Heather's Homemade Haven

An Easter Devotion

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 01:23:00 +0000

A few years ago, I wrote a Tabernacle Prayer for the ladies of our church. I continue to use this prayer guide during the Easter Season. Because I regularly need the reminder that Jesus is my Passover Lamb, my Great High Priest. That I have the honor of standing in the Presence of The Holy One. Something about this prayer stills my heart and strips me of pride.

I have shared it before, but wanted to share it with you again! My prayer for you is that your heart would be prepared for Easter. That you would approach His Throne. That you would be changed by His grace and His goodness.

Tabernacle Prayer

Social Media Wisdom for Christians

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 17:13:00 +0000

Our social media culture has brought on an entirely new set of struggles and strife for Christians. Sadly, we look worse than the world most of the time, simply because of our social media interactions and reactions. We argue and fight with each other more than those who don't know Christ. No wonder the world has no interest in our message. If Jesus has made no difference in our lives then why would they have any need of Him? Follower of Christ, you can stand staunchly and even be right, but I'm afraid that looks far more like the Pharisees than Christ. When Jesus said to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, He meant social media too. We do not have the freedom to abandon our Christ-likeness on social media. The fruit of His spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. When we get into social media soapboxes and rants and raves, we are loving ourselves more than Christ. And nothing about us is displaying His Spirit. I believe we have an incredible opportunity as Christians to display Christ to the world like never before through social media. But we are wasting it. Because we care more about being heard than proclaiming Christ. We act like victims and look for every way possible to get offended. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." No wonder they don't know.

God's Word gives us wisdom, even for social media. Over the past few years, God has used the following verses to teach, convict and correct me when it comes to social media. I share out of love, not out of contempt.

-As much as it is up to me, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)
Please. Stop fighting and arguing. If you take notice of Paul's example, he was a master at engaging conversation and even speaking the truth without picking a fight. Facebook is no place to argue positions or to set each other straight. We spend so much time fighting each other. Do you realize that the lost can read your fight? And posting statuses? If you're fighting with a friend, let's just please stop the passive aggressive posting and learn some healthy conflict resolution skills. Further, if the world does something you don't like, say make a red cup or pass a law, just pause before posting. Paul responded the way he did to those who opposed him because he was guided by the Holy Spirit. We would be wise to just pause and pray first. Ask God, would this be wise? Will this help or hurt the name of Christ? Do you realize that you have people who follow you whose only frame of reference of Christians is what you post. Their eternity matters so much more than my voice being heard. As for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we don't have to fix them. If he or she posts something stupid let's just stop trying to diffuse their stupid by creating our own. Pray for him or her. Out of love not self-righteousness. Trust me, I know. It makes me cringe too when a Christian posts something that is just off the wall or mean. Or different than my opinion. I want to scream too. And I want to fix it because I don't want those who don't know Christ to think that is how all of us are. In reality though, if I do try to fix it, I honestly just make it worse. Maybe they don't realize how it comes across. Maybe they had a moment of poor judgement. Maybe they have a perspective I need to consider. And yes they may be wrong. However. Let your life speak for itself. You are held accountable for you not them. God may lead you to graciously and lovingly send them a private message or have a face to face conversation to address it. And He may not. But public forum is not our place to resolve conflict with one another. In reality, it won't fix the problem but create a bigger one. And others are watching. We are a witness to others of the love of Christ simply by how we interact with each other on media outlets.

-Turn the other cheek. (Matthew 5:39)
Can I just say that if Jesus didn't reply when falsely accused and walked to the cross, then I can keep my mouth shut. I can speak truth but do it in love. I can love my social media neighbor as myself. I do not have to get the last word. You do not have to prove your point. The way of Christ is to love others more than ourselves. That's the truth of the gospel. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. Because He loved us more than himself. He chose death so that we could have life. Somehow we've abandoned that when it comes to social media. We love ourselves so much more. We would rather make our point than pray for the other person. We would rather be heard than to hear the other person. We look on "them" with contempt rather than compassion. We want to be right rather than to know they are right with God. We love ourselves more than we love our neighbors on social media. I'm not talking about wavering from the truth of God's word. But nothing about our approach is like Christ. He saw people as sheep without a shepherd. Their posts and opinions show something deeper into their soul. If we would take our eyes off of ourselves and our hands off the keyboard, we might just see them as Christ does and be moved with compassion. God never separates truth and love. Why do we?

-Whatever is true....think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)
Ladies, this is for us. Stop getting jealous. When you see "her" post that appears as though her life is perfect, think about what is true. Your life isn't worse than hers. (Yes, that is a generality. I know there are always exceptions.) You don't need to get franctic and try to fix your life to make it look like hers. Your husband may not have bought you that awesome thing that hers did for her, you may not have gone on her awesome vacation and you may not have made those adorable Pinterest gifts. Breath. It's just ok. Does your husband faithfully provide for you? Does he show his love in the quiet mundane of life? Think about the truth and loveliness of that. When we dwell on "these things" it keeps our minds from places they don't need to go. There was a time when I would post all of these family projects we would do. If I'm honest, I was probably posting out of insecurity I was dealing with and not even realizing it. I truly thought I was just sharing, not at all intending to brag. However, after a couple of other moms commenting on what a better mom I was than them ( I am so just not a better mom), I stopped with those posts. Because how I make her feel matters more than how I feel. And sweetie, your worth is so much more than the number of likes you get. Think about what is true-you are created and loved by God. That is the only opinion that matters. Stop dwelling on the approval of others. We have allowed social media to gauge the quality and value of our lives. Jesus has already determined that. Further, maybe we should use this verse as our rule of thumb when choosing whether or not to post something: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell {post} on these things.

-Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought. (Romans 12:3)
Do not be wise in your own opinion. (Proverbs 3:7; Isaiah 5:21)
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus... (Philippians 2:5)
One of the blessings and curses of social media is that everyone has a right to an opinion. The problem is that we all think our opinions are right. I think we need to go back to third grade and learn the difference between fact and opinion. As Christians, we need to follow the example of Christ. If He didn't think more highly of Himself when He had every right, then I absolutely do not have the right to think that everything I think is right. We are so arrogant. We act as if we have it all figured out. We think our thoughts and opinions must be heard. As Christians we have become victims in our mindset. We get so easily offended and call it injustice. Blogs are one of those things that I love and I hate. There can be so much to learn from others. And believe me, I need all the help I can get. What I notice, though, is that blogs have become our source of wisdom and information. We let the blogger do our thinking for us. Even the good ones. Don't let some blogger be the voice of God in your life. Read it and examine it and pray about it. And if you're the writer or poster, please remember that there is so much pride in thinking that what I think is right. Can I just pause right here and ask you to internalize that rather than think of "that other Christian" who needs to hear that? Christian, none of us have anything figured out. If we did, He wouldn't be God. Humility is the greatest sign of maturity in a Christian. So let's just get over ourselves and how smart and enlightened and spiritual we think we are. Christ took on the form of a servant. Let's start asking ourselves how social media can be used as a tool to serve God, not ourselves.

-Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. (Colossians 3:17)
Let's use the incredible opportunity of our time of being connected to the world for the glory of God. God placed us in this time and place for a purpose. He planned for us to live in this social media culture. What satan means for evil God means for good. Paul meant everything. As Christians in the 21st century, it means social media. We cannot rant and rave about how unjustly we are treated and our rights. First, because Christ never did. He says to expect to be hated. So can we just get over that? Secondly, if it's not displaying Christ then it's not glorifying Christ. The purpose for our lives is to bring Glory to God. Including social media. Instead of using it for your own personal platform, how about let's try leveraging it for the glory of our good and gracious God?

