Becoming a Woman of Old - guest post

I have a good friend, Sarah, who is

just one of those women I not only love as a friend,

but look up to as a woman and mother.

(she has 5 amazing children!)

Our families have been through quite a few crazy seasons together

and we have lived by faith side by side,

encouraging each other and learning what living life with each other truly means.

I am THANKFUL for her.

I've asked her to share here about her heart and passion for living

as a woman of God.

Trust me, she is a woman of wisdom who has a lot to offer.

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As a young wife and mother, I was overwhelmed with all the information available to becoming a great wife and mom. If you go to the bookstore, the shelves are lined with advice in both categories. Looking around my world it seemed that every family was doing things differently and adhered to their own brand of family.

Overwhelmed, I started praying a lot and reading through the Bible. I had made a decision long ago to live my life as closely to scripture as possible. When I read the Bible, I try to imagine I am alone on an island and that the only way to read the Word is by taking it at face value.

While reading through the scripture, I stumbled upon 1 Peter 3:5-6:

"This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do."

I long to be counted among the “holy women of old.” Have you ever read their stories? Miriam, a leader of Israel who was so passionate and fiery. Or how about Deborah? She was the ruling judge of Israel that led an army into battle. What about Esther? She was a beautiful queen whose actions saved people of Israel. And so many more.

When becoming like the holy women of old, two requirements seem to stick out to me. First, you have to live full of faith and trust God completely. I don’t know another way to live without fear as the verse requires. Second, we have to accept the authority of our husbands.

This little command is such a stumbling block. I know. It makes me stumble. A lot. But, I believe that it is a hidden part of the recipe that enables us to have successful marriages, peaceful families, and become the amazing leaders that God desires us to be.

This journey to be like Sarah and the women of old is not an easy one. But, I have seen such amazing fruit in my life that I cannot depart from this path.

And I can’t wait to see what is around the corner.

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Thanks Sarah. I love you!!

Tune in every other Sunday to hear Sarah's heart about

becoming a "woman of old".

You will be blessed. :)

one of the scariest moments in my life.

I want to share one of the scariest moments in my life with you today.

and also about the supernatural protection God provided.

I feel led to share it here because I KNOW the Lord is prompting

me to write about FEAR on this blog.

About my battle with it, and about how HE has given me freedom from the chains it used to keep me in.

I will be very detailed here because I want you to be able to see God's hand in it as I now do...

and I pray that if you read this it would NOT cause you to fear yourself, but instead it would encourage you regarding God's protection.

One morning in July 2010, I was sleeping in the guest bed in Abigail's nursery, and she was sleeping in an inclined rocker near the bed (she slept in that to help her reflux).

I usually wore my contacts to bed for weeks at a time so I could see when I got up to nurse Abigail. But my eyes had needed a break the night before, so I took them out.

That morning, I woke up, and because I could not see Abigail very well with no contacts in,

I thought to myself that I needed to pull her rocker closer to me.

And in that instant I also had one of those mommy moments where

I just wanted her to be close.

So I reached over and slid her right up to the side of the bed,

as far up as it could go so that I could see her.

She was still sound asleep, so I went back to sleep too.

literally LESS than 5 minutes later,

the loudest crash I think I've ever heard woke me up. Abigail started screaming and so did I.

The ceiling fan had literally COME OUT of the ceiling, and fallen to the floor...

the light, the fan, the wires, the motor...ALL of it.

Glass, wood, and metal in a heavy heap on the floor.

RIGHT where Abigail had been sleeping not 5 minutes before.

I don't need to tell you what 50 pounds of ceiling fan

could have done if it had landed on my tiny baby girl.

Though the edge of one fan blade hit Abigail's sleeper,

she was perfectly fine...just completely scared and screaming, as was I.

Needless to say it took me a long time to get over this (and to trust using a fan again).

Fear crept (well, fell really) into my heart.

But here is where I want to point out the AMAZING protection of the Lord.

Had my eyes not been tired, I wouldn't have taken my contacts out.

Had I not taken my contacts out, I would not have been unable to see Abigail,

Had I not been unable to see her, I never would have moved her sleeper.

And had I not moved her from where she was...

But I haven't told you (shown you) the most amazing part of this story.

The DAY BEFORE this happened, we were at a 1 year old birthday party and my friend Jessi took a picture of me and Abigail.

This picture is not edited in any way, her camera was working just fine, and no other pictures came out like this.

I don't know if you believe in the supernatural, and in the Lord's protective angels...but we do.

And after this picture was taken, we KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord had already summoned His angels to protect our little girl

from what would happen the next day.

crazy, right? or not.

just plain God, that's what we think.

Oh I am in tears as I write about this and see this picture. God is SO good.

The point in sharing this with you in regards to fear, is that my desire is to live

expectant that God will protect.

I believe that as humans, protection is one of the main fears we struggle with.

I want to live in expectation that He will orchestrate HIS plans in my (and my children's) best interest, because He loves me.

"For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

they will life you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone..."

Psalm 91:11

I have spoken with several of my good friends just this week, and read several blog posts lately about it...and it seems like all of us have been battling fear.

And It's unfortunately kind of a "given" when you are a mother, that you will feel even more fear about loss, sickness, injury, heartache, etc for your child...

But I'm on a journey to believing that it doesn't have to be our mode of operation.

I'm LIVING proof that there is freedom from the prison of fear.

I look forward to sharing more of my testimony with you about this.

I am going to begin a "series" about fear every Thursday on this blog.

Just about my journey and battle with it.

It is a powerful spirit that is NOT from the Lord.

It is one that I lived with for WAY too long, to the point of making me physically sick.

And I want freedom for YOU too.

