A Family Culture of Love

 “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”

~ I Peter 4:8

 Six of us were tucked here and there between blankets on couches, with mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows in hand and enjoying the crackling fire in our den. A freezing December day, with snow falling heavily outside, we sat warm in body and soul in the fine company of each other.

Gathering all my children home, from far corners of the world over the holidays, was just the gift I needed to fill my heart that long-ago Christmas.

After a seeming heavy sigh of great relief, one of my boys said, “You know, almost everyone I have met in my world of work comes from some kind of a broken background of abuse or divorce or unhappiness. And the background of instability and pain seems to paralyze them in so many ways. I hardly know anyone who came from a healthy background in their family.”

“It is so great to be back on our family culture of love—no matter what conflict or difficulty or failure or attitude, I know I can come home to unconditional love and have all of you here to support me, to accept me, to help me. What a grace to grow up in a family culture of unconditional love. I never knew how blessed our family was until I left home. We have so very much to celebrate together now that we are together again. I am so happy to be here to be able to restore.”

A Culture of Love—I had never thought of it that way, but it spoke volumes to my mother heart. All of us as families create a family culture of some kind. The traditions we keep, the meals we make, the routines we practice, the values we espouse and hold, the movies that are our favorites, the church we attend, the generosity we practice, the way we invest time, the company we keep—all of these come together to craft our particular family culture. We can also inadvertently create a family culture that is negative—a culture of anger, neglect, guilt, discord, disharmony, worldly values, and so on.

I have realized over many years that crafting a culture of love requires that I, as a mom, become the conductor of a loving and generous heart that leads all of my children to understand gracious, generous, sacrificial, validating, forgiving love. To create such a culture requires planning, intention, mature responses, words of life and affirmation, patience, and just lots and lots of unconditional love.

So often, we as moms are caught up in the immediate things—getting the tasks done, housework, homework, bills paid, child discipline.  Yet, it is the air our children breathe, the foundations we live by that will attach their hearts to ours and ultimately, potentially, to God.

True influence and discipleship is formed intentionally by modeling ourselves after the ultimate lover—Jesus. He who bowed his knees to wash 120 toes, to embrace sweet, wiggly children who were clamoring for attention, who touched the prostitute and gave her grace, who gave Peter, his own failing disciple, hope and affirmation even in the midst of his failures on the night He was crucified, and then ultimately gave everything, out of love, for our redemption—He becomes our own source and inspiration of what it is like to form a culture of love.

Valentine’s Day is a great day to celebrate love and to do something intentionally to build on our family culture of love. To be loved is a longing, a desire and need to our hearts as much as oxygen is to our lungs. To thrive and live productively, we all need love. God underlines the value of love over and over again in scripture…

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lays down his life for a friend.”

“These are the two greatest commandments, to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

“God is love.”

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

“Faith, hope and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.”

“Love is a perfect bond of unity.”

I wish you God's gracious, unconditional love and peace to have a lovely day with those you love!

Free From Guilt: Living Into God's Unchanging Love

There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8: 1

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Sally,

I am so thankful for your blog and podcast, and your books have been such a blessing in my life. I consider you my mentor though you do not know me personally. I’m sure this is the wrong “forum” to ask a question, and if you do not respond I understand. But I dare to ask anyway.

What do you do when your life doesn’t come close to how you believe it should look?

I read your words and I’m thankful for the vision you cast. But for some time the vision I have for my home seems so far from my reality and I have no idea how to reconcile the two, even in my mind. Discouragement and frustration have started to seep in.

As a mama of three little boys, a homeschool mother, and a pastor’s wife, I don’t believe there is enough of me to go around and I’m starting to feel like I can’t even cover the basics, much less enjoy the riches of this season. I’m sure this is just part of the journey and a part of life that every wife and mother must face, but I don’t want to end up taking the wrong path because I gave up hope for the best.

