Problems Sometimes Require a Change of Perspective ... & a Podcast

In the midst of dealing with this incredibly painful, discouraging issue with my eye, I am certainly finding it important to remind myself of times the Lord has spoken to me in the past. Thought I'd share one of those with you today ...

A number of years ago, I had been going through another extremely demanding season of life. Besides the normal needs of a family of six, little Joy had nocturnal asthma that woke the both of us up every night at just about 1:00 AM for long rounds of medicine and steam showers to help her breathe. Our church was also going through a split, and along with the exhaustion I felt from those long nights, there was a sense of pressure and trouble pressing in on all sides.

Now, I am not given to symbolic dreams and have only had two in my whole life. But during this time, on one of Joy's good nights when I fell deeply asleep, I found myself awake in a dream in which God was talking to me. In my dream, I was sitting in my living room considering all the problems that were in my life and in the lives of those I loved—and there were some huge troubles, many of which seemed beyond solution.

In the midst of this, God came to me, reached out His large hand, and asked me to climb intoit.I stepped into the palm of His hand and very slowly and gently He began to take me up into the stars and among the galaxies. I remember that it was unspeakably beautiful. He then told me to look down to the earth, where I had been stewing and fretting about all the issues in my life. God asked me a single question:

"How big do your problems look from up here?"

I remember glancing down, straining to see the earth and my corner on it. My house and the people in my neighborhood were tiny as gnats, so that I could barely even see. I told the Lord that they appeared tiny indeed.

"Indeed," He said. "That is how big your problems are to me. I want you to have My perspective and know that compared to the issues of eternity, they are tiny. I can take care of them"

Then the Lord gently took me down to the earth and placed me back in my living room. And then I woke up and realized I had been dreaming. But the sense of "all is well" was all around me, invading my soul and driving my petty worries into the oblivion where they belonged. Though not a single situation had changed during my amazing dream, my circumstances no longer seemed overwhelming. They no longer had their former potency because they had been so far surpassed by God's presence.

.....

I wanted to update you today about my eye injury, so my friends and I recorded a short podcast for you.  At the end, we briefly mention the new Lifegiving Parent Launch Community on Facebook.  I need many of you to help me as I walk through this valley and struggle through this eye injury.  Gretchen, Misty, and Jennie will guide you and provide ideas of how you can help me get the word out.  Since this is a book written for both mothers and fathers, I would welcome help from men on our launch team as well.  Come join us!  We will have lots of fun getting to know each other and strategizing how to change the world!  Expect the launch page to really get going after Easter.  Thank you so much, friends, I could not launch this book without you.

Fantasy Books for Teens

FANTASY BOOKS FOR TEENS

A Wrinkle in Time

OPD: 1962

I read this book by myself and aloud with my family and found new creative fascination and spiritual insight with each read. L’Engle’s classic tale of the stubborn Meg, her abnormally intelligent little brother, and their gangly, gallant friend Calvin is an adventure tale to begin with, as the children travel galaxies in search of Meg’s scientist father who vanished in the midst of an experiment. Guided by the amusing and rather awe-inspiring Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which into the depths of the universe’s beauties, and its darkness, this is a story exploring the power of love to redeem, heal, and resist the power of evil. A book with humor, a tale rich in affirmation of the world’s beauty, this is a classic to be read again and again.

At the Back of the North Wind

BY GEORGE MACDONALD

OPD: 1871

“…though I cannot promise to take you home,” said North Wind, as she sank nearer and nearer to the tops of the houses, “I can promise you it will be all right in the end. You will get home somehow.” 
― George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind

One of my favorite fantastical children’s stories, Wind is the story of the little boy Diamond, and the night journeys he takes with the lovely and real North Wind. MacDonald, whom Lewis said was his “master,” imbued every story he wrote with his wonder in a God whose goodness will not leave us in the darkness. An exploration, through the adventures of a little boy, of suffering and pain and the promise of heaven, this classic tale is a fairy tale swift with the beauty of the marvelous North Wind woman, and rich with spiritual contemplation. One of my favorites.

