If you weren’t at our last SOM meeting then you missed out on our speaker Casie Dussia!  She was amazing! Casie shared with us the importance of taking care of yourself physically and spiritually.  I loved the way she demonstrated how important it is to fill our own cup before trying to fill someone (or something) else’s.  Here are some of they ways that the enemy tries to hinder us:

Excerpt from “Take care of yourself” SOM 4/9/12

1.) Comparing yourself to others
We all have someone in our life that always seems to have it together, always has a smile on their face, never has a bad hair day; you know what I’m talking about. They might appear to have a life that we would like. Why don’t things seem to come that easy to us?
Why? Because her path is custom made for her and your path is custom made for you! Whether you see why God made you the way He did and why your life is the way it is, there’s a reason! Your path may be a little “bumpier” than someone else’s, but that might be necessary for your purpose.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:10
Do not compare yourself to anyone! Be authentic and accept yourself for who you are. That’s how you affirm yourself as God’s creation. This isn’t “settling”. Still continue building endurance and striving for your goals. Just don’t try to strive for someone else’s goals!
2.) Procrastinating
“I really should fold the laundry, I really should start that project, I really should go to the grocery store, I really should start dinner …….”
I use to procrastinate because I wanted everything perfect, so if I didn’t have the time to do it perfectly, I put it off. I finally realized that I can either have something perfect, or I can have it finished!
All procrastination does is add more stress and anxiety to your life. In many cases, in the amount of time it takes you to think about putting off what you need to do, you could have had it done!
The sluggard (lazy person) does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 20:4
Instead of procrastinating, prepare for your tasks and plan ahead. If you do that, at the end of day, what didn’t get done didn’t need to get done.
3.) Making excuses
“I would have done that, but……, I would have been there, but……”
I believe that quite often excuses stem from fear. It isn’t always easy stepping out of your comfort zone and into a new activity or task.
The devil just loves our excuses, even helping us out by giving us a few – we’re not good enough, we’re not equipped, why would God want to use us, on and on.
Think about Moses and his excuses. He was afraid. I love how God didn’t give up on him and kept pursuing him, even sending someone to help him! God will never give up on you either!
So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man (mere people) do to me?” Hebrews 13:6
So go for it! If you’ve wanted to try a new workout class, go for it! If you’ve wanted to try a new bible study, go for it! No More Excuses! Get out there and fill your cup!
4.) Guilt
“I’m feeling guilty because I left the kids home tonight so I could go for a walk with a friend. I’m feeling guilty because I couldn’t work late tonight. I’m feeling guilty because I can’t make it to that church function. I should be a better wife, mom, friend……”
The devil thoroughly enjoys us second guessing ourselves and our actions. But, who says that a choice we have made is wrong anyway? Ourselves, the enemy? For example, if we were stern with our children, maybe they needed it! If we don’t help someone every time they call, maybe we need to step back and let them help themselves.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12
If you are questioning something you’ve done, take it to the Lord, learn from it, and move on! It’s not our job to critique our past actions. Our life on Earth is a learning process. No More Guilt!

To learn more about Casie and her ministry Run With Endurance visit http://www.runwithendurance.net/

I don’t usually sit around and worry about the future, but lately I’ve felt the fear of “what if” trying to creep into my life.

“What if my husband’s job just goes away?”

“What if we lost our home?”

“What if something happened to one of our kids?”

“What if we’re suddenly slapped with some huge, expensive medical crisis?”

I was feeling insecure, stewing over all this one day, and I summed it up to myself like this, “If just one of those things happened the rug would be completely pulled out from under us.”

I really worked myself into a tizzy. I was convinced that any of those scenarios would just be The End. Unsurvivable. Unrecoverable.

Then I heard a still, small voice say to me, “What are you so worried about? Don’t you know I’m the one holding the rug in place? If it gets pulled out from under you, I’ll catch you.”

That voice wasn’t one of my kids sneaking up on me after nap time. It was Jesus prodding me in that gentle way he so often does.

I’m reminded of the story in Matthew 14 of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine. As soon as he got scared and looked down, Peter began to sink. Verse 14:31 says, “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ ”

When fear, doubt or worry start to take over I just have to keep my eyes on Jesus. Even if I forget for a moment and look away, he’ll catch me. He’ll push me back from the edge, because his Father is in control. Mark 22 says this, ” ‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. ‘Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.‘ ”

He’s right. What do I have to worry about?

