Blog Makeover

As I reflect on the very beginning of this blog just two years ago, I laugh at what I made it and am in awe at what God has shown me He wants it to become.  It may seem like a new blog being that there aren't very many posts in the archives...but I actually deleted them.  I have no problem being transparent about that, because it's all been a part of my growth process.  The title of this blog is "Confessions of a Praying Mom."  It's time for me to start confessing!  I've officially moved over to www.confessionsofaprayingmom.com and would love for you to join me on this journey as God has given this once little idea a total makeover.  My desire is to share the wisdom and lessons God is teaching me through prayer, studying His word, and walking with Him daily.  Parenting is not an easy task, but if He made you one, you must believe that He knew you could do it.  You don't have to do it by yourself, and He wants you to know that, so do I.
- A Praying Mom

New Year, New Blog, Same Journey

How unbelievable...I've not written one single post here since a year ago (a little under a year - ten months) ha!  That does not mean I have not written, just not here.  It also does not mean I've not been continuing on my journey.  Perhaps now I have more to write about, more to share because of the time spent away from this precious blog.  In the past, I've chosen to share only what God pressed upon my heart to share.  It is my hope that many of you who read what I write will be inspired, encouraged and motivated.  That's what started this blog.  I was looking for motivation and seeking thoughts, answers to prayers while in a new unfamiliar place.  I found myself reaching out to other women who were traveling the same road in different places, cultures.  The internet is a blessing and a curse.  To know that I can read a story someone wrote ten miles away or 10,000 just by doing a search and pressing a button is exciting and a little scary, lol.  The amazing part is, that story can very easily relate to my own.  Thus, I titled this post, "New Year, New Blog, Same Journey."  It is for sure January, marking the beginning of the new year, 2015.  No, I didn't come up with a list of new accomplishments or resolutions I'd like to see manifest this year.  I did, however, keep up the same vision board my husband and I share on our bedroom wall.  I made a few adjustments, added a few things; but nevertheless, those things we are dreaming of, hoping for haven't diminished.  What has changed, however, is our approach.  Let me tell you briefly how I wanted lots of things to happen last year that just didn't.  Even over the last few years I've been trying to make some really major things happen - nothing.  The ideas were great, and the vision was extremely incredible to look at.  My view, however was tainted.  I was running after what "I" wanted.  My motivation was based on how "I" wanted it to go, what outcome "I" wanted to have.  In August and September of 2014, God took me through a trial that proved to be an amazing awakening and shaking all at once.  I underwent two medical procedures that pushed me to press the "stop" button on everything.  I laugh, because for a while I still tried to run after a few things and quickly learned that nothing out of my own strength would lead to the success I was aiming for.  You see, there is something weaved into the total DNA of those of us who "know better."  It's different when you are out there doing what you know to do that's always worked for you.  But those of us who have been awakened, enlightened, told by God that there is a better way - we cannot do it the way the world does it with success.  I am a firm believer of this now more than ever.  Isaiah 55:9 says "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."  And I absolutely love verse 11: "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."  Awesome!!!!  This is God's guarantee that if we go His way, do it His way and not our own, He shall see to it that wherever we go (that He sends us), prosperity and fruitfulness WILL manifest!  I don't know about you but I'm sold!  That's why this year, I'm on the same road, but I've got a different walk, a new language that I speak, and a new mindset as I head in the direction He's leading me to go.  Weary I get at times, but He keeps giving me fresh winds and new strength because I'm set out to do His work!  So...expect new things to come - especially consistent entries, ha ha!  And....drum roll....a new blog address soon!  I'm expecting new followers, readers, and have even grafted in some amazing women to help me make this little virtual ministry even greater.  

I'll be updating you on the new location very soon, as we are moving to an official website.  There are also going to be some new topics coming up, such as "homeschooling" for all of you who are curious, for it and in the same boat with me, or for it and don't know where to start.  Also, I'm finally going to get "My Cup of Tea" off the ground, as some fabulous mommas I know from here to across the waters are going to be featured with their shared words of wisdom and stories of courage to inspire and motivate us all!  See you really soon :)

A Supermom's Journey to Order

Order.  We hear that word and we immediately straighten up or begin to straighten up things that have fallen out of order in our minds.  It can be a consistently broken schedule or an untidy home. It can start with a forgotten appointment and end with a catastrophic meltdown! We all have various things we want to put in order.  We sometimes just get so burned out and overwhelmed that we don't know how.  Without order, things, life can become quite chaotic.  It can make it very difficult to feel productive, thus adding to our discouragements when it comes to creating a stable and loving environment in which our family thrives.  The true danger of falling prey to an "out of order" lifestyle is that our entire house feels the effects!  We are not able to give our best and eventually become burned out and (I've used this word before) unavailable.  It can become an unwanted crisis, an energy sucking monster that drains us of much needed time (that we obviously don't already have).  Even worse, it effects our spirits, darkening us from the inside out until we do something about it!

When I was a young girl, I remember my grandmother raring up this tune in Prayer Meetings.  In her old country church nestled deeply in the woods of Council, North Carolina, the sound was deep and rich as she belted it straight from her soul.  It rang and echoed throughout the sanctuary and in my young, trusting ears, "You'd better put our house in order!"  I often get bogged down and somehow out of sync.  In these moments, my journey becomes very difficult.  I can't seem to get the laundry completed or my youngest son adds to the mess before I can clean it up.  My much needed morning devotion and prayer sometimes gets run over with me sleeping in.  I'm pushing deadlines and waiting until the last minute to do everything.  Dishes somehow pile up faster than I can load the dishwasher, and an invoice needs to be sent out or an e-mail needs to be responded to.  Phone calls need to be made and soccer games attended to.  The hubby needs time and attention and dinner is not prepared. Did I mention time for my very own self??? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!  Doesn't that make you scream, then laugh hysterically?  That's what I do!  When it all comes down I begin to laugh because I know that tensing up and stressing out will not make things better.

