A Quick Encouragement

Hey Mama -

In case you’re needing encouragement today:

Training up your littles (and bigs) is a worthwhile, good calling.

Taking the time to teach them, to play with them, to go places together - it’s worthwhile.

Your children have been put in your family on purpose, and God has given and will continue to give you and your husband everything needed to do the job of raising them.

It’s okay if your family structure doesn’t look like everyone else’s. It’s okay if your routines are different, or if you have to say no to outside things more often than you’d like.

Time often brings the gift of maturity. We have plans and routines that start one way and either morph or end. If your utmost focus is to shape your family life around what God teaches through Scripture, you’re doing well.

Keep on keeping on, doing the faithful work that the Lord has given you. It is good, and it is pleasing to Him!

Wonder in the Process || Friday Magnify

 “Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:3

“Caleb, just take two and put them in your jar,” I hurried my littlest along.

“Noooo Mommy, I don’t want that color! I want THIS one!” he pushed his hand farther into the sea of pompoms.

I sighed. Why not just take two random ones? They were going to be dumped back into the master jar soon enough.

We have a reward system using pompoms, and once the kids earn a specific amount of them they can cash them in for a reward. Works great, and sometimes I’d like to make it a little more efficient. Yanno, like speed up the pompom gathering so it doesn’t take ten minutes.

But, it’s a funny little thing and something I can be thankful for. This whole experience is fun and special for my kids, and part of their joy is being able to pick favorite-colored pompoms.

So, instead of hurrying them along and wishing I had a jar of matching pompoms… I am learning to encourage the wonder. I’m learning to see the wonder in other parts of our day, whether through the eyes of my children or in the things only I will experience. The putting together of puzzles, watching as the picture comes together in their minds; the rising of sourdough starter, seeing all the air pockets form; even washing eggs from a neighbor, admiring the color variations as they are cleaned off. There is built-in wonder in everyday processes!

What are some things you marvel at? :)

Creation Exalts Him || Friday Magnify

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:3

“Mom, look!” my oldest exclaimed, looking out the car window.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Look at the sun, it’s moving and coming with us!”

The clouds were quickly covering the foggy sun and then briefly exposing it before covering it again. It was beautiful to watch, even for the short second I could turn my head.

Nature is so captivating. Every year my kids and I watch the leaves grow and die, the fields fill with hay and wild flowers and then turn into an empty expanse. We take note of the birds and squirrels - the regulars and the newbies that take up residence in our yard. We watch the tides rush in and flow out, and the mountain trails become lined with foliage or piles of snowflakes.

In every season, it seems as though Creation groans. Things are broken, a result of a fallen world. It makes me wonder what all of this would’ve looked like in Eden. Someday, we will know.

Despite the brokenness, nature exalts our King. Trees stretch high toward Heaven, birds make music that He hears, the rushing waters and delicate flowers show the care of their Creator. He could have left this world blank but He filled it with beauty, and it glorifies Him.

Many a man will refuse to praise Him. Man, who is made in His image. But Creation still magnifies our Lord and tells of His glory. We can see firsthand, if we are looking, that He is very present and involved. What an encouragement to see that even when men fail to give Him praise, nature around us still shouts His Name!

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
He also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
You great sea creatures and all the depths;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
And He has exalted the horn of His people,
The praise of all His saints—
Of the children of Israel,
A people near to Him.

Praise the Lord!

I highly recommend this song from Seeds Family Worship. They sing through the first five verses, and it is a fun and effective way to memorize this passage with your kids!

Year-End Sentiments

“I’m not making any plans for 2021 - I want to see what I’m agreeing to first!”

Have you noticed there isn’t much goal-setting and resolution-making going on right now? What a strange year this has been! Many of us are looking at 2021 a little hesitant, not sure of what awaits us. Either that or we are frantically rushing forward to leave 2020 behind!

“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:27-31

Each time we have moved to a new place, there have been little brown sparrows. I’ve learned to look for them; sitting on the wire at one apartment, resting in the trees at another house, and now they perch all along our fence. They show up on their own, happily chirping without a care in the world. They are a constant reminder to me of how the Lord has cared for me and my family, regardless of what goes on around us!

I believe 2020 has been a good year, because the Lord ordained it. He saw fit to bring each day and its dealings. It has been a hard year, no doubt about that. But He has exposed darkness, He has shone light in even the corner shadows where evil has lurked unnoticed. He has shuffled our lives so that we - if we are paying attention - can see yet again how life is not in our control. He has been re-prioritizing many things for many people. Has it come without pain? Some of it, but not all of it. Yet He knows what He’s doing and He has cared for us.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, I hope you leave 2020 energized. Going forward, we have such opportunity to share the hope of the Gospel to a dying world! We are not able to go on in life just coasting along; we either believe in the Lord or we don’t. We will either stand for His truth or we won’t. It’s hard, but it’s simple.

These are good days, friends. These are days we get to show our children how to live for Christ. These are days we get to be even more purposeful in teaching them and training them in the way God lays out for us. Now is the time to be intentional with our marriages, to put our minds to work in our households, to know that what we are doing as wives and mothers is a holy calling.

This next year is unknown, just like any other year. It will likely be hard and refining. But praise God for the refinement, that we would know Him more and be better able to bring Him glory!

Keep your chin up, dear friends, as we go into this new year. We are not without hope! Be refreshed, knowing that the Lord has already numbered your days and He will not leave you for any one of them. He is always present; a very present help in time of trouble (Psalm 46:1) and always near you in pleasant times too.

Run the race the Lord has called you to. Spend your days immersed in His Word and in prayer, looking for ways to serve and bless others. We have good works ahead of us for His glory, let’s walk in them. A life spent wholly for the Lord is certainly not a life wasted!

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10

***

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:12-14

Happy New Year!

- Amy