-Set your minds on things above. (Colossians 3:2)
We get so lost and caught up in life. Does proving your point on a post eternally matter? I do not like the super spiritual guilt driven posts, you know the ones: you better post this or you're denying God. What about everything else I'm posting? What about my attitude and actions outside of that post? I can post all the "spiritual" posts I want but if the rest of my life and my posts are not matching up then there is a problem. If we do have a mind fixed on eternity, we will post out of love. Not out of anger or debate or proving our point, no matter how right we think we are. We will pause before we post. We will care more about people than positions and posts. We will see their soul not just their stance. There is so much more to life. Most of our social media problems would be resolved if we just lived this way. Eternally minded. One day, I'm going to be gathered around the throne of God most high. I want as many people there with me as possible. Really, that's just all that matters.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to "stir one another to love and good deeds" not strife and conflict and contempt. Let us begin to use social media to encourage one another, to bring unity in our diversity of thought and most importantly to make much of our Savior.

Valentine's Day: A Word to the Wives

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:42:00 +0000

*This is a long post because it was originally written as a devotion for the Monthly Mom's Ministry I lead at church.

I love Valentine’s day but honestly, it can be one of those holidays that’s more depressing than delightful. We as women tend to compare and despair. There’s wisdom as a wife I’ve finally begun to learn over the past few years that I pray places truth in your heart and joy in your marriage.

When we think about love, what Scripture usually comes to mind? The love chapter, right? Grab your Bible and Read 1 Corinthians 13.

Here’s what we do when we hear the infamous love chapter: We try to be more __________ and we fail. And we get frustrated and discouraged when our husband isn’t loving us like that-because that’s what he is supposed to do. I want us to take a different approach to this verse and from that learn an important truth. Let’s look at this set of verses in context. The point of this passage is not for us to make some hopeless attempt at loving our spouse or for us to hold this expectation over our spouse. The context of this passage is to show us Christ’s love for us and in us. Go back to your Bible and read it like this: Jesus’ love for me is ________________ so through me Jesus is _______________.

Here’s the principle: When we receive His love, we begin to give His love. I’m not talking about our salvation. This is about His daily love that is poured into my life. Stay with me, because there is no amount of marriage therapy that can revolutionize your marriage than this one simple thing:

The best thing you can do for your marriage is to love Christ.

I’m serious. Release your husband from fulfilling in you what only Christ can. Here’s the truth we need to take to our hearts as women: My identity is found in Him not my husband. We have made idols of our marriages. Perfect love is from Christ and in Christ. He never intended for us to go looking for love to be fulfilled in our human relationships. Do you know what we do to our husbands when we seek them to satisfy? We set them up to fail. Think about it. When I look to Tim to satisfy my need for value and worth, what do I become? Needy and naggy. Nothing he does is ever good enough. He walks in the door and the griping and whining and complaining starts. And do you know what every husband is thinking? “All I can do is fail.” But what if your man walks in the door to a wife that is complete and whole in Christ? She is secure and satisfied and still in the patient, kind, gentle, perfect love of Christ. He walks in the door to a woman who is strong and sound. I’m not talking about a self-sufficient woman. This isn’t speaking of a silent or superior woman. This a Christ sufficient woman.

In no way am I suggesting not having a need or expectation of your husband. The point is this: When Christ is satisfying in me what only Christ can, I am free to enjoy and delight in my husband. When he gets it right, I am deeply blessed. And when he gets it wrong, I’m ok because what he does, does not define who I am-ladies, he’s free to be human! And guess what this freedom does? I become a joy and delight and blessing to him because my marriage is no longer about myself and my needs-because those are now met. I’m no longer desperate but a delight. Let me tell you, there is nothing more attractive to a man than a sound, Godly woman. This is exactly what Peter was talking about in 1 Peter 3:3, “Do not let your beauty be merely outward…..rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God.” The original language here of gentle and quiet spirit means a heart that is at rest, peaceful, whole, complete. Simply stated: You win your husband with your heart. There is no amount of pretty that can compete with a peaceful spirit. The beautiful thing is this: you begin to see that principle of “When we receive His love, we give His love” played out in your marriage: I begin giving my husband the love of Christ rather than seeking my husband to fill the needs of my heart. The result is that your husband is drawn to Christ.

It’s funny, we try to do what we think is the “Godly” thing by forcing our husbands to be more Godly. You know what I’m talking about. We give him guilt trips about not being spiritual leaders. After nagging and griping haven’t worked we try to push him. Really, we are still just looking for him to be better to us. And it doesn’t work. Because only the Holy Spirit can change hearts. When we just stop. Shut our mouths. Seek Christ. The heart work begins. We can force a behavior change but only Christ can cultivate heart change.

Here’s the love God intends for you to know:

“This I pray. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you being rooted and firmly established in love may be able to comprehend with all (that’s you and me) the saints what is the length and width and height and depth of God’s love and that you know (this word means a personal, intimate experience) the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness (means complete, literally ‘I have all I need’) of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)

Wives. We have got to quit going to our husbands empty and expecting him to fill us. Christ wants to fill you with the fullness of God through His love for you. Your husbands are absolutely commanded to love you as Christ loved the church but he can only do that if he is centered in Christ. And he only has the freedom to have a Christ centered life if you have released him from having a you centered life. When Christ is your center and Christ is his center, you have a marriage that lives out the love of Christ. Ironically, the marriage you’ve been trying to force to create becomes a reality. Only Christ can create that kind of love.

Here are the two truths I want you to remember:
1. My relationship with my spouse is a reflection of my relationship with Christ.

2. My relationship with my spouse is a result of my relationship with Christ.

Here is my challenge to you:
1. Focus on your love relationship with Christ.
Get to know Him. Spend time with Him. Read His Word. Worship Him. Let Him love you. A great place to start is by going through the Psalms-these are David’s love letters to God.

2. Read the love chapter with the context of Jesus’ love for you.
Ask God to begin to open your eyes to the ways you are seeking your husband to be what only Christ can be.

3. Read Song of Solomon.
It’s the month of love and this is the book of love! God created marriage and this is how He intends a couple to delight in one another. Forget Lifetime, Hallmark and stupid Soap’s! This is the real deal. Yet, you can’t delight if you’re a desperate….love Christ most and your marriage will be your greatest blessing.

4. Read through Proverbs and find every proverb you can on being a wife/woman.
Seek where God needs to work in your heart and life. Ask God to remove that nagging wife from your life. The best quote I’ve read recently about Proverbs is this: You can’t be the Proverbs 31 woman if you aren’t living 1-30. Remember, Christ creates this kind of woman when we allow His work. So don’t read these truths thinking you have to make yourself become this unattainable thing-it is the love of Christ at work in you that creates this kind of woman. Doing it yourself is like trying to force your husband to become a Godly man.

Have a blessed V-Day!

Harvesting Happy Holidays....A Simple Thanksgiving Tradition!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:28:00 +0000

I actually came up with something before and without Pinterest! There are so many times that I think, "How did I not think of that all ready?" when pinning. The other day, I was looking at our family's favorite Thanksgiving tradition and thought, "Wait! I thought of this-5 years ago! I had an idea without Pinterest...." Yes, the happy dance proceeded then I gained control of myself. Anyway, it's nothing earth shattering, but when I say that my family loves this tradition, I mean they love it! We began this tradition in 2009; it's simply a Thanksgiving Tablecloth. I am a tradition junkie, just ask my family. Traditions are what bring delight and memories to childhood. They bond our hearts as a family. For our Thanksgiving Tradition, we had been simply making a Thankful List, but as it is typical with me, I knew I could come up with something a little better. I suppose I could have made a binder to keep up with our annual list. That just didn't seem as fun, though. I honestly cannot remember the moment this idea popped into my brain, but I knew it would work perfectly for what I was wanting to accomplish: something that would be multi-functional as decoration, displaying my kids' handwriting and hearts as they grow, would constantly have the reminder of "Thanks" throughout the month, and finally would create a not so ordinary, yet simple tradition for us to enjoy together. The Thanksgiving Tablecloth has worked wonderfully and this weekend we will add 2013 to our Tablecloth. In the words of Veggie Tales, "A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart" and our hearts are truly, deeply happy as we sit and recall God's bountiful blessings. I hope this sparks an idea for a simple tradition that your family can enjoy during this holiday that is often passed by.

