, on the peripheral--those outward expressions of my life art, knowing that my best gift to them is mostly what is longed for and needed.

 What they really want.......the very favorite gift of all, is me--

ALL OF ME!

It is the one thing I forget to place into my schedule yet requires the most concentrated time.  I have undervalued this gift in terms of gift-giving.

It takes more time than all the shopping, baking, cooking, washing dishes, decorating, wrapping.

As my children all invade my life, and come home for family time, it is the same thing they want since they were littles--me!

It is mama they long for, and no one else will fit the bill, because we are the bestest and closest of friends--and no one else will fill the mama-shaped vacuum.

They want me to listen. They want me to be their friend. They want me to sit, talk, watch a movie with them, focus on their needs, laugh at their stories, cry or sympathize with their pain.

My children come home for me and all the love they cannot receive from someone else.

They want my counsel and prayer and all that they have learned to look for in my heart. It is the most important investment I ever made--to give them my heart.

They want my approval. They want me to laugh at their jokes, marvel at their stories, show sympathy to the injustices or failures in their lives. They want a real person who will invest and refuel their emotional tank.

No substitute gift can take the place of me. Personal friendship and close companionship is a far greater desire and heart need than anything else I could ever provide. And all it costs me is my time, my focussed attention, my heart, my love.

No bills will come forward because what they want, I must give now, at the moment. And, now, I am so very glad it is me they want!  But evaluating this into time in my schedule and even more important, into my heart's willingness to give, is a choice I make, a priority I plan for.

This giving of self means, though I will not get everything else done, but I have to stop the doing to give the caring. I will never finish my lists--but I must decide ahead of time. I must put aside my unfinished ideals of what I thought I would get accomplished and understand that a happy mama is what they long for.

And so when they want me, I have planned that they will find my giving of myself generous in all the ways they longed for and truly wanted. Time is short and now is the moment to give my focussed love.

All children who have ever been loved and cherished by their mothers long for time with their very own mama! To be home is to be with mama (and of course Dad, too.)

But it is true of all the seasons I have been a mom--my children have always wanted me--not just my service that cares for their needs, but my heart that gives them my unconditional love.

As wives and mothers, we give gifts of our true selves to our families each day--or at least we should. When the milk is spilled, do we give the gift of acceptance and patience? When our husband comes home tired after an extremely long day, do we give the gift of listening and looking into his eyes,  so he knows we truly care? Do we give our children the gift of a quick hug as they walk by? Or a butterfly kiss? Or a back-rub? Sometimes these are the same gifts we would like to receive! Just to know somehow our lives matter. And then there are the hours and hours of sitting on a wee one's bed to listen, to enjoy--not to wish away. Or the long talks at midnight with the older ones (why does this not happen at 7:00 in the evening?) or the little pitter-patter of feet when the sun is hardly up, of a child looking for his favorite--the mama! 

Even as the gift Jesus gave us was Himself, His time, attention, love, teaching, encouragement, and it cost Him Himself, so it is the best gift we have to offer.

So, when they look for me, they must need to find the Christ in me. The one who loved, washed feet, fed thousands, gave his time and love and words of affirmation and then gave the ultimate--his life for ours. This is what they want and need this Christmas. It is something we can all afford to give and the gift without which none of the others will have meaning.

Looking for a great gift to give to your friend, your family, a loved one? Don't forget how wonderful it is to inspire and transform lives through words that inspire. Get your copy of the Lifegiving books here!