Auralia's Colors

BY JEFFREY OVERSTREET

OPD: 2007

Jeffrey Overstreet (who I’m happy to say is a friend o’ mine), has created a fantastic, richly imagined novel about a world in which the glory of color has been dimmed and forgotten. Into this wintered land comes a girl named Auralia, gifted with the ability to find and weave color into a startling gift whose power could change the course of the kingdom.

Lilith

BY GEORGE MACDONALD

OPD: 1895

This is one of George MacDonald’s later books, the story of a young, leisured man who discovers a world within (or beyond?) his own where he is challenged to “die indeed” by a raven who seems to be the first man, Adam. Plunged into a fantastical world of little children living at peace with their beasts in the forest, giants, dueling skeletons, and an evil princess attended by leopards who terrorize the land, the hero must face not only the terrors, but his own capacity to act, choose, and love. A MacDonald fairy tale is a world of spiritual realities made flesh. Not direct allegory, nor yet mere fantasy, Lilith is a journey into the regions of the soul, into grace, sin, suffering, and the fresh-sprung waters that come when we learn to lay down what keeps us from dying in order to live.

The Book of the Dun Cow

By Walter Wangerin

OPD: 1978

This story took me by surprise. Here is an opening from Wangerin’s site: “At a time when the sun turned around the earth and animals could speak, Chauntecleer the Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceable kingdom.  What the animals did not know was that they were Keepers of the Wyrm, monster of Evil long imprisoned beneath the earth.  And Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free…” I didn’t expect to be engrossed by a farmyard fable, or moved by the story of a slightly arrogant rooster who must learn to protect his people from evil, but I found this to be a powerful tale of humble, workaday hearts encountering evil and resisting its dominance. Fascinating. Excellent for discussion.

To continue reading on storyformed.com, please click HERE.

Be Still, He Says ...

“As mothers and fathers, it is so easy to get distracted by the details of our lives. We have so much to do! We must feed our children well and take care of their health. We must oversee their education and their training to make sure they will be able to take care of themselves and live in a civilized society. We train them in righteousness so they may understand how God wants them to live. We try to relate to them in mature ways and help them learn to have healthy relationships.” -The Ministry of Motherhood

And yet! He reminds us ...

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

And of course, this being still and knowing is also part of what we are trying to impart to our children, perhaps one of the most important things we can pass along in the midst of such a distracted and hurried world.

It is a great responsibility to be a mother, a cultivator of beauty and nurturer of souls. If you are finding yourself overwhelmed in your mothering, in your homeschooling or with homework, consumed by anxiety, daunting tasks, and a serious lack of sleep, I invite you to take a deep breath at this moment. Relax, even for just a minute, and remember that while you may feel alone, God sees all of the work you do (the late nights, early morning, many meals, the lit candles and lovely flowers that no one else noticed). Don’t put unrealistic pressures on yourself, on your homeschooling agenda, or on your parenting, that God never asked you to do. Perhaps the most loving and healthy thing you can do for yourself and your children is to be still for a moment today and have a quiet time.

How can you prioritize your quiet time today and squeeze it into your busy schedule?

Find The Ministry of Motherhood, here ...

The Ministry of Motherhood: Following Christ's Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children

By Sally Clarkson

Harvesting a Godly Character to reap a Life of Integrity & a Podcast

Reaping a harvest of character comes from planting seeds of faithfulness over a lifetime. What you sow you will reap. But the amazing result is that you will have fruit for your labor and be satisfied and gratified to see how God has worked with you as you walk in obedience.

Recently, I read this quote from Billy Graham, who has been in my mind since his memorial.

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith. BILLY GRAHAM

Harvesting a Godly Character to Reap a Life of Integrity & a Podcast

C.S. Lewis is famous for his essay “Men Without Chests” (from The Abolition of Man). In it, he describes a generation of people without virtue or character because of the rise of relativism and loss of objective truth. In the style of the ancients, he describes the head as the place of knowledge, the heart as the place of passion, and the chest as the place of virtue and character.

Only when a person has a well-developed character can they properly put to use knowledge and passion. Without the strength of character developed in the chest, knowledge can become cruel and passion destructive. With character, knowledge becomes wisdom and passion becomes love.