Here's a picture of our tablecloth (please overlook my pitiful writing-my sister took all of that skill and left me with none!)

I bought a cheap solid cream tablecloth for around $10 at Walmart (in 2009) and I already had paint pens in my craft supplies.

First, I (meagerly) added our family name and a verse to the center of the tablecloth. Each year we begin by reading the previous years' lists (I think this is our favorite part!). Then we go to work! Each year, we pick a spot, I write the year then we begin writing our lists under the year, using paint pens. It is very simple, but we share so much joy hearing each others list of Thanks.

I hope this inspires you to begin a simple Thanksgiving Tradition. And remember, keep is simple! Simple makes it special not stressful!

Prison

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 14:52:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I had the incredible joy of visiting the Arkansas State Maximum security prison for women. I must admit, I went with a, I’m coming to bless you, attitude. Which might sound good. But that’s just a pretty way to say, I think I’m better than you so I’m going to grace you with my presence. I did feel good about myself. It didn’t take long for my heart to be completely humbled. About 5 minutes after entering the prison. The first thing I heard was from one of the inmates who shared her testimony of the life changing grace of God. “I was in prison before I ever came to prison.” And she could stand before us, wearing a white jump suit, but clothed in the righteousness of Christ and say, “I did murder someone. And I’m thankful God brought my rebellious heart to this physical prison because it’s where the prison of my heart was set free. I am thankful to be in prison because it’s where I found Jesus.” Before you even let your thoughts go here, let me tell you that this was the most real testimony I have ever heard. Do not let yourself think for a second that this was some jailhouse religion. This was from the heart of the most joy-filled woman I have ever met. A woman who had already been in prison for 15 years and would be there until the day she dies. And she is content. At peace. Simply because she has Jesus. She wasn’t a victim. She didn’t try to justify or blame. She owned her sin. There were about 10 of these women who shared the same story and the same Grace. And I was completely humbled at the reality of my own heart. My heart that, in all honestly, becomes so discontent with the most petty things. And I was overwhelmed by this thought, I wonder if Jesus looks at my heart and says, “you white washed tomb?”
What I realized is that we are all prisoners of something. Pride. Appearance. Approval. Prominence. Prestige. Privilege. Perhaps us “free world-ers” are even more imprisoned than these prisoners. Because we have “goodness” to hide behind. It struck me that day how much more us good church going, pew sitting Christians are like the Pharisees than Christ-followers. And these real life prisoners? Well, they are so much more like the woman at the well. And the adulterous woman. And the Mary who washed His feet with her hair. Sure, their sin was more visible. And detestable. But they knew they weren’t good. They had nothing to hide behind. Their shame is what drove them to Jesus. But we would rather stay hidden behind our self-conceived goodness. So we miss Him. Because we are too busy looking at her with disgust just to feel better about ourselves. I didn’t murder anyone. I didn’t commit adultery. I cannot imagine how she got herself into that state of sin. Yet, I’m the one to miss Jesus and she’s the one to experience Him. Because she is desperate and I’m good with good. I am a prisoner to my pride. And this real life prisoner, she is a prisoner to nothing. She is free. She is free because she knows she has nothing to hide behind but Him. And she isn’t trying to, unlike me.

This verse has been constantly coming to mind since this day, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” Yet I realize, I am comfortable in my captivity. I would rather hide behind my pride than admit my mess. Those of us who sit in our pews, in our pretty clothes, with our hearts dirty with pride, don’t realize that we are blind to our need for Him. Don’t you see? We are still trying to be depend on ourselves. Our good. When there is none. He alone is good. We either clothe ourselves in His good, rejoicing in His grace, or we are still enslaved. My eyes were opened the day I visited these free women in prison. They were opened to myself. To us. Christ exchanged my disgraceful state for His goodness. Yet, I am still trying to be good and good enough. These women? They walked in His goodness. They were free and I’m the one who is the prisoner.

I know this brings the question, “Aren’t I supposed to live a life that is good?” I’m so busy trying to look good and what they realized is that Christ makes me good. The goodness of my life is based on who I am in Christ. I do not have to earn “goodness” because it is based entirely upon Him. Our pretty little lives result in the same thing it did with the Pharisees. You look at the captives set free by Christ. You look at those who encountered the life changing power of Christ. Those who came to Him sinners and walked away saints. They came admitting their mess and realizing their need. The Pharisees were so blinded by their “good” that they didn’t see how desperately dead their hearts were. They were trying to make outward appearances be their good. Those who truly encountered Christ allowed Him to get to their heart and their lives were radically changed as a result. And that’s the point. Looking good doesn’t make me good. That’s what I learned that day in prison. This life in Christ is not about living a “good” life. It is living from the overflow of my changed heart. That alone will result in a life that gives glory to Him. Otherwise, I’m just a white-washed tomb.

Here’s the reality of things. There are no felonies and misdemeanors in God’s justice system. We are all a mess and it’s all death sentence. We just don’t have to pay our penalty because we’ve been pardoned by an Innocent Person. My reality is that I don’t really have any goodness to hide behind. But I am covered by His perfect goodness. That’s what these women understood. That is their freedom; I am not good, but He is. They choose Grace and I choose my self-constructed good. What a lie. What a pity. And I just wonder how many hearts I’ve murdered with my unkind words and condemning attitudes?

Hearing 200 prisoner’s praise with the following words was life-changing. And they gave me the greatest glimpse of the work of Christ:
Where sin runs deep Your grace is more. Where grace is found is where You are. And where You are, Lord, I am free. Holiness is Christ in me…. (Matt Maher, I Need You)

God is Real

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 13:08:00 +0000

God is real. This thought captivates my heart as I sit in my quiet house this morning. God is real. Oh sure, I know this intellectually. I know this in my heart. But I really do not know that I know this fully. If I did, how differently I would live and think. Move and breathe.

Last week, my husband said to me, “I’m learning to look at things from Heaven’s throne rather than my perspective.” I’ve been thinking about that. And this reality, God is Real, is invading me. You see, I struggle. I struggle with “being in the ministry” being enough. I’ve sacrificed enough. Given enough. Believe me, I have my laundry list of what I’ve given up, so I’m not willing to give up more. More comfort. More strongholds. More idols. More other than Him affections. More sacrifice. I’ve gone far enough with Him. And I’ve stopped Him from asking more of me. I like my comforts and my control. But I’m learning I have none. Because of this thought. God is real. Every hero I have in His Word knew this. It occurs to me, they were no hero’s at all. They simply knew this one thing. God is real. Abraham left and sacrificed. Joseph. Moses. Nehemiah. David. Hannah. Daniel. Ruth. Mary. Peter. Paul. Matthew. John. They didn’t need to know anything else because this one reality removes everything else from our hearts. Every fear. Every doubt. Every limitation and stipulation we put on Him. Everything. God asked of them what was most dear to them and they said yes to Him.

God is real. In my gut, I know it. For some reason this, real as the chair I’m sitting in, reality changes everything. Suddenly, I see the places of my heart I’m holding. And He’s not reigning. And it overwhelms me to realize that I really don’t believe He is real. If I did, I would hold on to nothing. Nothing but Him. The control I want to have of my life. From the throne of this Real God, that is stripped away. And the status and success and approval and validation I seek, they are merely dead idols created by my human hands. In my church going, ministry living, good girl life, how have I missed this? How am I just learning this? Of course, this pastors’ wife knows God is real. I’ve given up my life for Him. But for the first time, I see that in my own heart, I do not live as if He really were real. Because in my heart, there is still dead. There is still comfortable captivity. My soul has been saved but my heart has not been whole. In my heart, I’ve been the rich young ruler. Those things that I hold most dearly. I’ve let those other things reign where only He should. He has said to my heart, let it go. You know so much about Me, have lived for Me, given up for Me, but I am not fully Lord. So these other than Me things that you most treasure, give them up. And I’ve said no. Just like the rich young ruler whom I’ve chastised so many times. In the depths of my heart, I have not believed that He is real. Otherwise, I would let go. I would walk away. I would give it up because this is Christ, the real God, calling me. But I’d rather have my dead gods.

