My Mommy Minute: December 16

{this entire post has been sitting in draft.  I was hoping to add more links and then well....Christmas came and went.  but I wasn't just going to delete! There are some great reads. Read Rachel's post if it's the only one you read, because it's a great read for any time of year.}

Hi friend,
Oh boy, this is a busy time of year! We've had birthday celebrations, suffered hardships, welcomed visitors, hosted parties, attended events, shopped, crafted, decorated, and are plugging our way through advent. All while my husband is working a lot of overtime, so that means mama works over time too:)  I haven't posted a MMM in a while because I had one drafted but I guess it was never saved and I lost the links:(   As was reading posts recently they were all about Christmas and the chaotic time it can be.  So this post is all links related to the holiday season.

It's easy to lose sight of the cross and too easy to look inward and forget that this season, or any other season, for that matter, isn't about us.  God is so good.  All the time.  He is the divine creator and sustainer of all things and He is so merciful, isn't He? So, so kind to such an undeserving person like me.  I take so much for granted and I am thankful He is causing me to slow down at times and see that. Even Christmas is something taken for granted.  Something we know so well and we fail to see the wonder.  It doesn't lose it's wonder--we just fail to see it. This is the season we get to celebrate our Savior's birth! There could be no Good Friday or Easter Sunday without first having Christmas.  Just pondering in our hearts the miracle of Christmas and the majesty of the Jesus should produce joy, praise, and worship! 

I pray you are encouraged this Christmas season. Encouraged that our Redeemer has come and taken on flesh for us.  He has humbled Himself so low and was born in "the hay" as my three year old says. He was born in flesh.  Yet sinless.  Sinless for us, because we could not do that.  But God, in His mercy and goodness bridges the gap of our sin that separates us from Him by sending Jesus.  Baby Jesus. Born in a manger.  For me and for you.  I pray you would know the redeeming love of Jesus Christ this Christmas. 


 

Joy to the Whirled by Rachel Jankovic at Femina

What to Expect and Christmas by Nicole Whitacre at GirlTalk

Dear Lydia and Asa by Amanda at Oh Amanda

 

10 Ways We Can Remember to be Christians this Christmas by Kevin DeYoung at Gospel Coalition

My Mommy Minute: November 5

"Believe you are receiving His grace--right now at this very moment. Believe His love for you has not changed despite the fact that you have not loved your children well today. God's love is never based on your behavior. Look to Christ when you are tempted to yell, and remember He lives in you. He will help you through the most difficult times. Go to your little ones and ask them to forgive you. Tell them that Mommy is a sinner who has a great Savior. Pray with them and believe there is nothing you can do to thwart God's plan for them. We are all bad moms. That's why we need Jesus.

-Kimm Crandall, "Christ in the Chaos"

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2

A Perfect Mom Can't Share the Gospel by Sara Wallace at The Gospel Centered Mom

Are You a Control Freak at Home? by Jenna Fleming at True Woman

3 Fads That Are Killing Your Joy by Sara Wallace at The Gospel Centered Mom

When All I Can Say Are Arrow Prayers by Sarah at The Gospel at Home

Screwtape Letter to an Exhausted Mom by Kelsey at To Love Honor and Vacuum

My Mommy Minute: October 29

If This Video Doesn't Make You Put Down Your Phone Nothing Probably Will at Viral Fury
Such good things to think about here!

How To Enjoy Every Moment When Not Every Moment is Enjoyable by Sara Wallace at The Gospel Centered Mom

Why I Unfriended Every Single One of My Facebook Friends by Davonne at Davonne Parks
I have often thought of this-or just deactivating FB all together.  "But what about the friends that live states away? What about the bloggers I follow? What about the encouraging links I would miss out on?" Eh.  In all honesty I just wish facebook didn't really exist.  But since it is there, there is a struggle.  Some things here to think through and evaluate our own hearts.

My Mommy Minute: October 10

Hi friend,
This is one of those weeks that every single one of these are so so good. No particular order, but each is worth your time.  Some longer than others, all rich with wisdom and encouragement.  Enjoy!

"To be a mother is by no means second class.  Men may have the authority in the home, but the women have the influence.  The mother, more than the father, is the one who molds and shapes those little lives from day one."
-John MacArthur

When Motherhood Drains Your Happiness by Carolyn Mahaney at GirlTalk
"But if we’ve become resentful of the demands of motherhood, discouraged and depressed in our routine, irritated and impatient with our children, chances are, we’ve lost sight of our God-given purpose as a mother."

The Inconvenience of Motherhood by Amanda Walker at The Aquila Report
"But this shaping can only happen as we give over our rights to ourselves and allow God the freedom to shape us."

Funner Part 3: Emotional Control by Rachel Jankovic at Femina
Part 1 and Part 2 were a previous My Mommy Minute post in case you missed them!

 

Remember, You Are Not Managing an Inconvenience, You Are Raising a Human Being by Rachel Miller at Daughter of the Reformation
"Exactly when did they go from precious blessings entrusted to me by God to small, loud, challenging things sent by God to interrupt my day?"

To The Mom Who Doesn't Recognize the Woman in the Mirror by Tricia Gillespie at The Domestic Fringe
"Those children who call you mom will leave a permanent mark, making you look different to those around you.  It’s a good kind of different."

 

Only For a Season

I remember not long ago (and not long before that, and before that time, too) that my survival was held together by the blessing of paper plates, generous people dropping off meals, and my husband cleaning up after dinner while I camped out in the rocking chair.