I feel guilty for more and more things – what I cook (or don’t cook), allowing my children too  watch TV too much or play the Wii too long, not teaching them well or enough or the right things, not keeping up with just the daily things that make a house run, letting down those that I love most. Is there a way to hit the reset button and just start over once you’ve allowed habits to form in yourself and your children that you don’t like? I believe God’s grace is enough. And I value wisdom from those I know have walked this path and stayed on course."

Signed,

Discouraged

There are so many issues to address in this letter. And yet, I think all women can feel the inadequacy of not living up to all of their ideals or to the ideals that culture tells them they should have. A working woman, a single mom, any stay at home person, those raising children without in house support systems is often messy, demanding and overwhelming. There are lists that all of us keep that are impossible, often to, to complete.

I learned that that was in some ways normal life for a mama. So one part of life is accepting that it will always be demanding, it is a long distance race and that the process of growing up doesn't always look neat. 

Countless times, I felt like I was not accomplishing anything productive. This is such a hard job, to love, educate and help shape our children's faith. It is especially challenging in a culture that offers so much differing advice that brings voices into our heads, which then that produces guilt and inadequacy. This same culture is isolationist and  provides few support systems or Biblical direction.

However, unless we learn to think rightly about ourselves, we will listen to the voices of condemnation and pay attention to the pointing fingers that say we are not enough and it will indeed influence how we live. 

So many moms feel this way, but feelings do not necessarily determine reality! Not one of us will ever be perfect and we will all have voices that condemn us for different reasons. I have failed, I have a terrible past, I was abused, I am angry, I am lazy, I don't feel love in my heart for those in my home, and on and on. 

The starting point for all of us, first of all, is to learn the habit of living in the reality of God's view of us, His very generous and gracious love for us at every moment and to avoid thoughts of condemnation, mess and all. I hope you will be encouraged by the podcast today, but I also am writing some truths that have helped me get back up when I have been going in a downward direction. 

Five principles have helped me when I am overwhelmed.

1. Remember. God is with you to help you succeed.

"If God is for you, who can be against you." God is for you--for you. He wants you to succeed. He wants to work in your home. We are not adequate to complete the task of shaping our children's hearts, minds and souls by ourselves. When God's Spirit is working in our midst, He will take our fish and loaves, all that we have to give to Him, within our own limitations and together with Him, our labor becomes enough. I lived into this principle, asked God to make up for my shortcomings every day, and by faith lived as though what He promised was true. He is for you, mamas, if your heart is to serve Him. He has compassion on you, knows your weariness, and is your champion.

2. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 There are always do-overs in God's economy. All of us mess up, (He is mindful that we are but dust! Psalm 103) Peter blew it royally when he denied Christ at his hour of need, but before he even sinned, Jesus knew what was going to happen, and told Peter he had prayed for him. Jesus had compassion before Peter had even committed the act of denying Christ.

I wonder why we have the illusion that we are supposed to be perfect. Mamas, don't be so hard on yourself and live within your limitations. You will not ever be perfect or do it totally right--not now, not next week, not even when you are 60! (Maybe when I am 70, I will be perfect1) And to live in guilt because you have blown it or yelled at your kids or made mistakes is a big drainer. Depression is often the result of disappointed expectations. And often we disappoint our ideals.

But this is the fallen world, and we will never be able to control ourselves, our circumstances, our children or the world the live in. We live in grace and move toward maturity little by little. And so do your children. I promise, little by little they will grow up.

And your children will never be perfect, either. Love them as they are. Believe in them, touch them. Let little boys be boys, as you train them little by little to be heroes and leaders--civilization comes from a mama who treats them with respect, and gives them a heart to be dignified.

Let little ones be innocent and enter into their stages of life with joy.

Living in the grace and knowledge that God forgives, knows our limitations, is not surprised or disappointed, but wanting to give us hope is so very crucial. Don't listen to the accusers voice. Of course you have fallen short--you are a mom and you are human.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

FOR MORE

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• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

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Pandemic Fatigue: Joyness the Brave Saves the Day

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Giddy and giggly might best describe Joy and me as we meandered along the road filled with Victorian mansions on the way to our beloved parks. Anticipation for sipping our very favorite flat whites and sharing a warm almond croissant at our long ago designated park bench that we expected to be saved for us served to excited us because of the many times we had anchored our days exactly like this.

Weariness and just plain sick of the constant day in day out workaday and Covid schedule inside the walls of our home had drained us, stole small pieces of ourselves one day at a time.

Joy in honor of her name announced, “Tomorrow night, we shall have a Girl’s Spa and Play night. I shall set the menu, the activities and the entertainment.” And so she did.

A whole evening was dedicated to spa treatments ordered from Amazon, a favorite romantic chic flick, (You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear all about it.) favorite dark chocolate with truffles inside and so much fun. Our 24 hours ended in our trek to the part, just being friends.

I have truly seen that play, sleep, fun are often just what the doctor ordered. I would love to know your ideas about what you have done the past months to refresh.

And don’t forget to join Sarah and me today for our remedies that have provided loads of fun for refreshing in during the pandemic and books, music, food, fun that we have both celebrated during this season.

Go to: Girl’s Night In with Sally and Sarah and register. You can also watch this later as Sarah will save it. If you can’t afford to register at this time, just let Sarah know and we will give you a scholarship. The money from the registration will help Sarah save to buy a car. Now that she and Thomas will have 3 children in car seats, they found out that their small car will not fit all their babies, so they must go for a bigger car.

We can’t wait and we shall have more fun if you can join us. :)

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Simple Comfort - God Loving us Like a Mother

So many times in my life, there came upon me miraculous gifts, wrapped in normal moments, that will forever be a true reflection of life at its sweetest. I found this photo of Sarah with baby Samuel and it reminded me of my little Joy as a baby. After 3 miscarriages, one in which I hemorrhaged and almost died, at almost 42, I had Joy, my “prayed for” little girl. I nursed her forever, because I knew she would be my last. I loved holding her sweet, warm, squishy body close, singing her the songs that came to mind at the moment and just looking into her chocolate chip brown eyes.

While nursing, she had the habit of patting me gently, as if to say, “I really love being close to you. You are a mine, mama.” Of course she did not say those words, but she was totally at ease, relaxed, protected in the circle of my arms, and giving back to her mama with the sweet little hand pats.

How amazing that God created us to bring life into the world and then to sustain life with our own bodies in such a precious way. Even more amazing, though, is that God uses this very reality to show us His tender and gentle love. When God wants to comfort Israel through passages inIsaiah to let them understand just how dearly he loves them and how lavishly He will bring about restoration and comfort to them, He who created mothers to be a picture of love, tenderness and comfort, uses this image of Himself to show just how His love will be extended.

“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,

That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.”

For thus says the LORD, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 66:10-13

And so, as a  mother who cherishes her child, so God cherishes us, His chosen. Isn’t that amazing to know.

May we know His comforting love today.

Accepting Your God-Designed, Unique, & Distinct Story: Awaking Wonder, Chapter 2

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Have you ever felt less-than? Or maybe “too much?” Or even, “My life isn’t like hers or theirs or or or. I don’t fit in.

Stripes or spots? quiet or loud? Intellectual or artistic? orderly or inspirational? driven or gentle? Humorous or serious?

One of the best reasons I loved coming to an “Awaking Wonder” lifestyle, is that I lived into the freedom that our family, my children and I had unique gifts, personalities, drives than others. I felt quite free to live into who we were, to write our own story. I learned over time to live into the philosophy we had cultivated of Awaking Wonder and to live the unique story that suited our family.

The more we can accept ourselves, our personality, our story, our strengths and weakness, our flaws and our passions, the more contentment we will nurture in our lives. And when we are content, we are able to accept and affirm others for their uniqueness and for their individual responses to life. The more we like who God made us, the more secure our children will be.

"Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed." Romans 12: 1

Early one morning, my chatterbox little boy ran into the room, jumped on the couch next to me, snuggled and said with a sparkle, "Come on, admit it, mama! You must love me the best because I am the most fun of all your kids."

Followed by, "Nuh huh! She loves me best because I help her the most.!"

And so the conversation escalated. My answer, "I love you the Nathanest! I love you the Joy-est!" You each have a place in my heart that only you can fit.

Personality--what a strange animal!

Perhaps you prefer one type of personality, and some personalities are surely easier to deal with. But the reality is, all personalities are holy to the Lord.

God gave me two introverts and two extroverts and a variety of different issues in between to shepherd. He expanded my soul and stretched me by challenging me to look at them from His eyes.

We live in a world that values conformity. We want to use our force, our power, our authority to make people, and our children, fit into the box. Be good. Be tame. Be moral. Come up with the right answer. Don't bring attention to yourself. Don't contend or question the norm.

And yet, after many years, I learned that who I was, even in my too much-ness, I was exactly who God formed me to be, and suited my own story well. Live in the freedom of your own design today and cultivate your own life story little by little as you live into your own unique part of His greater Story.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Controlling the Chaos: Own Your Life, Chapter 2

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"The chaos of my life consumed me and left me empty."

"As for our days, they contain 70 years or if due to strength, 80, but soon it is gone and will fly away. So teach us to number our days that we might present to you a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90: 10, 12

A couple of years ago, I was in a meeting in an office in downtown New York City. A young woman rushed into the room, dropping her computer case, spreading his papers all over the floor, and falling into a chair near me. Tears filled her eyes, "I left my children at the babysitters in tears, my house is a wreck, I am behind at my job, and my life is a mess. Today, the chaos of my life consumed me and left me empty. Help me, please!"

We are in a time of chaos—politically, financially, health-wise our nations are in a crisis, many children are not home who usually go to school, those who homeschool miss their friends, outside classes and activities, husbands are home. Our lives and schedules have been turned upside down. Let us all agree that there is chaos raging in our world!

Then, there is the extra piled on work at home when we have all of our meals in our home and the messes gather. Finally, we as adults miss our friends, our community and the places out in the world where we refuel. Even a coffee with a friend in a cafe now seems a luxury. Do you feel the chaos mounting in your life? Piles in your home? Stress, and little bouts of anger bubbling up, and the feeling that you are failing at life can create irritability, and a disagreeable spirit. Then follows guilt.

From the vantage point of having finished 6 decades, I am more aware than ever that life flies by and often the years are filled with, “When this season is over, then I will live well.”. One day flows into another and then months flow into years. But somehow so many I know keep going one empty day after the other.

Much of my life was lived at such a fast pace, however, that I felt like I was always in a hurry to get some place or to complete a task. These overcommitted or crisis times turned me into more a drill sergeant  than a loving companion. How easy it is to focus on all of our "to do's" and to miss the magical moments of a sunrise, the soft fur of our precious dogs, the ways a candle flickers as we sit with loved ones just cherishing the moments and celebrating it together rather than gutting it out in frustration.

Busyness or task orientation falsely promises productivity.

Studies show that 88% of mothers feel severely stressed and overcome with anxiety due to poor time management and difficulty prioritizing. And I know it is similar for working women and also those who are moms,, single women, men in the work place and students.

In a hectic world that is over-stimulated, constantly on our phones, computers, social media, rushing here and there, never stopping, we are we losing sight of what is truly important in the midst of the balancing act just to stay alive in the game. My mind ponders the fact that we were simply not designed to multitask or to live this way. No matter what life you are living, it is the heart in the midst of the chaos that must be changed, even if the circumstances do not. We often try so hard to juggle one million ideals, and once we drop one, then another,  we feel defeated.

As women, mothers and wives, it is absolutely crucial that we learn to breathe, relax, and focus and center ourselves  on what should be prioritized. Life is short and ideals are constantly interrupted, so we need to be sure to focus on the most important ones.

