Time for....... you decide

I was listening to this song the other day while painting. I had heard it many times prior to this, however, it is amazing that when you are otherwise scatterbrained, you don't actually "hear" what is playing in the backround. This time, I heard for the first time how deep this song really is. I would venture to say that it is the story of the work God began in me before our move. It is still an unfinished work, as we all are. However, it is my prayer, year by year, to allow this process of God's house cleaning. To continually ask for refining/purification so that God has HIS way into shaping me into who HE desires me to be.
No matter how long you have been saved,there are always times to allow the Lord to CLEAN HOUSE. We never become immunized to change and allow the Lord to purge our 'old man.' Dont get me wrong, it hurts, it is hard and even a bit traumatic at times, however the result is pure freedom. When we get saved and repent, all of our past is forgiven! We have a clean slate! Unfortunatley, sometimes we continue to 'hold on' fearing what may happen if we let God have ALL of our baggage! We sometimes like to take our baggage with us just to keep it 'safe'. Sad thing is this is a lie from Satan. This is bondage! Bondage to our former self, our past sin, and finally bondage to the present sin....... Lack of trust that the Lord can handle our fragile hurting hearts with the same amount of care He handles our eternity. When listening to this song, ask the Lord to search your heart to find those things that have been 'broken too long'. The Lover of your Soul is just waiting on you.
Make sure to mute my music on the side bar to hear this amazing song! Lyrics below!



It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...

To... Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time to face up Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This *IS* something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to face up Clean this old house
Time *to* breathe in and let everything out

After allowing the Lord to search your heart, if you find that there is a lot more cleaning that you want the Lord to do I highly recommend going through the study Healed & Set Free by Tammy Brown. This site has a very good description of what it entails. There is even an audio file where you can listen to the author's testimony. I can truely say that it is the best investment I have ever made in a bible study. It is not just a book of ideas and quick fixes. It is a labor of love for HOW the bible applies to HEALING the deepest wounds and truely moving on. Even good bible believing churches tend to lean toward adopting physchological non-sence to sustain a 'status quo' of misery and bondage. Being faced with the scriptures in this book changed my marriage, my family, friendships and my perspective on who I am in Christ.

Loves & Hugs!

A video you must watch!

A fellow blogger published a link on her blog to this amazing woman's story....... This is a video of a woman who is diagnosed with cancer...... The prognosis is not good for her, but yet she has self-lessly used this experience to minister to other women! It is an hour long presentation but I am telling you it is so worth your time to watch! I usually don't blog things like this, but felt compelled that this is definately worth sharing! If you have a blog I encourage you to pass this along as well!

http://deathisnotdying.com/eventvideo/

She refers to several things in her talk about a book list and such which can be found at her website http://www.deathisnotdyeing.com/

God Bless and did I already say WATCH THE VIDEO? ;^) HUGS!

Just a mom? I think not!

These are some of the thoughts I have been questioning lately so I hope they speak to you in some way!
The world is really turning into a crazy place? I have heard of people with 5 or more children getting harassed by total strangers. Not that I condone or think that this is acceptable either, but me? With only 3 kids in tow? Here in Florida, usually you only find 1.5 children per family, so I suppose I have ‘broken the mold’ a bit. Can’t wait till I can annoy more of the population when our family size increases!
Let me share one of these MANY experiences that I have encountered. I was at Costco and was waiting in line with my brood. A lady in her 60’s +, got behind me in the food court line. In the course of watching me instruct who was going to continue to push the cart and who was going to help me gather the food/drinks, she blurted out “Those are ALL yours?” NO, she was not talking about the groceries I had in my cart, but yet about my ENORMOUS amount of children (only 3 keep in mind). SO many things were running through my mind at that point in time but I managed to keep it simple and respectful. I bit my tongue and through the course of our conversation, felt a genuine pity for a woman who apparently never experienced children & motherhood as a blessing. She was a mother alright, but as she related, 2 was her limit. She spoke of her mothering years as if she was raising cockroaches rather than children.
I wonder if my encounter is a reason why many Christian families chose not to have more children; if possibly we have adopted this world-view of mother-hood & nurturing children are truly a “less~than” calling. That fallacy that more that the allotted 2.5 children are so much work/money/evergy/effort, that adding to our workload and draining your pocket book beyond this is not worth it? Has the Christian community been dupped into the many ‘logical/worldly/self-centered’ reasons why we should not be raising more arrows to shoot out and win souls for the Lord.
She asked many questions that I thought I would blog them so you can get an idea…….. “Do you work?” I replied that “Being a mom was my job 24/7. It was a more rewarding & productive career choice than anything I could accomplish outside the home and I wouldn’t trade that position for anything else.” She then discounted my statement by saying “Oh…….. you are one of THOSE moms” I gleefully said, “I suppose so!”
To my curiosity, to see how polite this woman could be, I couldn’t resist sharing with her that we were not done adding to our family. In the course of numbering our one boy verses 2 girls, I mentioned we were hoping to add one or 2 more. Her look was priceless. I then knew, for certain. that she had no self-restraint, nor desire to be polite as her next question, “YOU’RE PREGNANT AGAIN?” I kindly explained that NO I wasn’t pregnant but that we hope to add to our family through adoption. “Why would you want to do that?” she replied. I explained to her how fortunate my children are to have 2 parents that love them! That there are so many orphans in the world today that deserve that same kind of forever home and unconditional love! Her next rude question was expressed with a bit of a cringe on her face, “Overseas adoption?” I told her that I wasn’t sure in which manner the Lord would add to our family but I was open to HOWEVER, God wanted to bring our kids home. I think I left that woman in the most confused state of mind, but at the end of our conversation she had a smile on her face and seemed to have a curious but genuine respect for my statements. Quite honestly I could really care-less what she thought of me, but I was glad that God would not let me back down and allow her to treat the calling of motherhood as valueless.