By Jennifer Bellgraph

I was headed to my Rheumatology appointment on November 18, 2011. Scared and nervous, not really knowing what to expect.

They brought me back to the patient room in the usual fashion and to wait for the nurse practionioner. She came in and started my exam.

I was wearing my Sisterhood of Motherhood shirt that said “…finding the joy in the journey….” on the back. The NP noticed it and told me that her father shared an essay with her that my shirt reminded her of. I thought to myself “This shirt is awesome, what a conversation starter!”

The essay is called “The Station”. She described a little of it to me, and I was receptive to taking a look at it. As I read the essay I found it to be very moving. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did, and I hope that you see life differently because of it.

http://www.thestationessay.com/

It was a morning like most school mornings. Except it was the day after Halloween and my preschooler’s very first ever Picture Day. Because it was the day after Halloween I had to give her a bath; her hair was pretty crazy for her “rock star” costume and who wants that in her very first ever school pictures?

On school mornings we have a pretty strict routine. I even wrote it on our family dry erase board so my husband could get with the program when he is home occasionally in the mornings. It goes as follows:

7:00 am Wake up

7:00-7:20 Breakfast

7:20-7:30- brush teeth/potty

7:30 am Get dressed

7:45 am Get hair done

Well on this morning, all went according to plans for my 2^nd grader; she got picked up around 8am dressed, fed, brushed and ready for a great day. Meanwhile Molly did not want to get out of the bath, she was having a blast.  She doesn’t start school until 8:35am so I figured, why rush?  She got out of the bath got dressed in her pretty dress and got her pretty hair done. We brushed out teeth together and even had some time for her to watch some Curious George on TV.

It wasn’t until about 10am when I went to clean up the kitchen that I realized, to my horror, that there was only one cereal bowl in the sink.

I FORGOT TO GIVE HER BREAKFAST.

I should run and bring her a snack, I thought. I quickly dismissed that idea, they get snack there and I’d only be disrupting.

I FORGOT TO GIVE MY BABY HER BREAKFAST!

I called my husband; after all it was his fault.  He was home this morning and disrupted our routine (?!?!) I was sure some of this guilt I was feeling should be shared by him. To my disbelief, he laughed. I was not amused.

With my head hung low I went to pick her up from her ½ day of school.

“Was Molly really hungry at snack time today?” I asked her teacher.  “Not really” She replied, unconcerned

“I am so sorry!” I told my preschooler.  She looked at me like I was crazy.  “Why?”  She asked

REALLY???

I had worried all morning …felt like an awful mom because I forgot to send her to school with a full belly and she hadn’t even noticed.

So many times we give ourselves grief over our perceived failures as moms. We spend hours agonizing over decisions and mistakes forgetting all along that there is One who we can turn to with our worries.  1 Peter 5:7 tells us “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

So next time you are having one of those mornings. Lay your guilt, your fear, your grief at the feet of the One Who Knows and find peace in his truth. I might forget something again but maybe next time I’ll rest in Him and forgive myself….and not take out my guilt on my wonderful husband!!

You probably know the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.

Freedom finally secured from Pharaoh, Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt down to the shore of the red sea. Meanwhile Pharaoh was busy changing his mind about letting God’s people go. So he sent his army chasing after them.

When the Israelites got word Pharaoh’s army was in hot pursuit, their rejoicing turned to complaining. Here they were, just delivered, now pinned between the Red Sea and an army, nowhere to go. They blamed Moses, asking why he brought them to the desert to die. It was better to remain slaves they said!

We know how the story ends. God worked a miracle. He parted the Red Sea. The Israelites got across. Pharaoh’s army drowned.

The place the Israelites didn’t want to be, the place that seemed like such a bad idea, was right where God wanted them to be. It was the avenue God used to deliver them.

How often do we think we’re in a bad place? How often do we bemoan or regret our circumstances? How often do we beg God to just get us out of here? But what if like the Israelites we’re right where God wants us to be?

Maybe there’s a lesson God wants us to learn. Maybe he’s going to work through us to minister to someone else. Maybe he wants to demonstrate his love by working a miracle for us. Maybe he just wants us to trust him more.

Take some time to look at the less than desirable circumstances in your life from a different perspective. How is God using them to work?

The time of toddler hood has passed in the Davis home. My youngest enters preschool this year and it is not without a tear that we move into a new season.

I like Veggie Tales.