 

I remember what feels like long ago (but really wasn't that long!) when my house was spotless and I always had freshly pedicured toes.  When the clothes went straight from the dryer folded into the basket as I pulled them out. I remember spending hours during the summer months after my first year of teaching listening to sermons, journaling, and praying. 

 

There is a season for everything...some seasons are cyclical and some never return. I don't think my house will ever be spotless again, but I do hope that God's will would be to give us another child by any means He sees fit and force us to live off paper plates again.

 

For now, I'm finally able to use those paper plates for crafts with my kids again.

And for now, there sits a large pile of my husband's dress shirts on our bedroom floor that need to be ironed.

 

These were the thoughts I was having while I was making three meals at one time yesterday. Butternut squash in the crockpot, prepping shephard's pie for dinner (from scratch for the first time!) and prepping a freezer meal for another day.

 

My little helper:)

I surely don't say all this to boast.  I say all this as a reflection and encouragement for those hard seasons.  Right now, I am able to arrange my time at home and use my time to bless my husband, children, and others outside my home.  There are seasons of life though, that the body of Christ will be a blessing to us and minister to us when we are in need.  Both are such a time of blessing and rejoicing. 

It is easy to get down and feel dehydrated at times--even at times of great joy, like welcoming a new baby.  Time in the Word is hard to make, quiet time is rare, and it is just plain hard to keep our eyes open at times when we are surviving on sporadic hours of sleep. Our hearts pay the price. God is good all the time and in every season there is a reason to praise Him.

Survive.  Because sometimes that is the season.  But it's only for a season.  Then things will shift.  Recognize when that shift happens and allow it, embrace it, and thrive.  Recognize there are hard seasons, but be ready and willing to move out of them. And in every season, pray The Lord would restore to the joy of our salvation. 

I hope you are keeping your head above water.  I don't know your season.  But remember, it is only for a season.  And I know that I will look back and miss those seasons of barely keeping my head above water.  Even in the seasons of 'easier' living now when I have a toddler who can dress herself and fill her own cup of water, there is still so much pouring out of our lives that we do even as our children gain independence. There are still times I feel like I'm sinking (that's why it was nice to feel productive in the kitchen). I think in every season we can find little areas where we are just surviving but also where we are thriving.  I speak to myself the most when I say "Don't wish that away."  It may be winter, but summer will come. 

And our God is The God of every season. 

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

"So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?" 

Ecclesiastes 3:22

My Mommy Minute: September 12

Hi friends,

Two posts. So good.  Rachel Jankovic is so solid.  She is in the trenches of motherhood and speaks truth to us from experience while also living in it daily.  I love reading her writing because she is so talented at writing and because she basically it's like reading my own thoughts just written much better (and funnier!).  She never fails to point us to the Word and speak truth to encourage our hearts.

 

Funner part 1 by Rachel Jankovic at Femina

Funner: part 2 by Rachel Jankovic at Femina

My Mommy Minute: September 5

 Hi friends,

 

This is the second Mommy Minute coming to you this week because there are just so many good reads out there! Keeping the list short again.  All of these are good and worth the read. 

 

I hope you are encouraged and filled with joy.  Press on, mama.  Work out your salvation with fear and trembling and do not forget that Christ is our rock and our hiding place.  In Him and Him alone is our righteousness found.  Our lives are in His hand. From the smiles to the tears. God is always good.  All the time. To God be the glory. Have a great weekend!



 

 

"I'll referee another squabble and pick up disparate shoes and coats and happily clean food wrappers from under the seats of our suburban for the God who whispers 'I love it when you serve them and no one knows.'"

-Sara Hagerty

I Forgive You Mom by Natalie Falls at The Better Mom
Wow.  It is like she reads my journal. So true and so beautiful. If we fail to glorify God in our actions toward our children, we can glorify Him as we reconcile with them, repent, and ask for forgiveness. 

 

Is Being a Stay At Home Mom Enough? by Abbie at Unsteady Saint
We are enough when we are in Jesus.

Are You Tired of Waiting on the Lord? by Colleen Chao at True Woman

We are all waiting on something it seems.  If we aren't, then we probably know someone who is and could use encouragement.

5 Ways to Move from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed by Rachel Wojnarowski

I agree with these five points.  I also think it's helpful to step back and look at my schedule. Am I too busy? If I'm always carting my kids around then we don't have time to work on training them at home. It is much harder to train in public. Also recognizing what triggers me helps a lot.  Knowing my points of weakness has helped me grow in this area. Trying to get somewhere on time early in the morning is just one example:)  What about you? Do you have any to add?

My Mommy Minute: September 1

Hello friends,

Happy September! I bet for many of you it's a bitter sweet time....good bye summer, right?  But for me it's hello cooler weather!! So I'm very excited for fall:)

Good reads here.  Some have been linked up already in a past post, but I wanted to include them here as well.  Kept the list short because they are all SO worth reading.  Such good stuff here.

"God works through faithful parents who,

 in spite of dark and difficult days,

walk obediently to him."

-Elizabeth George

Joy Can't Die by Rachel Jankovic at Femina

When School Starts by Kristin Chesemore at GirlTalk

It's Their Day, Too by Katie Blackburn at Coffee + Crumbs

 

The Hidden Years of Being a Stay at Home Mom by Emily Wierenga at The Better Mom