Mothers On Mission - Encouragement for today

Remember when I said I wasn’t going to work out?

Well, a good friend of mine introduced me to a new workout called “The Dailey Method.” There are only two words to describe it—“really hard!”

Anyway, I literally got all tangled up and bent out of shape last week while in class. As I gazed around the room in a breathless pant, I noticed everyone was toned and tiny. Apparently, it’s not a good idea to come to this place needing to lose weight. Women twice my age were doing leg squats better than me. Some of these ladies bless their hearts, actually need to visit McDonald’s drive thru a couple times a week like I do.

It appears they all have this mom thing figured out. Their kids in the daycare room don’t have syrupy hair from breakfast. They drive a Lexus and probably don’t have hamburger buns stuffed between the seats. They have their make-up on and hair in place (that is until the death trap of a work-out begins).

Satan quickly plants seeds of untruths in my mind.

I’m tempted.

Jesus girl thoughts get shoved aside by the ugly thoughts moving in. I begin thinking, “If only I could do better. If only my legs were longer. If only I looked as good as she does while doing leg lifts.”

Is it just me or have y’all had similar thoughts?

The Bible says we are to be imitators of Christ, NOT each other. Therefore, our ambition should be to imitate Christ…not the girl with buns of steel standing beside us glistening instead of sweating.

We are to imitate Christ in everything we do. We are to be like Jesus and talk like Jesus while we’re shopping, sweating, or serving. Why? Because we are his baby girls and he wants our actions, our thoughts, and our words to be reflective of him.

Just like the Dailey Method workout is really hard, sometimes it’s hard being a Jesus girl. Imitating Christ and striving to become a P31 woman is down-right hard, especially if you are like me. I can barely sew an Awana patch on my kid’s vest. I don’t usually cook from scratch. I actually love Stouffer lasagna night so I’m not expected to cook. But wait a second…now that I’m thinking about it, I do order my bacon and ham from Tennessee so that counts as bringing my food from afar, right?

So the next time we’re tempted to believe the worst about ourselves, let’s remember that 1Thessalonians 1:6 says imitating Christ won’t be easy. It’s something we strive for. It’s something we can’t do on our own. To be successful, we must be intentional about drawing near to our heavenly daddy so we can become more like him and nobody else.

Whew, what a crazy weekend. We diagnosed the problem of a toilet that wouldn’t stop running, I removed a hairball from the hose on my vacuum, and our girls hosted their first slumber party. Having five girls in the house was a hoot. Tears, tattling, and tantrums…yep that about sums it up.

After the Barbie marathon began and being the only males in a house dripping with estrogen, my husband and our dog Biscuit retreated to their man cave hide-out. Who could blame them?

Lots of second grader drama, four hours of sleep, and a whole lot of junk food later…

Stick a fork in ‘cause this mama is done.

Once the partying came to an end, I began organizing piles of lacy dress-up clothes and dismembered Barbies. Peeking out from underneath a pink, polka doted sleeping bag was my three year olds favorite ladybug nightlight. Unfortunately, the starry light had been switched into the “on” position all night. I sat on the edge of a flowery bed-spread wondering about the dimness of the ladybug. Her simple beauty still noticeable, but her light was only sort-of bright.

Oh sweet sisters, I feel this way a lot– switched to the “on” position way too long, running on empty, worn thin, pressed on every side, and ready to hide.

Just like the nightlight, Jesus is a light shining in and through us.

I wonder, Is my light shining brightly for Jesus or am I a little on the dull side?

Is my weariness contributing to the loss of brightness I’m experiencing?

If my light is only kind of bright, then perhaps I’m only kind of following Jesus.

Paul says in Ephesians 3:14-19, the Holy Spirit gives us an inner strength so we can know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge.

When we’re “rooted and established” in Christ’s multi-dimensional love for us, our light will shine its absolute brightest. We will never grow dim or dull…

even after an all night sleep over.

Like Paul told the Ephesians, if we really understood the love of Christ, we wouldn’t care about all this other stuff. In my case, I wouldn’t be so distracted by clogged drains or pizza stains.

When we’re consumed by the fullness of God’s love our light beams like the ladybug when I put in new batteries.

It’s what keeps us pursuing hard after Jesus instead of pursuing other stuff.

When we truly understand the length, height, and depth of Christ’s love for us, then we will be “filled to the measure” and ready to shine.

