by Stacey | Dec 7, 2017 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Yes, it’s that time of year. Parents are cleaning, baking, and working hard to ensure their children experience a magical Christmas. But maybe this year, instead of the perfect tree, we can pour our efforts into figuring out how to keep Christmas real. Maybe this year, we can reclaim Christmas with a Christmas prayer deeper than pretty ideas of snow and sleigh bells. This prayer doesn’t involve Santa slipping down the chimney or leaving out cookies and milk. This is a prayer for a white Christmas where my loved ones and yours might wake to discover a covering of white sent to erase a lifetime of stain.
The miracle isn’t on 34th Street, the miracle is how God made it possible for every weary soul to rejoice, truly making this the most wonderful time of the year. As you strive to find that perfect gift to give your loved one, ask yourself: Have you received the perfect gift that God gives you at Christmas? Because He loved us first, God came for us. God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting. Chosen before the foundations of the earth, before one day came to be, He chose His people. God gloriously displayed His love that first Christmas when He rent open the skies and a multitude of angels spilled over the edge of heaven proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest!”
This Christmas, listen to the greatest love story ever told by the God-child who came to pursue you. He came to reach you. He is greater than any Grinch or Santa Claus, and He left his kingdom in Heaven to pursue you on Earth. He came to dwell with you in your loneliness and alienation and give you the courage to reach out and take God’s hand.
by Stacey | Nov 17, 2017 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
This day is hard. Correction. This life is hard. Life is hard enough that it is tempting to doubt the goodness of God and fall into despair. But the Lord is our refuge and strength. He is our help in times of trouble. I don’t understand, but I don’t need to understand. I need to believe that his ways and thoughts are higher than mine and that He loves his children.
On the hard days we pray: Lord, give me eyes that see beyond now. Give me feet that walk the hard road of obedience. Give me a heart in beat with Yours. Give me the faith to believe that my ram is coming.
“It had to have been the darkest day of Abraham’s life as he trudged up the mountain, with firewood strapped to his son’s back. Every step took Abraham closer to what he believed to be the sad ending of a hopeless situation – the death of his son. Yet in spite of his sorrow, Abraham trusted God. His heart wasn’t soaring with joy. He wasn’t dancing up the mountain. But he put one foot in front of the other. Walking through the darkness of the situation; obeying His God’s commands.
Unbeknownst to Abraham, something else was walking up that mountain. Quietly. Out of sight. On the other side of the mountain. Something else was putting one foot in front of the other. Only Abraham couldn’t see it.
For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step.”
– See more at: Proverbs 31 Ministries Devotions
Much like Abraham, we cannot see the other side of our mountains. All we see is the difficult path the Lord has put before us, and all we feel is the impossibility of the task. If you are walking through your own darkness, putting one foot in front of the other in faithful obedience, take heart. Your ram is coming.
We cannot see God’s future provision, but with every heartbeat, we must believe that God’s response to our need is climbing up the other side of the mountain. We will meet God’s perfect provision at the peak where we will fall to our knees worshipping with Abraham at the place named, The Lord Will Provide.
*From the archives
by Stacey | Oct 26, 2017 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement, The Weekend Visitor
I remember always having to answer that age-old question. The implication was that if I found the right career, life’s “calling” would follow. It resounded deeply in my generation. A career, a job, an occupation should be—will be—your passion. I transitioned from a psychologist to an economist to an engineer, but they all lacked that “passion.” I pursued and excelled in each, waiting patiently for the promised feeling to blossom.
Then Bella, my eldest daughter, was born. No one warned me that maybe, just maybe, my passion would not be a college major, wouldn’t have a syllabus, and wouldn’t require a degree. No one warned me that changing the world might mean neglecting my home and trying to find balance would be a daily struggle because excelling in one comes at the expense of the other.
Clarification Needed
No one clarified that my career might be the bread on the table, but it wouldn’t be my life calling. No one told me to expect to find joy in the simple things and in the people I get to share them with; the gentle breeze, a home cooked meal, and cuddles under the sheets. It was never hinted at that not owning a luxury car and not traveling around the world would be OK.
“Dream Big,” they said, failing to acknowledge the mesmerizing beauty of the small things, the small people that would tug on my clothes and give butterfly kisses. No one warned me that on most days I could be depleted but blessed, or that I could live weeks without 5 minutes to myself and still love every minute of it.
A Different Choice
I never imagined a life like this because it was rarely modeled and poorly advertised. Yet, an age-old book held this passion in high esteem and revealed to me the beauty that my previous worldview hid. It gave me the strength to pursue it with all my might and the will to make changes to my lifestyle and my wants. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new season, new challenges, and new opportunities. Not everyone shares my journey, but oh, so many do. Many women, like me, were sold a life-calling very far from divine. Biblical motherhood is not a distraction to changing the world; it is the very catalyst that will bring forth the peace our society craves. It is my passion and my calling.
Marby Iglesias is a pastor’s wife in South Florida. You will find her on most days trying to keep up with her energetic toddler and baby. Her favourite pastime is sitting down for a good theology book with a cup of coffee.
by Stacey | Oct 19, 2017 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
When my husband answered God’s call to ministry, I inherited a position of leadership through marriage. As a result, I’ve spent the last twenty years investigating the responsibilities of a pastor’s wife, and guess what? They are no more or any less than the responsibilities of every child of God.
READ MORE @ Women-Together
by Stacey | Oct 5, 2017 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Parenting challenging children grows my compassion toward others parenting challenging children
If you parent a challenging child, you’ve likely smiled through unrequested advice, bit your tongue when publicly corrected, and pinched back tears against feelings of failure. You know what it means to give endlessly, sacrificially, and entirely to a child and STILL know your best efforts are inadequate.
This grows your compassion. You have less judgment and more patience than your pre-child self. You have less advice and more empathy. You offer less correction and more grace because you know how desperately you need to hear that grace spoken to you. You do not deceive yourself. You know you need the Lord to parent every day, and you shamelessly share this with other moms, praying they will also turn to Him for their strength.
You learn to celebrate the small victories and know they belong to the Lord
I am not up to the task of parenting a challenging child. Perhaps, that is exactly why God gifted me with one. Every milestone is a victory because that milestone once felt impossible. I’ve learned the important lesson that prayer doesn’t always change my circumstances or change my child, but it will always change me. I’ve accepted this struggle is just as much about my sanctification as it is about rearing my child in the ways of the Lord. I know God desires to do a work in me as I pray for His work in my child.
There is a blessing inside the struggle.
There is a great blessing in the stripping off of independence and the putting on of dependence. Parenting a challenging child is a humbling reminder that all my talents and capabilities are nothing without God. Struggles turn my eyes toward Him, recognizing my complete dependence upon Him to do what only He can replace stubborn hearts with obedient ones—in my children and in me.
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from the archives, May 12, 2016
by Stacey | Sep 28, 2017 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
In utero, your heartbeat sang a song of praise to God, joining the orchestra resounding his name.
This was all before I felt your first note flutter.
The Creator, Composer, and Redeemer of souls tuned your purpose and composed your score into a song only you can sing. Your days—notes on life’s concerto—are part of a larger symphony playing a song for His pleasure.
With great precision, he shaped you into a delicate image bearer of the mighty God, destined to reflect his glory in a masterpiece of great worship. No matter the instrument or length of the score, the resounding harmony rises to the ears of the Lord and fills the heavens.
He made you to praise him. Whether you play an instrument great or small, play boldly in the opus of the Creator, the maker of all things.
*from Unexpected Love, published 2016, Vine Images.
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