Just. Stop. God is real. Can you even begin to wrap your mind around that? The God who spoke and it was. The God who died so you could live. He is real. The most real thing that exists. Of course He is, but do you really live that way in your heart? Where you worry and fear? Where you have stones of anger and rocks of bitterness? Where you try to control or impress? Where you still seek the approval and the favor of others? Where it matters to you how you measure up to the success and status of those around you? Where opinions dictate your decisions? Because if He really is real, in your gut, that all becomes dead. This one reality makes your heart whole and wholly set on Him. He is real. And this throne view of life changes how I live. If He says go, I go. Because He is God and He is real and I see life from His view not my own. Staying would be death and going is life. I cannot stay. If He says give. Serve. Sell. Sacrifice. Get into the mess of others. Love to the death of self. Comfort becomes uncomfortable. Safe becomes dangerous because He is not Lord of safe.

In my mind, surrender has been to a circumstance. I’ve lived in fear of what that circumstance might be. So I’ve said No. Enough. But surrender is to Him. This real God. That’s what I’ve missed. The rich young ruler walked away because He did not know that He is real. Surrender was about a thing not the real God. When surrender is to Him, our response is never, No. It’s never, I won’t go that far. I won’t give up that attitude. That sin. That desire. That approval. That comfort. Even the good things, the things I think I’m supposed to do as a good girl, if they have dethroned Him and become my comfort, my security, my focus, my pride, are dead gods reigning the throne of my heart. When those other than Him things matter more, He is not really real to me. But when He truly comes alive in my heart, all else dies. And my answer is Yes. Because He is real.

My Blogless Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:14:00 +0000

I am fully aware that I am breaking every blogging rule, ever. I had great plans for this blog when it started. I want to thank you for being graciously patient with me. Over the past 3 years, God has been leading to do a writing project. Out of fear and intimidation, I put if off for two years. I finally submitted since He was relentless. The writing began in January and was planned to be completed by now. However, isn't it just like Him not to allow me to just write, but to learn as I write. After all, I cannot teach what I am not learning. Ironically, I thought I had already learned the message of this writing project, but He has shown me otherwise. All of that to say, it has taken me much longer than anticipated because of the painful purging and praying that's had to take place in my own heart through the process of this project. I tell you all of this because as much as I've wanted to focus on this blog, God has not allowed me to focus on anything but said project until it is completed. My mind is honestly consumed. So please don't abandon me! I hope that it only takes a few more months and by the end of the summer I can really get going. I am slowly beginning to see what direction I am to take this blog of which I see as a ministry. Somehow, this writing project is preparing me for whatever God is leading me to do with this blog. I know that I am being entirely vague and I honestly do not wish to share what this crazy project is just yet, but I covet your prayers. Until I can begin really blogging, I will post my random, sporadic posts.

4 Days Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:45:00 +0000

Last night, Tim and I experienced the greatest joy parents can ever know. Our third child understood his sin in the presence of the Holy God and accepted the salvation of Christ. There is no greater blessing God gives than to know that my family of five will be eternally together. We have prayed for this day since before we became parents. The death of sin truly has been defeated. And my son woke up today in his new life in Christ. He will walk the remainder of his days in the new mercies of God each day. Just as his name, Evan, declares, my prayer is that my son knows fully that “The Lord is good.” As I rejoice, my heart and mind think on these weeks that have followed Easter, the day we celebrate our glorious hope. I am reminded that there is no resurrection without the crucifixion. Death brings life. Lazarus was given a glimpse of such life after death understanding. He was four days dead but the power of Christ prevailed and new life was given to him. We are all Lazarus, dead and in need of resurrection. Most certainly, our souls are dead and our victorious Savior gives us life through His own death. But we are whole people. Not only are our souls dead, but our entire being died that sad day of the fall. Until then, no depressed emotions, fear filled minds or anxious hearts existed. Death invaded. But God resurrects. My soul is revived when Jesus gives His new life. Furthermore, the power of His resurrection is for this weak and wandering heart, this fearful and faithless mind. I am truly, wholly dead. Dead in my disappointments and depressions and doubts. He cries out my name, commands me to rise and walk in His new life. As Christians, we miss that His resurrection is for all of me. I, too, am four days dead. The sin of my doubts, the pains of my heart, the thoughts of my mind need His resurrection power. Daughter of God Most High, He has the power to bring life to that which is dead. So many days, I drudge forward, defeated. Will I allow Him to breathe His new life in me? Do not misunderstand me to say that we are never in need of help through medication or counseling. My point is simply that we live as though how we are in our minds and hearts is okay. We dismiss or accept our struggles. No. We are to live as redeemed daughters. We do not have to walk in the deadness of who we are. Pride, bitterness, anger, self-righteousness, anxiety, anger, guilt, shame, self-sufficiency, hopelessness. Those are death and destruction to our hearts and minds. He wants us to walk in the life of His grace, forgiveness, peace, patience, joy. If His life is not evident in my own, I am still a dead man walking. My soul may be saved, but death still reigns. He gives life and if He is not Lord of me wholly, death is ruling. He died for me to live, not just someday up there, but today right here. Where has sin and satan brought death and destruction in your life? What emotions, desires and thoughts need to be put to death so that in them, you can experience the victory of His resurrection? Let Him bring life to you, wholly.

What I'm Learning This Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:59:00 +0000

As Tim and I are going through the Easter story this week with our kids, I’ve learned so much from its players. It is not possible to read the incredible accounts of Passion Week without examining our own relationship with the Messiah. Am I Mary? Or Peter? Or the Crowd? Or Judas, who was so close to the Messiah yet never knew Him. As a family, each day, we are reading the account in chronological order. There’s just something about following Christ through the week that makes those final three days all the more amazing. Every single year, my heart learns more truth about my Savior in our journey through His last week.

During the early part of the week, probably Wednesday, Mary breaks a jar of perfume worth an entire year’s wages and dumps the contents on the Messiah’s head. Then she washes His dirty feet with her hair. The men are appalled. What is incredible is that Mary seemed to be the only one who “got it.” But I appreciate the inclusion of her humanity in the midst of her great faith. Read the account of Lazarus in John 11. At first, she stayed away. Her sister ran to Him, but she was too hurt. Thank you. Thank you that I am not the only one who cowers at pain and hides from Him. Then she boldly approaches her Savior, asking “where were you when I needed you most?” She doesn’t suddenly have some experience of great faith. She just wants answers. She wants to know where He was. She wants to know why this happened. Secretly, we have all felt this way at some point. She had the audacity to admit her feelings of abandonment. She had the faith for her brother to be healed; that’s why she was so hurt. If He would have just come, her brother would have never died. But He didn’t. And he did. She was heartbroken, both by her loss and by her confusion. He had an even greater glory in store, but in that moment she could not see. She could not see that this pain would produce great joy. She could not see that this tragedy would result in a faith that she would desperately need just a few days down the road. She didn’t want down the road, she didn’t want to learn something. She just wanted her brother to be healed. She wanted to be released from this pain. We have much to learn from this incredible woman. This experience is what allowed her to saturate her Savior with her most sacred possession. The only moment of joy and worship Jesus experienced during His final week of life is from her. She saw the death and resurrection of her brother and finally understood: this is exactly what He did in my heart and this is exactly what He is about to do in my place. She wanted it all to stop and He wanted her to stop; stop to grasp the truth of her state and the purpose for His death. He was giving her understanding for the events that were about to take place. He was preparing her to see beyond the pain of His death, declaring to her, “Something greater is coming, just trust Me.” So often I find myself just as Mary, asking the question, “Where were You?” My limited perspective causes doubt. Ultimately, her trust in Him triumphed over her confusion, resulting in the most incredible act of worship we see in Christ’ time on earth. What a Savior, that even though He knew what He was doing, He stepped into her pain. “Jesus wept.” He didn’t condemningly say, Good grief just trust Me. He didn’t rebuke her. He didn’t scold her for a lack of faith. He understood. Knowing the heart of a woman, I think that’s what led to such extravagant worship. Mary’s progression of faith begs the question, do I allow myself to move from that place of hurt and confusion and doubt to a place of such sacrificial worship? Ultimately, she simply trusted. And her eyes were opened. And she gained an insight that no other follower grasped.

