God's Design: Prayer

I realized recently that, for a blog entitled Living Out God's Design, I have never taken the time to point out, specifically, what God's design is for us as women.  Of course, most of you already know.  There are multiple books and blogs written on the subject and some wonderful conferences as well.  Sometimes it can be overwhelming, though, to see it all and apply it to our lives.  

Someone taught me, years ago, to begin the practice of highlighting in my bible-using a pink highlighter- every verse or section of scripture I came across that deals with specific things God has ordained for us as women.  I have even gone a step farther, as there are many commands that are to both women and men.  I highlight those too!  So, when I am reading my bible and see a pink highlight, I think," Pay attention!  This is specifically for me!" (disclaimer:  Yes, I know the whole bible is for me :)  I also know not everyone thinks it proper to write in your bible :)...so another alternative is to keep a journal specifically for this task). 

I have decided to take time on this blog to periodically point out specific things God has purposed for women in His perfect sovereignty and glorious design.  The first one is one that I love yet fail so often to do: Prayer.  Specifically:  Prayer for our children.  We do so many things for our children, but this is by far one of the greatest things we can do for them.  So many scriptures tell us to pray:

 Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” 

1 Timothy 2:1 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”

Luke 18:1  “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

These are just a few of the commands for us to pray.  It is only through His Spirit and power that we can accomplish anything...and the same goes for our children! Oh how we need to pray for them! 

Here is a list of things to pray for your children that I find so helpful to keep me on track. I don't always use it and it is not meant to be a ball and chain, but a great resource to help us be more consistent. If you don't have children, I am sure there are a lot of children in your church, neighborhood and family that could benefit from a godly woman praying for them!  

I don't remember where I got the resource, and wish I could give credit to the source, but I do remember that it was sent with the blessing to share at will!  I pray it will be an encouragement to you and a catalyst to live out God's design  y as a woman of prayer!

P.S.  If you can't print out the list from my blog, please fee free to email me at JeffnShell10@gmail.com and I will send it to you!

Praying for the Children (Rooted in God's Word)

Acts 19:20.........I thank you Father that Your Word prevails over our children. 
Isa 54:13...........That they are taught of the Lord and continue to be 
Prov 13:1.......... the fruit of godly instruction and correction. 
Isa 54:13...........Great is their peace and undisturbed composure. 
Prov 2:6............ Father, give us counsel and wisdom in bringing up our children.
1Pet 1:14.......... I say they are obedient, not conforming to the things of the flesh,
1Pet 1:15.......... but holy, in all conduct. 
1Pet 2:2........... desiring the pure milk of the Word that they may grow thereby.
Jas 1:19............That they are swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.
Heb 13:5.......... Their conduct is without covetousness,
Heb 13:5.......... and they are content with what they have.
Heb 13:16......... They do not forget to do what is right and to share. 
2Pet 3:18.......... I pray that they grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord,
1Thes 4:1......... and abound more and more in how they should walk and please You.
1Pet 5:5........... That they submit to their elders, and to one another,
1Pet 5:5........... being clothed with humility.
1Pet 5:7........... That they cast their cares upon You, Father, for You care for them.
Jas 1:22............I thank You that they are doers of the Word, and not hearers only,
Philemon 1:6...........effectively sharing their faith. 
2Tim 1:7 ..........not having a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
2Tim 1:9...........Father, You have saved them and called them with a holy calling, 
2Tim 1:9 ..........not according to works, but according to Your own purpose.
2Tim 4:18.........Deliver them from every evil work and preserve them.
John 10:5 ........They will by no means follow strangers, not knowing their voices. 
2Tim2:22 .........They abide with others who call on the Lord out of a pure heart,
Jas 3:10 ..........and cursing comes not out of their mouth.
1Jn 5:18 ..........Because Jesus keeps them safe, the wicked one does not touch them. 
Ps 91:11..........Give Your angels special charge to accompany, defend, preserve
Ps 4:8.............and provide safety for them, day and night.
1Jn 2:5 ...........Because they keep Your Word, Your love is being perfected in them.
1Jn 2:15 .........They do not love the world or the things in the world, 
3Jn 1:11..........and they do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. 
1Jn 1:7 ...........They walk in the light as You are in the Light,
Jas 4:8 ...........cleansing their hands and purifying their hearts, 
2Tim 2:22 .......They follow after righteousness, faith, love, and peace.
Heb 13:18........They have a good conscience and desire to live honorably,
Prov 3:4 ..........having favor and high esteem with God and man

Mom's Night Out Review

So, I promised I would do a review of the new movie coming out Mother's Day weekend called Mom's Night Out.  Jeff and I were sent free tickets to a screening of the movie.  It was close to Valentine's Day and someone had given us a Cheesecake Factory gift card at Christmas...so we decided to make a date of it! 