I admit it, okay? Not only are Larry’s Silly Songs hilarious but in each and every episode there is take-away value. And not just for my kids but for me too. Here is a little Veggie Tales wisdom that I want to share with you today…..

Have you seen the one about the two towns on the mountains of Flibble? There were two towns, Fliber-o-loo and Jibberdy-lot. Well these two towns had a fierce rival; you see the people of one town wore pots on their heads and the other shoes. One day a fellow was robbed and stuck in a hole, upside down no less! The folks from his own town were too busy to help him, too busy to take some time. Thus the song that goes:

“Busy, busy dreadfully busy

You’ve no idea what I have to do

Busy, busy, shockingly busy

Much, much too busy for you.”

I get too busy sometimes…. busy doing dishes, busy planning some activity or trip, busy folding laundry, busy running here and there. Just busy, busy, busy. A friend of mine once told me that busy stands for Burdened Under Satan’s Yoke.

I know when that Veggie Tales song starts going through my head that I am becoming Burdened. I am getting so wrapped up in doing that I’m not paying attention to what is going on around me. I am not paying attention to God’s beauty and wonder in my life. I’m not paying attention to my relationships or even myself. When I get busy like that, when the busyness becomes a distraction from Him, I am B.U.S.Y.

It is too easy to become B.U.S.Y.

Today, Mom, make a conscience effort to NOT become B.U.S.Y. Allow yourself freedom from that housework in favor of opening up your Bible. Let the dishes pile up for just one meal so you can take time to play Candyland 5 times in a row, because once is never enough. Slow your pace and enjoy what God has given you.

By Colleen Stout

Mary and Joseph were just average, ordinary people. They didn’t do anything great, but God chose to facilitate an extra-ordinary miracle through them. A miracle that would save the world.

God could have chosen another couple. He could have snapped his fingers, and sent Jesus to earth as an adult. He could have done it a million different ways. But God had a plan, a perfect plan that needed Mary and Joseph. Aren’t you glad they went along with it?

How often does God have a plan for us that we fail to see, or we’re too scared to execute, or we think we have a better idea, or we just plain ignore? How differently things turn out for us when we take our own path. Even the lives of people who surround us — our family, friends, co-workers — can be affected by our choice.

Like Mary and Joseph, God has a plan for you. One that only you can carry out. Choose God’s plan. You never know what he might do in your life, or someone else’s as a result.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:10 (NIV)

By Colleen Stout

Last spring a family moved into our neighborhood with a little girl David’s age. Excited to have a playmate his age, David immediately befriended her.

David and the girl would play outside in the mornings. One day when I told David it was time for him to come in and eat lunch he invited the girl to eat with us . I said, “If it’s OK with her Dad,” and sent her home to ask.

She came back a few minutes later, and ate lunch with us.

That same afternoon David invited her for dinner. I gave the same answer, “If it’s OK with her Dad.” I figured her Dad, who was always home with her during the day, would say no to her eating with us a second time that day. I was surprised when again a few minutes later she was knocking on our door to join us for dinner.

Well, day after day David kept inviting her. I kept giving the same answer. I thought, “At some point her Dad is going to realize that she can’t eat with us every day, and say no, right?”

If I didn’t want her to come over I gave David specific instructions before we went outside, “I’m sorry, but you can’t invite her for dinner. She was here for lunch. Once a day is enough. OK? Don’t ask her, because it’s rude for you to invite her, and then I have to uninvite her.”

I didn’t really mind when she ate with us. She was well behaved. She always ate everything I gave her, a nice change from my two wild,  picky boys. She always said thank you. And feeding one more five year old wasn’t a hardship on us.

The family only lived in our neighborhood for about three months. One day I stood in our yard next to a heartbroken David as he watched his little friend and her parents move out.

While they were packing, the girl’s Dad came over to borrow a ladder. He was obviously distressed. My husband asked if things were OK, and he spilled the story about the financial crisis his family was in. We got to know the parents some, and suspected there was  a problem. But things were much worse than we imagined.

Suddenly it all became clear to me.

The ill-fitting boots the girl wore around even when it was hot. They weren’t just a little girl making independent fashion choices. They were the only shoes she had. The skirt that was too short. It wasn’t because her Mom didn’t have enough sense to tell her not to wear it. It was because she’d grown, and they couldn’t buy her a longer one. All the meals eaten at our house. It wasn’t a clueless Dad who didn’t know when to say no. It was because they often didn’t have enough food to eat.