I pray that during this Holy Week, you stop, as well. Stop to see your Savior. Stop to experience His resurrection. Allow yourself to understand that He allows pain, but it is always for a purpose. And it’s ok for you to ask why. And He will understand.

I decided to do an Easter Story Basket this year for our journey through Passion Week, using an element each day to tell the story that the kids place in the basket. I will post the Easter Basket Bible study I wrote, along with each day’s activities. It will be too late for you to use for this year, but perhaps it will spur you to create an intentional week of focus for next year. Blessings to you this Easter.

Prayer Through the Tabernacle

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:05:00 +0000

I wrote this prayer series for a New Year’s prayer emphasis that the women’s ministry of our church hosted. When preparing for the 4 week prayer study, my mind was going in one direction, but God was pulling me in another. After much struggle and stubbornness, God was finally able to get through to me. This came at a deeplyspiritually purging time in my own life; my heart and mind were at war with God’s peace. As a pastors' wife, satan often fights my husband through me. Satan and I were in a war, but God’s word proved, yet again, its truth: He has given me all I need for victory, I can stand by way of His armor. The choice to walk in His Spirit rather than my flesh or Satan’s lies had to be made. It was an exhausting week, but in my weakness He was made strong. A few months earlier, I had the joy of attending a ministers’ wives conference (praise the Lord there are times where we can be ministered to as we are constantly pouring out!) where the speaker led a prayer through the tabernacle. I was participating in the prayer, so I had nothing written down from the prayer time (I suppose that’s a good thing). I knew, however, that I was to begin this month of prayer for the women of our church with praying through the tabernacle. My husband had just preached through the Bible chronologically the previous year, thus we had read in Exodus the description of the tabernacle and then saw that come to life in Hebrews with Jesus as our High Priest. God’s timing was clear. So the study, research and writing began. How thankful I am that I did not miss this incredible opportunity to be taken to the throne of God Most High or sharing in this precious time with our women. As I was studying and listening and praying, God began to show me so many truths about our prayer relationship with Him. He created the design for the tabernacle in such an intentional way. Our prayer life is in desperate need for the same intentionality. I began to realize how this process through the tabernacle purifies my motives and prepares my heart to enter His presence. The depths of my soul began to grieve at how much I’ve missed in my relationship with God, how often I’ve attempted to enter His presence with my requests but have failed to recognize truly who He is or enjoy His peace or have so arrogantly failed to considered my motives. It is recognizing the reality of the gospel in my life, who He is and who I am, that my sinful state has been atoned, that I am now declared righteous by way of Christ in the presence of the Holy God. When we begin to realize the intentional process God created for this progression through the tabernacle, we begin to realize how crucial this process is for our personal prayer life. Prayer is our relationship with God, all else is the overflow. This process, when done from a heart seeking Him rather than merely following some steps, puts our hearts and minds in correct posture to enter His presence wholly, purely, longingly; no walls, no doubts, no restlessness, no fears, no pride. It is through this process that I am able to hear Him say, “Come and talk with me” and my heart is able to respond, “Lord, I am coming.” He waits for you to come to Him so that He can show to you His love and compassion. And so let us enter His presence.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

This prayer guide can be used as a personal devotion or done as a group study. I ask that you reproduce this document only for personal use.

My Love-Hate Relationship with Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:51:00 +0000

I have a confession to make....I have a slight disdain for Valentine's Day. Oh, I adore celebrating love. My mantle is decorated, my front door adorned, my table set all with pinks and reds and hearts. I love love. I love having an out of the ordinary day of red velvet heart shaped pancakes and candlelit dinner with my family of 5. What I hate is the superficial demand placed on men to buy flowers and chocolates and bears. It's become a comparison game of whose husband does the best; my husband is better than yours, he bought bigger flowers, better chocolates, so I must be loved more than you. Nonsense. I'd rather have 365 days of thoughtful, faithful, simple love than one day of "I better get her something or I'll be in trouble" love. Why can't we see that this absurdity all derives from our need for validation? If I get an over the top, romantic gift, I am incredible. If he fails, I'm nothing. Perhaps that's slightly extreme, but for many women it's precisely true. Several years ago, I chose to take a different approach to this beloved day. After all, I can't walk away from the delight of decorating for this sweet day! As a family, we celebrate God's love on this day. Not to sound overly spiritual. But, after all He is love, the author of this incredible gift. Apart from Him, love is a self-seeking, self-serving pursuit of empty romance. I celebrate my husband on this day, but through the lense of God's love for me. We would have nothing if it were not for God's love for us and in us. And I will be delighted when I do not receive flowers and chocolates ( I told him years ago to stop wasting the money....seriously. And no, I do not get my feelings hurt. They really aren't allowed on this day.). I want my kids to know lasting love, Song of Solomon love. I do not want their concept of love to be formed by the hopeless idea this world offers. So, tonight we will play Valentine's minute to win it and we will have a candlelit fondue dinner for five and we will teach them from God's word about God's love, true love, Song of Solomon love. And everyday, through the good and bad, they see their dad love their mom. And they know it's because of Him. And I pray that we drive them to pursue the God who is love and gives love. Only in Him is love fully, wholly, found and only through Him do these earthly, fallen relationships provide a measure of joy and wonder and romance. We have this all backwards. We've traded His love for other love. The love we are given in this life are to be glimpses, not replacements, of His great love. My prayer for my precious 3 children is that they would know the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ that passes all understanding. 

"Let me hear, in the morning (and every morning), of your steadfast love." This is our hope as women. When we awake, each day, to the reality of His steadfast love, we are not desperately hoping for the love of another.

Have a blessed Day of Love. I hope to post next week about our festivities for the day. The kids are out of school Friday and Monday so I'll not be on here for a few days.

UPDATE: It's Easter and I'm finally posting pictures of our Family Fondue Feast! 

We feasted on a candlelit cheddar fondue dinner complete with steak strips, shrimp, potato logs, pretzel bread sticks and roasted veggies! I froze pink punch as ice cubes to put in our sprite :)

All food items, of course, were found on sale/reduced (fine dining done on the cheap delights me!). This was a very simply supper and the kids raved! This was a memory they won't soon forget.

We had to let our stuffed tummies settle so we played 5 rounds of heart themed Minute-To-Win-It games! Abbi was the overall winner! This was not all hearts and love as I have a competitive crew, but we did share lots of laughs! 

We ended our family fun with indulgent dessert! Chocolate fondue with strawberries, heart marshmellows and red velvet cake balls. Oh my, it was divine! Again, this was super simple (and cheap) which was all the more delightful :)

Oh yes, that is Abbi turning our candlelit dessert into a marshmellow roast!