My husband is not one much for movies, but knowing the reputation of the makers of Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Courageous and knowing they were partners in the making of the movie, we knew it was going to be at least a movie that was clean and one we would not be ashamed to say we had attended.  To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from the movie and Jeff and I were both pleasantly surprised.

I must make a disclaimer here to say this:  the movie is not overly spiritual and does not seek to be so. In fact, before the screening, I was pleased that one of the movie reps made a deliberate point to make that distinction. That being said, we did find the movie to have spiritual depth and refreshingly bold conservative values on family and the important role of motherhood from a biblical perspective.

I don't want to give away too much about the movie, so I won't go into detail about the story line, etc. What I will tell you is this: This is not only one of the funniest Christian movies I have ever seen, it is one of the funniest movies ever that I have personally watched.  From beginning to end I don't think a smile ever left my face.  My husband and I laughed and laughed through the whole movie. It was clean, it was funny, it was moving, it was real, it was encouraging and it shed a beautiful light on God's design for motherhood.  And it wasn't just "entertainment".  It was purposeful!  My husband thinks most movies that he has seen are a "waste of time".  He didn't say that about this movie.  We talked about it all the way home, in fact.  Now, my husband is a pastor, and as stated before, the movie was not intended to impart any great doctrine, but it spoke to the joy, trial, and triumph in the beauty and blessing of motherhood!  I especially enjoyed Patricia Heaton's pastor's wife character.  Not all, but I identified with much of her character and I loved the honest and transparent way she and the pastor's family was portrayed 

I do recommend the movie for those interested in a picture that is clean, funny, and appropriate and I look forward to watching it with my mother, daughters, and friends.

Here's a link to their web page where you can watch the trailer and get more information:
http://momsnightoutmovie.com/

True Joy

The Call of Ministry

I was reminded recently about the importance of being very present in the place where God has called you.  My husband and son were on a short trip to a place that they both love.  Gorgeous farm land, rolling hills, and all the scenery and smells that fill the place.  My son expressed to my husband on the trip back how much he would like to move there when he finishes school.  How blessed my husband was to have the opportunity to have an important and intimate discussion with our son on the importance of God's calling on one's life.  He expressed that sometimes it is not always our first choice, but once we are in the center of God's will in the place He has called us to, it becomes the place we love because it is the place of obedience.

This is one of my favorite places!  It is the private island of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines called Coco Cay!  One of the most beautiful and relaxing spots I have ever been.  I am sure there are more beautiful places, but I got to go here with my husband while I was pregnant with my twins RIGHT before I was put on a 3 month bed rest!  I remember it as being a wonderful time for my husband and I to really enjoy one another in a quiet, relaxed  and slow paced atmosphere and feast continually (and uninterrupted) on God's Word.  VERY different from our usual ministry and large family filled life! And as wonderful as this place is...and as much as I love it...and as much as I sometimes long for that peaceful place...it is not where God has called us.  Though it may bring temporary happiness, it cannot bring the peaceful, settled joy-even in the midst of bustling busyness-that comes from being right in the center of where God has called us.

Happiness comes from the word happenstance:  by chance, fortune, coincidental.  Happiness is temporary.  It comes and goes.  So does sadness.  But JOY! Joy is a source or state of happiness and the expression or rejoicing of that delight.  True joy comes only from the Lord-and that through a personal relationship with Him.  The bible tells us that, "...the fruit of the Spirit is...joy"(Galatians 5:22). In other words, the gift of God's salvation to us through His Son Jesus Christ, is not only the amazing gift of eternal life, but also the gift of His Spirit residing in us.  The fruit of our lives being filled by the Spirit of God, as opposed to being filled with selfish, worldly desires and motives, is joy.  True and enduring happiness that is not swayed by our circumstances, what we own, what we gain or what we lose.  Or where we live.  True joy comes from being obedient to the will of the Father and resting in His perfect plan for each of us.

It reminds me to be content and joyful where God has us.  To seek to do His will with an obedient willingness.  And to remember:  He has a place prepared for me that is far more beautiful than the rolling, scenic farmlands and a place much more tranquil and glorious than Coco Cay...

Heaven!

