June 13, 2011

Big Changes

I hope there will be changes. I pray for them to come swiftly and gently. Changes in my heart and soul and mind, not to mention my home and my family. I have prayed that God would change my heart and my focus and He has, hardcore! This month - summer - year - season of my life I am focusing on being a more intentional, loving, abiding, determined mama. This fall (August-ish) we will begin homeschooling. My boys will be 5 and almost 4. Right now I am this woman {the negative self-talker, lets not kid here, I am the negative talker} and I am working toward being this woman. I know it may be a very long road but it is why God gave me these gifts named Joshua and Nikolas to guide, lead, teach, nurture and, most of all, LOVE.

Some advice from our amazing Father-
*In everything you do, put God first, he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. ~Proverbs 3:6
*It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God. ~2 Corinthians 3:5
*When she speaks her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions. ~Proverbs 31:26
*...My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. ~Hebrews 12:5-6
*If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, "Here is the road. Follow it." ~Isaiah 30:21 


Some words from some {very} wise counsel-
"What is a godly mother? A godly mother is one who loves the Lord her God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength and then passionately, consistently, and unrelentingly teaches her child to do the same." -Elizabeth George, from the A Woman After God's Own Heart Study. 

"I can only please God and fulfill my many roles by living a life of complete dependence on Him. By bringing these verses to my mind often, I find wonderful peace: "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything. by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus' (Philippians 4:5-7). Where this peace starts to slip is when I try to figure God out. I try to reason my way into peace rather than praying and making the choice to stop all my toil and wondering and leave them in God's hands. Accept each step God puts before me as my temporary assignment, fulfill that part of it, and leave the rest with Him." -Lysa TerKeurst, from Am I Messing Up My Kids?

"They don't need sweet platitudes of faith that will momentarily placate their emotions. They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical world-view and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today's storms and tomorrow's and will guide them for the rest of their lives. They also need to see what real faith looks like when lives day in, day out, so they will have a pattern to follow." -Sally Clarkson, from The Ministry of Motherhood.

"The bottom line is this: our boys need strong parents now more than ever. We’re losing them; raising a generation of weak men. Oh, they think they’re strong. When they have degrees behind their names and lots of zeros in their salary. When they work hard and do well, play sports and drink beer. When they get a whole string of young girls pregnant or “make” their wives obey. I’ve seen it all in my line of work. You probably have too, whether or not you work outside the home. Young men who have no idea what it means to be a man are everywhere. We’ve failed them.
 So what, you’re asking, do we do about it? My answer is short and sweetly simple. There are so many books out there today on the topic of parenting that I can’t count them. Nor do I have time to read them all. But even if I did, reading these books, and putting the solid tools in them to work, still doesn’t come with guarantees. Knowing this, it becomes quite clear that there is only one thing we can do.
Plead with God.
Pray.
“The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much” James 5:17. 
It's our hope." -Brooke McGlothlin, from Warrior Prayers.
    I am doing the book club this summer with Good Morning Girls, reading The Ministry of Motherhood. I am leading a Facebook group for 21 Days of Prayer for Sons, based on Brooke's book Warrior Prayers. I am reading Lysa TerKeurst's Am I Messing Up My Kids? on my own. Talk about jumping in!




    1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    Emily. I'm right there with you. EVERYTHING that God has pointed me too this year has been on mothering. We have a responsibility to raise the future leaders in God's kingdom. Not something I'm taking lightly

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