Five Minute Friday More

If you were to ask me what I need more of, I might say time to get everything done, or more time to myself to read or write or relax, or I might even say more dark chocolate. But are any of those things really what I need? No, not really. What I really need is more of God. I need more wisdom from God, more of God’s grace, more peace, more abiding with Him. “I am the vine you are the branches.” John 15:5. All the other stuff that I mention at the beginning of the post  will satisfy me and refresh me for a little while, but only the Living Water can fully and completely refresh me. Lord, help me to remember that I really truly need you, and to stop chasing after trivial things hoping that they will fill me up. Only you can fill me up. I need more and more and more and more of you.

Every week I gather with my friends over at Five Minute Friday to free-write for Five minutes on the topic of the week. You can learn more about Five Minute Friday here.

 

 

 

Five Minute Friday Sing

but drink deeply of God’s Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and offer praise in your hearts to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:19 (Weymouth New testament translation)

Oh, how I love to sing. As an auditory processor, music deeply touches my heart. My oldest daughter knows that when I am sad, scared, or even angry that the best way to get me take my eyes off my circumstances is to turn on the radio. “Let’s turn on the God songs!”, she will tell me. Nothing reminds me to turn my eyes on Jesus more than songs praising Him. Music helps me to take my focus off myself and put my focus on Him. My children and I even have what we call “Party songs.” These are songs that we stop what we are doing when they come on the radio. We turn up the music, and sing them at the top of our lungs. I am so thankful that God gave us the gift of music.

These are my thoughts on the Five Minute Friday prompt word sing. Each we gather to pour our hearts out on to the page concerning the topic of the week. You can learn more about Five Minute Friday here.

 

Multitude Monday He is Risen Indeed!

I am so thankful for this beautiful Easter weekend celebrating the Resurrection of my Lord and Savior Jesus. My family enjoyed a lovely visit with my Mother and Father-in-love. We enjoyed a yummy meal, Easter egg hunt, and relaxed enjoying each other’s company. I hope that each of you reading this also had a lovely weekend. I now want to share a few of the things that I am thankful for this week,

I am thankful for a dear friend who reminded me of truth from God’s word this week.

We enjoyed a yummy meal at my Princess favorite restaurant.

We ordered curriculum for the upcoming school year. I am more excited about this one than my kids.

My children had fun hunting for Easter eggs, and enjoying treats from their Easter basket yesterday.

My father-in-law had all three of my children sitting in his lap several times this weekend.

My mother-in-love believes in buying Easter gifts for the adults too. I love the journal and candle that she gave me.

We celebrated Easter with a yummy meal of Turkey and all the fixings and side dishes that go with it.

I was blessed and encouraged by the sermon that our pastors preached on Sunday.

I am thankful for the truths that I read in Psalm 1 this morning.

What are you thankful for this Monday after Easter?

 

Five Minute Friday Empty

Many days I feel like I am running on empty. I am trying to take care of the next pressing thing. I have no time to stop. I am already behind. If I take a break I will be  even further behind. This feeling behind schedule even before the day begins leaves me feeling cranky and out of sorts. Then, I feel bad when I see the look of realization on my children’s face that Mama is in a bad mood (again.) Why am I in such a hurry? Is not one of the reasons that I am a stay at home mom is to enjoy being with my children? Do I really need to rush all the time? Is my schedule or how I view the day playing out that important, or could there be blessings behind the interruptions? Instead of running on empty, I need to ask God to empty me of my focus on myself, and my agenda, so that I can be filled with His Spirit. He must increase. I must decrease.

Time’s up.

At the Cross

Many times truths that I am reading in one section of the Bible gets intermixed in my mind with truth’s that I am reading in a different section of the Bible. This most commonly happens with my personal Bible study reading and reading the book of the Bible that I am studying with my friends at church.  I am reading through Luke with Good Morning Girls  , and I am studying Ephesians  with the Women’s Bible Study group at my church.  In Luke, this week I read about Holy week, the final days of Jesus’ life before the crucifixion. In Ephesians, this week I read about serving others, and the importance of serving others when God puts you in a position of authority. Jesus lived out the perfect example of servant leadership. He showed us how to love others when he washed the disciples stinky dirty feet. Do I serve my family well, or do I grumble about all the “washing feet” tasks that I do daily, for which I feel more appreciation is warranted? In my role as Mother, I know that I need to lead my children more with a spirit of love.  I far too often bark out orders with a spirit of we are going to get this stuff done, now. Instead of seeking to nurture and understand them. This brings me to the cross daily. May I never forget Jesus’ love and sacrifice for me, and may I remember that I am His. I want to live my life completely surrendered to Jesus.

 

Five Minute Friday Enough

God is enough. God’s grace is enough for me, but if I am honest, I often forget this truth. I chase after so many meaningless things searching for love, comfort, and acceptance in people or worse yet in stuff. Yet God is the only one who can satisfy. I wake up in the morning too many times, and get on the computer before picking up my Bible or praying, and then I see one of my sweet sleepy-eyed children, and ask myself, “Why, did I waste that precious time?” I complain about my problems to others, instead of bringing my requests to God. I need to remember that God is enough, and let His love and grace wash over me.

These my thoughts on the word enough. Please head over to Kate’s to learn more about this wonderful community.