Embracing the Need for Sleep

It is no secret that most Americans do not get enough sleep. We know that sleep is vital to our health, mood, and general ability to function, yet when life gets stressful, sleep is often the first thing to go. Sometimes this is for reasons beyond our control. Most people who have had a baby have had to cope with going through life in a sleep-deprived haze at least for a while. There are times when hormones make sleep a near impossibility, or when the huge amount of things weighing on one’s mind forces one to toss and turn despite one’s best efforts. There are many times, however, when there is no reason for us not getting enough sleep other than we simply choose not to.

We make other things more of a priority. I have heard very busy women say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” I can sympathize. There does always seem to be more to get done in a given day than hours in that day! As Joan C. Webb writes in “It’s a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life” our inner voice tells us “If I go to sleep, I’ll be wasting time. I should make good use of each minute. . . Your value depends on how well you spend each second. Stay busy. Don’t waste any precious moments. Keep an account of every hour.” I’m sure many of you reading this are nodding in agreement. Especially for mothers who spend so much of their time caring for others, it can seem like those late-night or early-morning hours are the only opportunity to get the other tasks done or to get some much-needed time to care for oneself.

The irony is that getting enough sleep each night will allow us to take care of both ourselves and those we love better. If we can’t get enough sleep at night, it means that something is out of whack in our lives. We need to reduce how much we have on our plates or we need to get a little bit better at asking for help. Maybe we need to simply reduce our expectations of what it means to be a productive person. Webb offers a new mantra to replace the inner voice that keeps driving us to do more: “I’m valuable even when I’m not busy. I can go to sleep at a sensible hour and still be a productive person.” She refers to a quote by from “The Rest of God” by Mark Buchanon, “We give ourselves, regardless of our unfinished business, into God’s care. We sleep simply because we believe God will look after us.” That is so comforting. Yes, God does look after us even when we are sleeping. God wants us to rest in Him and to trust that whatever we do get accomplished in the hours we are awake is enough and is pleasing to Him.

If you are one of the many suffering from a lack of sleep, try going to bed just 15 minutes earlier each night. It is a small step, but it can make a huge difference. Once that becomes comfortable, add another 15 minutes. These simple adjustments can help improve one’s outlook tremendously and help one be more productive with the time one does have during the day.

- Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
http://spiritualwomanthoughts.blogspot.com

Be a Blessing

Life is hard. If you are alive, you know full well that life is hard. It brings heartache, hurts, disappointments, and challenges.

So often we tend to look and hope for blessings. We desire people to be blessings to us in our lives. Someone to come up alongside of us and encourage us – bringing joy into our hearts.

It’s not bad to want that in your life. We all need that.  But I just have to wonder if you are walking the walk yourself? Are you a blessing to others?  When you speak to others, do you speak life, love, and joy to them? Are you selective in who you encourage?

God says in the Bible, “Blessed are those who are peacemakers.” To me, that means we should use our mouths to help and heal. If we have the opportunity to bring renewal to someone’s heart, we should do it. If we can help a relationship or perspective mend, we should do that. It is a joy and a privilege to impact someone so powerfully. It is also our heritage as a Christian child of God. You can change someone’s life by your words.

I watch a lot of brothers and sisters in the Lord become a source of blessing to some people, and yet alienate or ignore others. What kind of example are we being? We can’t just pick and choose those we want to bless. It doesn’t work that way.  God loves all of us – not just those of us who are easily loveable.  If I chose only to bless my children and they watched me use my mouth and my heart to criticize others (maybe a teacher, someone in my church, or an extended family member), what am I teaching them? Am I showing them how to forgive? Do I model the example of grace and mercy for them? No, I don’t think so.

We wait for others to do what we ourselves should be doing. We should be living a life of blessing to others. I believe if we are, then that blessing will come back to us! I also believe that living a life of being a blessing to others is a very fulfilling life. It feels so good and so right inside to know that God is using you to connect with someone.

We are representatives of Jesus Christ. It’s about time we start acting like one. Allow God to work through you to help remove someone else’s burdens or to bring a little sunshine into their life. Look for those who are overlooked. Maybe they don’t have a huge problem or obstacle in their life. Maybe they are simply a giver themselves and no one seems to notice that they too, need some blessings and encouragement bestowed on them in their life to motivate them to continue on.