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

By Sally Clarkson, Sarah Clarkson

The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

By Sally Clarkson

Mamas, Carrying the Weight of Christmas

Oh how I wish you could know Misty. She lives in Nashville, after about the ten thousandth move she has made and has decided by an act of her will, to create life and beauty for all who Christ brings into her life. She is my personal assistant, my friend, my encourager. With 8 children and two grandchildren, Misty is one of the most giving, loving, committed and excellent people I know. Not because it is easy for her or because she has had an easy life. But because she has committed deep inside her soul where no one sees, to be excellent, to walk by faith, until she sees her Jesus face to face. Her life inspires me to keep going, to keep giving, to keep loving, because she does all of these things. I love her so much and I know you will love this article, that comes to you after many years of her carrying Christmas for all who know her. ~Sally

 I’ve always loved Christmas.  Loved the lights on the tree, the beautiful songs, the candlelight, gifts, snow and cookies and surprises and glitter and just … everything.  Nearly every year we made the trek over the river and through the woods (well, I think there might have been a river, anyway) to my grandmothers’ houses, heading first to Christmas Eve service where I always cried my way through Silent Night, waxy white candle clutched tightly in my hand as I anxiously watched the flame being passed slowly from candle to candle. I wondered every year at both the glory of holding my own burning flame and the sheer beauty of the story of Jesus’ coming, each telling sinking deep into my childish heart.  We’d trek the few blocks home then, boots nearly always crunching through midwest snow, me walking slowly so the flame lasted as long as it possibly could.

The next day at my other grandparents’ house, snowy footprints across the carpet announced Santa’s surreptitious visit, and presents piled under the tree were gleefully unwrapped much too quickly, I’m sure.  It did take the whole day to work our way through playtime with each gift, and then we’d sit down to a table glittering with china and snowy napkins and piles of food.All in all, it was a wonder; just how Christmas should be.

Christmas used to be something that happened to me.

Then came my own children, stockings lining up every year like we lived in Who-ville or something.  And Christmas?  Well, it was different: something I needed to make happen … or happen, it would not.

The beautiful lady on the donkey, heavy with Child? Probably should have been a tip-off.

The pretty tree?  Yummy food?  Candles burning bright?  Hand-crafted decorations?  They didn’t just appear out of nowhere, some Christmas miracle.  No, if Christmas was to come, it would come because I worked to make it come.

The truth is, if the wonder and beauty are to come to our homes, we mamas must carry the weight of Christmas.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:26-38

My husband doesn’t spend November-December in a dither over how to get gifts to the cousins in Texas.  He doesn’t labor over whether we should decorate in red or gold, or if the tree ornaments have to match or can be hodge-podge, or try to figure out which stationery to use for the Christmas cards.  Most likely, your husband doesn’t, either.  No, these are things we, the mamas, will ponder this season, an unseen army bringing Christmas again, these multiplied centuries after Mary first carried her precious Burden over the rough roads to Bethlehem.

The cinnamon rolls, the delightful tree, the Advent stories read and loved, the very memories your children carry into their own adulthood? You.

You are the bearer of your family’s Christmas, sweet mama. And you’re in good company.

So rejoice!  You’re not alone, you’re not the first, and you won’t be the last.  Embrace the gift of being the bringer of Christmas in your own precious home. Perhaps a change in perspective would help? When we embrace this season as a glorious weight, rejecting it as an oppressive burden, we can lay down the heaviness of it and pick up the glory. 

Your children won’t remember how perfectly decorated your tree was, and they won’t recall which stationery you finally picked out.  They will remember the wonder, the joy, the beauty of it all.  And when the weight falls heavy, remember the point–Jesus has come!  This is a celebration for you to share and enjoy, a season of remembering all He has done.  If you’ve picked up the burden of comparing your Christmas to someone else’s, if you’re worrying over your child’s long list of wants and your short list of wrapped gifts, if the cinnamon rolls came from the bakery instead of the oven … let it go!

Glory in the beauty and enjoy every moment as the gift it is.  And if I see you in the store, balancing cranky babies and a twenty-pound turkey, I’ll smile and you’ll see it in my eyes:  Carry on, fellow Christmas-bearer!

In what ways do you find the weight of Christmas heavy?  How can you lay the burden of it all down this year?

Misty and her clan! Still busy carrying Christmas and Christ to her sweet ones.

