When mom-authors minister to my heart, I just have to share.

For over a year now, I've been praying for God's leading and wisdom about this little dream of mine. See, I have these journals...nothing fancy, just spiral-bound notebooks filled with my own thoughts and reflections about the books I read from my favorite mom-authors. Many of my mentors are the writers of these books...moms who have already been where I am now and with perseverance and Hope have lived to tell about it. And there are some writer-moms who are penning their stories and wisdom right from the very season (and battlefield) of mothering I am walking through now.

These mamas have beautiful hearts for Jesus who have been called to minister to women just like you and me. And what draws me to these authors most is that they ARE. Moms. JUST. like. you. and. me...willing to live dangerously for God and be a real threat to our enemy. They aren't perfect. None of us are. But they love Jesus and that's all it takes!

So, if you're like me, it's not always easy to regularly meet up with a women's bible study group or book club (in person). I would love to, and I know I will again. But, there are some seasons of motherhood that necessitate a more flexible meeting-with-God-and-others-in-His-Word-whenever-the-moment-is-right in a mama's day, or night...kind of schedule.

So excited for what's to come...

In June, I'll be joining a small online bible study group with the Good Morning Girls. I am so excited...I can hardly wait. Normally, I write  what God shows me mingled with my own thoughts down on the pages of my journal as I press in to God's Word. But this time He has created a passion in me to want to share those words with you right here. I don't ever EVER want to get in God's way, so I am already praying He will reveal Truth and just use me to actually share His own heart.

Will you pray with me in this?

I'll be reading, Anything by Jennie Allen with my online group.  Oh girls, this book sounds like it will be amazing!!! So excited! 

We're moms. There are a thousand different things that pull us in what feels like a million different directions every day. Even though it's the biggest blessing...being mom, He knows it's not always easy. Finding and making time for God can be challenging but it can be done, especially when we realize that God's call on our lives to be moms, to serve others, it's important and it matters. So even when we don't feel like we're enough or our efforts feel fruit-less, God says otherwise!We can do this because we have HIM!

I'll be posting my first "Living in the Word - Wednesdays" post on June 5. I would love for you to join me here, EVEN IF you're not reading the same book I am. Share with us what you're reading and what God is showing you. You all bless me so much! 

So lets not let our circumstances keep us from the Scriptures, but let the Scriptures change our circumstances. 

 *******************************

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -Hebrews 10:23-25

*There may be affiliate links within this post which will not change the price of anything you purchase if you click any of the links, but will be a blessing to me and my family!

I want to be a YES mom

How often do you hear yourself saying, "Just a minute buddy." or "No." when maybe you could have said YES to your children?  As moms, we are constantly being asked to give...and honestly, it can be exhausting. I know I'm struggling when at the end of the day, all I can remember were the disappointed looks on the faces of my children and the sadness in my heart for not truly tuning in to them. In those moments, instead of listening to them, really listening to them, I was selfishly wanting them to do something for me. What they needed was something FROM me and what I needed was someONE to fill me up. See the problem? They weren't created for that job. No one is, except Jesus. 

And so, I'm learning {slowly} that if I want to be a YES mom, I'm going to have to look to Jesus for my filling...not my sweet kids {or my husband}. That would be a gift my whole family would benefit by, for sure.

I'd love for you to join me in a mini YES-MOM challenge. You can read more about that and my article over at Managing Your Blessings. I hope you'll join me.

10 Posts for Weary Moms

Are you a mom who is weary and in need of some encouragement? Are you at a place in your life where you need to KNOW and FEEL something different than what you're currently experiencing? Here are ten posts I wrote for the Hope for the New Year book Club I hosted over at Hope for the Weary Mom. Each post reflects my own personal story of weariness and defeat...and the kind of Hope I found that transformed my heart and mind in ways I never dreamed possible. Jesus truly met me right in the middle of my mess! I hope you'll click on each of the images below and be blessed.  

"On my hardest days and in the middle of my most difficult circumstances, if I can remember to just stop, breathe and whisper His name, He is there. That’s it. Just an invitation to calm the storm raging in our hearts…a weary mom in need of the comfort from her Heavenly Father."

"And then He reminds me…after I’ve come to the end of myself, that I don’t need to see that far ahead or even with that much clarity. All I need to see is Jesus. And thankfully, we don’t need to look far. He’s not playing a game of hide and seek with us. He’s just simply right here."  

"The only kind of measuring stick we need to be concerned with is the Holy Spirit kind. It’s the filling to overflowing til our hearts are parenting out of the overflow kind of measure. Anything less than being filled to the measure with God’s Holy Spirit and we are still relying on ourselves and still more likely to compare ourselves with someone else."

