Abba's Love for Me

Do I know that...

...the Father knows my name?

"I will go before you and level the exalted places...I will give you the...hords in secret places...I call you by name." Is 45:2-4

...the Father keeps track of the the smallest details of my life?

"Even the hairs of your head are numbered." Matt. 10:30

...the Father collects my tears in a bottle?

"You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" Ps 58:6

...the Father has inscribed me on the palm of His hand?

"Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." Is 49:16

...the Father's heart is stirred and aroused with compassion for me?

"The Father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him." Ps 103:13

...the Father has a cord of love tethered to my heart and is gently drawing me closer?

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son...It was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws and I bend down to them and feed them." Hos 11:1, 3-4

Abba wants me, he desires a deep, abiding love relationship with me. He wants my heart. He says, "How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My father, and would not turn from following me." Jer 3:19

Do I understand His love for me? Do I understand His desire to hold me, sing over me, breath on me? His desire for me has nothing to do with my performance. But His sheer love and delight in me, His daughter. Praise God!!

Father, come! Sing over me, hold me, breathe your breath of life over me until only you run out of me...only you Abba Father!

"...He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zep 3:17

Mothering...a calling from the Father God

As I sat in the quiet of the morning, dry, weary, listening for the Lord to say just one word to me. For I knew that just one word from him would water the wilderness I was feeling in my spirit. I was parched and needing just sit in the river of the Father so that when my sweet children awoke they would find a mama who was refreshed and ready to mother. The Lord is faithful, always! He sat with me this morning and ministered in such a way so I could minister to my family. What He said was not profound revelation, but simply a reminder. A reminder that most mamas need every now and again.

Mothering is a CALLING from the heart of our Abba Daddy. I am not "just" a mother, a domestic slave as our culture would trap us to believe. No, I was called, created for this very vocation from the foundation of the world. It is not just the fixing of the meals, keeping the children clothed, housekeeping and home managing. Mothering is a HOLY calling, one that rocks the foundations of the world, one that storms the gates of hell, one that brings the kingdom of God to the very present moment we are living in. What shows the love of God more profoundly than families that love and honor one another? Who, but a mother, can orchestrate that love and honor better by building her home with her hands; loving, serving, and helping her husband; mothering her children, the arrows in her husbands quiver; running her home efficiently and with care? These traits are what mothers are created with that effectively usher in God's kingdom and His amazing love to this world, a world that is so in need of a savior.

Sometimes as mothers we just need a bit of holy perspective in the midst of mopping up dog hairs and muddy feet prints, cleaning bathrooms and making dinner. This job of mothering is not "just" some job, but a Holy, Godly, foundation building journey. Allow the Father to remind you just who HE created you to be. For we need not another earthly present for this mother's day, only a sweet word from the Father whose love for us and our families is so deep and wide that he called and chose us to be A MOTHER!!!

What do you think on?

Our lives are bombarded with stuff...sensory overload you could say. From TV to movies, from magazines to billboards, everyone wants you thinking about something. I am horrified at what is allowed to be printed or recorded not only for me to see but my innocent children. How to we combat this barrage of information that constantly takes our thoughts away from where they need to be? Paul says in Philippians 4 "to think on these things"....things that are:

TRUE

NOBLE

JUST

PURE

LOVELY

GOOD REPORT

VIRTUOUS

PRAISEWORTHY

How can we do that? By taking every thought captive and replacing it with thoughts that are true, lovely, noble, just, pure, virtuous, praiseworthy, good report. It begins with consciously doing it. One way we consciously do it is by not allowing evil to come before our eyes, as David says in the Psalms. As we begin to walk this path, really paying attention to what we see and think about, we make decisions on a moment by moment basis to think about some thing true (go to the word of God) or something Praiseworthy (sing praises to the Father). Then we will find that we begin to walk in a more intimate relationship with the father. Why? Because our minds are continually focused on HIM. I don't know about you, but that is my hearts desire!

Who do you strive to please?

"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" ~ Apostle Paul, Galatians 1: 10

This begs the question to ponder, "Who do I strive to please?" So many times every decision and action I make throughout the day comes from the root of who will be pleased. Often it is not a conscious decision but one breed out of habit, the desire to be important to someone, worthy of something or someone. I believe that if I change the motive of my decisions, actions, words to how would Christ have me respond, it would radically change my life. Supernatural living because my flesh is crucified and Christ is living through me, loving through me. I want to be a bondservant of Christ, not a man pleaser. It is not man whose blood covers all my sin. NO, it is Christ who died for me, who took on all my nasty, ugly sin so that I could live intimately with HIM. So again, who do I strive to please?

Oh Father that you would give me a heart that seeks hard after you, after pleasing you. That I would not be concerned with man's thoughts and desires and pleasures, but that you would be my only thought in each and every decision I make. It is the essence of supernatural living; the Holy Spirit indwelling in me.

The Garden in Daily Living

As my family and I are preparing our garden, I found this quite fascinating...

Plant Three Rows of Peas

1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

Plant Four Rows of Squash

1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

Plant Four Rows of Lettuce

1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

No Garden Without Turnips

1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another







And We Must Have Thyme

1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends

Water freely with patience and cultivate with love.Remember, you will reap what you sow.

Author Unknown.

Belief

God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet everyday, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of the presence of God long enough and when someone asks you, “Do you believe there is a God?” you may find yourself answering, “No, I do not believe there is a God. I know there is a God.”

~Ernest Boyer, Jr.

As the school year ends...

I ran across this quote today: It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. —Ursula K. Le Guin As we are quickly ending our "formal" school year, only 3 weeks left to go, I have been wondering about the journey we took this last year. It was not a good start, but it is ending as the best year yet! Praise the Lord!! We sometimes get so excited to be DONE, and yet the journey was amazing. We have all learned so much this year. My 9 year old who was stuggling to read picture books back in August, just came in and told me he has finished Robin Hood. My 6 year old who was not reading at all, is now devouring the Magic Tree House Books, in one morning, I might add. And of course my oldest, who is 11, wants to read the originals, not the abridged versions any longer. So the question I ask myself is...just how was our journey? Oh we had more valleys than mountains this year, but in the end, the journey was magnificent for the simple reason that my children are loving to learn. They want to be done with math and grammar, what child doesn't, but they want to continue History and Science...we may just not stop!! They are learning to self-educate themselves, like Charlotte Mason talks about. And as mom and teacher, I could not be more happier!!