It seems that there are many people without chests in our world. With the constant influx of information provided by the internet, and no effective ways to determine the objectivity or truthfulness of that information, people can develop keen opinions, but not be required either to validate those opinions or to act on them. In the same way, it is easy for us to voice emotional and idealistic claims without doing the hard work of validating our opinions objectively and putting them into actual practice in our lives. Opinion becomes a substitute for character.

If we are truly to be full-bodied people who act on the biblical ideals that we hold to be objectively true, then we must practice integrity and grow the muscle of character; we must become men and women with chests.

The essence of character is found in the habitual heart choices of an individual over a long period of time. Character is the constant work of a lifetime and the product of a heart engaged in wisdom, choosing the right thing over and over again. It is like practicing a sport. If you’ve ever taught a child to catch or throw a ball, you know the moment in which it “clicks.”

Suddenly, the catcher goes from awkward fumbles to being able to catch the ball almost every time; snagging the ball out of the air becomes an automatic response. Character is the product of good choices made over and over again, so that when the curveballs of life come your way, you can automatically respond in wisdom because that is what you have practiced.

What we practice shapes who we become, and the voices we listen to shape what we will practice. If we are to live lives of character, we must invest in wisdom. One of my mentors once gave me a great quote: “God forgives, but wisdom does not.” The heart of wisdom is properly understanding the impact and meaning of our personal choices. The book of Proverbs very clearly delineates good and bad decisions, a practice which is not popular in our day.

The purpose of Proverbs is not to create strict rules to live by, but to help the reader live a life of wisdom which brings peace. I do not tell my children “don’t go over the speed limit” because I like to impose difficult rules upon them, but because if they do go over the speed limit they will more likely have to pay a ticket or get in a wreck. Wisdom creates healthy hedges around our behavior of what we will and won’t do.

We obey God's commands in order to build our lives on foundations that will stand and not fail us in the storms of life. We live with virtue so that others can look to us as beacons that will show them the love and redemption of God. Our virtue should help in our outreach and draw others to us, not send them away.

When God called us to be lights in a lost generation, His desire was that, through the virtue of our purity of life and behavior, we would become guides to those who long to move from darkness into light.

Becoming the best you can be requires that you own your integrity and live the most virtuous life possible.

Because we reflect the character of God, Christians should be the most trustworthy, hardworking, truth-telling, dependable, moral, patient, and grace-filled people. This is our heritage from God.

Our integrity comes before our influence. 

Integrity comes from years of practicing living with godly character. Integrity is a lifelong fruit of determining to live faithfully. Christ is the model for what it looks like to have perfect integrity. But integrity brings the reward of living well into your life and watching God faithfully produce eternal fruit through the pages of your story.

Character is the constant work of a lifetime. and a product of a heart engaged in wisdom, and choosing the righteous option of obedience over and over again. 

Thank you so much for your many prayers.  I am having plenty of opportunities to practice this principle of character training in my own life right now.  I am still seeking answers from eye specialists as I continue to battle pain from inflammation and possible infection in my cornea.  My vision is still very impaired.  I would so appreciate your continued prayers for wisdom and healing.  I know that the One who is walking with me through this is faithful.

On Days That Are Difficult, I Wish I'd Known ...

In this world you have tribulation,

but take courage....

I have overcome the world.

Jesus

"No amount of ranting or complaining can change the fact that we live in a fallen world, a battleground for souls. I wish I had known sooner, or better understood, or earlier admitted that I needed to accept this reality, and to determine to grow up and determine to build up my strength little by little. It would have saved me so much emotional havoc in the long run." ~ 

Sally Clarkson  from Desperate

Today I find myself in need of prayer. Last week, as you may have seen on instagram or heard me mention on the podcast, I had a quite unfortunate accident involving a large exercise ball, a stairway, a glass, the corner of a dining room table, and my eye, which sustained the worst of the untimely combination. While I am being treated and trust it will continue to heal, my injured eye is causing a great deal of pain right now and I am unable to do the many things on my list, with company here in London, Clay only recently arrived (so grateful he is here!) and of course, sweet baby Lilian. I certainly didn't picture myself being out of order during such a busy time!

