Lent

Lent is upon us and again i am at a loss for what to give up. for two Years in a row i have been wanting to do a food fast (i did one a few years ago for 40 days and it really helped put things into prospective for me) but again i find myself in a position where i can’t do a food fast. So i’ve been racking my brain left and right trying to decide what is it that keeps me from God. Sure it would be great to do a spending fast like i read about on our RockHarbor nurture blog (to which i am not a contributor). But given the way things are for us right now, $ is not the thing that keeps me from God. No the thing that keeps me from him is my time. 

Given the last 6 months and all the downsides to it i have thrown myself into projects to make me feel better and to occupy my mind rather than throw myself into prayer. and so for Lent i am giving up my time.

what does that mean exactly? Right now the way my day goes Nap time is mommy time and all other time is Harvey time (chores are done during harvey time and bills are bed jsut before bed time, and Hubby time is well his day’s off) So for lent i am going to be intentional about devoting an hour a day to God. It may not be the same time everyday but there will be a set hour aside for prayer and word. To keep me accountable i am going to post about God’s hour on my blog. It may just be a sentence or two but i will post about it to hold myself accountable sacrificing my time for the God who gave his whole life for me!

What are you giving up for lent?

life advice

Today at nurture we talked about our fears as parents, things we worry about for our kids and families. Our church’s junior high pastor is the one who lead the discussion today and he shared a bit of advice, something i have found myself telling a lot of fellow wives lately. its one of those pieces of advice that we can apply to our children but that we can also apply to our entire lives. so what was the advice.. well here it is in a bit of long form.

We often get hung up on an individual’s behaviors, we are shocked and angered and hurt when our 13 year old daughter is having sex, or 16 year old son his doing drugs and getting drunk with his buddy, we are saddened when our children rebel and appalled when a husband or wife has an affair. And not to diminish the behavior, because yes the behaviors or bad but they are the result of a large issue. that 13yr old is looking for validation that she is loveable, the 16year is stressed about school, sports, family and is looking for a way to escape for a little while. that husband or wife may be felling trapped and needs to escape a little while, forget his or her problems. 

so how should we react? We need to address the behavior yes but if we don’t address and fix the root, if we don’t look at the real problem then the behavior may change for a little while, but it will come around again. maybe in a different behavior maybe the same but it will find its way up again. 

So we need to stop focusing on the behavior itself and focus more on the why… i know harder said than done but i have been living this advice for the last week and 1/2 and i have to tell you its freeing. I have moments of anger but that is part of the process, overall though i have a new attitude, a new piece, and a new trust in the possibility of change the possability of deeper and healthier realtionships both with my kids and husband.

Nurture Tuesday

Every Tuesday Harvey and i attend “Nurture” its a moms group at our church similar to MOPS. Today’s Topic was Sarah, more specifically faith while waiting. It was an interesting topic, we talked specifically on how we wait, and what part of our lives we could claim for God. the whole day was pretty impactful for me, it was a good reminder on intentionality. something i strive for very strongly in my family, parenting, and daily life. i By that i mean that we work really hard to claim each moment for God, to remember that he has me and my family where we are at for a reason and to treat the moment and the experiences with the same respect.

Most of the time this works well for us. But there are times when we get caught up in life and forget that we are doing what we do for a purpose. for me this has been routine the last few months. every night before i go to bed i pray for God to help me to see his purpose the next day but then the day comes and again i’m struck down. 

Well today was another reminder, a little note from God. That although where we at isn’t ideal, heck it wasn’t even in our plan, it is where God has us for a purpose. I don’t know what that purpose is, but i know where we at was a complete surrender on both mine and my husbands part. both us broken said ok God we are done trying to do this ourselves so we’ll do it your way, and we’ll that has put us somewhere that may cause us a little anxiety and tension it is the open door to hope, grace, and the Lord’s work. i see that in the baby growing in my belly, the prospects of blessed change in our professional lives after the first of the year, and in the eyes of my son as he pushes himself to new challenges. i know this time, this period will be hard, but i know the period it will bring me to will be blessed beyond my wildest imagination, i just need to not take it in my hands but instead trust the lord to his glorious thing!

So here i wait, wait patiently, and joyously!