My Unchecked To Do List

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:52:00 +0000

Nothing about this year has gone according to plan. At the
beginning of January, I spent several hours updating my home manager,
restructuring my monthly/weekly/daily schedule to allow for some goals I want
to accomplish this year and also to help me be more productive; you know, like
daily blog posting. You realize this is February 7 and this is first post of
the year, right?! And nothing, I mean not one single thing, has gone according
to plan. With a sigh of relief, I can say than it’s not entirely due to me
(already) slacking, but due more to unexpected things that have come up. Of
course, this recovering perfectionist allowed myself to get to an utter, epic
failure frame of mind. My sweet Savior has begun to speak gently, quietly to my
heart over the past few days, reminding me that, “Many are a man’s plans, but
it is the Lord who directs his steps.” I may not be getting one single thing
accomplished that I had hoped, but the interruptions and changes have not been
annoying irritations to my plans but rather His plans. I am in no way attempting
to justify my lack of productivity. I simply needed a refocus. My youth
minister in high school taught us on a mission trip to “Be Flexible. Be
Yielded.” That phrase has been invading my mind during the past week of this
epic failure pity party I’ve been throwing. I do not believe God is giving me a
free pass to be lazy or unproductive. That would contradict His word. What He is trying to teach me (I think-I'm a slow learner) is that I need to be flexible in my plans and
yielded to Him. I’ve had it backwards. I’ve been yielded to my plans. Do you
know how good it feels to cross every single item off a To Do List?! Yes, today
I have a list of things that I need to get done, however my “plan” for what I
should accomplish, according to my Home Manager, on this Thursday of the first
week of the month is not going to happen. An important truth of delighting in
everyday life is allowing God to guide my day. Of course we must get up and go
to work, if we work and get laundry done and meals prepared for our family. God
isn’t going to lead us to neglect our responsibilities. What I mean, especially
for us over-achievers, is that in our attempt to be organized, planned,
productive, we leave God out. Then when He meets us in our day, wanting to
accomplish something in us or through us, we feel as though our space has been
invaded. Oh yes, I know all about the psychology of human nature and that we
will never achieve our goals if we do not take steps to work towards them, but
today is all I have to honor God and walk in step with Him. Perhaps that is
just it; our goals are self-centered rather than God-centered. Maybe my goals
are really vain attempts to feel a sense of worth and control. Just maybe all
the things I want to get done, those adorably cute ,Pinterest projects and
perfectly organized home, look nothing like what He wants to get done through
me today. Delighting in my everyday life is not about having my life perfectly
together, but rather allowing Him to accomplish His perfect plan. The
unexpected phone calls, the sick child, the sudden burden to pray; having my
eyes open to how He is wanting to work through me and my heart receptive to how
He is wanting to work in me should be my goal for this day. As I move through
my to do list of responsibilities, He must become my frame of mind. It is
possible that a half marked To-Do list is delightful after all?

Making Christmas Special Not Stressful!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:41:00 +0000

It truly is the most wonderful time of year. The nostalgia of the music, smells, traditions and memories of Christmas bring such joy. My delight for Christmas has caused me to go overboard in the past, I must admit. Last year, I was new to Pinterest and wanted to do every single craft and homemade gift I pinned. Reality hit when Christmas time was more of a burden than a blessing. This year, I have been very intentional about not making that same mistake! As a family, we have done 25 days of Christmas for a few years now, but I learned a very important lesson last year: I do not have to do everything to make Christmas special. My hope and purpose for this post is to share with you ideas and tips that will help you create a Special, not Stressful, Christmas. 

When our kids were small, we began traditions that have become such a part of our Christmas that our kids would probably think Christmas couldn't happen without them. I absolutely love traditions and it absolutely delights my heart that our little family shares in memories that are all our own. A few years ago, I used our already established traditions to begin doing 25 days of Christmas together as a family. My reason for starting this tradition of 25 Days of Christmas was to take the focus off of the presents and to create opportunities for us to make memories as a family (and I am really just a kid at heart and want Christmas to last as looooong as possible!). Now, my first few years of planning were wonderful and realistic. As I stated, though, last year not so much. This year, we've gone back to simple! I've been writing down ideas over the past few weeks, then a few nights ago, during our family devotion time, we made our final list. I've taken all of our favorite ideas and plotted them based on our family calender for the month. Several of our 25 Days activities are simply our already established Christmas traditions. It just helped getting those planned on our calendar. Others are new ideas we wanted to try. They all are scheduled on days that realistically fit our schedule, won't be a burden to do, don't cost much money (if any) and won't take much planning or preparation. I was able to weed out and narrow down my beloved Pinterest ideas by sticking to a few main things: 

Does it create family time or tension (I may love crafts, but not my boys so picking cute crafts projects would be about me not them.)
Does it work with our schedule (For example, my husband is a pastor so Sunday's and Wednesday's are extrememly hectic for us. Those days need very realistic activities. First, I made out or December calendar with all of our church and school activities. Then I planned our 25 Days according to our calendar. This may seem like a no-brainer but trust me, it's easy to loose sight of the obvious!)
Does it fit our normal routine (Part of keeping the calm during the chaos of Christmas is to stick to the normal routine as much as possible, so what activities would be simple to make a part of our normal routine rather than trying to change everything just to say we did 25 days of activities....that would make for 3 cranky kids and 2 stressed parents! We already have family devotions so rather than not do our family devotion, we have our devotion focused on Christmas. Another example is that every week we do Family Friday night with pizza-frozen or homemade-and rent a movie. I would be excommunicated if I did away with this part of our normal family routine for an entire month so we are doing our established Family Friday night during December but will make Christmas shaped pizza's and watch Christmas movies!)
Does it fit one of these purposes? All of our activities fit into 3 basic categories (my brain has to think this way because it helps me weed things out-if it doesn't serve one of these purposes then it's not an option):

Family Togetherness (Simple Memories and Traditions)
Family Focus (Devotions and Prayers that keep our focus on Christ)
Family Serving (Acts of Kindness)

Does it fit our budget? There are some things are not an option for us either because they cost too much or they will unnecessarily prevent us from giving to others.

Most importantly, keep in the forefront of your mind that Christmas is all about Christ. You do not have to do everything to make Christmas special so no guilt allowed! Perhaps begin with 12 Days of Christmas instead of 25 or just pick a few things that you know you would like to do with your family and go ahead and plan when to do them. My biggest advice is to plan out because that will save you the most stress and money...it's those last minute impulses that cause chaos. The marketing of Christmas plays to our nostalgic emotions-don't get sucked into the trap. Keep your focus (again why I have the categories-so that I can walk into Wal-Mart and not be lured into spending more or when I'm looking on Pinterest not be guilted into doing more)!  Ok, I think that's all of my tips! Here is our list of 25 Days along with some other ideas.

Noel Family 25 Days of Christmas

1.    Christmas Tree Waffles Breakfast; Put up the tree ; hot cocoa & Christmas music

2.    1st Advent Sunday Devotion

3.    Christmas Brownies for dessert (after Evan goes to bed, share story of St. Nic to E & Ab)

4.    Christmas Wish List (our kids get 3 gifts each for Christmas; I also love the read, wear, play, share idea!)

5.    Christmas Card Prayer (we will pray for the family's who we have received Christmas cards from)

6.    Christmas Tree Cones for snack & Samaritan’s Purse /Homeless Shelter gifts

7.    Church Musical & Living Nativity

8.    Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls and Day of RACK (Tim thought it would be fun to do our RACK's all in one day but most of the idea's I've seen are spread out over the 25 days-just following my husband's lead on this one!)

9.    Church Musical; 2nd Advent Sunday Devotion

10.    Snowflake Dessert (cinnamon and sugar tortilla’s)

11.    Christmas Tree Treat for after-school Snack; Make Beach Memory Ornament

12.    Christmas Card Prayer

13.    Eli Christmas Choir Program

14.    Christmas Movie Night with Christmas Shaped BYO Pizza’s

15.    AM-Gingerbread House; PM-Dad Date for Mom’s Christmas gift shopping while mom goes to women's Sunday School class party

16.    3rd Advent Sunday Devotion; Host Church Staff Christmas Party

17.    Make Cinnamon Dough Ornaments (This is the one craft we are doing because it was my daughter's only request!) 

18.    Read Christmas books under the tree  (make a pallet!)

19.    Christmas Card Prayer

20.    Make and Take Mrs. Sandy a gift/treat (widow next door)

21.    Family Gift Shopping & Ice Skating in LR with Matt & Kristin

22.    Christmas Pancakes for Supper; Christmas Lights (Harding and Berryhill)

23.    4th Advent Sunday Devotion; Kids’ Church Christmas Program

24.    Annual Movie & PJ Day; exchange family gifts

25.    Christmas morning!!! Christmas Breakfast & Immanuel Devotion

Just a note about our "Annual Movie and PJ Day;" This has become our favorite tradition. We began this five years ago when we moved to Searcy and began traveling back home during the holidays. We wanted a Christmas day all our own since the actual December 25 Christmas Day would be different every year for our family. Normal families would probably watch Christmas movies all day, but since we aren't normal, our movie day is a Star Wars Movie Marathon. We literally stay in our pj's, graze on snack food all day while snuggled up on the couch watching our movies. It's AWESOME and I must admit, one of my best ideas yet :)

Other ideas:

-Pinterest has great pins on RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness) ideas.