It is another day I must take my own advice and recall that in this broken world, I will be disappointed much more often than I like; that frustrations big and small will come my way and I must place all into the hands of the loving Father who cares deeply and is walking alongside me through it all.

Mamas can spend a lot of time wishing our lives were different, our circumstances different, our capabilities greater. As I look back over the various pressures I've faced during many years of parenting, I think ...

If only I had understood that this was a battle for allegiance to the One who is true, and not an issue of choosing the right activities, or the best curriculum, or the most promising educational situation.

If only I knew that the sacrificing of my life to God's design would be the making of my character; that the longer I loved and served and gave myself to the training of my children, the more I would understand His fatherhood of me,

and the complete sacrifice He was willing to make for me, His own unaware and shortsighted toddler child,

who often was blind to the workings of His ways and the wisdom of His voice,

even as my children were often blind to my wisdom given for their sakes.

If only I had known that the miracle of my children's long-term faith and love for Him, was not an issue of our being righteously mature and perfect in performance,

but rather our dependence on Him working according to His power and mercy--

that He was the one who made our paltry sacrifices enough to reach the hearts of our children,

because He cared more than we did about loving and redeeming our children out of darkness into His light,

and that all He wanted from me was to give it all up to Him and to live by faith and to enjoy the gift He had given into my hands--

the gift of mothering these children, living this story, and seeing His miracles right before my eyes.

Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it. Psalm 37:5

If only I had known, it would have saved me so much emotional havoc, worry, impatience, and stress, 

And I would have lived restfully in peace, and enjoyed each day more, letting Him take the weight of my fretting and worry.

And so today, as I find myself in need of grace and patience for my slightly battered body and the limitations this trial places on me, I am praying that you, too, will place yourself and your life and concerns into His wonderful, capable hands.

May the peace of the Lord be with you today, the Lord is near.

St. Patricks Day Tradition--Feckle Bread Recipe & A New Podcast!

Irish Blessing

 May the road rise to meet you.  May the wind be always at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face.  May the rains fall soft upon your fields.  And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of His hand!

Celtic music has been playing here the past few days as we approach St. Patrick's day. Usually our family actually goes to a favorite Irish Family Pub in Colorado Springs to watch the local teams of dancers perform, to eat fish and chips and to hear Celtic bands to delight us all. We have some Scotch-Irish relatives and Scottish as well as those from the middle of England. We have celebrated this day since we read a great biography many years ago about St. Patrick and his evangelizing heart.(Sorry, I can't find the book now and don't know which one it was.) What a fun tradition for us this has been. 

I couldn't resist putting some St. Patrick Day favorite quotes and recipes on my blog today. His story is one of my favorites of the many biographies I read to the kids over the years. Be sure to research him and tell about him at your dinner table in the next couple of days!

One year not too long ago,  we spent the day in one of our favorite cities. The girls and I always loved spending time in Asheville, NC--the place that, as Sarah says, "feels so much like home to us!" We did this for a number of years, going back to all of our favorite places to rest and restore. Sleeping, eating, sleeping, walking, sleeping, eating--that always seemed to be the order of our days there!

The Early Girl Eatery, recommended by Rachel Ray, was a first stop--lots of great veggie dishes--black bean and sweet potato cakes, spinach salad with apples, goat cheese and pecans. Then on to the Biltmore to hike, and the next stop was crab and corn chowder at the Corner Kitchen--and splitting a Reuben sandwich.

We also often went to our friend's home for a St. Patrick Day cooking demonstration. She does this several times a year and while they were home, we'd never miss. I wanted to pass on a bread recipe that I love! It is Irish and if you want to delight your children, you can even put just a tiny bit--few drops--of green food coloring and make it green bread.