Maybe through the power in testimony, we can walk through this battle of fear together.

{linking up here.}

friendships - the good, the bad, and the blessings

First of all, I want to say that you should go read

THIS POST.

My amazing friend Ashley wrote it and it is powerful.

And I am in agreement with her that if we all stopped to listen and learn and really KNOW each other, lives could be changed, friendships formed, opinions thrown aside.

And that if we are supposed to be in relationship, then we will be,

and if we aren't then we will be okay with that too.

But at least we will have approached each other with love from the get-go.

And we could be blessed and bless others.

We all don't have to be bff's.

I acknowledge that we are all created differently and that

we will all be in relationship with different people and different groups.

Thank the Lord for the ones He has picked for us each to be surrounded by.

I am thankful for those in my life whom I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has me in relationship with...even through hard stuff.

Sometimes that's where He shows up the most in fellowship.

And it's taken me a long time to realize this,

but I am also thankful for the friendships that did not stick around, for whatever reason.

Some due to life differences, locational distance, differing beliefs, and even false judgements.

I am thankful for those because it has grown me...

into the woman and friend I truly want to be, and it has taught me the kind of friends I want to surround myself with.

I used to try and "make things work" with certain girls,

or try and rekindle a friendship that was there in the past but has changed.

It was very hard on me to get past these changed relationships, but I have now come to realize,

that some friendships were for some seasons.

And that's ok.

I am by no means the best at being a friend.

Actually, I'm pretty terrible sometimes.

My best friend Nat would tell you that I'm HORRIBLE at calling or returning calls.

I've had to ask her forgiveness more than once...

and she always gives it to me without a thought.

(love you girl, so thankful for you.)

But I do strive to be better,

to go into relationships, new or old, with a sense of love and acceptance,

and an open heart to follow where the Lord might lead me in that friendship.

And I hope we can all try to do the same, putting aside our own insecurities or judgements and finding a place of peace in our friendships,

whether that means becoming best friends, or parting ways.

And I have to say here that I am thankful for the strong and genuine women

I am friends with through this blog.

And though I cannot begin to name all of these ladies that bless my life...

I hope that you will go "meet" them too, and be blessed by their hearts like I am.

Some I am just now getting to know but already love, and some I consider dear friends.

{I started writing out a little bit about each of these ladies, but Id be writing several posts if I did that bc I love them so much!}

so just go over there ---> to my sidebar,

and click on the links to each of those blogs.

You may just make a new friend.

Love yall.

prayer in the sickness

It is so difficult to explain to a child that she will feel better soon.

that her tummy hurts will go away, (we were praying they would)

that Mommy is so sad for her and wishes she could take it from her.

It's heartbreaking.

Abigail got really sick last week.

I had found some weird looking stuff in her diaper and took her in to the dr.

One of the concerns the Dr had was that it could be dried blood from internal bleeding,

but since I did not have a diaper with me, we would have to wait until the next day to test it.

Let me tell you, "internal bleeding" is not something you want

to hear as a possibility for your child.

{*Thankfully it was NOT blood,

but some crazy reaction to an antibiotic she was on.*}

Abigail was not herself AT ALL. Lethargic, laying around, not talking, etc.

And telling me "my tummy's hurting", and "my bottom's hurting"

with the saddest little voice.

*I want to pause and say something here...

I know several mamas who have children with serious conditions and illnesses,

and I want to say I admire you.

And that as I write about a tummy virus and not anything serious,

I am sensitive to the fact that, for you,

its not just something that goes away with time or medicine.

My heart hurts with you as you watch your children suffer.

I also want to acknowledge my own mom right now.

She dealt with LOTS of sickness and doctor's visits, etc raising me.

(I had severe IBS growing up, plus lots of other crazy sicknesses)

I just had NO idea the toll it can take on you as a mother to deal with a sick child,

especially when you are told it could be something serious.

I distinctly remember her telling me she wished she could take it away for me...

and now, as a mommy myself, I understand what that means.

Thanks Mom, for all you did for me, and for all the prayers.

(you deserve a medal for some of the things we went though with my health!)

Needless to say, as we had to wait until the next day to go in for testing,

it was a LONG night full of battling fear and emotion.

I tried to not let my mind go to the worst case scenarios.

Parker and I did our best to just pray against the fear,

and pray healing over Abigail.

During the waiting and praying, something hit me.

Something that I want Abigail to learn from me, from us as a family...

That she will hear her Mommy and Daddy pray for her and believe G0d for her.

That she would learn to pray against fear in her own little life,

that she would learn what it means to pray for healing.

And that she has a God she can talk to and trust with her biggest fears and hurts.

and you know what?

That night as I prayed for Abigail in bed,

she prayed with me and said with the sweetest yet most serious voice,

"God, heal tummy."

She had seen us, and heard us pray for her.

She had seen us trust God on her behalf.

And now she's learning to trust Him too, to call upon Him when she needs Him...

One of the best lessons she can ever learn.

love yall...have a great day.

and thanks to those who prayed with us.

linking up here:

feeling sorry for myself

3 of the 4 of us have been bitten by the flu bug...ugh.

thankfully tiny Bethany is still in the clear.

I thought I would miss it too, but woke up this morning with high fever

and can hardly move my body hurts so bad.

I'm also struggling to give myself some grace for having yet another unproductive TV-watching day as we all recoup. Im telling myself its ok,

that Abigail (hopefully) wont remember these sick days

that I couldn't play with her much.

I know, I know, Im feeling sorry for myself.

Thanks for listening.

This made me feel better though...hoping it will make you smile today too!

(Abigail thought her baby sister needed some beads)

Have a great Sunday,

and I pray that sickness stays far away from you and yours!

love yall.