Encouragement grounded in Scripture
Rooted in truth. Anchored in Christ.
New reflections weekly.
-
Just a Bad Moment
In my home we have something I often refer to as the “witching hour.” It is the not so glorious hours between the end of the school day and dinner preparation. It consists of homework battles, grunts of hunger, bad attitudes, and meltdowns.
The battle begins with a weary, emotional mom, and the attitude of her sassy daughter.
The battle continues with the screams, kicks, and punches of a kid who has managed to keep every cord of his brain and senses intact all day, but who has now become unraveled.
The battle ends with a battered and bruised mom who has done the same.
Until the cord breaks. The emotions come boiling over the pan we have managed to stuff them in. We do things we don’t like. We say things we don’t mean. We become someone we don’t know. We forget about the grace we are supposed to bestow on those around us. We yell. Scream. Cry tears of frustration. Anger. Shame. Grief.
We are then the mom we said we would never be. The monster we vowed they would never see again.
We had a bad moment. And let that moment define us as a bad mom.
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“Calm down, sweet child. It’s OK. Calm down.”
As the emotions begin to fall neatly back in the pot. As you rub the back of a still screaming child. As you wipe the tears from the face of another, and the tears from your own, you become still for just a moment. Hear in those gentle whispers, a Father reminding you to do the same.
Calm down, my child. It’s OK. Calm down.
You are not a bad boy. You just had a bad day.
You are not a bad girl. You just made a bad choice.
You are not a bad mom. You are having a bad moment.
So you rest on these assurances. You find your peace again. Accept His grace. And in those bad moments, you start looking for the good ones.
The girl who the moment before was making silly faces in a new costume.
The boy who a few moments before was snuggling with this same mom on the couch.
The mom who has wiped tears, helped with homework, fed, built up, shared the kitchen, shared her snack. Had some good moments.
We just also had a few bad ones.
Not a bad boy. Not a bad girl. Not a bad mom. Dad. Parent. You just had a bad day. Made a bad choice. Simply had a bad moment.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
-
Binding the Missing Pieces
He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
It creeps up out of no where. Your day begins just like any other, You get up. You get dressed. Go about your normal routine.
But, then something feels off. Different. Out of place. Out of sync. Your normal routine feels off balance. And, deep down inside something inside of you begins to break. Your heart. The one that is missing a significant piece of that normal routine.
For me all it took was the morning paper. Picked up from outside on a Sunday in which I should have been at church. A Sunday after I dropped my son off for his first year at college. 9 hours away.
A simple newspaper. A routine that was off, A reminder that something was different. That a piece of my daily life was missing. A floodgate of emotions and tears that began with a hole in the pit of my heart.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4
In our lives we will have moments of brokenness. Moments when our hearts are lonely. Times when the holes in them are so huge it doesn’t seem anything can patch them up. Maybe for you it is grief. Maybe it is that friend who lives far away, or the one you don’t speak to often enough. Maybe it is those words you never said. Maybe it is your son, daughter, niece, nephew starting a new life in a different place. The memories probably flood your heart, tearing away at the hole that resides there. All triggered by a scent, a memory, a date, a word, or a Sunday paper.
And, you feel it. That part of you that is missing.
But, God…He binds those wounds of loneliness. Of grief. He fills those holes left from those unsaid words. Those many miles.
He fills our hearts with the missing pieces. With the promise that we will be reunited with the ones we love.
He fills us with peace when we begin to worry.
He fills us with His steady love when we feel lonely, and provides us with comfort when the Sunday paper becomes a source of our mourning.
He takes the black holes in our hurting hearts. The wet tears in our crying eyes. The deep fears that fill the depths of our souls, and rights our out of sync routine.
God. Despite our loneliness, He can fill our incomplete hearts.
-
Me-I Am Just Like You
My very first blog post….two years later, I am grateful that God has still blessed me with the ability to share his message through writing, and 4AM fits of insomnia.
“Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.” Ephesians 4:25
Truth. Transparency. Honesty. They are all one and the same.
What would happen if we were all a bit more transparent? I don’t mean say whatever you feel, no matter who may be watching transparency, but the kind that allows us to admit our faults, struggles, and weaknesses to each other. What would happen if we allowed each other a tiny glimpse into our lives?
This is a question that God has placed on my mind lately. As I walk further along this journey He has set out for me, His voice often reminds me that if I feel called to assist others in their struggles as a Minister of God, and a counselor, I have to be able to be completely honest about myself. Certainly people would be more willing to…
View original post 338 more words
-
His Kind of Rest
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14
For weeks now I have been yearning for some type of rest. For time to just be still and be with God. In His presence. Life has been busy, and at times it has been hard to snag a few minutes to catch up with my own thoughts, let alone focus on His.
