Serving Joyfully

15May 2013

Thriving Thursday (& An Announcement)

It’s time for Thriving Thursday

It’s also an exciting day for my family, because this Thursday (today!), we’re traveling to Nashville to attend the Teach them Diligently Homeschooling Convention!!! I am so excited I’ve never been to such a convention, and I can’t wait to go and be encouraged and inspired in homeschooling, parenting, and even just daily living for Jesus! I’m going to get to see again some ladies I met at Allume (like Crystal Paine and Sally Clarkson), and can also meet a bunch of new-to-me ladies, and I can’t wait!

Also, I have another little announcement. I was invited, along with many other amazing women to be a part of a brand-new pinterest board called Inspiring Christian Women. We want to share things that will inspire and encourage you, so be sure to check it out Oh, and if you don’t follow me on pinterest, you could do that too . It’s a new project, but already there is some great content, so check it out.

Thriving Thursdays is a link up for family-friendly bloggers, who are choosing to THRIVE in their lives. It’s a place for us to encourage and inspire one another to live life to the fullest–in Jesus Christ. Link up your posts about thriving–in marriage, faith, parenting, homemaking, relationships, in the kitchen, in frugality.

Everything we do can be a ministry and worship to our Lord. Link up as many posts as you want, and I hope that you’ll take the time to visit some other participants as well.

I am so blessed by the posts you all share! I really look forward to seeing all of the encouragement shared here each week. Keep it coming! Sometimes I highlight posts here, and I also pin my favorites to the Thriving Thursdays Pinterest Board.

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15May 2013

Offering Practical Help to Others

Crystal ⋅ 18 Comments

“I’ll pray for you.”

Before I get into this, I want to say, prayer is the most important thing we can do for someone. Breakthroughs come from God, from the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Miracles come through prayer.

With that said, I’ve had a lot of thoughts about this floating around in my head for a while, mainly a couple of problems with this being our sole response to people who are hurting, or in need.

1. Empty words.

Sometimes we say “I’ll praying for you” because it’s a good thing to say. It’s the Christian thing to say. Where others might say “I’m sorry for your situation” or “I hope it gets better,” We Christians say “I’ll pray for you.”

The leader of our women’s prayer group at church has this rule. As soon as a prayer request is mentioned, we immediately stop and pray. It’s how she lives her life, because she realizes that without doing this, there is a very good possibility that we’ll forget or not get around to it.

Prayer is great, but we say “I’ll pray for you,” more often than we actually do it.

Put it in action: If you see someone struggling, hurting, or in need–stop what you’re doing and pray for them. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or eloquent, and maybe you’ll revisit it later and pray more in depth, but praying immediately ensures that you’ll honor your word.

2. It replaces practical help.

In James 2:14-17, we read this:

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? …If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

My husband and I used to do this funny skit, called the $50 skit. It’s about a college student who needs $50 to pay his electric bill. In the skit, he meets a series of people, each one a Christian who has been blessed with an extra $50. Thus begins a hilarious episode of each friend trying to help him get what he needs, using everything from “faith aerobics” to getting down on your belly to be “humble enough”, and “naming it and claiming it”. In the end, a final person walks up to him–after his faith has been beaten down, and says simply “I don’t know what you’re going through, but the Lord put it on my heart to give you this $50.” It’s funny, but powerful.

I was reminded of this skit recently when my friend shared a story about her 3 year old daughter. She had told her daughter at the store, “You can’t run away–I need you to help me.” To which her daughter replied: ”Okay, I’ll just pray for you.”

This innocent, funny story pierced my heart with conviction. On the one hand–it’s evidence of her mother’s teaching that she thought of prayer first, and that’s awesome. But at the same time, how often do we do this?

How often do we say “I’ll pray for you,” when the practical help is within our power to give?

God works through people sometimes. You and me.

Sarah Mae, in talking about her book Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe, talks about how moms need physical help sometimes. And don’t we all?

Is there someone that you can offer physical, practical help to today? What’s stopping you?