-Make family Christmas Art (we did the Christmas tree with our handprints on a canvas last year-adorable!)

-Host a cookie swap party

-Happy Birthday Jesus Party

-Jesse Tree (Advent Tree)

-Candy Baking Day

-Christmas Movie Marathon Day

-Red and Green Supper

-Mommy Express (cocoa and lights) then watch Polar Express

-Take fun pictures for Christmas cards and gifts

-Gift wrapping night (Tim and I would rather do this together just us two but you might enjoy letting your kids be involved!)

-Take donations to local shelter, food pantry, etc

-Go shopping for local foster children, angel tree children, etc

-Go caroling to your neighbors or a nursing home 

As we begin our Advent Devotions and I get our Immanuel Devotion written for Christmas Day, I will share those as well. It is so worth the memories to take a little time planning special activities and treats for your family. Just remember to keep it simple and stay realistic. It breaks my heart to hear people talk about how stressful the holidays are. There are many events during this time of year that we say no to, just to keep the stress from stealing the joy of Christmas.

Have a blessed Christmas filled with special memories!

One Day At A Time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:57:00 +0000

This nagging, recurring theme keeps invading my thoughts. Today, Heather, today. Last week, I read the story of Mary and Martha; it was Mary who chose right. Yet, I am the epitome of Martha. I've even found myself getting frustrated with my husband for praying too long in the mornings. Did you catch that? Talk about confessions of a pastor's wife. Well, this one does not have it all together! I am Martha to my core. As many strengths as there are to my personality, there are as many (probably more) weaknesses. But He is made perfect in our weakness. This task-driven, busybody thrives on getting my checklist done. And here comes Jesus, saying stop. Stop? How in the world can I stop when I have more to get done than what is humanly possible? Ah, I think that's His point. In that same week of reading, Jesus said, "you will not always have me, but you will always those in need." Jesus isn't teaching a live in the moment, carpe diem mumbo jumbo. He isn't saying neglect the needs of others. It isn't a reality, with our many responsibilities, to literally sit, all day, everyday, at the feet of Jesus nor is that what He is saying. What I am learning is that in my heart and in my mind, allow Him to calm all of those racing thoughts of what's to be done next, and simply abide with Him as I live. Amidst the chores, errands, laundry, work, kids, the presence of Christ is my reality. A light bulb went on for me over this past few weeks. I've always thought of "storing up treasures" materialistically. I thought I had that one down pretty good. We have a simply home. We don't try to give our kids everything. We give to others. We are in the ministry for crying out loud! Leave it to God to want to refine my pride. Being a busy body, consumed with my checklist for the day is just as much storing up here on earth as loving money. I have today with Jesus. He is the treasure that I am to seek, but my life says that my treasure is my checklist. God's longing and desire is simply for me to walk with Him today. Our entire day to day life makes a radical transformation when we begin to realize that in this moment, in my heart and mind, just sit. "My presence is here and you're missing it because of your busy work." Yes, it's all necessary. We must prepare meals and do laundry and go to work. But "today, delight in Me. Don't trade my presence for your to do list. Delight in today because my presence exists in your reality."

Is this even possible? Am I living in a fantasy world? Oh, I must be one of those women who has the perfectly tidy organized house so I can have the audacity to say such things and believe such an idealistic mindset. Actually, my dishes are dirty, I've washed a load of clothes twice because they sat in the washer too long and my daughter's room looks like a bomb exploded. Jesus told Mary that she chose what was right. Jesus said "do not worry about tomorrow." Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit-that's present tense ladies; present, continuous tense. In this absurd, Americanized Christianity in which we live, we have bought into this lie that the presence of Christ is set aside for Sunday. Or that He is some burden we have to tack onto our already hectic day. We act as if adding Him to our day is "just great" another burden to carry. And satan has us right where he wants us. We don't add Jesus to our day. He is our day. Jesus said His burden is light. If we are feeling weighed down by the demands of God or of life, the truth is we are being deceived by the lies of satan. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The reality is, He is calling you and me to be still. Be still in our spirit and allow His to rule-yes, even in the grocery store line. When we allow His presence to invade our midst, the demands of the day cease to weigh us down. Our thoughts no longer race and we are released from the guilt of needing to do just one more thing. It is possible to allow our hearts and minds to rest in Him. And every once in a while, literally sit down, hide the checklist, tell your mind to stop and just sit with Jesus.

Jesus, I am resting, resting

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

The Blessing of Family

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:11:00 +0000

I just returned home for a week with my precious sister. Next to my dear husband, she is my best friend in the world. Twelve hours separate us but it makes our time together that much more special. When I was ten and raising her, I would have never dreamed that she would be the mother that she is. She won't take insult to that! She remembers her whining and stubbornness and dramatic emotional outbursts that would lead to passing out. She is now one of the most gracious women I know. She tells me what I need to hear, both good and bad. She may be my baby sister but I learn so much from her. She carries such grace, a trait she learned from our great-grandmother. I'm not sure she even realizes it, though. It is not easy living so far apart. I don't have to joy of watching my nephews grow up or helping her paint and decorate her new home or going on lunch dates together. It is true, though, that absence does make the heart grow fonder. Our time together is just that much more sweet. When the kids and I arrived home, we had to anxiously await for Tim to arrive home the next night from a 10 day mission trip to Honduras. I was is west Texas and Tim as in a 3rd world country for our 13th anniversary. What is it about being apart that makes you realize how blessed you are? My husband is the absolute delight of my life. Being apart from him makes me grow more in love with him. Everyday that Tim was gone and the kids and I were in Texas, my wonderful father-in-law called to check on me. What a precious man that loves me as his own. God gave me the most wonderful in-laws. When Tim arrived home, he showed me pictures from his trip, many of which included pictures of children at an orphanage. My heart completely breaks for children who have no family. As I've pondered over these past few days, God has gently reminded me of the blessing of family. His establishment of the family was to give us a glimpse of His love and our relationship with Him. The love I share with my sister, my husband, my in-laws, my kids, my grandparents, my parents, all give me a picture of my relationship with God. And what a good God He is to bless my life so richly. My seven year old and I were having a conversation a few months back, and he said "Mom, we aren't rich in money but we are rich in love." Oh the heart of a child. There is no greater blessing in life than family. As women, we must be diligent about protecting our family relationships, cultivating a deep love and providing for our children that glimpse of God's love through the relationship that we have with them.

