Grieved Heart

My heart has been grieved for our nation for a long time. It just seems to continually get worse and worse. Honestly, I'm beginning to think that God has lifted His hand of protection from us and is allowing us to deal with what we thought we wanted.

Today I was reading Psalm 80 and it really made me think of the United States. Just as Psalm 80 is a prayer for Israel's restoration, we need to make it a prayer for our restoration.

O Lord God of hosts,

How long will you be angry

Against the prayer of Your people?

You have fed them with the bread of tears,

And given them tears to drink in great measure.

You have made us a strife to our neighbors,

And our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;

Cause Your face to shine,

And we shall be saved!

~Psalm 80:4-7

A Space for Grace

I've been having a rough week. In addition to some type of sickness running through my family, I was having a tough emotional time. Wednesday was the worst (probably because I was beginning to get sick myself). When the devotional A Space for Grace came into my email in-box on Thursday morning, I should have read it right then, but I didn't want to take the time so I put it off. I finally read it this morning and boy is it something I needed to hear!

If you struggle with the ups and downs of life, then please take a moment to check it out.

Never

What an eye-opening and encouraging post over at (in) courage about living as in God's eyes instead of the eyes of the world. Take a moment to check it out!

Parenting

Just wanted to share a link to a post about differing parenting styles. If you have a moment, please check it out!

Parenting: One Size Doesn't Fit All

Wait Silently and Think on Whatever is good

Psalm 62

To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

 ¹ Truly my soul silently waits for God;
         From Him comes my salvation.
 ² He only is my rock and my salvation;
         He is my defense;
         I shall not be greatly moved.
        
 ³ How long will you attack a man?
         You shall be slain, all of you,
         Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
 ⁴ They only consult to cast him down from his high position;
         They delight in lies;
         They bless with their mouth,
         But they curse inwardly.  Selah 
        
 ⁵ My soul, wait silently for God alone,
         For my expectation is from Him.
 ⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation;
         He is my defense;
         I shall not be moved.
 ⁷ In God is my salvation and my glory;
         The rock of my strength,
         And my refuge, is in God.
        
 ⁸ Trust in Him at all times, you people;
         Pour out your heart before Him;
         God is a refuge for us.  Selah 
        
 ⁹ Surely men of low degree are a vapor,
         Men of high degree are a lie;
         If they are weighed on the scales,
         They are altogether lighter than vapor.
 ¹⁰ Do not trust in oppression,
         Nor vainly hope in robbery;
         If riches increase,
         Do not set your heart on them.
        
 ¹¹ God has spoken once,
         Twice I have heard this:
         That power belongs to God.
 ¹² Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy;
         For You render to each one according to his work.

Recently, I have been hurt multiple times by someone and just yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was ready to vent to my friends about what happened, then I read Psalm 62 this morning.

I am to wait silently for God and He will defend me. I am to bite my tongue (which I did yesterday) and not keep dragging it up by venting about it. Even though I am attacked by those who "bless with their mouth But they curse inwardly", I am to "wait silently for God". He is my rock, my strength, my salvation, my refuge! I can pour my heart out to Him and trust Him all the time. My power is certainly in God!

This also brought to mind another scripture that I was actually trying to remember yesterday when that final straw fell so I looked it up in my concordance--Philippians 4:8.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

So, today I am trying to focus on what is good about the person who hurt me deeply. When I catch myself thinking about how I was treated and what was said, I ask God to forgive me for dwelling on the bad and replace the thought with what is something good about the person. I need to wait on Him to defend me and not try to do it on my own.

Leading Towards God's Destined Path

I read a devotion from Proverbs 31 Ministries titled, Not Just Anyone, and while it is a great devotion for everyone to read, it got me thinking about something else.

Once He’d grown, the people of Jesus’ home region had a hard time accepting Jesus as the Messiah. How could this man they’d seen learning to walk, learning to talk, learning to hammer and saw, be God’s Son? In fact, they leveled the strongest possible accusation at Him. They claimed, in Mark 3:20-25 after He healed a man on the Sabbath, He was working for the devil.
That’s not just marginalizing someone, that’s attacking them! Have you felt misunderstood or attacked? Notice that God did little to stop these people from running their mouths incorrectly about Jesus. Instead He kept right on leading Jesus down His destined path. (bold is my emphasis)

People may misunderstand you and talk bad about you, but that doesn't mean that God doesn't love you. He won't necessarily stop those bad things from happening, but He is faithful to keep on leading you to what He has destined for you. When we experienced people slandering us, spreading lies, talking about us behind our back, twisting our words and actions to support what they thought was going on in our lives, we had to come to the decision to not fight and leave it in God's hands. As long as we were living how He called us to live, it didn't matter what they said. We knew the truth would prevail in the end. We allowed God to continue leading us to His destiny for us.

This kind of goes along with my other post from this morning, in the fact that God doesn't always remove the struggles we are experiencing, but can use how we've been molded by those struggles to further His kingdom and for His glory.

