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It’s important to seek God first in all we do. I enjoy the fact that God gives us best friends, because there is nothing better than a girls day out luncheon. Time alone with my best friend, lunch and hot tea. They are far and few between, so I cherish each of those moments. It’s a time to talk, laugh and encourage one another.
During my daily bible reading and prayer time this morning, I was brought to Psalm 19:14.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Now, I’ve read this passage numerous times over, but this time God let in hang heavy on my heart.
Venting To Well Meaning Friends
I was enjoying my rare girl’s day out luncheon and the conversation we were having. But the lightheartedness turned into more of a heartache and consoling talk. My friend was hurt and frustrated with a family member and was seeking validation and advice on her feelings.
There is a fine line between gossip and seeking counsel, that we all must be aware of as Christians. God does want us to control our thoughts. In Philippians 4:8, the bible tells us what God expects us to think on. When we let negative thoughts run loose like wild horses in our mind, then we are not following God’s command.
On top of controlling our thoughts, we are not to be controlled by our feelings. God wants to be first in our lives. We need to bring to Him all that lays heavy on our hearts before we share with others. God comes before our husband, children, family and best friends.
I whole heartily believe that God will perfectly orchestrate women to come into our lives to be there for us and encourage us in our walk with God. We can turn to each other, to pray for each other and be there in hard times and good times. But first – unquestionable- God must come first.
Seek God first When You Are Frustrated
When I’m frustrated, hurt, confused, mad or about to throw my hands in the air and give up; I need to turn to God first. I have noticed, more times than I’d like to admit, that I’ve sought out christian friends, music and podcasts for help and encouragement, when walking through a dark time in life. How on earth did I get to a point where I am seeking out everything else before I seek God? He created everything!
And here I am, with Psalm 19:14 laying heavy on my heart. It should be our prayer everyday. That the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable to Him. We need to be so grounded in our relationship with God, confident in who He is and who we are in Him.
So I’m sharing my heavy heart with you today to encourage you. God cares for you and your pain, however, He also cares for the person that frustrates you. Pray first. Pray God will help you through this. Pray for the person that has hurt you. Then if you still needing prayers from your husband or friend, go talk to them. Just make sure your thoughts and words are pleasing to God and that your friend will always point you back to Christ and what the bible says.
Much Love,
Starla J.
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This year’s Random Acts of Kindness Day falls on February 17, 2016.
Doing acts of kindness make us feel good about ourselves. The person on the receiving end of our kindness gets extra love that day. There is just something that makes our hearts lighter knowing we put a smile on someones face – even just for a moment.
My family has this great list of things we do in honor of Random Acts of Kindness day.
Random Acts Of Kindness Ideas
Heart Attack Daddy’s Car
Cut out as many hearts as you can out of construction paper and tape them to the inside and outside of the car. Set aside a few of them and write reasons why you love that person. When my husband was deployed, the kids and I sent him a “heart attack” care package. We stuffed that box full of hearts! So fun!
Reasons Why I Love You
My husband and I will cut out 7 hearts from construction paper – 7 per child. For one week we tape one heart to each of our kids bedroom doors. On the hearts we write the reasons why we love that child. Examples: You are creative, You are funny, You are smart, You love to read, You give the best hugs, etc.
Take What You Need Poster
Are there stores in your community that still have public boards up so people may pin things that they have for sale or their missing dog posters? We made a “take what you need” poster and pinned it up at a local grocery store here in town.
Bring A Meal
Life can be hard. If you know someone who is sick, mourning the loss of a loved one, just had a new baby, a shut in or someone who is struggling in a hard season of life and could use a pick me up – bring them a meal or special desert.
Donate
Once a year we will collect items to be donated to the local shelter. This past November we were able to donate a box full of winter hats, gloves and socks.
Click on the image below for your “take what you need” free printable. —–>
What do you and your family do in honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day? I’d love to hear about your ideas.
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On the heels of New Year’s come the New Year resolutions that we all make.
Whatever the goals or resolutions: healthier way of eating, weight loss, financial goals, marriage goals and/or spiritual goals they all can be accomplished if we set ourselves up to succeed.
I prayfully chose a word and a Bible verse to focus on throughout this year.
Now that a theme word, goal or resolution has been chosen, what’s next? How do we make sure we are setting ourselves up to succeed? We do this by having a plan.
Tips to set yourself up to succeed
1. Pray
Every morning spend time praying over your resolution. Seeking God about your goals will help you stay focused and aligned with God’s will for your life. Ask God to help you succeed! Just like Eliezer did in Psalm 145:18
2. Plan your day
Make the time to plan your day, week, month and year out. Write down your goals and the plans you have to accomplish. Thinking ahead will help you achieve your goals. For example, are you trying to eat healthier? Plan out and prepare what you will eat for the next day or week. Stock the fridge and pantry with healthy foods and snacks. Plan what exercises you will get done and when you will do them.
3. Don’t procrastinate
Look at your goals and the plan you have set into place to help you achieve your goals. Now get on it! Do not procrastinate. If you’re trying to save money and pay off debt; don’t wait till the next paycheck or the next month to start on that stricter budget. Start today! Start now!