"There are no words to accurately describe the whirlwind range of emotions we went through in those first few days with our newest son. All we knew is that from the moment we laid our eyes on him, we were in love. Everything else, at the time, was a blur. No one could tell us exactly what his health condition was, but we knew that something about him was “different”, dare I say, not what we expected.  And never in my life had I considered the words from Psalm 139:13-16 more than I did then."

"But God tells us over and over again…that ultimately, the one and only thing that will ever satisfy that desperate need to run and hide…is our One and Only. I realize now, that it’s only when I haven’t spent time with God, that my get-up-and-fight is gone and I become a desperate flight risk. And in those desperate moments, because I’ve let myself get that far off track by not spending time with God…I become completely focused on my circumstances instead of on Jesus."

"Imagine with me for a moment…an exhausted mom is sitting at her kitchen table. Head in hands, coffee sitting next to her, now cold. She’s warmed it several times already today. Her eyes are stinging from the tears she’s cried and her heart hurts because of the words she’s spoken out loud and the ones she still hasn’t prayed to God. After several minutes she looks up and sees the faces of her children. Again, her heart is broken over the damage she feels she’s done."

"My feelings. They’re a big problem for me. I rely on them way too often. God tells us they can’t be trusted, an still….I do. I’m addicted to my feelings, especially the ones that cause me to fear I’m doing it all wrong, that true Peace will evade me forever. I tell myself I should be better at motherhood by now. I get angry with myself for finding my way to this place again…the same old cycle of knowing God is for me but not really believing it."

"Moms, we’ve all been in this place in one form or another. Totally exhausted, worn out, wanting to give up, run away and hide. As moms, we face unknowns every single day. And still, our very real Jesus can lead us to a hiding place where  we find rest and comfort, even in the midst of whatever circumstance we’re wading through. We can get through the daily craziness of motherhood, the trials that threaten to consume us and even stand strong when our children’s spirits are completely hidden from us and their willful ways are staring us in the face in what feels like a losing battle. But it’s not our job to save them.

Only Jesus can do that. We must trust Him to work in their hearts and lives too."

"I want to be an “it is well with my soul” kind of believer all the time. Don’t you? If God allows difficult circumstances into my life, I want to be used by Him to help another, for it to be redeemed somehow and make me more like Jesus. The tragedy would be if it all got wasted . Our circumstances do matter to God, but our hearts are what He’s after. We can know that no matter how hard this life is or how much it hurts, Hope is real because of what Jesus did on the cross for you and me."

"I don’t believe loneliness is a waste. God is our Redeemer and if He allows us to go through seasons that feel lonely, it’s because He’s teaching us how to cling to Him, the person who is Jesus who wants to meet us in our mess. He IS the One who “gets us” most, the One who knows us best and understands us like no other. When we can cling to Jesus as our best friend, our Hope…THEN the friendships HE brings into our lives will be rooted in Him and based on Truth. They will be the sisters who point us back to Jesus every single time, love us even when it’s hard and do life with us through each season of life. And those sorts of friendships are rare and precious gifts."

Linking up with: 

Needed Hope...Found Jesus!

These past few months, I've really missed this place here at Devotional Motherhood. But I see now, how God has faithfully been working behind the scenes, really right in the middle of it all. But, I had no idea what He was doing. I kept making plans and talking it up, putting myself and my ideas out there thinking they'd go in one direction...but God clearly had a different kind of something planned.

And when I began to wonder why my plans weren't working out, God showed me once again, that I just needed to trust Him and keep on walking. It wasn't the answer I was looking for, but as I continued to pray and listen for God's Voice, I realized that God was doing a different work, preparing my heart for the road ahead. He still is.

Last week marked the end of a ten week book study I hosted over at Hope for the Weary Mom. As it ended, I found myself feeling so overwhelmed with how Jesus truly met ME and so many other weary moms in their messes. Going in to this study, I didn't know exactly what I would share each week as I reflected upon each chapter of the book. I only knew I didn't want to get in God's way. He led me to be more transparent than I ever expected I would be and likewise, I was so encouraged by other moms walking this same path who wore their hearts on their sleeves and bared all. It was refreshing, encouraging, heartbreaking and amazing all at the same time.

And I am so very thankful to authors, Brooke McGlothlin and Stacey Thacker....two beautiful moms, inside and out, who blessed me with the opportunity and privilege to host this study and partner with them in this ministry. It has been such a gift to me...one that I am so thankful for.