Irish Freckle Bread

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

In the Bosch bowl (or any mixer) with dough hook, place:

2 cups hot water           

1 cups unbleached white flour

2 Tbsp. yeast                                    

1/3 cups maple syrup or honey

Mix thoroughly.  Then add:

2 slightly beaten eggs   1/2 cups dried currants

1 Tbsp. Real salt              1 cups of grated carrots

1/4 cup oil                          1/2 cup dried pineapple snipped in small pieces

3/4 cup golden raisins

Add 4-4 1/2 cups freshly ground flour to very slightly clean the sides of the bowl.  If you add too much, it will be too dry--so just slowly add it at the last until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl as it is mixing. The dough should be a bit sticky.  Knead 5 minutes.  Shape into a free-formed loaf, or place in loaf pan.  Brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water.)  Let bread rise until double in size.

It makes a lovely, large round loaf.

Lower heat to 350 degrees.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Also, thought I would catch some of you up on my eye (the fall I had) and a little bit from Joel and Clay for a fun podcast today.

Storyformed Podcast, Episode #24 - Read For The Heart (Picture Books Edition)

To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.

~ Victor Hugo

In this episode, Holly Packiam and Jaime Showmaker discuss the picture books chapter in Sarah Clarkson's book, Read for the Heart. The book describes how her parents, Clay and Sally Clarkson, decided that one of the primary gifts they would give their children would be a childhood shaped by great stories. Sarah writes from the perspective of one whose own heart, mind, and soul were formed by books, and in doing so, invites us into what she calls 'the reading life'. We share some of her picture book recommendations in this episode. But this is more than an invitation to get through a reading list; it's an invitation into a reading life.

Topics Include: 

• The value in reading good books to our children

• Reasons for choosing Read for the Heart as your #1 resource for children's book recommendations

• Hallmarks of a classic children's book

• Picture book recommendations from Read for the Heart

To listen to this Storyformed podcast episode, click HERE.

This Spring ... Get Outside to See God's Glorious Art

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Romans 1:20

Now that the storms are gone from England, a chill is still in the air. Yet, yesterday, I took a little bit of time with Joy who is visiting from Scotland, to romp around a lovely park nearby. As we walked, we observed hundreds of plants just ready to burst out with the happy yellow faces of daffodils so famous in these Oxford parts. I will be sure to show you some of the harvest here in the next week or two. And yes, oceans of bluebells just ringing out the amazing azure in a song of praise.

One of the best ways I can appeal to the yearnings for beauty and wonder that God has already placed in my and my children's hearts is to expose them to the many facets of God's artistry as expressed in what he made. The sheer splendor of his creation, from the tiniest plankton to the biggest whale, from microscopic crystals to soaring mountains, calls to the deepest part of our human nature. The beauty of the environment God designed for us to live in has the power to move us to tears and gives us a sense of joy and appreciation of life.

All of this God created for us to experience so that we could enjoy more fully the life that he prepared for us to know. He did not intend for these things to bring us fulfillment in themselves but to point beyond, to the Artist himself, in order to affirm his magnificence, his power, and his kindness and generosity in making our lives so full. He gave us a richly created world to help us know him better.

Creativity, after all, is one of the essential expressions of God's personality. He is the Master Designer who has the power to make something out of nothing and something fresh and new out of the ruins of something old. His inventiveness knows no boundaries.

The beauty of his handiwork is unparalleled. His creativity is awesome and powerful as well as unbelievably beautiful—he is the God of exploding volcanoes and awe-inspiring storms as well as rainbows and sunsets.

If you want to delight a little one or calm the hormones of a teen, take a spring walk in a wild area or park and decide to breathe in the beauty.

God will be waiting around the corner for you to show you something new of His beauty, color, love and goodness. Even his means of creation are creative, for sometimes he creates directly and sometimes he lends his creative powers to his children and delights in their inventiveness.

When is the last time you were impressed by the inventiveness and creativity of God? Do some research and find a new place you might explore.

Choosing to Overcome: OYL 11 & a Podcast

'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Revelation 3:21

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt

I receive thousands of letters every year from sweet women who share their burdens of life with me. At this moment, I have 8 friends who have cancer. I know of 2 different women who lost their children recently at very young ages in a tragic accident. Several people who are dear to me have suffered abandonment from their spouses.  Stories told by these precious ones reveals a multitude of challenges and difficulties--autistic children, single parenthood, cancer, financial problems, marriage problems, exhaustion, anger, depression--the list goes on.