I was so glad I’d allowed her to eat with us even though I wasn’t aware of the need. I truly believe the Lord used David and his outgoing personality to make sure that little girl didn’t go to bed hungry some days.

I actually wish I’d opened my eyes wider. Perhaps I’d realized sooner the need the family had. Perhaps we could have reached out to the parents more, helped them get the assistance they needed.

As Christians we are called to look for opportunities to help those in need, to ministers to others, to share the Good News of the Gospel.

Philippians 2:4 says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

As Moms our own children aren’t the only children to whom we have the opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ. We can reach out to their friends also. Perhaps that will even give us the opportunity to minister to their parents.

My eyes are open wider now. I’m looking more closely for the needs in lives of people our family encounters regularly. You don’t really know what’s going on, even in your own backyard. The only way to learn is to ask, and to get involved.

Even if means inviting them over for Mac & Cheese every day.

By Stacey Davis

I took my youngest daughter to the library one Wednesday morning.  I sat in the back and watched my daughter listen to the wonderful librarian tell stories to my little one.  I noticed that she was not so little anymore.  She wasn’t the biggest kid there, but she wasn’t the smallest either by far.  I began to reminisce about days gone by when my baby was just a baby and my 1^st grader was still at home with me. Those days go by so quickly, too quickly!  I realized that I was growing out of a season of motherhood.  I was out of the baby phase, past toddlerhood and had only one foot left in preschool land.  This was my last year with a child home with me full time.  I wiped a tear from my eye and felt a little sad. 

My daughter and I went home and continued on with our day.  We had some macaroni and cheese and a banana for lunch, well she did.  I had a salad.  Then it was time for nap time.  I am a lucky mom in that both of my daughters have been good nappers.  My 1^st grader is so well trained that she will have quiet time in the afternoon when she is home and even occasionally falls asleep.  My youngest not so much.   On this particular day my baby girl was tired.  So. Very. Tired.  Alas, we could not find the pacifier.  Yes, I admit that my 3 year old daughter still was on the paci.  So I put her to bed without it. I got about an hour of her being in her room, about 30 minutes of that she might have slept.  She was asleep, I checked.  After getting some things done around the house I sat down to check email and heard this little voice “Mommy.  Mooooommmmyy”.  So I ran to her room (which was about 5 steps from the computer in my tiny doll-like house) and I lay down with her.  This did the opposite of calming her down, it amped her up.  She started crying and I could not calm her down.  I tried to hold her and she turned away.  I tried to sooth her, she cried harder.  Finally I picked her up and carried her into the living room and rocked her in the rocking chair until she fell asleep.  I silently said a prayer of thanks to my husband for not throwing it away because in this moment it was the only thing that calmed my baby down.  I was reminded of earlier days in my mommyhood when I rocked smaller babies to sleep in this chair.  I tearfully reminisced again of days gone by.  Then my arm fell asleep.  My baby was not really a baby; she was almost 40 pounds and not little at all.  I contemplated moving and weighed the consequences.  She was quietly sleeping in my arms but my arm was killing me.  I tried to move.  She cried.  So I rocked a little longer, silently cursing my weak arm for being so numb. 

Suddenly I was glad to be in my season of motherhood. No I didn’t have a sweet smelling baby to hold, or a brand new little one to get to know, or a person in my life who didn’t know how to say “NO!” to me yet.  But then again I didn’t have to change any more diapers; I could carry on conversations with my kids, and could actually play a game with them.  Yep, I felt blessed to be right where God put me.

God’s word tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1 that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven”.  A season can be defined as a period of time.  He does not intend for us to stay in one time, in one place.  He intends for us to move forward in life.  Ecclesistes 3:9-11 goes on the read “What does the worker gain from his toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on men.  He has made everything beautiful in its time.”  Everything is beautiful in its time. 

Maybe your time doesn’t seem so beautiful right now.  Maybe you are struggling in your season of mommyhood.  This season is only a period of time and it will be made beautiful in His time.  So take a deep breath, praise God for this season, this time in your life because before you know it this season will have passed.

Thank you, God for this season of my life.  I know it may be rough sometimes but I trust that you have a plan.  I know that my toil is not for nothing.  Thank you for the seasons gone by and the season of my life yet to come.  May I be fully present in the place where you have put me and appreciate the good, the bad, and the beautiful.