Christianity · Devotional · Love · mother's day

Mother’s day

Thinking on the day, being mother’s day, I can’t help but think of what really makes a mom. This thought took me to flowers.

Flowers nurture their babies, primarily by providing nourishment and protection until they are ready to grow independently. This is achieved through the development of fruit and seeds, which contain stored food reserves and protective structures. Additionally, some plants have mechanisms to ensure their offspring remain near favorable environments, such as sending out runners or developing seedlings while still attached to the parent plant.

It’s funny to think of. A plant that cannot think or feel is God designed to care for and grow it’s seeds. It does it naturally, automatically, because that’s how God made it to function.
Human mothers aren’t so fortunate. They have to make a choice to be a good mom. These women have decided that raising and caring for their children even at risk and cost to themselves is more important than being free to do as they please or to live for themselves. Because as a mother you never live for yourself, you are always living someone else. Not all women can handle this, so they choose not to have children or keep their children. Foster care is full of kids whose mothers cared more about themselves then about their children. There are a few who gave their children up for the sake of the child. But not many. I say this because being a mom is hard work. It’s not always fun, in fact it is mostly hard work and stress. So to the mothers who chose to brave this path and to stick it out to the end. You are amazing! You are rare and valuable. Keep at it. Keep going. What you do is important.
When I think of how and mother cares for her children in that way of sacrifice, I obviously think of my mom. Especially lately. I have been so busy with school I don’t always remember what day it is or to brush my hair. I know that sounds terrible, but this is truly how busy it’s been. Then today came. Mother’s day. My mom made our family a nice breakfast. I should have made her breakfast. She had baked a cake for mother’s day. I should have made it for her. I did recall to have a present for her. But she cleaned up the kitchen. It was supposed to be her day. She made it special for everyone else. When I told her how sorry I was, she smiled and shook her head. Then she limped to her chair because the day had caused her pain.
That’s a mom. That’s what it means to be a mother. Sacrifice. Love. Determination. Faith. Mothers rely of Jesus to pull them through these tough days and they thank Him each time they get to smile or laugh with their child.
Anyone can be a mom. Even a plant. But it takes someone whose power comes from the savior, someone who keeps going despite the pain and weariness, someone who protects and cares for those around her, to be a mother.
Happy Mother’s day.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · mother's day

A mother’s impact

A mother’s impact

Exodus 2:1-3 NIV‬
[1] Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, [2] and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. [3] But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

Moses’s mom doesn’t get enough credit. She hid her baby. She could have been killed.
She trusted God enough to put the baby in a river and know God would take care of him. She even dared to go and care for him in the house of the man who wanted him dead because God had delivered Moses to the one woman who could save him, Pharaoh’s daughter.

Exodus 2:5-6 NIV‬
[5] Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. [6] She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
We think because she was Pharoah’s she was safe taking the baby in, but she could have been in deep trouble for taking the baby.

‭Exodus 2:7-10 NIV‬
[7] Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” [8] “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. [9] Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. [10] When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

God used the courage of a baby’s mother to begin one of the greatest stories in the Bible. She never saw her baby deliver her people out of slavery. She never saw the pillar of fire of cloud. She never saw the red sea parted. She never set foot in the promised land. But she had a baby and he was hers. She loved him enough to risk everything to keep him safe, and she trusted God enough to keep that baby dry and protected in a basket in the river as he floated toward the next woman who would be used by God to help him get to where he needed to be so he could say to Pharaoh, “let my people go!”

We all get to leave an impact on the lives of the people around us, but what kind of an impact will we leave? Will we be Anna’s or Debra’s or Hannah’s or Anna’s will we be the mother of Moses? Will we be Pharaoh’s daughter? Or will we turn it all aside and be selfish and think of no one else? What impact will you leave? What Memories will your children have of you? Will you be the supporting power that through prayer and faith in God you have the ability to stand behind your kids and say I love you no matter what. Will your memories be what keep them going? We need you strong mother’s. Brave women of Valor. We need you to stand and when you can’t stand fall in the arms of the Savior. He will support you.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Love · mother's day · Prayer

Mother, you are important just the way you are!

Mother, you are important just the way you are.

