Journey of Worship

 Do you remember learning how to walk?  Probably not!  But walking has become "natural" to you.  There are very few people that never got the opportunity to learn how to walk, and it was more than likely a limited circumstance that meant they had to learn a different mode of transporting themselves.  You would have to very diligently avoid walking to lose your ability to walk, but your brain has so many occurrences of it, that you may still imagine doing it.   Watching a baby learn how to walk, and then in those first few months "toddle" around has been a delight of mine, recently.  I have seen my own 2 children learn this: they got it in their head that they were going to do what the people around them were doing, and got up the courage and used the strength they had gained in training (crawling and pulling up) to walk.  It started with a side shuffle- along a couch or coffee table they had pulled up on- and then went to venturing to forward...

  Chapter 1: What Is Biblical Submission? Submission is often misunderstood. It's not weakness, passivity, or losing your identity—it's a strong, deliberate act of yielding to the will of God out of love and trust.  It's a commitment to take a posture of agreement despite circumstances, or perceived outcomes, and to endure in belief that God really is God over the universe. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” — James 4:7 At our point of accepting Christ, we step into the belief that, "though I don't deserve abundant grace, mercy, and love, I need it and therefore I lay down my life to the God who embodies this, trusting Him to lead my life."  Oftentimes, though, after our revelation and first step of submission, we pick back up where we left off.  We fall back into old habits; ways of acquiring a counterfeit of provisions.  I just watched MGK and Jelly Roll's "Lonely Road" music video.  What a p...

  Surrendering to Christ is not a one-time decision—it’s a daily laying down of our lives to follow Him, that comes with a promise (Luke 9:23-27, Matthew 11;28-30). You might even agree with me that it's a moment by moment giving up of your will, what you thought was best, and your reactions, and choosing to remember you are a child of God, and that changes everything.  Many women long for deeper intimacy with Jesus but don’t realize how much they're holding back.  If you think about it:  if you are "holding" anything, what is the position of your hands, and your heart?  Your hands are closed and there's a control and power over the object, idea, or person.  Your heart is saying "nothing in and nothing out."  When you are closed, you are not open.  You cannot hold on and receive at the same time.  True freedom comes not from control, but from surrender. Trusting God to truly surrender to Him what He gifted to you in the first place will actua...

 So, what was going on in my life a year ago?  That would have been the end of July, 2024, to be exact.  We had been fostering, with the intent to have 2 children adopted, for 6 years. We weren't giving up, though for many, adoption came in that first year even without that being their intention.  Maybe God knew we wouldn't give up and He could take care of a lot of kids in the meanwhile with us.  I think He knew that we still had a lot of working on to do, and He would do it in the 7 years that we stood on His promise of adoption.  We had to submit to him, and He was preparing the hearts of our bio kids.  We had completed our first adoption at the end of the previous year, on the day we left for an amazing month-long trip to visit my brother in Phuket, Thailand.  Upon arriving back we took a short couple months break before opening our home up to a 9 month old little boy, who was supposed to be a short (couple months) trip back to his momma....

Have you ever considered hiking a great mountain and reaching the peak?  Chris and I took an overnight hike up Mount LaConte when our oldest was 7 months.  We backpacked him, along with our supplies (diapers and a change of clothes for each of us, along with some snacks and waters).  We were on a mission to make it to the supplied cabins on top, though we wanted to experience everything along the way.  It was a fairly easy day's journey for Chris and I, as I remember it.  Along the way there was a steep part that we needed to use a rope to ensure we didn't slide backwards, we went through an overhang, and there were several parts that did not offer much foot space before you could be sliding down the side. We enjoyed the views, took pictures, I fed Nathaniel along the way and we had snack breaks and times to just reflect on the last leg of the journey (Wow, that was kinda scary!  Look, how beautiful!). There were several shelters along the way that a hiker ...

 Thank You Lord, for the reminder that you will provide everything we need today.  Even as I was able to get some time in my devotional before Chris left, to in-turn encourage him as anxiety started to well-up over all that we need to get done if we're really going to be able to turn our current house over to renters 4 days after we sign on our new house (which is in 7 days): with 3 of those days him going to investing classes and not actually being hands-on with any part of the move or settling.  He's got moving chickens, their coop and run, and all of the indoor and outdoor preparations in mind.  I remind him, "God will provide!  He will multiply your time and give you more hands to help."  Nathaniel has friends coming who can be of great assistance, and Chris also has friends who can take care of the moving part.  Oh, Lord, how excited I am for Chris to see you provide and pour out blessings as we entrust You and the people You provide! When we cons...

For the next 24 hours I will be exposed to the day's demands, and possible night callings.  It is now, as the day breaks and the sun rises, that I must make a choice who owns the day.  Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose.  Because I have chosen Christ, because Christ has made me new and continues to renew me, because He has given me everything I need for the day in His presence, I submit this day to Him.  It's really not about what I can do, but about what I believe.  So, because I believe in the risen Savior, Jehovah Jireh, my Heavenly Father, and Holy Spirit indwelling:  I choose Love...     No person, action or occasion justifies hatred, no injustice warrants bitterness.  God has created me and loves me: I choose to accept His love.  He has surrounded me with His creation and His children: I choose to love them with the love He has shown me.  I overflow with His love.  Today I will love God and what (whom) God loves. I ...

 As I wrap up this study, I admonish you to read the book of Proverbs.  I am able to see it so much more richly now, and I hope you are too; as you consider your responsibility in submitting to God's word and your influence on your husband and children.  Read as much as you can in one sitting, paying attention to when "she" is used: is this a description of what you have learned and who you are becoming, or a warning against what you are doing or have done?  Are you poisoning your husband and children with your words and actually leading them astray?  Do you build up in alignment with Gods' word, or are you tearing down?  Are you a fountain of blessing, or is Satan using you to deceive: an immoral woman in word and deed?  Are you drowning out Wisdom, that your husband and kids can't hear God speak through your pious ranting?   Oh, take heart, confess, and let go of the broken woman you've been!  God created you to build up!  You are...