My heart breaks for each one, I so understand the weight of a broken heart. Yet, for us to live a sustainable life, to find light in our darkness, to pave the way for our children to understand what it means to walk with God, at some point, we have to seek to move beyond our hurts to healing. We must ask God for His mysterious and amazing redemption in the midst of broken stories or even just difficult times.

Jesus said, "In this world, you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world."

Take--an action of the will

Courage--choosing to be brave and deciding to find hope in the face of difficult circumstances

Why? Because He has overcome all of the challenges the world can bring His way.  He is with us. He will be the strength and wisdom we need to become overcomers.

With that in mind, we must understand that this is the fallen place, the place of spiritual battle as evidenced in the different stories of the women in my Bible studies. And I do understand a sympathize with you-life can, at times be brutally challenging.

And yet, as I read scripture and history, and get a little older each year,  I understand more now,  that these challenging seasons will follow us our whole lives until we are with Jesus.

Yet, the response we decide to practice can determine a whole different outcome in our stories if we learn to embrace being those who overcome our difficulties by walking through them trusting Him to give us wisdom, strength and guidance. As I have said before, heroes are made in times of battle. Yet, each of our lives will tell a story.

Each of us has been granted a portion from God--our own circumstances, obstacles, challenges, in which we are the only ones who can choose to be faithful and courageous. 

No one else gets our story. We are not allowed to choose someone else's story.

However, I see that often the circumstances, the giants of our lives, can bring fear, weariness, defeat.

But godly character comes into play when we determine to make a choice to be an over-comer--one who will turn towards every obstacle of life with a heart of faith.  We have the choice and opportunity to accept our own "portion" with faith and fortitude that says, "By God's grace, I will live this life, this moment today, with courage, strength, grace and joy. God is my strength. God is with me. God will guide me and God will leave me through."

This is especially true when it comes to moving beyond the hurt and wounds we have received from others. To not forgive or move to healing is like having cancer but not getting treatment for that cancer. 

We can only find healing by living God's ways. Forgiving, not listening to the condemning voices of others from our past but moving to the new messages God would whisper to our hearts.

We can choose to capitulate to fear, bitterness, an unforgiving attitude, lack of acceptance, or any other attitude that we allow to rule our heart that leads us to give up our ideals.

If we want to pass on faith to our children, a real, vibrant, strong faith, then in our trials, we must exhibit to them faith that practices walking with God, persevering, holding fast to convictions, even when they don't seem to matter.

Faith must believe that He is--that He is with us, that He is good, that He is in control, that He will reward us in His time and in His way.

The decisions we make when no one else is looking, will determine the ultimate outcome of our character...

and the ability to become leaders or women of influence. Or going down in the memory of our children as those who were never able to get beyond the sadnesses of life. And when we pass on our own defeat, it becomes the model they remember. 

Dancing with My Father: How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy

I wrote the book Dancing with my Father during a time in which I realized I did not want to be a victim in life, but one who learned to listen to the voice of God, to hear His heart, to listen to the music of His spirit to carry me through the dark passages of life.

I have learned over the years that is ti not in some distant future time, when all of my trials are gone, that I will be able to be more spiritual. It is this day, this moment, where I must gird up strength and choose to trust, rest and obey.

There are brave, courageous women in my midst, who against formidable odds, have held fast to Jesus and their stories are breath-taking and encouraging and cause me to want to trust Jesus more for my own problems.

However, there are also in my midst, whiners--women who nurture the idea that they are being "picked on" by God, that somehow He has given them more than they can take, that they are a victim of life.This victim mentality will cause havoc for the rest of their lives, as women who do not trust God and choose to believe in His goodness will be left to battles of soul the rest of their lives. I see and hear from sweet women, who have become victims because they have not had the heart to accept life as God has given it--they have practiced complaining and shaking their fists at heaven so long that it has become a habit and robbed them of the ability to have joy or to see God at work. The eyes of our heart and the obedient choices we make when we are squeezed by life will determine the kind of women we become.

Many seasons of our lives will be quite difficult and filled with tears, deep darkness and sadness--this is a part of scripture, "In this world we have tribulation." Jesus was crucified and has not asked us to bear anything He has not already born. Yet, what we do with the giants in the land, how we choose to walk forward in the midst of these trials will determine our testimony.