I had the misfortune of seeing a movie the other day that delt with a mom who suddenly decided to go after a career instead of raising her child. There’s nothing wrong with a mom going after a career, that part wasn’t the problem. The problem was that she chose to do this because her sister told her that a woman who was satisfied with being nothing more than a mother was underachieving. In that moment my mind went, ‘I see now. That’s where it began.’ The falling apart of the country’s fabric I mean. Women are now told that it’s no longer okay to be happy just being a mommy, if that’s your dream as a little girl you’ll get shot down as not stretching yourself enough. This is false. We need our moms in this and every country. We need them as moms. Having a job too is fine, but if all you’ve ever been and all you’ve ever wanted to be was a mom there is nothing wrong with that; in fact, you’ve chosen one of the hardest, most underappreciated, and totally unpaid positions out there. But you chose it because you are special. You didn’t just want a baby to play with and then you’re done and want your own life, you wanted to be someone’s mentor, caretaker, teacher, and friend. You chose a job where someone else’s life is always put before yours. A job where you are solely responsible for guiding and maintaining another human being. You have chosen to be more than just another money seeking career woman. You have chosen to be someone who gains nothing but the love of a child and never gets payment nor awards. Except perhaps a paper cut out of a ribbon with a misspelled ‘#1 mom’ written on it, and if you are like my mom then that paper cut out ribbon is more precious to you than any golden trophy could be. You are amazing mothers, just the way you are! Don’t feel like you are less because you chose a job that leaves you without a pension. Don’t feel small because you wear old holy soles instead of seven inch high heels. Don’t forget that God designed women to be mothers. Not all choose that path and some God plans to be His workers in a different direction then motherhood and that’s fine. But we must never look down on those who have been chosen to fulfill the role of mommy. Being a mother to your child makes God smile, because you are following His plan. The world needs strong, praying mothers. Don’t doubt the importance of your role! We need you.
Happy Mother’s day! 😊

Love · mother's day · True Joy

Happy mother’s day

Mothers in Heaven

No one can love me like she does, no one can support me like her, and if she is ever gone, I can’t imagine the hurt. Yet from the prayers I hear as she is near me on earth, I know that when moms get to Heaven there is one thing for sure, they sit by our Lord Day and night without fail, they talk about us and tell every tale. They require to know our day to day lives, they speak on our behalf both day and night. When moms get to Heaven one thing doesn’t change, their love for us remains the same, their prayers continue as they seek for our care, their love for us is something they all share. God gets to hear every word just the same as when they were here with us, that will never change. So, when you wash dishes or make tea by moonlight, missing your mom and feeling not alright, know that she is near you in every little deed as she talks to our Lord about your every need.

Blog · Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · guidance · Jesus · mother's day · Prayer · The Bible

Pain

Pain

Pain is a word we all know too well. Recently I hurt myself. I have hurt myself many times and this pain that didn’t want to leave is a familiar enemy. Thank God we have an intelligent chiropractor who feels my neck and shoulder and says I have hurt my 3-1 or V-4 or whatever vertebrae and then he puts it back in place and then he rubs it and then I go back again a few times because the injury wants to persist and he needs to keep reminding it where it belongs until it stays.
Let’s break pain down like this:

P- problem occurs
A- attempt to fix problem
I-injury occurs
N- now what?

We are like our pain, and we cause pain to ourselves.  We fall out of place, a problem occurs and we try with all our hearts to fix the problem ourselves and we end up hurting ourselves in the process. Our hearts get broken, we cry, we get angry, nothing works so now what?
We look down and there is nothing there, then we slowly look up. Jesus is looking back at us and we lift our hands and give it all to Him. He takes the pain, the sorrow, the need and He heals it all. We cause ourselves more pain by fighting to fix things ourselves, if we give the problem to Jesus He is the one who knows how to fix it with ease.  

Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · Jesus · mother's day · searching · True Joy

Just like mom

Mother’s day.

The tones of laughter drifts up the stairs and a small bark from a white poodle shows the little girl that her mom is taking care of her dog so she doesn’t need to rush. It’s Sunday, Mothers Day, and she wants to look good for mom. Her black satin shoes click as she climbs on to the stool at the bathroom sink. She has her mommy’s makeup kit, and had watched mommy put it on so many times that she was sure she could to do makeup on her own face, she wanted to look her best for Mommy. So she leans in close to the mirror and ‘poof’ face powder sparkles over everything, ‘it’s like fairy dust’ she thinks as she poofs more powder on to her face. Next mommy would use the red stuff, she finds the blush powder brush in with the powder and dabs some on each cheek. What next? Now the stuff for the eyes. She can’t find the eye shadow brush, frustrated but determined she grabs her tooth brush and uses it for the eye makeup. She looks at herself, ‘close enough,’ she decides. ‘Now, how do you work the curling iron?’ Thankfully this is when mommy comes in, alerted to her daughter’s bad idea by the silence from the bathroom. “Oh no!” Mommy shrieks, “sweetie what have you done?” The question is rhetorical.
The little girl smiles big, “look mommy, I made myself pretty for you.”
Mommy is a mix of emotions, she is relieved, horrified, a little irritated, but loves her little girl so much. She picks her daughter up and kisses her -inch thick powdered- cheek, “you are always pretty sweetheart!”
Mommy sits the little girl on her knee and wipes her face clean, as she removes the cloth from the pouting lips mommy does what mommies do and offers to show her sweetie how mommies put on make up. This brightens up the disappointed face and mommy and daughter laugh as they put their ‘faces’ on together. Though they walked into church a little late, the little girl in her swishing cream dress with soft pink flowers, holding to mommy’s hand and smiling loved mommy all the more for her kindness that day. The day was about mommy, but that didn’t stop mommy from taking care of her little girl that day, and they had such great memories.

