Weeds...

Lately we have had a problem with weeds... 

You know, the kind that just seem to spring up overnight.  The kind that appear out of nowhere after you have just weeded the flower bed, applied fertilizer, watered well, and even sang to the little plants. 

Our weeds have names such as disrespect, discontentment, grumbling, slothfulness and ungratefulness.  They even seem to grow right next to the wonderful flowers of love, joy, thankfulness, helpfulness, respect and patience. 

These weeds have a way of working into our hearts and minds, frequently leaving us frazzled, anxious, frustrated, short-tempered, snappy, and harsh.  It seems they can so quickly strangle the beautiful flowers that were right next to them.

In thinking on this I was reminded of the teaching I heard recently from Angela Thomas.  She taught from Matthew 13 on the parable of the sower and the different soils.  The truth I walked away with that night was I have to fight for the soil of my heart to be good, fertile soil.  I have to fight to be good soil, to make the condition of my  heart ready to receive the Word of God.  I have to fight to keep the soil of my heart from becoming hard and rocky.  I have to fight to have good soil that roots can go down deep into, so those roots can draw nourishment from the nutrients deep in the soil.  I have to fight to keep the cares and worries of this life from snatching away the seeds that are planted in my heart.  I have to fight for the condition of my heart!

How do I do this?  I tend daily (sometimes hourly, many times minute by minute) to the condition of my heart.  I read, study, and pray God's Word.  I pray for God to make my heart a vessel fit for His presence to dwell in.  I pray for God to cleanse me of all unrighteousness, and to fill me with His Holy Spirit.  I pray for my heart to be empty of the stuff of the world and to be filled with the fullness of Christ, to be filled to overflowing with His joy. 

Practically, I commit to spending time in His Word and in prayer daily.  I intentionally find things to be thankful for throughout the day... I especially find things to give thanks for when the weeds begin to start to choke me.  It seems that praise can be a bit like weed killer, they start to shrivel and die!  I can choose joy, even when the days are hard.  I choose joy by focusing my heart and mind on eternity, on the hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God in heaven one day.  I endure just as Jesus did, for the joy set before me, for the hope of an eternity spent with my Savior. 

Angela left us with some questions that night...

What if...

• We pursued God so that all the fullness of the deity dwelled in us? (see Colossians chapters 1 and 2)
• We staked our whole life, every breath we took, on the very Word of God?
• We let God raise us up in every place He's assigned us to, for His glory?
• We really lived as women on assignment, as His representatives, to bring His joy?

I think there would be fewer weeds... and more JOY!


I went to Bible study this morning and we sang "Take My Life and Let It Be"... this phrase from the lyrics keeps coming back to me.  I think it is a key to less weeds and more joy...

Take my moments and my days, 

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Ceaseless praise is bound to result in joy, for our eyes will no longer be fixed on ourselves and all the weeds, but rather on Him and His great love for us.

Ceaseless praise... to the One who deserves all our praise...

Joy... and small miracles...

 A friend and I are praying for one another...

We are praying that we each would have the Joy of the Lord, daily, and that all we do would be done as unto Him in His joy.  We desire to do the mundane things of our lives well, and we long to do them in the joy of the Lord rather than in the grumbling and complaining attitude of our flesh.  We long to be joyful wives, joyful moms, and joyful friends.  We want to be vessels of His joy!  We are praying that His joy would be made full in us (John 15) and that all our springs of joy would be found in Him (Psalm 87).

Well, today, unfortunately like yesterday, started out being a very hard day.  It was as if my joy was snatched away before I could even blink, and all I wanted to do was to sit down in a puddle and cry my eyes out... but I prayed to my Lord.  I told Him that I would not allow this world to steal His joy He had placed in me through His Holy Spirit, that I would fight for it, that I would not allow it to be snatched away without a fight.  I reminded myself that my joy is in the Lord, and not in anything or anyone in this world.  I turned my mind heavenward, and thought about what my Lord has done for me.  I tried to see the events of my morning in an eternal perspective rather than an earthly, temporal perspective.  I texted my friend... and she prayed for me...

Then I received an email... from someone who had no idea about my battle for joy today.  At the close of her email was a Bible verse that jumped off the computer screen and into my heart, God's Word jumped into my heart and ministered comfort and peace to me.  It was Exodus 14:14

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

I prayed, and thanked the Lord of hosts, thanked Him for fighting for me, and thanked Him for His timely Word.  And then His peace descended in my heart and my mind... and I knew I could walk the rest of this day in the joy of the Lord.


And then....

Later, I witnessed a small, yet powerful miracle... I witnessed the power of God to bring a child to repentance.  I witnessed the power of God to cause a child to become humble, to confess his sin to his mother, and to ask her forgiveness.  What a wonder... to see the power of God at work in the heart of your child! 

So a day that started out hard and tearful, has been redeemed by my Lord.  He is fighting for me, He is equipping and empowering me, He is filling me with His joy, and He is working in the hearts of those in my life!  How I praise Him!