A Servant's Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:02:00 +0000

One of the many things that God has had to teach this pitiful heart of mine was how to truly be a servant. Being in the ministry will put your servant's heart to the test for sure; serving others regardless of what we receive in return. As followers of Christ, we know that He came to serve, not to be served. However, I'm not so sure that we translate that into our everyday life as wives and mom's. As women, we may serve others well, but when it comes to our family, we store up a little bitterness. At best, we serve with the expectation of something in return; praise, appreciation. We wash the dishes, do the laundry, cook multiple meals all the while, storing up frustration, bitterness, anger, when we aren't thanked or recognized or appreciated. God has had to teach me that that is not a true servant's heart. That is doing things out of a need for self-approval. Ladies, we must find our worth in Christ, not in others acknowledgement of us. Taking care of our family is the greatest way we serve Christ. When we realize that all of those mundane duties are for Him, we release our families from our expectations. This was one of my primary motivations for this blog and one of the greatest reasons my tagline is "How to delight in everyday life." The everyday mundane is not so delightful when we are waiting on others to appreciate and approve of us; when our focus is on what they give us in return, the chores of the everyday are a frustration at best. When we gain a right perspective that we are serving Christ, not our family, our entire attitude changes. I still don't enjoy doing the dishes, but I don't whine about it anymore! And what I've discovered is that when my attitude and perspective changed about the duties of everyday life, so did the attitude of my family. They naturally appreciate me, they aren't forced or guilted into praising me. A few months ago, I began reading the book "One Thousand Gifts." If you've not read this book, I encourage you to take the time. It is no coincidence that as God was teaching me this truth, I began reading this book. In her book, Ann Voskamp (mother of 6) states, "When the laundry is done for the dozen arms of children or the dozen legs, it's true, I think I'm due some appreciation. So comes a storm of trouble and lightening strikes joy. But when Christ is at the center, when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains. Passionately serving Christ alone makes us the loving servant to all. When the eyes of the heart focus on God, and the hands on always washing the feet of Jesus alone-the bones, they sing joy, and the work returns to its purest state: eucharisteo (thanksgiving). The work becomes worship, a liturgy of thankfulness." Mother Teresa once stated, "The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action. If we pray the work...if we do it to Jesus, if we do it for Jesus, if we do it with Jesus....that's what makes us content." I didn't realize it until the past few years, but this is what my precious great-grandmother was teaching me each day when she would sing her hymns while washing the dishes, doing the laundry and working in the garden. I pray that today, your heart of worship flows from the duties of everyday life.

Household Harmony

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:13:00 +0000

I'm still trying to determine the easiest way for my readers to navigate my blog. Right now, all I know to do is to tell you when I've posted on one of my pages. Although I am not yet posting as regularly as I had hoped, among my summer chaos, I've managed to find a few moments to post on my 'household harmony' page, a "parenting with purpose" series. I am far from a parenting expert but I hope that what I've learned over these past few years will offer encouragement to you.

Summer Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:44:00 +0000

Well, I've already not started out so great with this blog adventure. I promise, I've not abandoned Heather's Homemade Haven. Summer has gone from restful to chaos in a hurry! After the first two week of summer break, life got a little crazy for our family. A dear friend became engaged and decided to get married six weeks from her engagement. Who, might you ask, is planning this wedding? This girl! Oh yes, then there was a week of teaching at Vacation Bible School, followed by chaperoning our kids from church for a week of children's camp, followed by a week at a pastor's convention, which I'm currently attending with my husband. No complaints, just letting you know that I've not forgotten about my blog. I cannot wait to return home so that I can get to posting! It has been a slow process getting started. It is so much in my personality to do things all at once so this has been hard for me to just be patient with the building of this ministry blog. My initial concern about the slow start was that those who came over to visit my blog would think, "Is this all she has to offer?" God took care of that real quick because this blog has nothing to do with anyone being impressed with me. There are so many women with blogs who have so much more practical information than me to share and that's okay. My purpose is to help women to become wholly healthy in Christ. Once God and I worked through my initial pity party of feeling like a failure, He began to confirm to me the need for women to have a resource of Godly truth and wisdom. Not that I have any amount of wisdom, but the passion of my heart is to go along side women, helping them seek God. We as Christian women have become so spotted from the world in our thinking, actions and attitudes. The purpose for this little haven is for us to escape the lies of this world and to find the truth of God in our lives as women. When we become wholly healthy, our homes will become delightful havens. As Romans 12:1-2 says, I do not want to be conformed to the pattern of this world. I do not want to be shaped and fashioned, think of a sewing pattern, like worldly women. That statement is not made in arrogance or pride. I've been that woman, a woman who looks like women of this world; self-sufficient and self-absorbed, prideful and caddy, bitter and harsh, controlling and fearful, insecure and unwise, and I don't like who she is. I want to be the woman God has called me to be; a woman with a gentle and peaceful spirit, a woman of wisdom and kindness, grace and humility, a woman who is diligent and faithful. Thank you, deeply, for your patience with me. Once we get through the craziness of our summer, my devotion will be to get content loaded. My prayer for you now, is that God will begin to stir in your heart a deep desire for you to become healthy in your mind, your emotions, your spirit.

New Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:16:00 +0000

For those of you who are visiting my site, please check my page links on a regular basis. When I make new posts to any of the pages, it will not show that a new post has been added. The only time a new post will show is when I add one to the homepage. I will do my best to let you know on the homepage when I'm adding a topic series to one of my pages so that you will know. I'm currently working on a series for "heart helps," entitles Love Letters: Knowing God Through the Psalms (there are two posts right now, but several more will be added to this series). My goal is to have more content loaded to "home hints" by the end of next week. Today is the kids' last day of school, so we are headed out of town for the weekend to go visit our family and celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Tim's home church. It's always such a blessing to see family, as it rarely happens. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back to posting next week!

"Homemade Haven" How To

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:24:00 +0000

To make navigating around the site as simple as possible, I wanted to let you know how I'm doing my posts. As I begin to load content, I will post under the subheadings of each page. So when you click on a page, such as "heart helps," the subheading and introduction will remain at the top (the writing that's in aqua). The posts will begin under the introduction, therefore you'll have to scroll down to see my posts. I apologize for the inconvenience of not having new posts be the first thing that you see. I chose to do them in this way so that new visitors to the site can easily find and read the explanation for each page. I am always open to suggestions and ideas for how to better navigate, so if you ever have a suggestion or idea please feel free to let me know! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wholly Healthy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:12:00 +0000

I think that as women, we fall into two different categories: either everything has to be perfectly perfect or we are just so scattered that we are kind of just "whatever." What I've learned over the past few years is that extremes aren't healthy, balance is. Our calling as daughters of God is to love the Lord wholly. The struggle is how to translate that into everyday life. Loving God wholly requires us to be wholly healthy; our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our relationships. Creating balance in our lives paves the way for us to have healthy lives which paves the way to love God wholly. Here is where we discover the delight of everyday life. For example, I'm in love with Pinterest, but I will be the first to admit that it can be useful or harmful to us and our expectations. It can either negatively feed our desire to create a perfectly perfect world or make us feel entirely defeated. On the other hand, there are some very useful ideas and resources. What I've learned to do is decide what is useful and what is unrealistic. There are some "mom" websites and blogs that I follow because I gain some very useful information and wisdom from them. However, I take what is useful and leave what is extreme because it seems as though their days can be extremely planned. The problem is that having an overly organized life is that there is no room for God to show up. My life as the wife of a Senior Pastor is a little different than many women. It is not unusual for me to receive a phone call that requires me to drop whatever I am doing at the drop of a hat. My personality is to be very structured and completely plan each day. However, I've had to let some of that go because it's not a reality of life and especially not for women who want to be available to minister to people. I don't have to accomplish a list of 25 things today to be worthwhile. I don't have to organize 5 areas of my home or cook 10 freezer meals a day so that I can feel like superwoman. What happens is that my day becomes focused on the tasks rather than the purpose behind the organization which is to care for and enjoy my family. Before those of you are are naturally unorganized started cheering and letting yourself off the hook, the other extreme causes the same problems! When I'm all out of sorts and completely overwhelmed because I don't know which way is up, I'm not going to be able to wholly love God or minister His love to those around me either. There is a huge benefit to having even a small amount of organization. It calms me and clears the chaos so that I'm able to simply enjoy, so that I'm free to love my God and delight in this blessed life He's given me. My prayer for this blog is simply that you are encouraged in your life as a woman. We were created to be loved by God and to love Him wholly in our everyday life. The purpose for this blog is to provide practical tools that may help you create that balance and to encourage you in becoming wholly healthy.

Content Coming Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:25:00 +0000

I will be getting content posted over the next few days! Thank you for your patience!

Testing.....Testing.....

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:12:00 +0000

Just seeing what it is all going to look like.