by Stacey | Aug 29, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
My niece just moved in with our family. Here she is unpacking her life.
She had dedicated the next year to her studies. She is spending the next year learning. Learning her craft. Preparing for the future.
When was the last time that I spent a huge block of time solely dedicated to learning? Learning what’s important? Preparing myself for eternity?
What am I learning?
Right here, right now God is teaching me about grace. I am learning about forgiveness. I am learning that things are not always black and white.
I’m learning I don’t need all the answers, I just need to trust God has them and that He’s got my back. That leads to my next lesson. I’m learning about trust.
I’m learning that motherhood is both the most important and hardest role I’ll ever have. And that leads me back to grace.
Did I mention I am learning more about grace?
I’m learning I’m wrong far more than I like to admit. I’m learning that attitude counts for a lot. I’m learning more about the hugeness of my sin and the constant battle between my own sinful nature and the Holy Spirit.
I’m learning I have a lot to learn.
Just when I think I have a handle on it all, God peels back another layer and I see my smallness in contrast to His greatness with fresh eyes again.
I’m learning that I have barely scratched the surface of who God is and what His plan is for my life.
I’m learning even more about grace.
What are you learning?
by Stacey | Aug 22, 2013 | The Weekend Visitor
I’ve never counted, but I imagine the number of times I’ve been asked that question by Moms with one or two children is somewhere in the hundreds. I have five children, and judging by the look on the tired and weary faces that pose the question, that number seems simply impossible.How do you do it?
Those are five loaded words. I suppose because the “it” behind that question is different for everyone.
How do you care for five little people?
How do you operate on little sleep?
How do you keep them safe?
How do you find time to do the laundry?
How do you afford them?
How do you keep from losing your ever-loving mind?
Mommas of one and two children – I understand every one of these questions. And, I understand just where you’re coming from.There are some things I want you to know about me. About children. About this journey through motherhood that we’re both on.
If no one has ever told you…
Sarah lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, Jason, her four boys and her baby girl. She is really disorganized, she doesn’t make her bed, and she yells at her kids too much. She don’t garden, sew, craft, or read – so you’ll rarely find anything about those topics on her blog. She
doesn’t do so many things, so when you read her stories, look at her photos, and bookmark her recipes, she hopes you’ll see a girl who shares what she does well, but is hopelessly flawed in many other ways.
Despite all that, she is loved – forever loved – by a God so big and beautiful that He came down to earth just to know her. She lives for Jesus – and her heart belongs to Him.
by Stacey | Aug 8, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
When God asked Kevin and I to leave our comfortable and happy home in St Catharines and follow Him into the great unknown, I felt fear.
Not fear about the actual move, because God had spent the past year preparing me for this moment of obedience. But fear of lost friendships. Of being misunderstood. Of making a mess of what had been a beautiful place to worship and serve.
I had hoped that when we announced God’s plan to use us in a church plant in a new city, that our friends would do more than accept the change. I desired their support. I had hoped that our departure would feel less like us leaving, and more like them sending. Them sending us out with their blessing to further the work of God’s kingdom.
But was it naive to hope a congregation could send away their pastor and family with this sentiment?
Last Sunday we stood on the platform at our final service with our Orchard Park family. We were surrounded by friends. Some smiling. Some tearful. All supportive.
Then, one of our elders spoke words that brought instant tears to my eyes (tears that flowed steady for the next hour or so!). He referred to Orchard Park Bible Church as our sending church. He called for a committment from the people to pray for us now, and in the future months, for the adventure that awaits. He requested updates from us so they can pray specifically, and offered wonderful words of encouragement. He sent us with their support, their blessing, and their love.
He has no idea what his words meant. He has no idea that those exact words were words that I prayed to hear. Well, maybe he will if some of you reading this tell him 🙂
God is good. Oh, so good. We didn’t leave, we were sent. That little word makes all the difference in the world.
Sent with a blessing.
Sent with support.
Sent in love.
Thank you, Orchard Park, for letting God use you to answer my prayer as we obeyed His command to go.
by Stacey | Jul 25, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Sometimes life overwhelms. All appears lost. Evil thrives. The tragic and hopeless state of our fallen world weighs down my heavy heart.
Lifestyle addictions, relationship issues, work problems, and illness. I long to offer comfort – to be comforted. But how? Even when I am trusted enough to be welcomed into a friend’s pain, I come up empty.
Anything I can say sounds like a weak platitude.
Then I remember.
I am not the deliverer. I need only to direct others to the Deliverer, to remind myself where I find deliverance.
I can sit beside them and hold their hand. I can intercede on their behalf. I can share my tears and cover them in prayer. That is my place, words of prayer not platitudes.
I pray the Word of God will comfort them and I allow the Word of God to comfort me. I ask for wisdom from God, given through the Holy Spirit, so we can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. I pray our lives will be fully pleasing to God, ever productive, and in a state of continual learning. I ask for God’s power to live such a life and for patience, endurance, and joy.
I give thanks to God for delivering us from darkness and for transferring us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. It is in Christ that we find redemption and forgiveness. In Christ alone, there is victory. In Christ alone. (Col 1:9-14)
Even when I have nothing, I have everything. Filled with the fullness of God. Overflowing in His love. Trusting in His plan.
This is my prayer, for me and for you.
by Stacey | Jul 18, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
How do I leave the place where I am loved, safe, and accepted?
How do I leave my home, friends like family, and all that is familiar?
How do I leave knowing that not everyplace is as accepting, loving, and encouraging as this one has been?
Because God calls.
The only thing scarier than the unknown, is willfully disobeying God. If I stamp my feet and refuse to move when God commands, I risk losing His blessing. If I defiantly remain in the comfortable, it will become uncomfortable. Because if God can no longer bless me here, if He removes Himself from my presence because I demanded my own way, all that was good is tainted and destroyed.
I do not long to go, but I will.
I did not ask to go, but He asked me to go.
I do not know what awaits, but I remember what has been.
I remember His blessings. I remember how He has carried me though other transitions. I remember how He has provided above and beyond my wildest dreams, not how I expected, but exactly what I needed. Always.
I will remember and believe.
My God is the same God He was yesterday when I cried leaving Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and all that was familiar. He is the same God today, as I prepare to leave St Catharines, and all that makes this place home. He will be the same God tomorrow when He plants us in a new community to love. He never leaves, nor forsakes His children.
I can go, because He goes before me.