Today, I explore the idea of managing the elements that add to the chaos of our lives, and the ways forward to finding peace and centeredness. May you find peace and rest and joy in the midst of your life as you reflect on these truths.

Controlling the Chaos: Own Your Life, Chapter 2

"The chaos of my life consumed me and left me empty."

"As for our days, they contain 70 years or if due to strength, 80, but soon it is gone and will fly away. So teach us to number our days that we might present to you a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90: 10, 12

A couple of years ago, I was in a meeting in an office in downtown New York City. A young woman rushed into the room, dropping her computer case, spreading his papers all over the floor, and falling into a chair near me. Tears filled her eyes, "I left my children at the babysitters in tears, my house is a wreck, I am behind at my job, and my life is a mess. Today, the chaos of my life consumed me and left me empty. Help me, please!"

We are in a time of chaos—politically, financially, health-wise our nations are in a crisis, many children are not home who usually go to school, those who homeschool miss their friends, outside classes and activities, husbands are home. Our lives and schedules have been turned upside down. Let us all agree that there is chaos raging in our world! And it has indeed left us, at times, very empty.

Then, there is the extra piled on work at home when we have all of our meals in our home and the messes gather. Finally, we as adults miss our friends, our community and the places out in the world where we refuel. Even a coffee with a friend in a cafe now seems a luxury. Do you feel the chaos mounting in your life? Piles in your home? Stress, and little bouts of anger bubbling up, and the feeling that you are failing at life can create irritability, and a disagreeable spirit. Then follows guilt.

From the vantage point of having finished 6 decades, I am more aware than ever that life flies by and often the years are filled with, “When this season is over, then I will live well.”. One day flows into another and then months flow into years. But somehow so many I know keep going one empty day after the other.

Much of my life was lived at such a fast pace, however, that I felt like I was always in a hurry to get some place or to complete a task. These overcommitted or crisis times turned me into more a drill sergeant  than a loving companion. How easy it is to focus on all of our "to do's" and to miss the magical moments of a sunrise, the soft fur of our precious dogs, the ways a candle flickers as we sit with loved ones just cherishing the moments and celebrating it together rather than gutting it out in frustration.

Busyness or task orientation falsely promises productivity.

Studies show that 88% of mothers feel severely stressed and overcome with anxiety due to poor time management and difficulty prioritizing. And I know it is similar for working women and also those who are moms,, single women, men in the work place and students.

In a hectic world that is over-stimulated, constantly on our phones, computers, social media, rushing here and there, never stopping, we are we losing sight of what is truly important in the midst of the balancing act just to stay alive in the game. My mind ponders the fact that we were simply not designed to multitask or to live this way. No matter what life you are living, it is the heart in the midst of the chaos that must be changed, even if the circumstances do not. We often try so hard to juggle one million ideals, and once we drop one, then another,  we feel defeated.

As women, mothers and wives, it is absolutely crucial that we learn to breathe, relax, and focus and center ourselves  on what should be prioritized. Life is short and ideals are constantly interrupted, so we need to be sure to focus on the most important ones.

Today, I explore the idea of managing the elements that add to the chaos of our lives, and the ways forward to finding peace and centeredness. May you find peace and rest and joy in the midst of your life as you reflect on these truths.

Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love

By Clarkson, Sally

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Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child's Heart to the Beauty of Learning

By Clarkson, Sally

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Praying for peace in your life amidst the chaos.

As women, mothers, and wives, it is absolutely crucial that we learn to breathe, relax, and focus and center ourselves on what should be prioritized. Today, I explore the idea of managing the elements that add to the chaos of our lives, and the ways forward to finding peace and centeredness.

Sow Seeds of Beauty

By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;

And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.

Proverbs 24: 3-4

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul....Joseph Addison.

As Joel, Joy and I drove home one night from visiting a hurting friend, we began to speak of the need for soul -filling that is so obvious within our culture. I shared with them, "I hope that at each juncture of life, with each person you meet, you will have in mind that you need to leave some bit of love, words of life, knowledge, wisdom, a corpus of thoughtful and illuminating ideas--that you will seek to fill the lives of those with whom you spend time, with something of the eternal good."