There have been many of these conversations I have experienced here in FL. Most of them I did not handle so gracefully and it was easy to just ignore their blatant rudeness or just blow off their comments as if the inquisition didn’t deserve my attention. After all, they do come off to be quite rude and genuinely OK with being extremely unhappy or selfish people. HOWEVER, the first time I did answer someone with a genuine answer, I realized something in the reflection of my children’s faces. MY KIDS ARE LISTENING! If I say nothing to refute the claims, my children may have no idea that I disagree with those discounted ideas of motherhood and therefore, infer that they are not worthy of my efforts to train them up in the Lord. The first time I answered someone’s question about my career choice with something like “I think I have the best job in the world! I wouldn’t trade being at home with my kids for any amount of money or status because money can’t buy what I experience on a daily basis”…… My children’s (especially my eldest daughter) faces perked up with and an irreplaceable countenance of joy. Everything about their demeanor just beamed with “WOW! Mommy finds our time together as valuable and irreplaceable!” At that point they knew that I valued motherhood.

Many of my younger mothering years kinda felt like I was “Doing motherhood” much like an inmate does their time. Awaiting for that next phase where my every moment was not being occupied. So selfish to want what I wanted over the demands of nurturing my little ones. Especially on those days when being a mom isn’t immediately rewarding and our attitudes reflect this. There are days when it does feel a bit like we are ‘doing time.’ The truth is we all have those days when we are cleaning up vomit, potty training, or just a day where it has been a battle of wills and you are ready to call in sick. Since this is not an option we then have a choice where lately I have been challenged by this question. DO I feel/display this attitude of valuing my job at very moment of mundane or on the verge of exhasperation? No, I shamefully fall short of this on a daily basis because I am a sinful, selfish woman that is desperate for a constant heart change. They key that I have learned to ask God for is the ability to CHOOSE joy, regardless of circumstances. So, while none of us moms have it all together and are constant reflections of the joys of motherhood, we are usually given these little AHA moments to show our little treasures that they are worth every moment we are able to pour into their hearts! When complete strangers have the audacity to consider your quiver-full an inconvenience we are presented with a choice. To defend the fact that children ARE a valuable entity to our family OR not respond at all. Each one speaks volumes to their little hearts.
Here are some more blogs that I have been reading about the same subjects!

http://sahmissionary.blogspot.com/2009/06/mothering-and-ministry.html

http://parunak.com/pursuingtitus2/2009/06/05/adventures-in-mothering/

http://likeawarmcupofcoffee.blogspot.com/2009/06/burdens-or-blessings-dealing-with.html

http://christinnjon.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/duty-of-discipline/

A sacred calling; Motherhood!

I read this in a fellow bloggers site adn thought it was well worth passing along; especially if you are in feeling as if what you are doing doesn't matter or isn't producing visable fruit. This may give you that extra encouragement to continue of the worth while journey of mothering!


"Mothers, please don't let the world rob you of the incredible joy of a life invested in your children.
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They are your mark on the world.
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They are your legacy, your testimony, and your contribution to mankind.
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Don't let some other woman steal your influence.
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Remember, 'The hand that rock the cradle is the hand that rules the world.'
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That saying didn't just show up one day.
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That proverb is the result of centuries of observation. A mother's influence is unmatched."-

Voddie Bauchaum, Family Driven Faith