I regroup, I embrace silence, I cut off everything - tv, music, computers and even silence my cell phone (sometimes, really?).  I meditate on that dear scripture, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33.   I believe that in that quiet time in which I put everything aside, and seek God, my attention is turned to perfection in Him, His son Jesus Christ and away from me.  It is then that He adds what I need, and He puts things in order, one task at a time. That beloved passage has brought me peace right dead in the middle of a storm!  I used to put my hands in it and try to fix it all.  I now stop everything and focus on the One who created me.  I come to Him with a heart of thanksgiving and don't leave His feet until He is done rebuilding me and strengthening me with His love.  My journey to order then begins with a fresh new insight from the One who created me and put this entire world together in the very first order ever!  He made the world in (drum roll).... seven days!  Surely He can teach me to put my home, my schedule and my family's schedule in order better than any calendar, planner or self-help book (we run to those often).  His timing is incredible and completes what takes us years to do in only a moment.  Seek Him 1st.  Put everything down when you feel overloaded and be still.  Wait.  Listen.  Wait some more.  When He speaks, then you move.  Your journey to order begins with the God of all creation who created all of us in His "divine order."

The Schedule We Can't Create..Preparing for the Next Moment

Lol!  I know I did when I came up with the title of today's blog post!  Do you try and put together a calendar or a schedule for yourself and your family every week only to change it again the next day?  Do you put a calendar or schedule together and then completely do the opposite of what it says everyday?  Do you follow your schedule to a "T" and then become stressed when a spontaneous change is made and you have to temporarily break the rules?  If one of these is you, then this post is for you!  I'm actually all three.  It may seem like it's not possible, but it is.  We as moms can put so much pressure on ourselves in addition to the pressure naturally added by everyday life.  Sure, a schedule can and should be a guide for us to follow, and helps us create a balance so that we don't feel totally out of sync.  But it's totally okay to break it and make spontaneous last minute adjustments without beating ourselves up.  I was talking to another mom in my circle of moms this morning. We talked about how funny it is that we understand each other in instances like yesterday when she sent me a text message inviting us to join them for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.  I didn't get the message because my phone was somewhere in my bedroom when she sent it and I was in the living room doing what I do best and managing the boys' playtime before dinner.  Mind you, I'd gone grocery shopping earlier and had planned a Spaghetti dinner.  By 6:30 P.M., I was so tired from helping my oldest son compete a craft we downloaded off the internet, we jumped in the truck and picked up burgers for dinner!  This morning, I found out my dear mommy friend rushed off to urgent care with her son and totally ditched the Mexican fiesta dinner idea!  You see?  It's easy to abandon your original plans with children.  You don't know how you will feel, how they will feel, and it's best to be prepared for, well anything.  If you don't create a schedule and simply posting the important memos like a doctor's appointment, or a school play are all that's necessary, good for you.  We all have our own normal, and there is no wrong or right way I feel to do what works best for you and your family.  The one common goal should be to have some type of direction so that you know what's happening tomorrow.  If you don't have the entire month or year etched in stone yet so be it.  The truth of the matter is...the most important thing we should try to preserve and get ready for with our children, is the next moment.
- Jantina Maria Rice

It's a New Year and...

1) I will wash, fold, and put away all clothes all in the same day
2) I will plan every meal and have dinner on the table, ready to eat by 6pm each day
3) I will keep the entire house spotless from top to bottom at all times
4) I will work out at least 5 times a week and work off all the Thanksgiving and Christmas food I ate waaaaaaaay too much of before Spring...
5) I will make sure my children read two books each night before saying their prayers and going to bed (I won't just give them a bath and rush them to bed so I can go to bed)
6) I will rise each morning before the entire house and pray (I will not hit snooze until the last minute and get up rushing to get ready)
7) I will follow the schedule that I created for myself and the entire house (I will not change it each day to accomodate my own inability to follow it)
8) I will complete every project I started, large and small this year, I won't come into 2015 saying this same thing again...
...lol...am I the only one?  Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves, after all, it's best to just take it one day at a time...

Quote for the Day

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  - Elizabeth Stone

Working Overtime: Not for the Money...for the Benefits

Okay, so this Sunday morning is moving too fast.  My eyes opened to the sun creeping in through the blinds and the sound of the boys anxiously awaiting for me to get up and fix them breakfast.  I worked 12 hours yesterday and somehow managed to take them out for some recreational fun in between.  While that's the amazingness about working from home, it's the wake up call when your body screams at you that you haven't rested well or long enough.  As a PK (Pastor's Kid), it is quite strange to not be in church on a Sunday morning.  Perhaps God would be more disappointed in me if I didn't live for Him everyday, or at all, rather than because I missed a day of church?...lol.  Yet and still, I open my bible to seek His guidance and instruction for the day.  I say a prayer in my moment of weakness, asking for Him to give me strength.  I realize, these children require more of me than I sometimes feel able to give.  Their smiles, their giggles of joy, and the moments of wisdom, love and hope we share together motivate me and drive me to push onward.  They are listening when we are talking to them, and they remember when we forget.  I realize in this moment, that they need me to get up, and I will.  This is the job that never quits, does not pay with money, and requires lots of travel and that I be on call for duty at anytime of day or night.  I don't work to parent, and raise my children for the paycheck, but for the benefits.  They will grow to be great people who contribute something wonderful to this world... because today, I chose to get up.