It’s up to us to strengthen one another on this walk of life. Don’t sit back and wait for that strength to come – because someone may be waiting for you.

 

~ By Dionna Sanchez

Visit Dionna’s blog today at http://emphasisonmoms.blogspot.com

Jonesing For Jesus

Jonesing: to have a strong need, desire, or craving for something.

Back in the day, I have used the term to describe my desire for a cigarette, or maybe a beer … but I haven’t found myself using that expression in a very long time.

But last night, I did.

I was jonesing for Jesus … His Word tells us, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

I was talking with a couple of friends after our Wednesday night worship time. One of the girls mentioned she’d felt God revealing some things, we decided to pray a bit, and the next thing I knew, the three of us were sitting in the sanctuary talking to Jesus. And His presence was so thick in that place; it seemed like we could almost reach out and touch him. It was special!

When we finally pulled ourselves away and headed to our cars, my comment was, “Man, I needed that … I’ve been jonesing for Jesus.”

And I had … not even realizing my deep craving for him … but He knew. And because I sought Him with my whole heart … I found Him.

Thank you Jesus for giving me such a sweet dose of you. I do have a strong need for you … and I don’t ever want that to go away. I need you …

I love you Jesus!
In your name I pray,
Amen

God Bless You!
Joyce

The Choices You Make Today …
Will Affect Your Tomorrows!
http://www.alifedecision.org

You Were Called To Be a Mom

I became a mom when I was 23 years old. I had just gotten married and my husband had custody of his 5-year-old son – which made me an immediate full-time mom.  It was a challenge, but one that I tried to embrace with everything that was in me.

As time went on, I tried to run from the title of being a “step mom.” I didn’t like all the negative connotations that went with that word. I was just fine with people thinking I was my stepson’s real mom! But you know what? In hindsight, I now see that God called me to step in to my “son’s” life and become his stepparent. It’s not something I should be ashamed of, or something I should run from. It was God’s desire and choice for my life. It has also been God’s choice for my life to have two other daughters’.

However you had your children, whether you became pregnant by accident, whether you adopted, are a stepparent, whether you have a large family or a small … it is God’s calling for you to be a mom to those children. Have you ever looked at your role as a mom in that way? Have you ever realized that being a mom is a calling? It is a privilege!

As soon as you have those babies, or those children arrive into your home, you are called by God to mother them and to give your absolute best.  With every calling comes responsibility and parenting is no different.  We need to remember that we are responsible for forming and molding someone else’s life.  We need to be intentional and responsible for how we raise our children.  That means we need to filter what they watch, who they hang out with, how we allow them to act, and what kinds of influences come into their lives.

I think some mothers “get” the calling of motherhood right from the beginning. Still others either forget it or don’t realize that God has issued a calling on their life. And having a call to be a mother doesn’t mean that God won’t also call you to do other things. He can! It simply means that He has chosen to use you in one of the most important roles in life – influencing and raising another human being.

Don’t ever minimize your role as a mom. Don’t forget how important it is that you are impacting our world and society by how you are raising your children. You matter so much – and the Lord has called you whether you feel worthy of that calling or not. It’s time to step up to the plate and give your all; not just for Him – but for your children.

 

~ Dionna Sanchez is honored that God chose her to be a step mom and mother. She continues to learn daily from those roles. You can visit her ministry at http://www.EmphasisOnMoms.com

Akeldama

Step into the pages of Akeldama, my historical novel of Faith.  Meet beautiful Yo-hannah, whose tortured past has imprisoned her body and heart.  Walk in the stooped steps of Veronica, whose mysterious malady has made her ceremonially unclean.  Thirst for living water with a half-breed whose checkered past is about to catch up with her.

Thrown together from different dead-ends, each woman seeks answers to her own desperation.  Will Yo-hannah find the peace she craves?  Can an unclean woman receive a touch of mercy?  Where can a despised half-breed go to be made whole?  And what about old Hadessa, whose enigmatic past is as mysterious as the young rabbi from Nazareth who crosses each woman’s path?

Each woman’s life and future hinges on the Nazarene’s answer to  one question: who are you?