4. Get help
Bringing other people in your life that will encourage, motivate and hold you accountable while you are working on your resolutions is a huge help in succeeding. Accountability holds you responsible to your goals, plans and actions as you work on your resolutions.
5. Stay flexible
Bumps in the road happen to all of us. Be flexible enough in your plans by allowing bumps in the road to happen and not throw you off course. Be clear about your goals, but flexible in the process of achieving them. Remember life happens and that is OK.
6. Stay positive
Stay positive about your goals and resolutions. Even if you have had a bad day, week or month; you can still bounce back, refocus and accomplish your goals. Stop those negative thoughts in their tracks. Philippians 4:8 reminds us of what God wants us to think about.
What steps have you put in place to assure that you accomplish your goals? What are you doing to set yourself up to succeed?
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The holiday season often brings along with it unwanted stress.
Christmas parties, holiday shopping, cooking, cleaning, entertaining, children Christmas play practices, extended time with family, limited funds and everything else wrapped around the holidays may cause unwanted stress.
However, following the tips below may help us manage this stress and keep our holidays joyful.
6 Ways to Less Stress During the Holidays:
#1 Plan ahead
Do not procrastinate. Get as many tasks done as early as possible. Write out a to-do list and beside each item on your list – write the date/time that it needs to be done by. Put your list on your fridge, in your calendar or anywhere you will see it and will be reminded to get stuff done.
#2 Recruit help
Are you hosting and cooking the holiday meal for your entire family this year? Do not let anyone, including yourself, make you feel like you have to be superwoman and unless you thoroughly enjoy, want and can peacefully handle that huge responsibility get your family members to help you by bringing a drink, side dish and/or desert to the holiday meal. Pick one or two things that you can shine at and do them well. Let everyone else help by bringing an item to share.
#3 Do not set your expectations too high
Most of us love and dream of the picture perfect home, decor, family and food when planning the holiday, but when hiccups in our plans happen (and they will) it may cause our high expectations to come crashing down on us. Which may cause unneeded stress. Set realistic goals for yourself, your family and the holidays.
#4 Get plenty of rest
Pretty much the entire month of December you’ll find bumper to bumper traffic. Everyone is out shopping for presents and supplies for the upcoming holiday. Do not shop till you drop! Give yourself a time out. Take a break. You need time to rest, re-group and re-energize. Getting plenty of rest will help you maintain your stress at a balanced level.
#5 Stick to a budget you can afford
Make out a budget and stick to it. Don’t let family, neighbors, nor friends make you feel like you must have or spend a certain amount of money to have a good Christmas. Don’t fall into the trap that your kids will not be happy without that $500 item on their wishlist. Although anyone would enjoy to be lavished upon during the holidays, Christmas is not about the gifts. It’s about being with those that you love and spending time together. If you are using credit cards to purchase everything, please remember that come January you will get that hefty bill in the mail. Communicate with your family before hand and try to get everyone on board with a family Christmas budget.
#6 Don’t take yourself too seriously
Lighten up. Laugh. Go with the flow. Be flexible. Give yourself and others grace and love. Remember what the holidays are really about.
Bonus tip: Pray. Put God first in your life. Remember, He has you.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
Do you have any tips on enjoying the holidays with less stress?
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I see a common dilemma among Christians. When I get together with my friends for coffee and play dates, the conversation almost always will hit on our relationship with God and prayer life. The dilemma being that as moms we are so busy and we struggle to have the time to spend in God’s word.
I have gotten creative in saturating my life with scripture. You do not have to set out an hour of your time to read the bible. I’m a mom, but I’m not supermom. I know the hectic schedule we have. Let’s not let a busy schedule be a stumbling block to us. Let’s not get discouraged with our overwhelming schedule, but let’s get creative!
Check out these creative ways to make sure your life is immersed in God’s Word:
- Set aside 10-15 minutes every morning to spend time with God. Get a bible study and/or a devotional to help guide you. I can see a big difference in my daily life when I make this happen. Going before God and laying down everything and picking up His peace, love and strength is the best thing you can do on a daily basis.
- Decorate your home, car and work place with scripture art. You can find plenty of them for free on Pinterest or simply do a Google search for free printable scripture. I have done this many times. I have found beautiful scripture art and framed it or taped it about my house. Every time I go into my bathroom I see the scripture art that I have printed off and taped around my bathroom mirror. My living room has a framed art piece with scripture and my fridge has several on it too.
- Use an app. There are several apps that can be set up to send you alerts to read the Bible or read a devotion. I have found several free ones. It is fairly easy to set up the alerts.
- Follow as many christian pages you can on social media in an effort to flood your feed with inspirational posts. This will help keep your mind on God’s word. As you see your feed saturated with scripture, pick one or two and let it rest in your mind and heart.
- Listen to Christian radio, music and/or Bible on CD. Fill the empty air space with scripture. While driving in your car, cleaning house or just softly in the background while you are working is a great way to fill your day with God’s Word and encouragement.
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In what ways do you find you are able to get into God’s word? What ideas do you have for busy Moms?
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