Power of Prayer

I fully believe in the power and importance of prayer. There are so many times where we need God to step in because nothing else will help–heart issues, healing, etc.

But maybe, sometimes, we should be a little more hands on. Yes, pray for others. But also offer practical, physical support as well.

Is there a time in your life when someone has offered you real, practical help?

13May 2013

Weekly Goals.

Crystal ⋅ 2 Comments

Photo Credit

Each week, Crystal Paine at Money Saving Mom shares her weekly goals and hosts a link up for others to share as well. Because of my colossal failure with many things, and my renewed desire to get back on the wagon, I decided to do this by participating. Some of these will seem like basic things to many of you, but I’m nothing if not honest, and this is where I am right now. There are some things that I am already doing, so those aren’t on the list.

Faith/Ministry

1. Memorize 2 verses (one with the boys and one for myself)
2. Reach out to someone new through visit or contact (our family is working on a shut-in ministry that we can do together)
3. Read 3 chapters of Prayer Warrior Mom.

Family

1. Start on All About Reading program with boys (Watch for a review coming soon!)
2. Do something intentional to show love to my husband each day
3. Get back on track with meal planning.
4. Get busy bags, etc. ready for our trip to Teaching Them Diligently in Nashville this weekend.

Personal

1. In bed by 10:30 at least 5 nights
2. Work out 5 times
3. Count calories daily with My Fitness Pal.

Professional

1. Write 4 articles (3 for my blog and 1 guest post)
2. Write 5 devotions for submission to Thriving Family Magazine (Did you see my devotions in the current issue?)

This is kind of a trial run, so next week’s goals might be tweaked a bit, but we’ll go with this list for now. Wish me luck

12May 2013

Happy Mother’s Day!

Crystal ⋅ 1 Comment

10May 2013

Not a Failure.

Crystal ⋅ 22 Comments

Failure

I rarely post on the weekends, but that’s always one of the hang-ups for me and beating this thing called weight. It’s not a good time to give up this or that. I need a new year, a new month, a new week, or at least a new day to start fresh. But I have to start right now.

Some of you may remember last year, when I had my best ever “get healthy” kick. It started spontaneously, and the next thing I knew, I was exercising 6 days a week. What started out as yet another I-want-to-do-this-but-don’t-want-to-fail-yet-again, half-hearted kind of thing became something that was working for me.

It lasted for 3 months, and I truly believed I had beat this thing called food addiction and obesity. I lost 22 lbs. I no longer had cravings for sweets. No more struggles with binge eating. No more dreading to exercise. I looked forward to it. In the beginning, I couldn’t run even a tenth of a mile, and by the end of that time, I was jogging a solid mile. Not a huge accomplishment I realize, but to me it was. I felt great, for the first time in a long time.

I still remember the awesome feeling of victory I had standing at Wal-mart of all places, buying myself work-out clothes (my gift to myself for meeting my first goal—losing 15 lbs).

And to this day, I don’t know exactly where it went wrong. Was it when I started doing Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred and working out became not-so-fun again? When we went out to eat for our anniversary and ate out 3 times in a weekend after not eating out for months? (I swear, that stuff is addictive to me! It only takes a couple meals to fall off the wagon.) When I stopped posting about it weekly here on my blog? Or was it the fact that we moved across the state and all the stress and travelling that entailed? Or maybe it was my severe bout of depression and anxiety this past fall.

Whatever it was that caused the downfall, it’s complete.

I have not only gained back every single pound I lost, but I have surpassed my previous high weight. Friday night, when I stepped on the scale, it read 208.4. That is 10 pounds MORE than I weighed when I went to the hospital to give birth to my full-term babies! That is not okay. It’s not healthy. I worked so hard to get out of that “obese” category, but here I am again.

I feel that weight.

I feel it when I walk, when I talk, when I breathe, when I get dressed in the morning, and when I try to play with my boys. I feel it with every awkward movement.

I can’t describe the defeat I feel at getting back here. The discouragement that comes from making all that progress and then having to start all over.