"You have to have a soul filled with light, beauty and intellect in order to have something to give," Joel pondered.

Somehow, the subject turned to music. "Remember all the music we listened to as kids, Mom?"

Do I remember? I carefully sought it out and created places for us to listen, enjoy, discuss, dance to, etc.

"I loved Classical Kids--you know I still play them when I clean my room, Mom. My favorite was Beethoven Lives Upstairs", offered Joy.

"Oh, I loved the Magic Flute by Mozart , and the aria that the woman sang. Joy, did you know it is one of the most challenging arias to perform in all of music?"

As which point, all of us started to belt it out together, seeing who could hit all of the high notes and all of the ones in between, amidst laughing chattering--”no, it goes like this!” Then the conversation turned to the Messiah, the Nutcracker, Les Miserable, Narnia, and we pulled into our driveway.

Joel immediately came into the house and put on the Messiah ,and while we were popping corn, making finger sandwiches and piling up a plate of fruit, we sang to the choruses. All of this bubbled out from what they had stored up and cherished.

And so my soul was filled as I observed what was coming out of the souls of my children.

As I have said many times before, I pictured my children's souls as treasure chests, and sought to fill their souls with excellence, beauty, life-changing thoughts and ideas, the best books, the most beautiful stories and literature, fine music and concerts, science and creation, loving, sacrifice, serving,  great people and ministry opportunities.

Maybe you need some ideas. You will find a wealth of ideas and resources to help you along your way on my membership: Life With Sally

One of the great accomplishments and most fulfilling purposes and work of a godly woman is to become a conductor of all the is good, true and beautiful in the minds, souls, and lives of her children. And so, it is satisfying to see that it has all been stored up there, in the deep recesses of my children's souls.

Life is not about perfect parenting or the perfect school or perfect planning, it is about investment and mentoring and joy. We dance to His truth and leading in front of our children so they become familiar with the ways and values of he Master Artist as we celebrate Him in our homes, and they in turn can choose to dance the same steps in their own lives.

Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child's Heart to the Beauty of Learning

By Clarkson, Sally

The Awaking Wonder Experience: A Guided Companion

By Clarkson, Sally, Clarkson, Clay

Awaking Wonder: Igniting A Passion and Love For Life

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One of the delights of my life right now is that I am “stuck” inside with 2 of my children. Many days, I take walks with one or the other, long walks, that almost always end up in coffee. But since Joy is in the midst of finishing her PHD, Joel is compiling research for a professor at his school and just launched a book, our conversations are soul-shaping, mind-stretching, conviction cultivating. I am walking with adults who have been shaped by the principle of wonder, imagination, virtue and purpose. All of what was invested inside of them day after day lives inside of them now.

Some years ago, I began to realize that what had been planted was bearing fruit. I remember this phone call.

"Mom, I am just so excited, I can't wait to tell you. I decided to go meet with an academic counselor today to check about all of the classes I had signed up for, and the debate coach happened to be my academic counselor. He helped me arrange all of my classes, he counseled me so that I can finish in three years. I will be able to be on the speech and debate team and learn new skills for communication, and now I have a purpose ahead and a life to conquer. My goal is  to become the best possible speaker and debater and teacher.  I am starting a Bible study for the girls on my floor. I am so excited about my life and what God is going to teach me!" A Clarkson child

A drive for purpose and a desire to live a worthy story, to impact others, to discover light in this dark world did not come out of a vacuum. For parents, this comes from learning to see deep inside of your children's hearts and drawing out the greatness that God has built there and giving them a dream for how God will use them in the world. Children, in spite of their bundle of immaturity, strengths, weaknesses, and varying personalities are exactly what God crafted them to be to fulfill their purpose in His world.