Over the last year Kelli and I have worked to plan a speaking event for the women at our church and the women in the drug and alcohol program at the Reno Sparks Gospel Mission.  We flew in National Speaker and Author Jan Coates from Texas to speak to us this past weekend. Friday night she spoke to the ladies at our church and Saturday night she spoke to the program women. It was a success and huge blessing to many. 

I confess it’s a lot of work planning an event. This isn’t our first time, but it’s really the same every time. You do as much planning as you can ahead of time, but it’s in that last week that things really start to come together. 

Tickets are sold-out. Last minute details unfold. The loose ends flip-flap around needing a quick tie up. Shopping lists are made which require… stop after stop after stop with children in tow for this or that. Then there’s decorating, food preparing, people organizing… and anxiety woven all throughout. 

Yes, I know… it’s all about God. That’s true of course, He’s the primary focus, but when you’re the ones that He calls to put it all together stress moves in and stretches itself uncomfortably across your mind and body. 

I compared planning an event to having a baby… once it’s over you think, “I don’t know if I want to do that again!” But, then a day or two passes, you forget all the pain and are left to enjoy the blessings of it all and you think, “Yes, I believe I will do that again!” 

I’m sharing all of this with you because someone sweet thought to encourage us. Someone unknown. And, we’re so grateful.

At the end of Friday evening I became painfully aware of my throbbing feet. I stood most of the evening in high heel shoes… which I rarely wear anymore. I stared at my cute black footwear and thoughtfully considered the condition of my toenails before finally reaching down to remove them anyway. A few moments later I notice Kelli in her bare feet too and I smile. 

As we quickly cleaned up the last of our mess a friend brings us two bottles of Raspberries and Cream shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath with our names on them. She said they were left for us and didn’t know by who…

You can see that I have already enjoyed mine quite a lot But, as much as I love the yummy body wash it wasn’t what encouraged and refreshed my soul… it was the note… 

In case you can’t read it well it says: 

I admit there’s a part of me that would love to know who it’s from and it’s the great big hugging part of me! But, then there’s another part of me that because I don’t know who she is I am able to simply accept that gift from God who knew exactly what I needed to hear. And, I am certain that Miss lovely and anonymous has found her blessing just by being His hands and feet.

Oh, I could do some prodding and likely figure out who “she” is and I thought about it, but I wouldn’t want to steal her joy. So, I’ll just leave it.

But, Kelli and I are both hoping that she’ll see this and know just how special she is and just how very grateful we are. 

Pictures from the Matthew West concert Kelli and I went to on Friday night!!!

We bought VIP tickets, so we got in early and got to meet Matthew West and take a picture with him…

Josh Wilson opened the show and he did a great job…

For the Story of Your Life Matthew went to a cabin and read some 10,000 letters from people looking for inspiration to write his new songs. For the show he wanted to bring us to the cabin with him, so they had a cabin projected in the background…

He’s such a great entertainer, so genuine and funny. At one point he told us how he wondered and feared that he wasn’t really making a difference, that he was just preaching to the choir. But, God showed him through those letters and through writing these songs that the people of God are filled with hurts and sorrow just as much as the unsaved and that they need healing too and to be reminded where their strength comes from. 

Each of his songs from the Story of Your Life were written based on one of those letters, some that he shared with us were….

Strong Enough — about a girl who was in a terrible car accident that changed her life forever and made her run to God for the strength to get through.

Family Tree — about a girl from a dysfunctional family who was told that it would be her legacy and God spoke to her said I am your legacy.

To Me — about a middle school kid who is bullied and made fun of and how his true value in God.

One Less — about a couple who had other plans for their life as empty nesters, but God had another plan for them to adopt a little girl from Guatemala.

Broken Girl — about girls who were sexually abused as a children… there were a lot of these letters. The song expresses how only the love of God can truly heal our brokenness. 

Two Houses — about a girl whose father walked out on her family and how we have a heavenly Father who will never leave us.  

Survivor — a song written to encourage a woman battling cancer. It’s encouragement for anyone struggling in this life.

And, The Healing Has Begun is about a woman who had an abortion when she was 18 and God’s healing. 

But, this song is for all of us… our own healing… each of us likely relates to at least one of these stories and we’ve either experienced His healing or are in the process of tasting it for ourselves. We all need His grace, His love and the Hope that He offers us. 

I relate to several of the songs, but over all the one that touches my heart the deepest and covers all of my personal sorrow is Family Tree…