The Tribe

Here is my Tribe.  We had these taken Mother's Day.  It was my gift to myself.  Now that my kids are trying so hard to leave me it is really hard to get them all together for good pictures.

I asked a friend of mine if she could take our picture.  She is 19 and loves photography & I knew she would do a great job!  And she did!!

This is my favorite.  

We joked that this is on the porch of our new house.
My group takes up the whole porch!

Me & all my guys!

Sweet Charlie with his brothers in the background.

Me with my beautiful little women who aren't so little anymore...
except Gracie, she's still little.

This was a Facebook favorite & is still my cover photo.

Love this man!  My cowboy!

The Mom Heart

I knew something wasn't right.  I couldn't explain it, I just knew he was in danger.  I told my husband to call our son.  It was normal for him to still not be home this late at night, but for some reason I felt that he needed to be home.  My heart said pray.

I can't explain why I text her when I did.  I just knew she was on my mind so I let her know I was praying for her.  Normally she would reply very quickly, but not this time.  I didn't think anything about it until later that afternoon. I text her again.  Still no answer.  My heart said pray.

I could write out time after time when I have felt this urgency to pray for my children.  I never can explain why I feel this sudden need to cover them in prayer.  I really became aware of this when our family separated for a while.{ You can read why here.}  I didn't have my teenagers with me everyday for the first time since they were born and my heart hurt.  My prayers for my kids changed because all of a sudden I didn't know what they were doing.  I didn't know who my daughter was babysitting for.  I didn't know my son missed his orthodontist appointment.  I didn't know my daughter had been throwing up all night.

I know really do what is speaking to me, telling me to pray.  It is the Holy Spirit.  He is real and powerful and will impress my mind and heart in ways I often don't understand.  I have come to be very thankful for this, even though it often brings pain to my MomHeart.

I've come realize God has given me this MomHeart as a way to be connected with my children in ways they don't even realize.  The older my kids get and the farther away they go, the bigger my MomHeart becomes. It enables me to look them in the face & know.  Just know things they don't want me to know.  To know if they are being truthfull. To know if they are hurting.  To just know things that often, I don't want to know.

Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit all through out, even in the Old Testament because the 3 persons of God existed before time began.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot recieve, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

God gave us the Holy Spirit as our advocate & counselor.  When my heart is hurting, the Holy Spirit brings peace and comfort.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  John 14:26

How many times have you remembered a scripture verse or something someone said to you that you had not thought of in years.  I love how the Holy Spirit does this!

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

So often as a mom, I don't know what to pray for my children, but I just know I have to pray.  It often comes out something like this...

"Lord, you know where  _(name)  is and what they are doing.  You know what they are saying and what they are thinking.  Protect them. Speak to them. Consume their mind with you and your promises. Thank you for _(name)_ and thank you for hearing my prayer."

Sometimes I find out why I needed to pray.  Most often I don't.  Sometimes my kids will ask, "Mom were you praying for me last night?" I love that.

If you suddenly feel an urgency to pray for your children (or for anyone) don't dismiss it.  Stop right then and pray. Cry out to the Lord on your childs behalf.  Listen to your MomHeart...a.k.a. the Holy Spirit.

Happy Mother's Day!

Had to share this with you moms.  Get your kleenex ready.

As we go about our day, we do not know the future of our children. We could be raising a future olympic champion or a doctor who finds a cure for the rarest of diseases.  We could be raising the next Leader God uses to bring our nation to their knees in repentance. Most of us are raising up children of whom the world will never know their name or what they will accomplish. We do not know.  But whatever our children do become, what a joy it is to know God will use us in their lives to accomplish whatever it is he has planned for them.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!




 

A Year Later

What a difference a year makes!  I can't believe it has been a whole year since Charlie was born. Here is my post I wrote after he was born.  The Lord was really working on me then.

So, here we are a year later and of course the Lord is still working on me in so many ways.  When Charlie was born, my big life lesson was on surrendering.  Surrendering my plans for our family to move out to our own home.  Surrendering my plans for the pregnancy. (using a doctor instead of a midwife like in the past). Surrendering my plans for my children. Surrendering my plans for the birth. My plans weren't bad...they just didn't match up with the Lord's plans.

I can truly say I have given up my plans.  WooHoo!  None of them were working out anyway. :)  I am trusting the Lord that his plans are way better than anything I could come up with.  They always are.  Though the inbetween time is extremely difficult!

Where am I a year later?  I have my good days and my bad days just like every other normal person.  I have my days when I could swear the Lord is standing right next to me walking me through my day & then I have days where I can't feel him at all and I feel as though he has dumped me off on a deserted island & forgotten about me.

I admit, I have enjoyed using Charlie as an excuse to stay out of touch with people.  I know that sounds horrible, especially is you know me in real life.  3 years ago I was extremely busy in ministry and homeschool world and just life as a mom of a giant family.  Now, I love the fact that my busyness all comes from my kids.  No more outside groups pulling for my attention.  It took me a really long time to become comfortable with that, but I am now.  And now that I really like not doing anything except be a mom & wife, God says, "I have something for you to do."  I said, "NOOO!!!"  He said, "YES!" and he wouldn't quit talking to me until I...yep, you guessed it.  I had to surrender! ugh!

So, JoyMoms was born.  I'm still writing on the book, but since I am a mom first I am writing slowly.  But the Lord keeps talking to me about other ways to minister to moms besides just writing.  I'm listening and waiting. In the mean time, I am posting as often as I can on JoyMoms.com what the Lord has taught me and is teaching me about His joy.

Today, as we celebrate Charlie's birthday I celebrate more than just his precious life.

 I celebrate a God who will not leave me alone! 

 I celebrate a husband who has stuck with me through my hormonal craziness & spiritual depression.  

I celebrate parents & in-laws who still very graciously sacrifice so much so our family can stay together.

 I celebrate my kids who are still learning to just roll with the flow and be patient while we wait for God to provide what we need so we can live in our own house again. 

 I celebrate friends who continue to pray for me and hold me accountable.

Jude 24,25 has become my verse for this year.  It is God who keeps me from stumbling and he deserves all glory for everything in my life.  This verse is called the doxology of the book of Jude & I think it is a perfect doxology for my life.

Here is my Charlie.  He is the joy of our family.  We can't imagine our lives with out him and even though we all thought it was a crazy time for God to give us a baby we are so thrilled he is here.  God knew we needed Charlie now!