So, it was with great excitement that today I realized during a long and trying day at work that my afternoon was wide open. No plans after work. No kids at home courtesy of a sleepover. A husband who had a prior obligation of his own. God had just granted me a gift. He had given me what I had been asking for: a little alone time. A time to enjoy His presence. His creation. The day He had made.
Initially, I seized the gift. I planned to carve out two whole hours for some solitude. Some peace. Some relaxation. Time to do absolutely nothing else but be still.
Until guilt and the reality of all the stuff I had to do began to nag at me. I need to go here, and pick up this. I should really put away that laundry. And there are dishes in the sink that really need to be washed. I have a work deadline, and I just don’t have two hours to spare. I should just go on home.
God had given me a gift. Yet, I was hesitant to receive it. Dead set on spending my time doing a bunch of other stuff but spend time with Him.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:16
How many times have I let my worldly obligations take the place of the rest he tried to give me?
Because I happen to equate rest with the ability to take an uninterrupted nap?
Or, because I think it requires a trip to some far off place?
Because I can’t sit still long enough to forget about the laundry?
Because I fill those hours given to me with stuff that can wait?
When God says if I want rest all I have to do is spend time with Him. When I need a peaceful place, I can surround myself with all the beautiful space around me that He has made. When he says: “Be still. Rest with me. Stop toiling, and let all that stuff wait.”
When He wants to be first on my to-do list.
But, for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord my refuge. Psalm 73:28
In truth, my blessed time at the lake wasn’t all that quiet. There was splashing from children, and fighting of siblings around me. And, later my son joined me for some rest of his own.
But, the time with God, and my oldest was precious. A gift, that if left unopened, may have never been given again.
No agenda. No plans. Just rest
In His peace. In His solitude.
-
He Is There…Do You Believe It?
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This is the message that was posted on the projects that our children worked on this weekend during VBS, and it’s the verse from Matthew 28:20 that was the focus of two short nights. As God prepared my heart each nightly service, I couldn’t help but ask myself this question:
Do I cling to this promise when I am afraid? When I am filled with doubt? When I face the many trials of life?
No. I don’t. I forget that He is always with me. I sometimes forget Him entirely and focus on me, myself, and I.
What? But, you are a Pastor? Right. I am, but I am also a sinner, saved by grace, and I still have my fair share of wrestling matches with the devil.
See, God blessed me with two inspiring weeks in which His presence was profound. God blessed me with a number of people who took much of the stress that comes with large events like VBS from me this year. He had given me the peace to finally let some things go.
But, the devil knew this. He knew I was beginning to be reminded of God’s power, and so he picked a few more wrestling matches with me.
Just like Joseph, who was pushed into a well by his jealous brothers, I was pushed into a well of fear and doubt. But, instead of responding like Joseph, humbling myself and believing that God would bring me out of this well, I placed my faith in my own strength, and out of control feelings.
When the devil began to attack me with his messages that I’m not good enough, I’ve got it all wrong. I am doing nothing right. I didn’t respond as Joseph did in that prison, remembering that God would deliver Him from hurt and pain, but wallowing in my own prison of pity.
When I’m disappointed…I forget God’s promise that His ways are higher.
When that dreaded new school year gets closer and closer…my need to control and plan for every setback overshadows His ability to bring our family peace.
When I’m lonely, tired, frustrated, defeated, or offended I forget that He is powerful enough to defeat all of these emotions.
He proved it with His son, and his death on a cross. Yet our lack of faith in Him diminishes this power, and places Jesus on that cross again.
When we think only of me, myself, and I…we nail Him to the cross.
When we can’t forgive others…we nail Him to the cross.
When we let the devil’s messages that we are too little, not good enough, and get nothing right get to us…we nail him to the cross.
God gave His son to remind us that He is there always. In our wells. In our prisons. In our exhaustion. He is always with us.
We have His son and God’s grace to remind us of this. We have an empty tomb to remind us of His power to renew us, and to give us power to win those wrestling matches with the devil.
So, believe it. Even when the devil tries to throw you off track. Even if he calls you back into that ring for another match.
Believe that He is with you always!
About Me
I am January! Wife, mother, meemaw, pastor, and mental health provider who makes it through the day with my coffee, my journal, and my God. A simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic. All focused on Him.
Follow Me On
Subscribe To My Newsletter
Subscribe for new posts, inspiration and exclusive content straight to your in-box.
Grace 'n Grounds 