Click here to order

“I have read only a few Christian novels worthy of the name.  My favorite Christian authors are C.S. Lewis, Stephen R. Lawhead, Joseph F. Girzone, and now Kristine Lowder.  I must tell you that her book, Akeldama, touched me so deeply that I cried like a baby as I read the final chapter.  Yes, the final chapter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ – not a new subject.  But something in her telling of it blessed me with joy, gratitude, awe, and wonder.  I cannot remember a time when I wanted to re-read a book as soon as I finished it.  Treat yourself to a great book!

- William C. Oakes, Senior Pastor,

Living Stones Fellowship, Warrens, Wisconsin

Click here to order

Letting Go And Letting God ~ By Dionna Sanchez

 

Mothers pour everything they are into their family and their children’s lives. There comes a point in time though, when the children grow up.  They leave home for college or they get married and have a family of their own. Whether or not your children live near you, it can be hard to let go. It can be hard to not continue to want to have a “say” in their lives.

In the Bible God says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

When our children leave home to start families of their own, they are no longer under our charge. (As hard as it is to acknowledge!) Our role changes. Of course we will always be mothers, but we need to tell ourselves that we need to step back more than we step in at this point. You see, there will be an empty spot in our lives. We no longer need to make sure our child is going to the doctor annually, or that they are paying their bills. We no longer should keep track of what they do with their time everyday or how often they call us. Our whole lives have been focused on preparing them to be an adult. So when the time comes – we need to truly let them be one!

It can be hard to not try to pull closer to your child when they love learning how to pull away. It doesn’t mean they don’t love you or value you. It simply means you have done your job well and it is their chance to be an independent individual – one that they have every right to be!  So what do you do? You continue to love, advise (when asked), and be there for your children – but on a respectful-of-their-territory-and lives stance. You let them be all that they want to be.  Once your children are grown and you have left them a legacy, it is your chance to turn to something new. You see, once they are grown into wise, healthy, God-fearing adults, it is time for you to let them live that out. You can now pour who you are into someone else who needs you. Again – not withdrawing who you are from your children’s lives, but just giving of who you are a little bit more to someone else who may need you.

I see so many parents who do not know how to take a step back once their children are grown, and simply let them live their lives out. They continue to try to “mother” their adult children. All this does is suffocate and restrain, instead of liberating and freeing the children. If you don’t trust what’s in your child’s heart and their feelings for you as an adult, you have some issues that you need to deal with the Lord on. If you do, you need to learn that your place in their life (although valued and treasured) has changed. You become more of a mentor and a confidante, instead of an everyday needed “mommy.” Does that make sense?  Don’t whittle your relationship away to obligatory gestures on your child’s part because they are afraid to step on your toes or hurt your feelings. Go out and live your life! Find someone new to “mother!” There are so many people out there who have no one. People who need to feel love and have someone pour everything they are into their lives. God did not leave us here to try and nurture those who are already healthy and nurtured. He left us here to reach out to the lonely, the sick, and the hurting. What are we doing for them? Our children would be the first ones to share in our joy of taking the new phase of our life to pour out to others and help them. Whether it’s by volunteering at a local school or hospital, teaching Sunday School, mentoring other young moms who are struggling, etc – find something to help you fill the void that might be left in your home and heart instead of trying to continue to fill it in your adult children who are seeking to find some space to do the same in their own lives and to their own children.

You can do it. You can see that instead of holding on to the role you’ve always known, that your new and changing role as a mother – the role that is a little less needed and a little less sought out – is still one that is fulfilling because you did your job well, and now God has made room in your life to do a new work through you.  Won’t you let Him?

 

~ Dionna Sanchez is navigating her new role as a step mom – as her stepson has left home, gotten married, and gone away to college. She hopes to continue to be a valued mom in her new changed role. You can always read more of her heart and words at http://www.emphasisonmoms.blogspot.com

Created For Purpose

“God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow, I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in His. If, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Therefore, I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away.”

~ Henry Newman

I Get Distracted Easily

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God as called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14

The boys are and I were sitting on the couch last night, talking about Chase’s reading goal for the summer. Last year, his goal was to read 50 books before his birthday in August, to get the Wii he so desperately wanted.

We’d been talking about a goal for this summer, but he hadn’t found anything that he wanted to work for, until today. Earlier, he’d been at a friend’s house playing Guitar Hero and Chase decided he wants one for his own. He loves singing 80’s rock music. The Eye of the Tiger is constantly booming from his computer. He is Bobby and I’s son, no doubt of that.