It is Monday.... And Jesus is Enough!

It is Monday...

A homeschooling Monday at that... 

And sometimes homeschooling days are just hard, and sometimes homeschooling Mondays are even harder...

One of the blessings (hidden in disguise) of teaching my boys at home are ALL the moments that present themselves for training their little hearts... I often wonder what kind of shape their sweet little hearts would be in if they went away to school, would the heart even be addressed, would the focus be only on outward appearances and behavior?  It is a blessing that we, yes WE (that includes me too), get to address the issues of our hearts, holding our motives and behaviors up to the mirror of the Word of God, whenever the need arises... which somedays is over and over again!  We get to help each other focus on the strength of the Lord that the Holy Spirit provides for us, and His strength is what enables us to overcome that battle with the flesh and with self.  It is His strength that helps us surrender and submit to the leading and guiding of His Spirit.  His strength is enough!

His strength is enough to carry me through a hard day...
His strength is enough to help me deal with that disrespectful atttitude... one... more... time...
His strength is enough to help me deal with brotherly quarrels and battles with words...
His strength is enough when one child takes 2 hours to do his math work...
His strength is enough when one child is ungrateful for the lunch I lovingly prepared for him...

His strength is enough, and His grace is sufficient for every need.  He is Emmanuel, God with us, and He has been with me today, and for that I am so very grateful.   

Tomorrow is a new day...
His mercies are new every morning...
Oh how great is His faithfulness to me!

Teach me, O Lord...

 I am still here!  I am feeling the stirring and leading to attempt to begin to blog more consistently again.  I feel my Lord would rather me "share" here more often, rather than speed huge chunks of wasted time on social media sites.  I have also had several people (all of whom I had no idea they read my blog!) ask me if I was still blogging, and then encourage me to stick with it... it that was you, thank you, the Lord used you to spur me on!

I have been praying a passage of scripture over myself, and over my family, this past year... It is from Psalm 119, verses 33-40.

33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,

And I shall observe it to the end.

34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law

And keep it with all my heart.

35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,

For I delight in it.

36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies

And not to dishonest gain.

37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity,

And revive me in Your ways.

38 Establish Your word to Your servant,

As that which produces reverence for You.

39 Turn away my reproach which I dread,

For Your ordinances are good.

40 Behold, I long for Your precepts;

Revive me through Your righteousness.

  Almost every time I read and pray this passage, a couple of "snippets" have made me linger on them a bit longer.. and ponder over them a bit.  They are, "Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain;" and "Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways."

Aren't these almost daily battles?

To not be dishonest for personal gain... in even the smallest things, (like when you tell you child you did not just eat a piece of chocolate because you don't want to share with him), but rather to have my heart inclined to the testimonies of God.  I desire to be honest in all things, from the smallest to the largest... when others are looking and when they are not.  I desire to be inclined to choose honesty over dishonesty, especially in the small things that no one other than my Lord Himself would ever know about.  I want my natural inclination to be towards God's testimonies and not to a dishonest word or action.

To turn my eyes away from looking at vanity, to instead be revived in the ways of God... I have been convicted that I have wasted too much time looking at things that are worthless and unfruitful.  These things have no power to revive my heart and my soul, these actually do quite the opposite.  There are times when they have drained me of joy and hope, and instead led me to despair and discouragement.  There are times when they have caused my flesh to rise up, quenching the power of the Spirit in my life.

I have intentionally evaluated what enters my heart and mind through my eyes.  I have found that social media and technology is not always a good thing and has an extremely strong draw that one really has to fight against. I desire to control my use of social media and technology rather than allowing them to control me.  My belief that TV is rarely a good thing was again confirmed.  I have been more intentional in evaluating books and magazines before I spend precious time with my head buried in them. 

As a result, my time "looking" on such things has significantly decreased, and many blessings have resulted. I have found that I am more clearly focused on my children and on teaching them, even if it takes extra time.  Some days I actually have a bit more time to get tasks completed around the house after schooling the boys, and on a really good day time to try a new recipe or cook a good dinner!  In the evenings my mind and heart are more focused on my husband, unless I am just exhausted from my day, and on those days (which seem to be many), I tend to just collapse in the bed.

The best part though is the difference in my thought life.  I find that I am not overly concerned with "likes" and "comments" from others, I am not easily offended because of others words, I am not comparing myself, my husband, and my kids with everyone else.  I am more focused on the Lord and what I am studying in the Word, I think more on the sermon from the previous Sunday, or our discussion in our small group class.  I have more time to pray.  I have more time to spend with "real" people.   I find that I am more eternally focused, more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and much more fulfilled and satisfied with this wonderful life I have been blessed with.

So what about you?  What is your heart inclined to?  What do your eyes spend time on that in turn affects your heart and mind?  I encourage you to incline your heart and mind to God and His Word, there is nothing better to fill your heart and mind with...