 So, as a wife, can I make a difference?  I've heard the adage, "you make me want to be a better man," and yet never felt like that's what I was doing with mine.  Honestly, I often looked at my kids and thought, "I'm not really helping them become much better, either!"  So how do we "make someone" want to be better?  If it's not pointing out their faults, it must be encouraging their good traits and their potential.  What if you feel like you're doing that, and yet he's still lacking in authority, doesn't engage with his children, keeps others at a distance, and you feel like even your relationship with him is sideways?   You think you're speaking all the right things, but... are you sympathetic?  In this day of psychological breakthroughs we are encouraged to be empathetic.  To climb in the hole and feel all the feels, validate, and console (not counsel).  I dare say there's briefly a moment for this, and barely a situa...

 It's surreal: we are packing up for moving to a beautiful, bigger home with more yard and space to explore (the woods- we love it!).  A new adventure for all of us, about 45 minutes away from our current community.  We'll be letting go of a lot of what made up our days, weeks, and semi-monthly social gatherings.  I'm choosing to have hope in the new friendships and otherwise slowing down.  With 2 kids in "middle school", I need to have a lot of grace and guide them well.  Kids at that age are especially concerned for their relationships, and rightly so: now is especially a time for developing godly relationships that they will continue to "home base" on, along with their family once they leave the nest.  I pray that I would guide them well, and the Lord would bring incredible relationships; much truer than they previously had.  And that the friendships that are supposed to continue to impact them would stay.  It's a weight for me, but to tru...

 The other day my older son got frustrated with my younger son.  Testosterone likely makes him extra testy as he's just transitioning into puberty and manhood.  I'm trying to encourage him to get out and expend that new "energy" through the manly things, as well as exhorting him.  He's in the Word, thank God, and is  a remarkable young man.  As I try to understand him, help him understand his younger brother (an age gap of 9 years), and parent the younger son, I try to give him relatable material.  What was he like when he was younger?  How did I treat him; though each child will inevitably get treated differently?  How does he see his father interacting with him, me, and his younger brother?  As I do all of this, I must be careful that I'm not placing guilt or shame,  that I'm not relaying bitterness or resentment, and that I'm not speaking derogatorily about anyone.  Doing any of these things will not help heal, but rather ad...

God's word is golden.  Meditate on it daily, and let the Holy Spirit heal you and your marriage. Philippians 4:4-9 "Always be full of joy in the Lord.  I say it again--Rejoice!  Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.  Remember, the Lord is coming soon.  Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  And now, dear sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure,and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-- everything you heard from me and saw me doing.  Then the God of peace will be with you." When we consider this as a command...

By treating her husband like a king, she became a queen who God used to win him to Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 3:1-2  Do you want to be treated like a queen?  Act like one by treating him like a king!  Respond to him with dignity befitting a queen.  When a woman, confident in her beauty and value in Christ, treats a man with reverence, he will be honored, he will be rightly proud of his wife's beauty, her dignity and poise, and the Lord will work on him because He has the clearance to do so.  Don't muddy the waters by trying to intervene and create static.  He needs to hear Holy Spirit clearly for himself.  When the object of his desire gives him a clear view of God's transformation in her, he will be able to see through it to the God who does change hearts and lives. So, let us consider the difficulties of living with a man.  Where have you responded in a way that added kindling to the wrong fire in him?   I would encourage you first to...

 Hebrews 10:19 admonishes us to live a new way, connected to our great high priest to whom we can draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of our faith.  We can be cleansed of a guilty conscience and live in alignment with Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit working out holiness in us. Reflect that I earlier urged you to consider "let him"; what are we to let our husbands do that we have been holding him back on?  Now, look at these verses that say "let us".  This is important, because we are each and all responsible for our actions to align here, where as the other was an allowance of others, specifically our husbands whom we have a lot of control over.   v 22 "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."  We are to no longer consider ourselves in the view of lack, bitterness, brokenness, or shame.  We are...

 I want to dive today into the balm of peace that you can offer your marriage, and the blessing of joy that will come when you lay down your arms. Galatians 5:26  "Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."  The King James Version says it this way, which you may recognize the spirit that has come up in you when a conflict ensues, "desiring vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another," This verse follows Paul's admonition to live such that your life bears the fruit of the Spirit of God in you.  He is cautioning us to quickly identify a spirit of division, that incites competition and jealousy among believers.  He specifically warns against:     Vain glory, which can also be pride and vanity: A desire for empty praise and recognition, which can lead to a focus on self rather than on God, others, or bottom line, your call to be his help meet.  Tell me I'm not the only one that has struggled with transitioning to "marri...

 I have struggled for many years (I'm 45 now), with trying to understand how to be a fabulous woman for my man so that we could have a fabulous marriage.  The example I had growing up was the appearance of a good, hard working woman, and a good, hard working man, in conflict with each other and rarely showing affection.  Sometimes that conflict meant verbal or physical fighting: somehow my dad would end up with his hands on my mom.  I don't remember how that approach happened, but I do remember an antagonizing, patronizing that would come upon my mom and not end up well.  She may have been "justified", but did not deliver her concerns with a submissive spirit.  The following is not to count her sins, but to acknowledge the sins many of us have fallen into and look for God's direction. Since I have been married to Chris, there have been times that I was so frustrated with him, that I just wanted him to get frustrated back at me to "show he cared".  He w...