Christmas Mirth & a Giveaway & New Podcast

A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

Sometimes I think I still have a little girl heart. I was carrying a burden and a question in my heart and really longed for God's wisdom on how to proceed. I stepped into my car, put on my Christmas music as I traveled the freeway and prayed honestly to God. As I was engaged in the reverie of my own atmosphere, I began to feel as though I was His beloved little girl, that He wanted to Father me and that I could trust Him to work out my issues. By the time I ended my 25 minute drive, my mind was flowing with all sorts of creative ideas, I was singing in my heart, not just in my car and I felt so delighted of heart, I was a little bit giddy. 

I do not want to trivialize spiritual maturity or the deep issues of our lives as we look at the landscape of our world. Yet, I have learned that I am not to carry the fears and issues of the world, I am to leave them in His hands and seek to be as faithful as I can in the story He has allotted me. 

I have been slowly learning over the years that worry and living by fear is a constant drain and brings a cloud over my head and fog in my heart.

As we observe our little children, we see that they do not question our ability to take care of them. They play and pretend and observe life honestly and have a deep sense of security in our love because they learn to expect that we will care for them and meet their needs. It is right and good for our children to come to us expecting comfort, love, affection, wisdom, affirmation and joy. And so it is right for us to come to our perfect heavenly Father expecting the same. 

Often like the psalmists, we question:

Does God see me? Does He know of my circumstances? Does He care? Am I alone? Maybe I need to do something about this circumstance or issue--it's probably all up to me to figure it out. (More on that later this week on a podcast and blog post.)

But, I believe that when I am able, God wants me to strain to see the beauty, to store up joy, to enjoy the innocence that comes from knowing I am not responsible for things too difficult for me to figure out. 

Psalm 131 is one of my favorite psalms. It is David, a grown man, who found himself in constant conflict, battles, irrational people and a challenge to his life. Ponder this:

                                                          My heart is not proud, Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

 But I have calmed and quieted myself,

I am like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child I am content.

Do you involve yourself in matters too difficult for you? Are you learning to calm yourself? I wonder what our Christian world would be like if believers really trusted God to work in the details of life, if they really trusted that He was good, If they lived by faith instead of by works?

God still wants to show His response to prayer, His care for the details of our life and Christmas is a perfect time to please His heart by choosing to trust into His hands the issues of our lives. 

On Thursday night of my Lifegiving Christmas Tea, the audio and video started having issues. Some sweet person commented, "Even when things go awry, Sally just seems the same--unaffected." How very generous of her to say that. 

Yet, I have learned that if I have been faithful, diligent and life still explodes or acts up in ways unexpected, it is not something I can change by being anxious. I don't worry as much, I just let life happen because I have learned that there will always be potholes. 

In today's podcast, you will hear about:

*My time with a dear friend, Terri Moon, and reminiscing about our lives with our children who have grown up together. 

*Favorite music and why we study composers and their character qualities in our membership, "Cultivating Life with Sally. And how music is healing

*Favorite recipes and traditions we both celebrate (She is an amazing cook!)

*How worry has never ever changed any of our circumstances

*How both of us restore and refresh and celebrate Christmas to bring Joy

*Why joy is a healer and why a joyful heart is good medicine.

***********************************************

We think that Christmas is a great time to share books as gifts because they also bring healing and inspiration to those we love. So, we are giving away 3 books to our readers for Christmas.

Women who are just married, or having their first little one or in need of vision would be inspired to read The Lifegiving Home or The Lifegiving Table. 

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

By Sally Clarkson, Sarah Clarkson

Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him

By Sally Clarkson, Nathan Clarkson

The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time

By Sally Clarkson

Do you know of a sweet friend who is struggling with a Different, out of the box child? Maybe they would be encouraged to know they are not alone. So we are giving away a Different book, too.

If you have been encouraged by our ministry, our books, our conferences, my podcasts over the years, would you please share about them with your friends so that we can continue to help families build a godly legacy? Tell us how you have shared our blog or books or podcasts somewhere and leave it in the comments below and you will be entered into our giveaway. 

We appreciate our community of like-minded friends so very much. May God bless you with His grace today.