MomEncouragement

If getting into Heaven depended on an organized home without piles and messes everywhere… Well, let’s just say I’d be in more of a hot mess! Now that we’re clear that home organization is thankfully not a spiritual requirement, as strange as it may sound, I love to do our family’s laundry. Don’t lose me here! I didn’t always feel the love of doing laundry. I loathed it. It was a never ending battle in my daily struggle to get everything done. I hated it so much I became vocal about it, as well as the rest of my to-do checklist. Perhaps I was reaching out for sympathy or help, but what I eventually received was an epiphany that changed my life. I had a wonderful husband and two precious little ones. After struggling for several years with infertility, I should have been joyful beyond measure. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted a family, but I wasn’t prepared for how overwhelmed I would become as the demands of work, home life and mothering pressed in o

Photo credit: Walter Knerr, from https://pixabay.com My teenagers are learning to drive. Crazy how much I’ve apparently forgotten from Driver’s Ed. Mom, you’re going too fast! Mom, you’re following too close! Mom, you didn’t come to a full and complete stop ! Okay, so I admit, after a few decades of driving experience, I’ve become a little lax about strictly following the rules of the road. I’m becoming much more intentional about it now that my children are behind the wheel of a speeding ton of metal projectile...which they could be driving on their own in just a few short months...among many other projectiles and dangers. Talk about your heart roaming around outside of your body!  This morning I came to a stop sign and consciously made the effort to come to a full and complete stop . I’m so glad I did, not just because my son was watching, but because in that simple act I was reminded of how we often need to come to a full and complete stop in our lives

Photo credits: pixabay.com I am a warrior princess, and so are you. Daily I face battles with demons. I’m betting you face some of the same demons, disguised as:    mountains of laundry and dishes, and dust bunnies (or dust behemoths depending on where you look any given day)    children’s bickering, teenage drama, hormones (theirs and mine), and mood swings    marital struggles   grief from the loss of loved ones chronic illness and pain depression and anxiety (which lead to seasons of battling the demon of just getting out of bed in the morning) procrastination and perfectionism Now that I’ve demonized much of what we face each day, let me remind you that we are not only warriors, we are warrior princesses. We are daughters of The King. These demons only pile up and overwhelm us when we give them power. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV). Self-discipline used to be an in