Trusting in His Word

So then, don't be afraid I will provide for you and your children.

Genesis 50:21

The last day of preschool this year was a bittersweet day. 

As I walked the halls of the sweet church preschool my two young children attend, I was brought to tears numerous times as I gave out thank you hugs and gifts to the wonderful women who have been so kind, nurturing and devoted to my children. 

I found myself thinking back on the first day of school and how my little man clung and cried as I turned him over to his new, large and scary class.  THIS DAY, he walked right in without even turning.

And my precious girl!   (I tear up as I write.)  She is fiercely independent yet VERY self-conscious at the same time.  We had a difficult start to this school year.  She was going through something her four year old self just didn't know how to express. I do not mislead you when I admit there were multiple mornings we both ended in tears trying to get out the door.  Oh, dear!  

I cried to the Lord over and over.  "Help Lord! I'm at a loss as what to do with her.  Please Lord, please help her!"

And smack in the middle of this school-centered angst, we had to decide on a kindergarten for this coming year!  It was all so much for us.  So many choices.  

My husband and I turned to God.  
We prayed over where she needed to be:  where she would be nurtured and taught in ways she needed to be taught.

Through much prayer and guidance in the Word, the Lord showed us where she should be for Kindergarten.  For example, the Lord used Philippians 2:3-4:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit . . . not looking to your own interests

but each of you to the interests of the others.

We wanted to choose a school that the Lord led us to. . .
- not the school that our friends were sending their kids to . . .
- or the school that the county told us was the "best."

And then He gave us Faith that He would be clear in letting us know where to send her by leading us to 1 Peter 5:7:

 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  

We prayed over these (and others) and through our prayers, the Lord spoke while touring a school telling me this was where she should be and to trust Him for provision.  He then reiterated that same day by a situation that happened with my daughter, that that school was where she should be.

As we obeyed, and trusted His leading through the process, a peace came over our household.  My daughter began to calm in her anxieties, and  - THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD, I know she is ready: ready to move to a bigger school with a full day.  

And, I am, too.

Most importantly, I know God's protection and provision will be with her. 

For I feel Him with me.

Where is Your Mind?

For to be carnally minded is death, 

but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 8:6

One afternoon a few weeks ago I encouraged myself to go shopping to buy some new spring/summer clothes for travel.

OKAY.   I know that I am in the minority regarding shopping:  I really dread it.  (However, I know there are others like me because they have shared their secret dread with me.    But that is a topic for another day.)  

After several hours of trying on clothes, I finally found myself standing in line to purchase my goods, not something or some place I ever want to be on a weekday afternoon.  BUT - 

I believe one of the reasons I was there was that the Lord wanted 

to show me the pain and hurt we can spread in just a few moments.

The man in front of me, around 50 years of age, was standing in line to return several items for his wife in the ladies department.  Everything was going well until the wife stopped her shopping and came over to speak sharply to her husband about not bringing in the correct bag.  He calmly stated  that he brought the bags that were laying in the backseat of the car and he didn’t see anything else.  Whereas she proceeded to tell him that the correct bag was "back there" and he "just couldn’t see it."  It wasn’t so much her words but her tone and demeaning attitude in response to him.  The wife demanded the keys and huffed off back to the car.  Needless to say, the sales clerk and I were very uncomfortable having to witness this grown man's pain.  He tried to make a funny but there was nothing funny about a fit of the flesh and a disrespectful wife.

My heart and soul ached for this lady, too, for I have been that disrespectful wife with my hand on my hip and my eyes rolling in response to my husband.  I might not have shown my behavior in a department store, but I certainly had displayed fleshly attitudes in front of my young children.  I knew this one lesson was going to be hard on her and her entire family.   

The scripture in Romans tells us that to be carnally minded is death.  I didn’t understand that scripture until I experiencing it the hard way.  

Some examples?

• First speaking your mind and then thinking later.  
• Believing your point is more important than another's and should be heard.  
•  Looking on the outside like you have surrendered, but truly on the inside you are just plotting how to have your own way. (Yep:  passive-aggressive behavior.)
• Controlling and manipulating situations and circumstances so that you never have to take responsibility for your own actions.

The Word states that this type of heartfelt attitude is DEATH. Your marriage will suffer because of the lack of respect you have for your husband.