In the midst of our conversation, Carson piped up that he wanted to be a part of the mix. Now, Carson can read a very large book in a very short time, reading is not a challenge for him. Chase, on the other hand, doesn’t enjoy reading as much. He can and will read, but it takes more effort for him to do so.

As we were talking about Carson getting invovled in the contest and his ability to read quickly, Chase blurted out, “I like to read, but I get distracted easily.”

And that is the truth. Chase will read a couple of pages, then he’s off doing something else. Carson, well, Carson can read for a very long time. While he’s walking, upside down, in the dark .. he doesn’t care. He just loves books. When Carson is reading … nothing and noone can distract him. He is focused.

Sometimes in my walk with Jesus, I am like Carson, focused … nothing can take my attention away from him. Then, other days, I’m like little Chase … I get distracted easily.

Chase hit his goal last year … he actually read 53 books, more than what was required. It wasn’t easy for him, but he persevered and it paid off. I was so proud of his effort.

I want to persevere through the times of challenge and hit my goal … I want to live my life, The Jesus Way. At the end of the journey, I want Him to say … “Well Done!”

Jesus, thank you for giving Chase the ability to persevere through something that is difficult for him. It’s easy to do easy things … it’s not so easy to do the things that challenge us. Help me Father to embrace the challenge of each new day, living life focused on You.

I love you Jesus!
In Your Name I pray,
Amen

God Bless You!
Joyce

The Choices You Make Today …
Will Affect Your Tomorrows!
http://www.alifedecision.org

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…
it’s about learning to dance in the rain!

“If all men…

“If all men are offended because of Christ, let them be offended; but where is the sense of their being offended at something that is not Christ and is nothing like Him? We do Him singularly little honor by watering down His personality till it could not offend a fly. Surely it is not the business of the Church to adapt Christ to men, but to adapt men to Christ. It is the dogma that is the drama-not beautiful phrases, nor comforting sentiments, nor vague aspirations to loving-kindness and uplift, nor the promise of something nice after death- but the terrifying assertion that the same God who made the world lived in the world and passed through the grave and gate of death. Show that to the heathen, and they may not believe it; but at least they may realize that here is something that a man might be glad to believe.” -

Dorothy Sayers, Creed or Chaos?

Originally posted at Et. Elle.

Shared by Kristine, blogger, author, humorist, homeschooler, professional mom and chief wrangler at the ‘ole testosterone ranch.

Moments To Learn From

Life has its challenges and tough moments. There are those things that come along that bring sorrow, tragedy, and unhappiness into our lives. Anyone who is alive experiences those times! But what do you do as a parent when these times come? Do you hide these times and feelings from your children? Do you try to pretend like everything will be all right even when you’re not sure that it will?

I believe that it’s important to be honest with our children. Children are pretty smart – smarter than we give them credit for most times. Usually, they have a hint or clue that something is going on. They might even know what that “something” could be. But oftentimes, they don’t address it because they sense our feelings on the subject.

I would much rather create an environment where my children come to me with their curious nature and inquisitive questions. I’d rather they know what is going on (on a level they can understand) while I am there to guide them, support them and somehow help them understand it. If I don’t share the tough and sad things in life with them, how will they be able to deal with those disappointments and sorrows when they are older? I don’t think they will know how and I would worry that they would be overcome and overwhelmed.

Life gives us many lessons to learn. How great it is when these lessons come for our children while they are still in our homes so that we can be there for them and with them – learning and growing together. We don’t often do them any favors by hiding the ugly stuff of life from them. We don’t want to inundate them with it, or create unnatural fears – but we do want to softly guide them into experiencing and navigating these times.

All children learn from you when you aren’t honest with them about the tough stuff in life is that they can’t trust you. Or, that you don’t trust them enough to share it with them. It’s important to let them know that you realize they are feeling the effects of the situation or circumstance just as you are, and that you value how it may feel being in their shoes. Give them some credit and allow them the chance to show you that they can rise up and be part of a supportive “home team” in navigating life together with you. You may just learn some things from them as you strive to teach them how to learn to be strong when the winds of life blow hard.

 

~ Dionna Sanchez

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