![]() "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations." (Deuteronomy 7:9) What am I doing here? This is NOT what I had planned! God, I don’t get why I have to go through this? I feel like I am screaming, but no one hears. I could run around and no one would see me. Why me? Are any of these questions familiar to you? Everyone has felt invisible one time or another. I know for women, we feel invisible quit often. We think no one is watching our accomplishments, or that we walk into church and right back out and no one says hello. We feel as if we are invisible. I know I can attest to this. Reread the words above Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 7:9. It says that God is faithful to those who love him! If we love God and follow His ways, He will be faithful! God sees you. Even when you feel like no one is watching you, He is. Keep the faith and keep fighting, especailly on those hard days. God sees you. He is watching you and is SO PROUD of you! ![]() I have been a single mother since the day my daughter was born. Needless to say, I have never experienced the Mother's Day that I see all over social media. I never had a husband buy me flowers, take me out to eat at my favorite restaurant, and allow me to enjoy a beautiful day of rest while my husband cleans the dishes or washed my car. I never.....You never....We never....The "never"s can really bring you down into a sad state, especially on the dreaded Mother's Day. It is all too easy for Satan to convince of lies... lies that we aren't worthy enough to have a Mother's Day like other mothers.... lies that we will never have what we dream of on this holiday...lies that our day is not good or not eventful because we do not have a husband who can caterer to us on that day. All lies. John 8:44 says that, "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Lies are Satan's language, just like English is ours. Speaking comes naturally for us just like lying comes naturally for him. However, Satan can be very convincing because it is naturally to him and therefore, it can be all too easy to believe these lies when our focus is on them. This Mother's Day, let us lean into our Heavenly Father, who made us oh so perfectly! Let us make this Mother's Day different from all other Mother's Day. Forget the "never"s. Choose "always." Spend the next few minutes writing down one to three things that you will ALWAYS do on or around Mother's Day to celebrate. It can be a massage, pedicure, take out, watching your favorite movie, anything that can celebrate YOU and bring YOU joy on this day. Here are mine: 1. I will always have a picnic with my daughter on Mother's Day. 2. I will always have my daughter pick out flowers for me on Mother's Day. 3. I will always take the day off on Mother's Day. I want to leave you with the Word of God....His TRUTH to you. Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. - Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message) ![]() We have all heard the story of Moses and the plagues. We hear the story of how God led Moses through seven plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians due to Pharaoh's hard heart. We instantly judge the rich ruler for being so unruly and cruel to the Israelites. But how many times do we harden our hearts to the Lord when times get tough? As Believers we know we are suppose to rely on the Lord in difficult, but many times we end up like Pharaoh, trying to control outcome. Even when things get really tough, we stand our ground that we can make things happen. How exhausting! What does God say about our hard hearts? Exodus says, “But for this very purpose have I let you live, that I might show you My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16) God declares to Pharaoh that despite Pharaoh's refusal to let the Israelites go, that this time is being use for His glory. That fabulous news is that despite our mistakes and our efforts to control, God will use every moment for His glory. No time is wasted in God's eyes. How relieving! God is waiting to change your life, but to do that you need to give Him back control. All it takes is for you to accept His invitation and say, “Lord, take back control.” Then, sit back and watch Him take you to wondrous places! ![]() Definition: Home noun 1. a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household. 2. the place in which one’s domestic affections are centered. 3. an institution for the homeless, sick, etc.:a nursing home. 4. the dwelling place or retreat of an animal. 5. the place or region where something is native or most common 6. a person’s native place or own country. 7. any place of residence or refuge: a heavenly home. Moses writes during his time in the wilderness, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations" (Psalm 90:1). His intimate prayer to the Lord, Moses looks to God for refuge and protection during uncertainty. He was the leader of His family, but also a leader to thousands. The pressure was legitimate and a lot of it. Moses understood that He could not do it on His own, but also, that his life must have a solid foundation during this time of transition. Does our home have a solid foundation? Have we ensured that our foundation is built on Him or has it been built on our own strength? As single mommas, we are notorious taking life by the reigns and taking control. I get it. Many days we NEED to be in charge of it all. We are the breadwinner, mother and father, housemaid, and every other job in the book. But being a builder is the one job that is not ours. God is our builder and our life should have the solid foundation of Him. When God is our foundation and we dwell in His house, you will be in awe of the peace and joy that will flood your home, both your heart and your real home. Choose today to be "homeless" for a while, and allow God to rehome you into His house. ![]() "Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!” (Hebrews 12:28-29 MSG) Do you praise God in the storm? If you are anything like me you praise God for the first half of the game. During half-time, you begin to second guess yourself, second guess God, and start thinking. Our mind wins. Be begin OVERthinking what has happened, what you have yet to accomplish, what you have endured, and how you have failed in it all. By the end of the game, you don’t even remember how the first part of game you were holding onto God’s hand. Hebrews 12 tells us that we should not only be thankful during our hard times, but we should be “brimming with worship.” God cares to much about you to not sift out things in yourself that are not useful. He is cleaning house to make you better, so much better! I am the first to tell you that trust me, cleaning house is hard. Cleaning house is painful. And cleaning house can at times make you feel like the world is at its end, but I assure you that your life is not at its end. It's only the beginning. ![]() In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly [Psalm 5:3] Someone once told met that reading the Bible is our way of hearing from God and praying is how God hears us. Communication with our Father can have in a variety of ways, but reading His Word and praying is definitely a great start. So when should you pray? Anytime and anywhere! But for me, I find that praying in the morning before my day begins allows me to set up day up on focusing on Him rather than my to-do list. In the Bible, you will find many references to praying in the morning. In the book of Mark, Jesus shows us when we can pray. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (v.35) After a productive long day of ministry the day before, Jesus woke up and found a solitude place to talk to God. He made prayer a priority. In our busy life of mommas, it is an immense sacrifice to wake up even earlier than what we are to spend time with our Lord. But this is a sacrifice we can choose to make not just for our betterment, but also shows God where our priorities are. Try waking up just ten minutes earlier and try praying in the morning. You may find that your entire day has a new outlook and peace can be found much quicker. ![]() In the earlier years of my single motherhood, my daughter, understandably so, did not fully understand why mommy was not around as much as she liked. She would ask her grandma, "Where is mommy?" while she plays at the family farm. "She is sleeping honey," my mother would remind her. As single mothers, there are times where we must miss out on a lot. We cannot attend our children’s Christmas concert because we cannot afford to take off work early, yet again. Little time is spent sitting beside our children playing with Playdough because there is a copious amount of housework to do. It rips us apart, making us feel like we are losing out on joyous motherhood while our children lose out on a ‘normal’ childhood. The guilt is indescribable. But have you ever considered that, that guilt is completely fake? Yes! Completely and utterly counterfeit. Although we truly do miss out on fun times, the emotions of guilt is unfounded. There is nothing more that Satan wants than to see you fester with negative thoughts and feelings. What do these negatives bring us? Doubt in Christ. This uncertainty festers inside of us weeks on end, causing us to begin to wonder if God is really with us. Proverbs 3:5-8 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones." Relying on our temporary emotions can bring long-lasting damage to our relationship with Christ. We must consciously choose daily to trust that even though we are saddened by the loss of experiences with our children, that God is guiding our children as well as us. And Momma, looking back our children will not think you abandoned them. They will see a strong parent who did all they can to provide and to love. Push those evil thoughts out! You are a great momma! ![]() Sometimes life is just too hard. Have you been there too? It is all too much at once, and it makes us want to give up. There is no time to handle how we are doing emotionally in between work and our children. Surviving the day is our only focus. Peace does not appear attainable. Isaiah 40:29-31 says, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Hold firmly to your faith and hope in what God has given you today. On the days I want to wave the white flag in surrender, I like to listen to some of my favorite worship songs, especially ones from Elevation Worship. I close my eyes, sit, listen to the melody and words, and allow the words to soak into my soul. It helps me stop my spinning mind from focusing on my external worries and calms my soul, allowing me to reach for peace that comes from the Spirit. My dear fellow momma: you are beautiful, you are strong, and you have a purpose. You are unbreakable! ![]() The first few years of my single motherhood were the most difficult. I found myself just trying to survive my life of confusion. I did not understand why everything appeared so wrong in my life, even though I did my best to live a godly life. It did not make sense. I was in pure disbelief. As a woman of faith, I reminisced about the past and saw countless times when God was there. But in the present, my sufferings blocked those times of thankfulness.I desired to grow deeper in Christ, yet my actions show otherwise. Sunday worship became inconsistent and my quiet times with the Lord were sporadic. I was embarrassed of my position as recently married woman who was also now a recent single mother. Another was that I was upset at God. I did not understand why I have spent my past honoring Him in all things: working in ministry to help people in Africa, fervently reading His word and connecting with Him in prayer, and serving Him. I did not understand why my present was filled with so much hurt and suffering. God had my heart, but I could not feel His presence like I used to. I remembered the ultimate joy I had when I was first saved and other times where experienced His blessings. My heart was soft, and in a way, so pure and innocent, but my unexpected circumstance that was forced upon me demolished the opened heart I once had. My heart went astray, the Spirit became dormant inside of me. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7: 37-38 ESV) There came a point where I had to decide to let go of looking to the past, looking for answers, looking everywhere else but God. When I chose to drop all of those burdens, my thirst for Christ came back. My mind was more settled, my heart was given peace, and I realized that His presence never really left me. Are you thirsty? Don’t allow your present circumstance to take you back. Let it bring you through on God’s journey for you, relying on His power, love, and grace for you. When you do, you will find the Living Water……sweet and satisfying! ![]() Tears dropped onto my cheeks as I reflected on what I found out just hours earlier. I came to learn a dear friend had lied to me, straight to my face. Although the subject of the lie was so minor, this situation appeared to hurt more than other faults that have happened to me recently. It hurt more because someone close to me was involved. When you are hurt so severely by one person, it can be difficult to trust anyone else. It can be easy to close the door to your heart so that you can't be hurt again, but then you eventually find yourself in a dark place. I am choosing today to keep the door of my heart opened, knowing I may be hurt again. Why? Because I never ever want to go back to that dark place of loneliness. We are human beings and we will be hurt by those around us. When we do, it will be a reminder to us that this is not our home. This place is temporary and nothing can satisfy us, but God. Psalm 90:1 says, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations." When people let us down in this world, let us close our eyes and remember that we can go to God, who provides us a safe haven in our hurts. |
AuthorMelissa Brown is a strong momma who lives in Wapakoneta, Ohio. She enjoys spending time with her daughter, Zoey, and taking long naps. Posts
May 2024
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