I did find Hope during our ten weeks together and I fell deeply in love with Jesus in a way I hadn't before. This book and these past ten weeks have changed my life forever. If you're weary, trudging through motherhood and needing a little hope, I pray you'll consider reading Hope for the Weary Mom and using the posts within the study to go even deeper into the heart of Jesus and all that He has for you. You can access all of the posts for each chapter of the book right here.

*This post includes affiliate links.

When You {feel like you} Don't Measure Up

This is a post I wrote in June of 2012 during our 7 Days of Hope series based on Hope for the Weary Mom specifically for the third chapter: When You Don't Measure Up. I'd love for you to join me and the amazing community of moms who are blessing me and each other every single day. God is doing some pretty incredible things through this book club. Will you join us?

I find myself comparing my life, my season and yes, even my faith (or lack of it, at times) to others. Often. Why do we do this? It's never helpful. Always destructive. And completely unproductive. And yet, we still do it.

Sadly, I've even caught myself comparing my boys to other boys.

When I am shopping with my crew of boys and I just know that they can be heard at the other end of the store, I shudder. My 2 year old won't sit nicely in the cart so I take him out and he's literally destroying entire sections of the store while my middle two are fighting and my oldest just wants to hurry up and go home....I panic and look around to see who is watching. Who sees this display of "bad mothering" unfolding before their very eyes?

I see a mom stroll by with her three very patient and quiet children, one of whom is sitting happily in the cart singing sweetly. Why are my boys behaving so badly and hers are just....shopping, along for the ride. I don't understand. I'm desperate and just know that everyone in the store is looking my way. Of course, this is where my thoughts go....I'm worried that there's some sign hanging above my head that reads..."Step right up folks...Bad Mom Right Here: attempting to get a hold of her boys, but has no clue in the world how to."

Or, I look around my house and am overwhelmed at the incredible sea of dishes overflowing from my sink and spilling onto my counters. The laundry piles are everywhere. One such pile of unfolded clean laundry is so huge and is a fairly permanent fixture of rotating clothing, that my boys have named it Mt. Laundry. Why haven't I gotten a handle on all of this?

Recently, I was talking to another mom who was describing one of her friends in a very kind way as "...A super-woman kind of mom...her house is always clean, her kids are doing great in school, and she even works outside the home and is successful in her career."

Yes, I began entertaining thoughts of what my life looked like compared to what this other mom's life was like. If that is the definition of Super Mom, then I am a miserable failure.

But it's not. And I'm not. And neither are you. YOU are exactly the mom created for the exact children you have. I'm quite certain that what others see is not always the whole picture. Every once in a while my house will be clean and my boys' school work, nicely displayed on the walls, the boys are ALL having a good day together...and the doorbell rings. Perfect! Now someone will see how "good" I am. Finally, someone will witness this momentous occasion, where all appears perfect. But, this is just one moment in time, on one day and honestly....there's no perfection here.

Life is messy. And with kids, it's even messier! But aren't they amazing? We have to stop comparing our lives, ourselves, to others. That mom in the store, shopping with her kids who are all behaving well....she struggles in some way too. The mom whose house is clean and her kids are excelling in school...she's exhausted and in need of a break. And that sweet mom, going about her day, loving her children, trying to keep up with the endless chores, planning meals, trying to find a moment alone with God, desperate for something to go right in her day....she's weary.

No matter how old our children are or what season of life we're in with them, we cannot compare ourselves (or our children) with others.
  

"When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise."  -2 Corinthians 10:12b

Weary moms...our self worth, our confidence, our security, our satisfaction and our HOPE are all found in one place....in the One who created us and loves us more than we can comprehend. If we know Jesus and He lives in our hearts, then our identities are in Him. We are worth a lot to God and that is what matters.

Satan wants more than anything to make us feel less than, not enough and inadequate. He revels in our entertaining ideas of what a "perfect life" looks like. What ever circumstance we are in right now...wherever we are in the thick of raising our sons, we can know that our God is for us. Our strength comes when we recognize our own weaknesses. For me, it's a general feeling of defeat. An "I can't" sort of attitude. When I pour this out to God and come to the end of myself, He is so good to give me grace and an extra helping of overflowing love that always completely transforms and renews my heart and mind.

 "So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:10

 Linking up with Hope for the Weary Mom today. Will you join us for our book club?

In awe of God and all the weary moms {at hopeforthewearymom.com)

It's only Tuesday, the second day of our Hope for the New Year book club and I'm having trouble coming up with the words to describe my amazement of what God is already doing through this study. Moms are sharing the very core of their raw emotions and broken selves with one another. These are women of God, sisters in Christ. They come from all corners of the world, in all different kinds of seasons of life and walking through circumstances of kinds. There is no judgement...only grace and acceptance and love from each precious one there and for one another. It's truly remarkable.