Now here is the hope from the Word:

“But to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

If you ask most women around the globe what do they really desire in their marriage, many would reply:  peace and balance in their homes.

So, what does spiritually minded mean?

• Asking the Lord to help you to control your tongue and facial actions. James 3:3
•  Start esteeming others more than yourself. Phil.2:3
• Share your frustrations and pains with the Lord and hopefully a trusted older woman in the Lord.
• Give your husband a gift that he might not deserve – unconditional respect and honor. Ephesians 5:33.  Believe me, he will lay down his life for you if you or your children were in harm's way.

Today, girlfriend, ask the Lord to show you where pride and manipulation have entered into your heart and thought life.   Then, say no to death and yes to a spiritually-minded LIFE!

The Treasure of Weakness (by Guest Blogger Meredith McGhee)

Today's Guest Author:  Meredith McGhee

I’ve always had a crafty/DIY-loving side of me.  For me, this brand of artistry is where creative expression meets frugal invention.  A book I can take or leave, but give me something to do with my hands, and I’m in heaven.

In the last year, this creative urge has found a new outlet: painting and distressing furniture.  A gift of some out-moded furniture with good bones was all I needed to get the creative juices flowing in that direction.  As I have begun to learn this craft, I’ve sought input from others, both friends and online bloggers I’ve never met. 

My current project is a dining table.  Before attempting to work on such a highly used piece of furniture (we have four kids; need I say more?), I did some extra online research.  The words of one blogger I came across have stayed with me, but it wasn’t because of her winsome words or story of success; it was because of her struggle.  Despite having already painted and distressed at least half-a-dozen pieces of furniture, she made a significant gaff on her dining table – she failed to prime it first.  She couldn’t even account for why she had omitted that step, but that table peeled paint like a ripe banana.

So out in the heat of her garage, she stripped every last piece of paint from the surface of the table to begin again.

So why was her story so poignant for me, 

and what in the world does this have to do with parenting?  

In a single word: weakness.  

Imperfection, vulnerability, if you will.   

Knowing she didn’t do it all right all the time and being willing to share that for the benefit of others.  

Success stories are great, 

but share with me your struggle 

and then I can not only relate to you, 

but can learn from your experiences.

“I should know how to do this” was a very strong message I carried into the journey of parenting.
A good student, a high achiever, raised in a Christian home and wife to a pastor, I expected I should do things very well, and that I should know HOW to do "that".  (I may have needed to learn furniture distressing, but parenting – hey, I got "this.")

Yet 6 ½ years, one daughter and three sons later, let me just say:   I was in over my head. 

I came across this saying again today: “God won’t give you anything you can’t handle.”  I’m sorry, but that is just not true!  (See 2 Corinthians 1:8 for Scriptural support on that!)  Of course He gives us things we cannot handle – handle alone, that is.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, the Apostle Paul spoke of a thorn in his flesh.   (Stay with me here – no, I’m not calling my kids thorns in my side; only in some moments, right?)  But the connection here is this: While we’re not told what this ‘thorn’ was, it was clearly a circumstance that, with some regularity, confronted Paul with his own weakness.   And this was the Lord’s good pleasure.  When Paul pleaded with the Lord for it to be removed, Jesus’ reply was this: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness.” 

My weakness, then, is a good thing?
My not having all of the answers; not knowing how to or being able to do all things well – is good?  Oh yes, in combination with HIS ever-present GRACE, 
HIS inexhaustible STRENGTH, 
my weakness and imperfection – the part I get to bring to the table – 
is the perfect contribution.

I don’t know about you, but I’m game for that.  That I can do.  And that’s all He asks.  In fact, He says that’s the posture in which He receives the most glory – His strength is made perfect there.  Hmm.

Sounds like a pretty great place in which to bring up some children, don’t you think?

Think this would encourage someone else?  

FORWARD THIS POST TO HER TODAY!

Meredith was a Breakout Session Leader for MAKING A DIFFERENCE Conference for Women and Girls 2014.  She is married to Gary McGhee, assistant pastor of Fellowship of Christ (EPC), in Cary, NC. They are growing, both individually and together as a couple, while raising three boys and a daughter - "through God's grace and HIS inexhaustible strength."