From the time our children were wee ones, we gave each of them time to speak as a part at our conferences. We said, "God has made all of us stewards of His messages of love, redemption, and His hope and life because He has entrusted us with this light that the dark world needs. What would you like to share with all the moms to encourage them this year?"

Our two introverted children had to share just as our two extroverted ones would. Because we believe all of us are to be stewards of His words of life, we raised them to be comfortable with knowing they had a message that would turn the world upside down, too! We started with sharing our ideas and encouragement right in our living room with ten people in attendance. By faith, we kept writing and speaking and our children grew with ministry as we did. Their self-image was, "I have something to give. My personality is a gift from God to use for His glory. I have an arena in which to bring His light that no one else on earth will ever have."

Serving meals, visiting the sick, giving money to those in need, exercising hospitality, and making thousands of meals for people in our home, praying, hosting Bible studies over and over and over again for many years was also the oxygen of the life my children breathed. Their dreams flowed out of being part of the life of giving, loving, exploring, exploring that God had called Clay and me to follow.

We need to understand that vision of the heart, the cultivation of wonder, is what empowers all of us, as God's children, to follow Him in faith and purpose. Now is a time to awaken to the wonders around you and to celebrate them with all in. your wake. And that what you are planting now will produce fruit for a lifetime.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

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Owning Your Life Right Where You Are Chapter 1, 2021

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Today, I awakened to gorgeous, dancing snow out my bedroom window. I lit my candles and stared at my flopping tulips in juxtaposition to the snow. A promise of spring against a backdrop of snow—isn’t that how some of our days, years are—a choice to celebrate in the midst of a winter season. I remembered a story when I was feeling very “wintry” in my soul and how the time was transformed and changed the trajectory of my life. It was indeed a day when I learned to “Own My Life” right where I was.

This day, I didn't feel like I could face the demands of my toddling crew one more minute. Hearing them screaming, running, "I'll get to mama first," was sweet enough but at this moment, I didn't think I had one more ounce of strength to meet them as they pounced on me. And so I stayed sitting on the floor behind my couch in my bedroom where they were not tall enough to peer over to see my head. I had been sitting, pondering life with a big cloud hovering at the moment they ran into my room. Oddly, amazingly, they did not find me or even look beyond the couch that hid me. At first it was a fun achievement to me, then it became a refuge for me, away from the demands for just a few quiet minutes.

 "God," I asked, "I am stuck in this impossible situation, living with my mother-in-law, in the middle of flatland Texas, amidst critters and bugs, no salary, no friends, no support systems and this is not what I dreamed our life would become. Please show me that you are still there, that somehow I am not invisible."

It was in this very place that Whole Heart Ministries was born. Our future would allow us to write 20+ books, host conferences for tens of thousands of women, work internationally, raise 4 godly kids, but at this particular moment, I could not see into the future. I could not see anything of significance happening at all.

God seemed to whisper to my heart, ... "This is the place I want you to worship Me. Being faithful in these circumstances is where you will find the glory of My favor. This is exactly where I want you. This time of testing will be the making of your faith, the humbling of your heart, the shaping of your character, the writing of your story. 

You can choose to waste this time with a bad attitude, to leave this situation, or to waste your days in ungratefulness and complaints. And then your life will continue moving through darkness and dim hallways.

And this day, so many years ago, was when I planted a flag of faith and decided I wanted to take courage, to step forward, to believe God had a roadway ahead that would be filled with flourishing in His grace. I pray that for you, my friends, that you may find your way forward wherever you are—and live to see His light on your path.

You have a choice to make: if you trust Me and live faithfully in this juncture, I will make this a place of favor and honor for you. But if you look for a way out and disqualify yourself from the blessings and favor I had planned to give you, you will find yourself in the midst of a prolonged wilderness." 

And one day at a time, God helped me to take one step forward, to put my issues into His hands, to live forward by faith into what He was doing, what I was becoming. And now, as I look back, I am beyond amazed at what He has accomplished on our behalf through His generous faithfulness. How important it was, I can see now, that I learned to own my life right where I was, to dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!