Overcoming, by the blood of the lamb, is a theme in Revelation. Through reading and studying these passages, I have found courage and inspiration to practice being an over-comer. Over the past years, I have seen that I have to choose to worship Him right where I am by obeying Him in the moment of each challenge He brings my way. This obstacle or test along my journey will teach me something I need to learn about life. This moment I am writing my story of faith. This day, He will give me the strength to overcome.

It has been the very obstacles in my life that have deepened my compassion for others, that have made me more humble and shown me my limitations, that has expanded my reach in ministry, because of understanding other's struggles more personally from having gone through them myself.

But I strategically named my blog, many years ago, "I take joy"--I choose joy today, because He is my song, He is my salvation, He is my redeemer and He has overcome before me. May He grant each of us the faith to be over-comers today, right where we are, with precious eyes of children and peers looking on, so that we may teach the patterns of walking with God, and waiting for His miracles to others who need hope. May God give you strength, in whatever you are facing. May we tell stories of His miracles and provisions in heaven as we celebrate what He was willing to accomplish through us in our life-time.

May God grant you the grace to be an overcomer.

Off to face my own obstacles with His companionship every step of my day.

Teaching Servanthood To Our Children - By Example! & A New Podcast

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

Early this morning, as I was contemplating climbing out of bed in my Oxford flat, Joy, who is sharing my bedroom while visiting from Scotland, looked over at me and said, "Stay there. I will make you a cup of tea and then all of life will seem plausible."

Eventually I came down the stairs and sat down to candlelight, music and a cup of tea with a tiny plate of fruit and cheese. I felt welcomed into my morning.

"Mama, you are the queen of serving. You take care of everybody in the world's needs. So, today, I want to remind you that you are worth being taken care of. You are of great value to all who know you."

It almost brought tears to my eyes. So often, I am used to caring for others, providing meals, sending encouragement, doing the tasks of friend, spouse and mothering well, that I just assume I need to take care of everyone, without even thinking someone will think of me. Do you ever feel that way?

We must not forget that all of our tasks matter when we serve others. But we must also make room for others to give back. Yet, now as all of my children are adults and spread to the far winds, it is sweet to see they still remember, they have noticed a little of what it takes to mother our tribe. I am learning new ways as a grandmother, here in another culture, where I need to make meals, help with chores, hold a sweet baby, while still getting my own flat ready for Clay to come.

As I look back, I realize I always found that the best way I could teach my children how to serve with a willing and joyous heart was simply to do it myself—to be a model of the kind of attitude I wanted them to learn. And of course this happened before I asked them to serve, trained them and helped them to follow through. And I found that when I took the time to serve them personally, their hearts softened and they were willing to listen to my training.

Joy, my youngest child, has always responded to gifts of service. One year, when we were going to be out of town a lot, I had the idea of helping Joy pack her suitcase, something she usually did on her own. She had seemed particularly moody and unhelpful in the previous few days, but I just sat on the floor in her room, helped her select outfits and shoes, and fit them all into her suitcase with her. The longer we sat, the chattier she got, and I watched her countenance soften. When I stood up at the end, she hugged me and said, “Thanks for serving me, Mama. I know you’re busy, but it means a lot to me.”

Companionship is another important aspect; having my children serve alongside me. Clay and I involved the kids in almost every aspect of our ministry from the start. Sarah and Joel sealed envelopes and stamped newsletters; all of them babysat kids of the parents we counseled; they served at conferences, and carried suitcases for the moms who came to our ministry events. “If it is God’s will for us to be in ministry, it’s God’s will for you to be, too,” we said.

We started every conference with an evening of training for our kids and the volunteers, talking about why we ministered and what kind of heart we wanted them to have for our guests.

Now, they all say that the conferences taught them how to work hard and to have a self-image that they are also called to serve. But we actually had lots of fun and fulfillment hosting our conferences. It shaped our souls and formed our values together. 

If your children’s actions and attitudes are at least in part a reflection of you, are you happy with what you see? Ask the Lord to change what He needs to change.