"For this world is not our home; we are 
 looking forward to our city in heaven, 
 which is yet to come." Hebrews 13:14

As they shall have in heaven pure joy, so they shall 
have in heaven fullness of joy. Here on earth all joy 
is at an ebb--but in heaven is the flood of joy! Here 
shall be joy above joy, joy surmounting all joy. Here 
shall be such great joys--as no geometrician can 
measure; so many joys--as no arithmetician can 
number; and such wonderful joys--as no rhetorician 
can utter, had he the tongue of men and angels! Thomas Brooks

"In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right
 hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11

Fullness of joy!

(Meikle)
In this present life I may have some tainted pleasures; 
but in eternity, I shall always have pure delights and 
holy raptures! 

In this life I may have at times a measure of health; 
but in eternity, I shall always have perpetual vigor! 

In this life I may have some acres of ground; but in 
eternity, I shall always have an unbounded inheritance 
in the heavenly Canaan!

Here, I may have fine clothing of silk; there I will 
have robes of righteousness and garments of glory! 

Here I may have a beautiful house; there 
I will have a house not made with hands! 

Here I may have bread to eat and water to drink; 
there I will have the hidden manna and the river of life! 

Here I may have a portion of the good things of time; 
there I will have the glorious treasures of eternity! 

As to spiritual things, in this life I may have some 
communications of grace; but in eternity, I shall 
have eternal glory! 

Here I have freedom from the reign of sin; there 
I will have deliverance from the presence of sin! 

Here I have glances of heaven by faith; 
there I will have immediate vision of glory! 

Here I have God in His ordinances; there I will 
have uninterrupted communion with Him! 

Here I have some experience of His love; 
there I will have all the transports of eternal 
assurance and everlasting bliss! 

Here I have access to the throne of grace; 
there I will have continuous attendance at 
the throne of glory! 

Here I often sin against God; there 
I shall never offend His holy heart!

Would you like to know more about eternal life and God's great gift of salvation?

http://www.spurgeon.org/all_of_g.htm

It's All About Him

It's All About Him

Every day. Every day.

It's all about Him

In the quiet of the morning hours

In the twilight of the day

At the noontime rush and hustle

And the minutes in between

It's all about Him

When we toil and we labor

When we rest and are at ease

Where there is laughter and rejoicing

Where there is mourning or countless tears

It's all about Him

When there is triumph

When we fail

When the future looks bright

Or when the way looks dim

It's all about Him

Every aspect of this life

Every failure or success

In our living

In our dying...

It's all about Him

Every day. Every day.

It's all about Him.

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart!

I certainly am not the first to complain that, in our materialistic world, Christmas consumerism begins WAY too early!  I really am amazed that it happens earlier and earlier each year.  Even the Christmas music is on the radio early this year (that one I don't mind quite as much!)

One of the reasons the rush to Christmas saddens me is because the Thanksgiving season gets a mere nod.  Not only that, it is becoming known as the feast before the kick-off to Christmas shopping: Black Friday.  The stores are even opening on Thanksgiving Day now! I could write a couple of pages about that...but that is not what this post is about!

My family and I LOVE Thanksgiving, celebrate it the whole month of November, and try to practice it all year round.  There are so many scriptures about being thankful.  In the King James version, thanks appears 73 times and the word thanksgiving appears 28 times!  Here are just a few:

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.  I Chronicles 16:34

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.  Psalm 100:4

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  I Thess. 5:18

One way our family practices thankfulness is through a tradition that we start in the beginning of November.  A number of years ago, my mother in law gave me a beautiful fall Longaberger basket.

One year, we decided to write down every day one thing that we were thankful for.  At first, when we just had a few kids,  I felt crafty and used printed out cards with cornucopia on them.  After ten children we have resorted to strips of computer or school paper!  Each day we write on our slips of paper and put them in the basket.  Grandma and Grandpa and whoever else will be joining us for Thanksgiving that year do it at their house as well and bring them on Thanksgiving Day.  We put them all in the basket and mix them up.  The first years, we would pass the basket around the table and one by one we would pull out a slip and read the sentiments of thanks before we ate our meal.  As our family has grown, we have found that to read all the slips can take quite a while (figure 25-27 days times 10-12 people!  That's a lot of thanks!)  Now, we give thanks to the Lord before the meal, eat, and then have our traditional passing of the basket and reading of the thanks cards.  It is a great time for the whole family.  It is always a treasure to hear some of the things that are written on the papers.  Many are the obvious, but important:  parents, siblings, family, etc.  There are always thanks for salvation, grace, God's provision and protection.  But there are always a few very sentimental ones specific to how God has been working or a way He has shown Himself very personally in someones life. There are thanks for the big things and then the children always remind us to give thanks in even the little things as their papers are filled with thanks for the pizza last night or that they got to ride to the store with dad. There are also always some funny ones-that probably no one but our family would think is funny.  You'd have to be there kind of thing!  All in all, it is such a special time to see our family gathered around the table giving thanks to God in all things and reminding us of His faithfulness and goodness to us.