I had no idea how big this was going to be. How deeply this study of Hope for the Weary Mom: Where God Meets You In Your Mess by authors, Brooke McGlothlin and Stacey Thacker, would penetrate my heart. The book itself, the words spilled onto each page, inspired by God and written by two moms desperate for Jesus to meet them right where they are....THAT alone blew me away and spoke deeply to my heart.

But now, spending time reading and conversing with a community of moms walking through motherhood, through life, feeling in their hearts the same way I feel most days...THIS, I really have no words adequate enough to describe how blessed and thankful I am for each woman there willing to lay it all out on the table, to be real and speak the truth of their inner most parts. It's truly blessing me beyond words.

If you are a mom that could use some understanding and grace, some fellowship and some encouraging HOPE, will you please join me, Brooke and Stacey along with hundreds of other moms just like you and me over at Hope for the Weary Mom? You won't regret it. We started our study Monday (January 7th), so it would be really easy to jump right in and be blessed.

Here is the announcement of the Book Club where you can learn all the details and sign up. And here is the first post from Monday with Stacey's video message to you along with some amazing conversation going in the comments area.

We'd love for you to join us and find Hope for the New Year!

iPhone Photo Journaling

Although I love to use my digital camera to take (a lot) of photos, I actually tend to use my iPhone for capturing more of the in-the-moment-real-life-shots. And there a lot of them.Yes, they tend to be blurry or fuzzy, sometimes darker than I'd like...but they are priceless and I wouldn't trade them for anything. These moments would have been lost and forced to be saved in my (not so reliable) memory, if it weren't for my reliable little iPhone camera.

So, I'm going to not worry about their quality and post them here anyway because it's the life in the shot that shares the reality of our family life. How many photos are stored in your camera phone? What do you do with them? Unearthing mine helps me remember the million little moments that make up our days and encourages me to be more thankful for the blessings that fill my heart with JOY when I see God's Grace and Love (and humor) in these stills.

Our boys tried to play a good trick on me. The giggles clued me in and I stayed dry! Nice one, boys!

Pulmonary Function Test. He did great! More news about C's health and upcoming plans soon.

Our favorite park to play at.

"I Love You Mom"

Having lunch with our friends!

First Snow!!!

Me...driving home when the first snow hit. Literally, terrified! I know...it's barely anything, but still...

I adore resting as close as I possibly can to our little guy. It's the best!

Three crowd pleasers around here...crackers with cheese(s) and Daddy's smoked Salmon, blueberry, chocolate chip and banana pancakes, and bananas with peanut butter on them. YUM!

Love!

Daddy teaching math to the boys on the white board while T lays on the floor to watch a show because he's sick. 

Sleeping angel.

The photo in which I reveal to the world that, yes, I do in fact use a trick or treat pumpkin bucket as a place to put my dryer lint instead of walking it to the trash can. AND, yes, my laundry pile nearly always looks like this and often, much worse. But, hey, at least my oldest is learning how to help with laundry...even though in this moment he's acting like he's going to spray me with spray and wash. ::sigh::

"Momma, I going to just sit right here and read." says our 2 and a half year old at the library.

One of my favorites!!!! 

Not a Halloween picture! This was taken just last week.

They thought I was so awesome letting them face paint at Christmas time. (even though I've been saying no for months.) O (left) did his painting all by himself while I painted Batman. Kinda creepy, huh. 

Little brothers look like twins!

Christmas morning! Happy Birthday Jesus!!

This is the picture I texted to my mom to wish her a Merry Christmas morning and tell her we'd see her in a few hours. 

Karate Belt Test

Sensei Michael going over their test scores with them the following week. They both had strong passes earning C his yellow belt and O, his blue belt. Awesome job boys!!!

Doing a little Math together.  

 Building Mommy a Domino house.

That's it for now. What amazing reality shots do you have hiding in your smart phone? Hoping your new year is filled with many blessings and lots of Joy in the everyday moments of your days. 

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

Hope for the New Year Book Club

Moms, are you tired? A little worn out? Maybe REALLY worn out? I know I am most of the time. But we don't have to be defeated. I can't think of a better way to start 2013 than with HOPE....the kind that only comes from God. I would LOVE for you to join me for a Book Club I will be hosting over at Hope for the Weary Mom beginning January 7, 2013. I am so over the moon excited about what God is going to do during our time together as we seek Him for all He has for us. It's going to be AMAZING! Head on over to Hope for the Weary Mom for all the details.