We are on the cusp of moving across the country. We’ve got one foot in Washington state and one in North Carolina and it’s starting to feel like a S-T-R-E-T-C-H!
We spent the last 8 days working and playing in the small town we will be living in. It was the first time our youngest three had seen it. Our 18 and 19 yr olds have been there with my husband for 3 weeks cleaning and painting the house we are fixing up as a bed and breakfast. There is still so much work to be done, but we finally had to say it was enough for now so that we can go back home to pack our worldly possessions onto a truck that will take the long trek back across the country.
As a mom, I have had the privilege of watching our boys work so well alongside my husband. When you raise 8 kids, the middle ones don’t always get the same opportunities to work with you the way the older ones did. It’s not intentional, it just happens and before you know it, they are moving out. It looked as though that chance had passed, but God is so good to give us more time with these boys! We assumed they wouldn’t want to move away from everything they know, but surprisingly they decided to move with us and we are so grateful for that!
There are complications that come with moving your adult children with you, but they pale in comparison to the joy my husband and I feel about more of our kids living in the same little town with us. My heart is so full every time we sit in church and several of our kids are there with us. I love fixing Sunday dinners that bring us together for few hours, free of schedules and agendas..a place where time stands still for just a little while.
The home we are buying to live in has a big wrap around porch with a porch swing. I have been dreaming of wicker and rockers filling that space and envisioning the sweet friends and family we hope to share it with…those we know and those we have yet to meet. Time is so precious and so fleeting. God has been pressing on me the incredible importance of slowing my heart to beat with His. He is never in a hurry. He is never frantic. He notices the small things that we often find out (too late), are actually the really important things. To set a spell and take in the temperature, the sounds, the sights, the smells of those moments in time that we will never get back. This was meant to be a blessing for us from God!
But I’m also a mom (of eight)…and I’ve been a mom for 26 years. I know what it’s like to be busy and I know the need to be productive and the responsibilities that come with having so many depending on you. And yet, I can’t help but think…no…I KNOW that there’s a difference between being busy and being frantic. There is a way to care for our families and have a quiet heart that’s at peace. It usually doesn’t come naturally. In fact it’s more like supernatural and I believe it’s something God has for every mom who knows Him.
You see, the redemption that is found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus isn’t just about being forgiven and having eternal life (although that is incredible awesome)! The price Jesus paid bought SO much more than that…it bought a LIFE of redemption. That means that those things that would normally have control over us…fear, doubts, sin, the past…have no right to speak into our lives anymore. Those voices can be hushed and we can take authority over them because of the precious blood of Jesus and the unchanging love He has for us! We are who GOD says we are and He tells us in His Word exactly who that is. It’s about knowing HIM and as we know HIM, we begin to grasp all that is ours because of His incredible love for us.
As you read His Word, I encourage you to be listening and looking for ALL that God has for you and realizing who YOU are in Him.
Read it with the eyes of a woman who has already been redeemed, renamed and restored. Jesus said that the Enemy of our souls comes to steal, kill and destroy, but HE came so that we might have a rich and satisfying life…abundance in every area! (John 10:10) So anytime you start to feel anything that smells of death, girlfriend, you are FREE from that!
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free!!!
John 8:36
If you feel like you have been fighting the same battles over and over again, it’s not because He is not faithful…He has SO much for you! Let His Word and Holy Spirit begin to ignite your faith so that you SEE differently…with eyes that perceive and a heart that KNOWS that His promises are FOR YOU and then walk that out with humble confidence refusing to be distracted or discouraged because you know the TRUTH!
And you will know the truth and the TRUTH will set you FREE!
John 8:32
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