This is one of our most treasured family traditions and is such a great way to kick-off Advent, the true meaning of Christmas, and to remind us to be thankful all year long!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

Colossians 3:17

Candles in the Dark

Anyone who knows me knows I love anything written by Amy Carmichael.  If you haven't read any of her books I highly recommend anything and everything written by her.  She was a missionary to India for 55 years and founded an orphanage in Dohnavur.  On top of that amazing work for the Lord, she wrote many books.  Many she wrote while she was serving as a missionary. The book titled If  is one of my all time favorites...but that is for another post!

                                             
Recently my husband came home from a Goodwill treasure hunt and surprised me with the book Candles in the Dark by Amy Carmichael.  I was so excited as this was on my wish list of books to read!  This book is quite a gem and is unique.  It is actually a compilation of letters that she wrote after an accident left her bedridden...and they were the last of her writings before she died in 1951 at the age of 83.  Amy's biography quotes her as saying,

"One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving."

Reading about her life, (I recommend A Chance to Die: The Amy Carmichael Story by Elizabeth Elliot) one can only see that she lived out the words she spoke.  Amy loved much and she gave much...all to and through the glory of God.  In Candles in the Dark there is letter after letter of encouragement and exhortation  to others that comes from a deep relationship with God and a rich knowledge of His Word.  Not in an intellectual way, but in a knowing that comes only from abiding in Him.  Here is  just one example:

Loneliness:  On this day many years ago I went away alone to a cave in a mountain called Arima, in Japan.  I felt many feelings of fear about the future.  That was why I went there. I wanted to be alone with God.  The devil kept on whispering, "It's all right now, but what about afterwards?  You are going to be very lonely."  And he painted pictures of loneliness,  I can see them still.  Then I turned to my God in a kind of desperation and said, "Lord, what can I do?  How can I go on to the end?"  And He said, "None of them that trust in Me shall be desolate."(Psalm 34:22)  That word has been with me ever since, and I give it to you now.  It has been fulfilled to me.  It will be fulfilled to you.  Only live for Him who redeemed you and trust Him to take care of you, and He will.  That day the words "not only but also" were given to me too.  There is not only joy but also sorry in every life, but in the end-O in the end we shall see His face and we shall serve Him together.

Yes, this book is full of short little letters like that.  Words that come from one who has walked with God on the mountains and in the valleys.  Words that encourage us to seek His face and then go out and be candles in the dark.  Get this book! 

Amy's last word

As Amy's life drew to a close, writing of any kind became impossible.  Her last letter, undated, was written in pencil in large, sprawling letters which straggled across the page:

Precious Child,

         If so dear to me, what to Him?

                                         Amma (the children she cared for called
                                                      her Amma which means mother
                                                      in the Tamil language)

The Best Day of My Life

I'm not really a morning person.  Okay, I am not at all a morning person.  It takes me a little while to get to the point where I can have a real conversation with anyone.  Amid my, "mmhmmm" and dazed in they eye looks, are my up with the sun 6 year old twins and their 8 year old brother.  The love to talk in the mornings and, for some reason, love to talk about all of the deep things of life early.  Very early.

This morning was no exception.  While I am stumbling in the kitchen half awake, my 8 year old asks me, "Mom, was your wedding day the best day of your life?"  I manage to mumble in response, "Mmhmmmm.  And the days each of you kids were born." He looks at me deep in thought and walks away. Waking up. Mind processing... "No, wait.  Actually those weren't the best days of my life!"  "They weren't?" he says.  Thankfully, I woke up enough to then explain to him that the best day of my life was the day God drew me to Himself and showed me that I needed a Savior.   We continued to talk about it with the twins listening in as I worked on breakfast.  God has been working so much in the hearts of these three little ones and I know He is drawing them to Himself as well.  I wondered later how many opportunities like this I may have missed in the past?  How many of their deep life questions too early in the morning could have lead to another opportunity for the gospel.  What an eye-opener and a reminder for me to always be ready to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15) in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).  These little ones are my flock for this time in our lives and God used this simple question this morning as an opportunity to share my testimony with some sweet and tender hearts.

Not only that, but God has used that question in my life all day.  I have been able to reflect on that "best day" and rejoice in how He called me, how He regenerated me, and how He is sanctifying me.  That day was the best day of my life because it was the day it ceased to be my life and became His.  The day I realized all He has done for me through Christ.  Redeemed me, bought me out of the marketplace of sin, and adopted me as His own.  No other day compares!