Thank you Jesus for our mothers. We have ups and downs as parents, but if we cling to the happy memories than we will see that our lives really were good. 

Blog · Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · free · Jesus · mother's day · searching

Mother’s Day

Strong hands

When you think of strong hands what comes to mind?
A doctor? A soldier?

My Grandfather tells a true story almost every chance he gets. I have probably mentioned it before.
Grandpa’s Father was a farmer. Like most farmers, when spring came he burned the fence line before getting ready to plant.
Grandpa’s dad walked the line after to make sure every spark was out and in his walking he found a lump. He thought it was odd in it’s appearance so he pushed it over and out scampered three little prairie chicken babies.
He then realized that the lump was a mother prairie chicken who had covered the babies with her body and then succumbed to the flames. She wouldn’t move from protecting them even though it was killing her.
It made him very sad, and also amazed at the will of the mom.
Grandpa loves animals so it broke his heart.
Only a mom would die covering her babies with her body to protect them from death.
Those are strong hands.
God gave moms the nature to protect and defend the small and the weak. He gave them the power to push through anything whatsoever for the sake of those they care for. God is always with you moms! He will give you strength!
Happy Mother’s Day

Blog · Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · Jesus · mother's day

MOM!!!

I have no experience being a mother to a person, I do however have a dog that I got at 8 weeks old, and my mom’s constant statement was,
‘Now you see what motherhood is all about.’
There were….and sometimes still are..long sleepless nights, the pain of having to punish this small one whom I cherished, the fear of him getting hurt, the times we would break the rules together, and the times when said rules no longer applied because I just can’t say no to that face. The poop in my shoe, the mud on my floors, the totally destroyed whatever he could fit in his mouth, all led to this point; Almost 7 and a half years of absolute love, not always joy, but always love.
Guess what? I miss those growing up years. I long to go back because I know that I won’t always have him.
Any mothers of human babies nodding their heads and remembering those years with your kids? Or perhaps looking toward them?
Jesus gave us mothers for 3 distinct reasons. (This is my opinion by the way)
1. To be our caretaker
2. To be our friend
3. To show us Jesus

The word ‘Caretaker’ has many limbs to it.
Protector, provider, on call doctor and sometimes surgeon, warrior against the big bad wolf; you get my point. Without our moms, or sometimes a dad or grandparent filling that role, we would die. We need that nurture and care because we are living. We feel, we need, so God gave us someone to help Him take care of us.

‘Friend’ is always that.
Someone to laugh with, cry with, argue with; and someone you can trust has got your back. Sometimes that friend points out flaws that only a friend can, other times they are the only one who understands you, but they are always there for you.
Jesus knew we would need someone we could rely on for more than just provision and care so He made our mothers our friends.

Lastly..yes you can sigh a breath of relief….lastly and most importantly, mothers are here to show us Jesus.
Because our mothers care for us we know they have our needs in mind.
Because they are our friends we know we can trust them.
That is why they are ideal for telling us about Jesus. We know they teach us of Jesus because they know we need Him and He is essential.
We know all they say about Him is true because we trust them. We need our mothers to show us Jesus, we need to learn from this person we love and trust. If they do not show us Jesus then who will? And how can we trust a stranger or know that we actually need what they are trying to sell us? Without our mothers guidance we can easily be lost. Whether we are being that mother or have that mother, or in some cases both, this world needs mothers. These mother cheracter traits can be applied to everyone we take care of. If we care for people, befriend people and show them Jesus, then we can help Him make this world what it should be.
God knew what He was doing when He made moms undercover heros. Hopefully women of prayer who fight along side God. My mom is and so was her mom. My mom’s mom was an adopted war baby, my mom is one of three sisters who are not adopted. Becoming a mom can look very different from person to person, but that does not change the MOM dynamic. Because this world needs us ladies. Do not think the title MOM makes us week, it is the opposite, because we are MOM we are powerful. Warriors on the frontlines all over this world, no matter your race, beliefs, social status; no matter how you ended up a mom, or if you are instead gifted with being mom to those around you that you see need you, you are special and amazing, God blessed with the right traits to make this world a right place.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY