“The days are long but the years are short,” I’ve heard it said to describe parenting. #mercyandgrace, ain’t that the truth. As a new mom, I remember dreaming about the 8:00 bedtime in order to regroup for the next day of raising little people who would cry and laugh within the same minute which would potentially make me cry and laugh within the same minute.

Those were some long days.

But then those crazy, erratic terrible two-year olds became five-year olds that you could actually carry on a conversation with and you started to enjoy your days. And then the ten-year old entered and he was helpful and sweet and still thought you were the cat’s meow but wanted you to take him to the park a lot and do all sorts of things ALL THE TIME and while you were tired, you did it anyway.

Those were some long days.

Then he turned 12 and pushed you away because he wanted to become a man and well, he wasn’t gonna learn to become a man from his momma, now was he? He decided he was smarter than his parents and copped an attitude once or 37 times a day for about 1,000 days. He rolled his eyes at you more than dice gets rolled in Vegas. He didn’t understand why he “couldn’t just do what everyone else his age was doing” because mom “I just wanted to have some fun.” 

Those were some long days.

But he came back to me about four months ago. I don’t know what triggered his return or even the day it happened, but it happened. He stopped being so annoyed with me. Maybe he grew up some. Maybe I stopped being so annoying. Yay me.

He’s 16 today.

And these 16 years have been the shortest years of my life.

In many ways I have waited for this day to arrive. For it’s very entrance into my life means that I will save a ton of gas, have less miles to drive every week and not clock nearly as many hours in my Toyota. Because he won’t need me to take him to church or to work or to meet up with some friends at the movie theater.

And while I’ll have more hours to myself and less chauffeuring, I will miss out on those conversations that we had. Sometimes heated ones, sometimes not. I will ache for the spiritual conversations that happened during the 18 minute trek to the mall where he worked and the 13 minute jaunt to our LifeChurch.tv campus. I will long for the updates on how Switch was that night. I’ll miss the loudness of the music even though I tell him “turn it down because I am old” pretty much every time he turns over the ignition.

But this new season, this new place in life for him is good. He is growing up and doing exactly what he is supposed to be doing. He’s becoming a man right in front of my very own eyes. And while it’s an amazing thing to watch, the wing spreading, it is not easy for this momma’s heart who prayed for this child to enter her womb for 4 years. Not easy at all.

These last 16 years have been tremendous. He has grown. I have grown. It has been so good. And ya wanna know the thing I’m excited about now? 

Waiting to see how God is going to use him in this world. Because I have no doubt that Noah Christopher Beall is becoming exactly who God wants him to become.

I am so totally pumped for the Radiant Conference this weekend. It starts Thursday night, February 26th and ends Saturday afternoon, February 28th. I get to hear some of the best speakers there are on the Christian stage these days. THE ABSOLUTE BEST!

Oh, and I get to speak, too. Ha! I’m excited but truly, more excited to just be there as an attender.

Did I mention it’s in my hometown as well? Indeed it is.

Do you ever have a hard time staying the course for Christ? Do you ever feel like you are losing more ground than you are gaining? Do you struggle to STAND FIRM in a world that seems to change all the time?

Yeah, sometimes I do, too.

It dawned on me just recently that our ability to stand firm for Christ is completely dependent upon God. Yet so many Christ-Followers try to go about it alone. The world says Jesus is our crutch.

Uh, yeah. He pretty much is. This verse proves that. Without Him, we cannot stand firm. We will waver and lose ground and feel defeated.

In order to receive the power to stand firm in Christ, we must realize that we need it. Then, we have to yield our lives to Him. For when we do, He freely deposits his power into our lives so that we can then, STAND FIRM.

Brilliant, isn’t it?

I pray that you and I can daily surrender to Christ and trust Him to give us the strength toSTAND FIRM. His Word is the place of ultimate strength and when we dive into it, meditating on it day and night, committing it to memory and claiming its promises, we will STAND FIRM.

January 27, 2015, was a good journaling day for me. In fact, I have gone back to it over the last couple of weeks.

I happened upon two verses from the 4th chapter of 2 Corinthians. These are some power-packed verses that identify with where we are and at the same time tell us where we are not. 

The Apostle Paul writes:

We are pressed on every side by our troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not drive to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are never destroyed. 

Now that is a good word. A very good word.

Sometimes in life it just feels like we are crushed, in despair, abandoned and destroyed.

WE ARE NOT.

The times we are hard pressed on every side help us to see what’s inside of us. 
The times we are perplexed call us to lean on the wisdom of others.
The times we are hunted down by sin and the enemy help us to see His hand.
The times we get knocked down we find our strength in Him to get back up.

Friend, you are not done. 

Don’t mistake hard days as times where you decide it’s time to throw in the towel.
Don’t mistake confusing days as days where you forsake all you’ve know because you don’t understand something now.
Don’t mistake an all-out assault on your heart and mind for the peace that is still yours because of the presence of Jesus.
Don’t mistake a punch or pile drive to the ground to make you think you should call it quits.

Friend, you are not done.

Get back up and don’t let that setback trip you up. It may have been a temporal setback but I promise, it was just a setup for great things to come.

Claim the promise these two verses provide.

Are you pressed, perplexed, hunted down and knocked down?

Perhaps.

But you are not crushed. You are not in despair. You are never abandoned. And you are most certainly never destroyed.

Claim it. Live it. 

Everything, Cindy?

Yeah. Everything. (Don’t shoot the messenger, k?)

I know, I know. 

I really do know. It’s so much easier to grumble and complain than it is to sit quietly and let it go. You have no idea just how much I know that.

But, I’m supposed to help you along this journey with Christ because well, you came to my site and so I’ll assume you want to know what I’m saying.

I recently read a quote by Joyce Meyer that kicked me in the rump. Like real hard. I was a bit dazed but I was not confused. I was absolutely, 100% convicted. She said:

When we complain about our current situation, we remain in it. When we praise God in the midst of difficulty, He raises us out of it.

It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

Think about it. The times you wallowed in self-pity and had a complaining spirit within you, nothing changed. Not one single thing changed. But the times you chose to see your issue in light of eternity, you were able to have some perspective that helped you step out of the funk you were in.

Amazing. 

Here’s my challenge to you: The moment you want to complain about what is happening in your life, instead, choose to praise God for what He has done in your life and allow His Spirit to shift your focus to the good that is in front of you instead of on what you don’t have or can’t get.

We were pulling onto the turnpike to head west toward our home yesterday. As soon as we did, we saw the smoke. Billows of it rolling into the sky, trailing off towards the northeast. It looked like it was near the area where we lived, but probably not too close.

As we exited the turnpike to drive north on the highway that would lead us home, we realized that it was farther away than we originally thought. My son, Seth, his friend, Micah, and I started placing our best guess as to where it was. I chose a cross street that was three miles south of our neighborhood and both boys chose streets farther north.

They were right.

As we got closer and closer to our turn toward the west, we realized that the smoke appeared awfully close to where we lay our heads at night. And being the adrenaline-type, always ready for an adventure boys that they are, they begged that we keep driving to get closer.

So, I did. Because I hardly ever don the title “fun mom,” that day seemed like the perfect day to let her out.

As we drove farther west, it became awfully clear that the fire was a little too close to our neighborhood for my comfort – about 1.5 miles away. Clearly we saw the smoke but with a quick lowering of the windows on my Toyota, we smelled it as well.

Mem’ries. Like the corners of my mind.

Anytime I smell smoke, I remember June 30, 2013. I have to battle the fear that wants to rise up in me that would make me act a fool and run outside in my underwear again. I find myself thinking “not again” thoughts and “God, I can’t rebuild again” and “please don’t let my sons be harmed this time.”

So, I quickly begin taking thoughts captive and remember that no matter what I go through, God will be my constant companion. That He will never leave me, that He won’t ever forsake me. That I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. That He is my Shepherd. That He has good plans for me; plans to prosper me, not plans to harm me. 

I remember that He loves me.

And He loves you, too.

Ouch.

That stings, huh?

I was totally convicted reading through this chapter recently. This has always been my downfall. I use too many words. When a person does that, when I do that chances are good that some of those words will end up stinging.

God has given me the spiritual gift of wisdom. It’s hard for some people to read those words without thinking, “Man, she thinks highly of herself.”

No. No, I do not. I just know how God has wired me and how he has gifted me. You see, it is a gift. It was given. I have received it and used it to help others.

But apparently, I don’t always operate wisely because of those cutting words I use from time to time. 

Dadgummit.

Today is a new day. I am much more aware of my words and how they can cut others…even if I say, “I was just kidding.” 

I challenge you to join me in watching your words. It may be a challenge but I am confident that we will find success when we lean completely on His strength.

That’s you.

You are absolutely the apple of His eye. He could have chosen any of His creations to call His “prized possession” but He did not. 

He chose you.

And He chose me.

Even in our disobedience and rebellion, He chose us. Even knowing what we’ve done in the past, what we are doing right now and what we will do in the future, He chose us. Even knowing that we might reject Him and follow the world, He chose us.

That’s how great His love for us is. 

But do we live our lives with the realization that we are God’s most prized possession? That the greatest gift, Jesus Christ, was given for us? That if God had a refrigerator up in Heaven, our pictures would be on it. 

That’s how great His love for us is.

Father, may we live like the prized possession we are to you. May we follow you wholeheartedly and unswervingly all the days of our lives. 

Prayer. 

I didn’t want this to be my word for 2015 but it is. I was pretty sure God was leading me to this but I held my hand up and said, “God, let me pray about that.”

Oh goodness, yes I did.

You see, I have gotten too busy to really be a person of prayer. I’m in the Word every day, often times more than once. I love the Word. I pray the Word. I memorize the Word. But, the part of my life that seems to have gone by the wayside is my prayer for others.

In all honesty, when someone would ask me to pray for them, too many times I would forget. I’d go days without praying for my husband and sons as well. I would hope the best for them, “think about them”, offer counsel and advice to them, but my prayers FOR them were borderline non-existent. 

As many Southern mommas would say, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

While I am bothered at that ungodly statistic, I’m choosing grace over wallowing in shame. Shame does nothing for the future but action does. So, that’s what I’m doing. I’m taking action.

I want to be someone who intercedes for other people. I want to go to my Heavenly Father on behalf of others. I want to believe BIG in the lives of the people I love the most.

My biggest prayer this year is for myself: That choosing this word for 2015 would make me a praying person for the rest of my life. So, I guess you could say it’s my word every year until the day I breathe my last.

I’d love to know if you have a word and/or verse for the year and how God led you to it.

My eyes welled up with tears when I read Mike’s email. This friend of ours from church took the time to share a “win” with us about our teenage son, Noah.

(And mercy, don’t we parents of teenagers need to hear these things? I see that hand.)

He recounted his recent experience at Chick-Fil-A, the most blessed of chicken sandwich establishments. As he was waiting in line to place his order, a very old woman was placing hers in the line next to him but a few people up from him. By the time he made it to where he was able to place his order, the little, old lady was still there at the register placing hers. Mike wrote “the young man waiting on her was so compassionate and patient with her that I was amazed. As a pediatrician, I see kids this age all day long, and this is certainly not the usual. As she stepped away, I noticed his name tag said Noah.”

Y’all, that was my Noah. I know, right?

We shared Mike’s email with Noah. I told him that his choice to serve her graciously could have made her entire day because she could have gotten someone who was annoyed and impatient. It was a great teaching moment with him to illustrate the verses below:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

I told Noah how proud I was of him for doing something so small to make such a huge difference and that not for one moment was I patting myself on the back for his character development. I told him that I was just overjoyed that the Holy Spirit is working in him, leading him, guiding him to do the small things, which are often the hard things, to make a difference.

I’m not entirely sure where you are in your life. Maybe you are at home with small children and you wonder if changing a dirty diaper for the third time since lunch even matters. Or perhaps you are working in a job that doesn’t affect people in a huge way but you show up anyway. It’s likely that you are just going about your life each day, doing the tasks and errands that just need to get done.

Friend, He sees. I am confident that our Heavenly Father would rather see us joyfully doing our daily duties, however insignificant they may seem, than have us dread some activity that appears to be much more important.

The word whatever in the verse above really does mean whatever. So, press on and know that the often unimportant can actually be the most far-reaching and influential.