Thrivin' Mama
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Isaiah 49:15
You are waiting on the Lord for something. There’s a situation or a difficult relationship that you would change if you could, but you can’t. Maybe you feel like you are drowning in the turmoil of it all. Maybe you feel like you are swirling around helplessly in the floodwaters, and they are overtaking you. I have known that feeling a thousand times, and I regularly fight against it.
t’s a new year! It’s a fresh start! It’s the perfect time to pause and reflect... to dream, plan, and set specific goals for 2018. Have you taken some time out to really look at your life and where you are going? What dreams has God put in your heart? What has He created you to do on this earth? What are you living for?
When my gaze is fixed upon anything other than Jesus, I find myself in traps or tripping along... stumbling over or getting stuck in the muck of fear and worry, or offenses received, or my own selfishness and pride. A big trap for me lately has been dwelling on how I can either fix my problems, escape from my problems, or fix the ones causing my problems! Let me just say there is no joy on that rocky path! I think that’s why I’m so open (and desperate!) to hear Jesus call out to me, “Eyes on Me… Eyes on me.”
We mamas are given a small window of time. It remains open for a season, and then it’s closed... hopefully not shut and locked tightly, but there comes a time when the blowing breeze of our influence into our children’s lives ceases to flow freely.
Freedom from a life controlled by fear is within reach. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Glorious freedom is a battle worth fighting... it is a treasure worth seeking.
Today is a day I’ve anticipated with, for lack of a better word, a smidgen of dread. It is a happy occasion for our family and little Joy Jubilee for sure. Today she turns “fuh” (four)! She’s knows she’s now a “willy big guh” (really big girl)! Certainly, I’m delighted in her growth and will fully enjoy and appreciate every stage, but I’m grieving what I’m losing. As Joy blows out those four candles tonight, I lose my three-year-old.
Thankfulness... it’s a glorious place to live. I’m finding myself diving down into its peaceful waters to a depth I haven’t experienced in a long time. It’s so refreshing here, I don’t ever want to leave. I’ve swum in the stale pool of self-pity, bitterness, and complaining enough to know that it’s a miserable place to stay.
If we truly believed deep in our hearts that God is our good and perfect Father and that we are his precious, beloved daughters, we would never be the same. If we KNEW, without a doubt, that God is truly good and all that He does is good, what place would fear have in our lives?