Being overlooked or misunderstood is hard to take. Jesus was no doubt disappointed by those in His home region, and by the leaders in the synagogues whose job it was to recognize the Messiah when He came.  But ultimately Jesus’ identity, worth and power came from His Heavenly Father and not from the validation of any earthly being.
The same is true for you and me.
If you feel overlooked or misjudged today, take those feelings to Jesus and let Him reassure you. If you haven’t received love and support from the people important to you, take that disappointment to the Lord who understands completely. (bold is my emphasis)

 If you aren't experiencing the love and support of people who are important to you, just remember that God, who loves you far more than any earthly person could, loves and supports you. Christ truly has experienced what you are experiencing and can help you through those difficult days. Take your burdens to Him and then open your arms to receive the love and comfort from the one who truly understands!

With God, Nothing is Impossible!

"For with God, nothing is impossible." ~ Luke 1:37

The Lord led me to the book of Luke today (after my normal reading in Psalms). I must say, it is always comforting when He speaks to me like this. Luke 1:37 is definitely something I needed to hear.

Nothing--NOTHING, is impossible with God! It doesn't matter what you are struggling with, it isn't impossible to survive if you have God! It doesn't matter how long you've been struggling with it, it isn't impossible with God! It doesn't matter how hard it is, it isn't impossible with God!

I'm not saying that everything is going to go the way you want it to, but it will go the way God wants it to because He can do anything. If we are truly founded in Him, then we shouldn't desire anything against His will. There may be times when we don't understand why we have to struggle with something and want out of it because of the struggle, but God could be using that struggle to shape and mold you into what He wants/needs you to be in order to use you in some mighty way.

We have been told many, many, many times that it is impossible for us to support a large family on one income (and a small income at that!), but we are here to testify that it IS possible. Why? Because of God; we have faith that He will provide for every blessing (child) He has bestowed to us.  Has it always been easy? No, but it has been worth every step. Not only have we drawn closer together as a family, but we are now in a place where we can share what we've learned with others. Have there been times where we almost lost faith? Yes, but God is faithful and has always drawn us back to Him which in turned strengthened our faith.

I encourage you to memorize this scripture and when you are in a place of doubt, remember it and stand on the promise of God.

"These are the mothers, the world needs today!"

"Mothers with courage; mothers who pray,

These are the kind the world needs today.

Mother who think, who study and plan;

Mothers who laugh as much as they can,

Having the gift that is better than money--

The habit of seeing that some things are funny.

Mothers whose faith never wavers or falters;

Mothers whose spirits the world never alters;

Loving the right and scorning the wrong;

Facing the problems of life with a song.

Mothers whose bravery transcends their fears;

Winning the battle with patience and tears;

Never submitting to weakness or sin---

Storming heaven's gates till the children are in.

Mothers heroic, not guilty of whining;

Hands graced with service and faces with shining.

Mothers of purity, virtue and faith,

Steadfast in life and triumphant in death;

Looking beyond the dark pathway of sorrow,

Seeking a home in God's joyous tomorrow,

Leading the children; pointing the way---

These are the mothers, the world needs today!

-Kathryn Blackburn Peck

Feeding a Family on a Tight Budget

I was asked by Love, INC (In the Name of Christ) to teach a 6 week class on feeding a family on a budget. Since it would run through mid-May, I had to decline. They found someone else, but she couldn't do the first class so I accepted to teach one class. As I've been thinking about what I would share, I thought that sharing how to stretch a chicken would be a good idea.

I bought a chicken last week for $4.51/5 lbs. I cooked it in the crock pot all day with some potatoes & carrots and seasonings. We ate that for dinner tonight as well as some applesauce. Figuring in the price if I had to buy the applesauce,... it would have been $9.11 to feed my family of 10 tonight.

I have put the carcass back in the crock pot with water and figured out how much for the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery that I'll add tomorrow after taking the meat of the bones as well as the rice for chicken and rice soup and came up with only $1.60 (because I've already counted the chicken carcass).

I then figured out two options for the leftover meat--chicken tetrazinni and green beans or chicken and dumpling casserole. Option one will add up to $4.33 and option two will add to $3.75.

All the figuring is buying hormone free chicken, farm fresh eggs, spelt flour, organic carrots, onions, celery, etc. as well as if I had to buy the goat milk. All these figures would go down if people didn't care about "organic" or "natural".

After figuring that all meals will feed 10 people, option 1 works out to 50 cents per person per meal and option 2 works out to 48 cents per person per meal. I have a feeling that people are going to be surprised they can feed their family on so little. I was asked to show how to feed a family of 5 for $5 a meal. This is feeding a family of 10 on $5 a meal!

I figured it might be helpful to those who follow my blog to also see what I come up with. This was my first "test" at what to present and I plan on making lots of handouts with other cheaper meals as well. If you have any ideas/suggestions for this class, I would love to hear them. I will be teaching the class on March 14th.

My Life For Yours: A Mother's Pondering About Her Body

My Life For Yours: A Mother's Pondering About Her Body