But start over I must. Because it’s not about the weight, and it’s not about the number on the scale. It’s about honoring God with this “temple of mine”. And it’s about LIVING with my family.

It’s about taking my life back from the enemy, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And instead recognizing who I am in Christ, who comes to give me abundant life.

I have to leave myself with a positive thought about starting over. Because I know myself and I could easily bow under the weight of the defeat. But the truth is, I spent 3 months doing well and losing weight. And after I completely lost control, it took over 6 months for me to gain all that weight back. If that whole 9 months had been spent gaining, if I hadn’t lost that weight in between, I’d be even worse off now and I have to hold on to that.

So, this is me. Picking myself up. Dusting myself off. And starting up that mountain again, one step at a time.

What’s the toughest thing you’ve had to conquer? How did you do it?

10May 2013

For the mamas…

Crystal ⋅ 3 Comments

My Mom

I’ve been struggling with this post all week. You’d have to live under a rock to not know that Sunday is Mother’s Day. I find myself with so many different emotions. So many things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t really decide which one to go with, so here are my jumbled up thoughts…

Love.

I learned so much about what it means to be a mother from my own mom. She sacrificed so much for the good of us kids. She has such a mother’s heart that she is always unofficially adopting people into the family. Our old pastor used to have a saying about membership–he said, “If you come once, you’re a visitor. If you come twice you’re one of us.” That’s how my mom was. If you came once, you were a visitor, if you came twice, you were family. I learned a lot about loving people where they’re at from my mom. Because that’s what she modeled for us. She has always loved people, and had a heart for serving them, even with no thanks.

And isn’t that the definition of motherhood? Serving people with no thanks.

Because all the little things of motherhood are pretty thankless jobs. But we keep on doing it because we love these little people we’re serving, and they need us.

Gratitude.

I never wanted to be a mom. When I thought about motherhood, I saw long nights, screaming fits, too much responsibility, and a permanent forsaking of myself for someone else. And I didn’t want that. But, God knows best, and one day while I was on birth control, I took a little test “just to ease my mind,” and two lines popped up in the blink of an eye. I was 6-weeks pregnant.

That has been over 6 years ago, and in that time, I’ve learned that motherhood is so much more than the hard stuff. Yes, there are tough days, but the beautiful moments–my kids learning things I taught them, the hugs, the snuggles, the love, the innocence. I’m so grateful that God allowed me to be a mom, despite my own misunderstandings about what that meant.

Unworthiness.

In the midst of all these other thoughts, I can’t help but also feel unworthy. I suffer from depression, and my kids suffer because of that and it breaks my heart. I watch these beautiful videos about motherhood, and I know that I’m undeserving of the day, maybe even the title. Because all too often my own selfishness takes over. Sometimes my lack of energy due to depression takes over. And our lives look nothing like those beautiful videos celebrating the “real” moms out there.

Me and my boys

(I don’t have many pics of myself with the boys…I’m usually the one TAKING the photos…this is the most recent one, and it’s from last Christmas, as in 2011! lol)

Compassion.

And while I’m saddened by some of the beautiful tributes to moms because I know I fall short, I know that there are others saddened for a different reason. I have friends whose mama hearts are full, but their arms are empty–due to miscarriage or infertility. And others who have lost their moms, and this day only brings pain for them. My heart goes out to them at this time, and I pray that God will comfort them.

If you know someone in those situations, maybe you could take a minute to show them a little extra love this weekend.

And, I wanted to share this video, for those like me who are still in the thick of it. Who still have little ones at home, and you’re still feeling like motherhood is a thankless job, and you wonder sometimes if you’re doing anything that matters. You are, as Steven Curtis Chapman says, “changing the world, one little heartbeat at a time”

Happy Mother’s Day! To my mom, and all the other mamas out there

08May 2013

Thriving Thursday 5/8

Crystal ⋅ 10 Comments

It’s time for Thriving Thursday

Everything we do can be a ministry and worship to our Lord. Link up as many posts as you want, and I hope that you’ll take the time to visit some other participants as well.

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