She Buildeth Her House

Christian

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Reflecting His Light

Sitting alone in the stillness one morning at a beach vacation, I was struck with the beauty of the clouds. But then it dawned on me that the clouds’ beauty actually came from the reflection of the sun I couldn’t yet see. In fact, I couldn’t see the sun at all because of the location of our porch in relation to the position of the sunrise.

But the closer the sun came to shining its beautiful face, the brighter the clouds got, until they were almost glowing.

All those clouds had the ability to shine like that, but their relationship to the sun is what determined their beauty.

Where are you today in relationship to the Son? Are you off in the distance, doing your own thing, or are you as close as you can get, reflecting His beauty to a hopeless, desperate world?

Let your needs and sins draw you TO Him, not shame you or push you away to try to get yourself straightened up first. When my kids make a mess of things, I WANT them to come to me. To ask for help. That way all their striving doesn’t make the situation worse.

He tells us to “…come boldly…” and “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest…” Oh how Satan loves to divide us from our source of strength, our source of hope and light and love. Cling to Him in your sorrow, in your joys, in your overwhelm. He’ll not turn you away.

And when you do, you’ll find yourself basking in His Son’s light and reflecting it to the world without even realizing you’re doing it. When you’re that close to the Son, you can’t help but reflect His beauty.

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Two Truths to Lean On When the Pressure is Too Much

Have you ever felt like you may just collapse from all the pressure you’re under? Or maybe like you just want to sit down and cry?

I sure have.

But I have good news! 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says speaks of God as One who comforts us in our tribulation. The word “tribulation” in the Greek according to Strong’s concordance literally means pressure. And if you look up pressure it means “the continued action of a weight or force” in Webster’s dictionary.

The society we live in puts so much pressure on us. We put pressure on ourselves. Sometimes the pressures are weight from our own sinful choices. Sometimes the pressure is from things far beyond our control.

Whatever the cause, the pressure is real.

The word comfort in this verse means “to call near.” I looked up call and found that among its many meanings are these: “a command; an invitation; to ask to come.” And the word near means “close; not far away.” I know this may not seem profound to you but I’m going somewhere, I promise!

From this verse, the God of the universe commands…invites…asks me to come close to Him when I’m under pressure. Not to go far away, but to come close. And that coming close IS comfort. Being close to Him is what comfort actually IS. He is the Comforter.

Satan likes to isolate us. Make us feel alone. Unloved. Uncared for.

But friend, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

He’s ready. Waiting. Inviting you to come close to Him so He can give you all the care your heart needs. After all, contrary to what so many of us believe and feel, God isn’t out to get us. If we are His children, He can can bring joy beyond what I can express! “In thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forever more.” Psalm 16:11

So today, take a breath if the pressure feels too heavy…and remember these two truths:

1. Comfort IS being in His presence. You won’t find true peace or comfort anywhere else on this earth no matter how hard you look. You won’t find it in work or in leisure. In perfectionism or in no giving up altogether. In doing all the things or in hiding from all the things. Only He can soothe your heart’s deepest cries. If you’ve never trusted Him, do it today! You’ll never regret it.

2. When the pressure is so very heavy, run TO Him, not away. Run toward His presence. Not hiding. Not ashamed. Not fearful and ashamed. Not trying to fix it all on your own. Not trying to earn His blessings or favor. He’s waiting and inviting you to come. You don’t have to be fancy. If you’ve sinned, just repent and come. If you make a choice to come to Him…He’ll never turn you away.

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3 Ways to Make the Most of Social Distancing

This is a strange time in our country. If you’d have asked me a month ago if the nation of America could be brought to her knees in such a short period of time, my answer would have been an emphatic NO. WAY.

And yet here we are.

So in this time of uncertainty, we as wives and mothers have a very unique opportunity to help determine what our families will remember about this historic event.

We have the ability to create fear in our family and amongst our children, or to have open conversations about all that’s going on and stir up faith. We can make it a time of irritation and frustration, or of togetherness and fun! Here are three quick tips that have helped me in making this time count.

  1. Determine to make PRAYER a priority. Don’t tune me out here. This suggestion is becoming white noise these days, but I really can’t overemphasize how important this is. Do something now to make regular prayer time a reality in your life and family if it isn’t. Make and display a simple prayer list to pray for at a set time each day with your family. Let the kids add their own requests! (We are currently praying for things as “small” as a pet and as “big” as making abortion illegal!) I hung our list inside my cabinet so I’ll see it when I’m setting table for breakfast and not forget! VISUAL REMINDERS ARE KEY! (Also, you have my permission…not that you need it…for it not to be fancy or perfect! Maybe its just me who has issues like that and subsequently procrastinates…but if it’s not just me, here’s your permission! Grab a piece of paper and do it now!)

    I would also challenge you to make the requests MEASURABLE so you can see if God is answering, and how. Instead of praying for God to bless someone, or work in a situation, be specific about how! It makes it easier to see how God is working in your life amidst all the chaos. Then you can be encouraged and put a smiley face beside the ones He answers!!
  2. Turn off your phone and stop endlessly watching the news. And tune into your family instead. No, I’m serious. During this time, your family needs you more than ever. If you want to check updates, set a timer for 10 minutes or so once or twice each day to do this. Otherwise, put it down! We got a phone jail as a gag gift for Christmas and I love it! It is a visual reminder to STAY AWAY FROM THE PHONE. We shouldn’t have our head in the sand concerning what’s going on, but watching depressing news and Facebook feeds all day isn’t helping anyone be more like Jesus, I promise! So I challenge you to do this today!! You won’t believe the difference it will make. IT WILL BE HARD, but that’s ok! YOU CAN DO IT!! Your family will thank you!

  3. Make a list of plans. I made a list of household projects as well as of fun things to do together with the kiddos and as a family and hung it on the fridge and it has helped so much! Little things. Big things. Just write them down and have them waiting for those moments of time when everyone needs a diversion. MY SECRET IS TO CHOOSE A “PROJECT” first (which is code for a chore that I’d like to do) THEN CHOOSE A FUN ACTIVITY! It makes everyone work faster and have something to look forward to. There’s a ton of ideas out there. Here’s a few ideas to get you started!
    • Listen to FREE AUDIBLE STORIES (The subscription fee has been waved on children’s stories while kids are out of school!!)
    • START GEOCACHING! It’s like a real life “treasure hunt.” I didn’t know what it was either, so read about it and then go do it!
    • LEARN A NEW SKILL TOGETHER. It could be survival skills, sewing, or anything in between. YouTube is awesome for stuff like this. (And yes, it’s ok to get your phone out if you’re doing it together and for a limited time lol)
    • PLAY! It could be hide and seek, play doh, board games, legos or a million other ideas. Ask your kids. Or play things you played when you were their age. Or if all else fails, get a cardboard box and the possibilities are endless…
    • DOCUMENT THIS HISTORIC TIME. This is an unprecentented event, so keep track of it! It will be fun to look back on. Lay a notebook on the table (again, visual reminders are so helpful!) and write a sentence or two every day of what you did, what’s going on.

      Or better yet do a photo journal as suggested by my friend Jessica Sauck. She suggests setting an alarm to go off every hour for an entire day, and taking a photo of whatever is going on. I did this challenge and LOVED IT!! It makes a mundane day seem more special somehow, looking for photographable moments.

The media makes everything look so hopeless but they don’t know Jesus! He is still good, even amidst all the chaos and suffering. I hope these ideas help you keep your focus on your blessings, and on our Savior and all He has done for us in this unique time in our history. God hasn’t forgotten us! Do your part in helping your family remember that!