Be content or you'll crash

There are so many things that I can write about the word Crash.

I could talk about the accident that my daughter and I were in. I mean when you hear the word Crash, your mind might immediately go to a car accident.

For me at this moment, when I think about crash, I feel my emotions rising up inside my chest. Like as if they are colliding with each other trying to vie for their own personal space in my chest. They are crashing into each other. It's suffocating. I want to scream! Instead, I put the baby into her pack-n-play, go to the bathroom to cry and talk to the Lord.

I'm a stay at home mom and I love being that. This is something that I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. Though when asked as a college age student what I wanted to be, I would ashamedly pick another profession, like a nurse, so that it would sound like I had a "worthwhile" ambition. And if you look at my transcript, you will see that most all of  my prerequisites point toward nursing. I thought for sure that I'd be a nurse or somewhere in the medical profession. But deep inside, though not garunteed, I knew I wanted to be a wife and a mother.

You see with being a Stay at Home Mother, Home Engineer or whatever PC word you'd like to use requires some sort of sacrifice. Especially in the area of finances. My husband's solution is "get a job". For me it requires for me to be content in the place where I'm at which requires me to put some of those dreams of packing up and flying to go visit some friends on hold. If I don't hold on to the contentment that I have been given to be a stay at home mom, I'm going to compare my life to the friend whose husband allows her to take a flight here and there without the kids, compare my life to the friend who has a job and is able to travel, compare my life to the friend who seems to be on the same level with her husband, etc. Do you see it? Comparison and discontentment colliding, okay, crashing into each other?

If I don't hold on to contentment, everything will come crashing down all around me. I want to be able to say with Paul in the New Testament, that I have learned to be content in whatever state that I am in.

Philippians 4:11-13New International Version (NIV)

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Lord, please help me! And thank You for Your good gifts!

From my heart to yours,

Mrs. M

Today I Choose Rest

Busy. Busy. Busy.

That was my life before I got married, before we had our baby.

I was always told, "You're always so busy!" I tried to deny it at times, other times I would admit it and then there were times when I had nothing to do, that I tried to fill in it with SOMETHING!

Sundays in my family were a time of physical rest. When I became a teenager, there were times that I did not appreciate the fact that we were not doing anything after church except  reading the paper (the comics were a big thing with my sisters and I, oh and looking at the sales papers though we didn't have an money to buy any of the sale items), reading a book, eating dinner with the family, watch 60 minutes and maybe a family friendly movie while my friends were out doing something like going to the beach. My dad wholeheartedly believed that Sundays were a day of rest. I didn't appreciate this until I became a full fledged adult.

But even as an adult, I didn't fully appreciate what God calls Sabbath rest. There was always guilt attached to it for me because I didn't fully understand what it meant.

It's funny that this is the topic today because our pastor actually touched on the Sabbath today. We are going through the book of Exodus and we were in chapter 35.

Sabbath doesn't just mean that you do nothing. It is a day that you put aside to honor God through fellowship, through really spending time with Him aside from the couple of hours that you are at church, through taking a nap and just literally resting.

I could go on and on about this but this is a 5 minute write, which I guarantee you that I've written longer than that. There is so much to say about the importance of taking our Sabbath seriously. God gave it to us because He loves us and cares for us. When we don't take it, we are worn out which leads to so many things that are not good for us.

Well on that note, I'll talk to you later!

From my heart to yours,

Mrs. M

Purple is for royalty

At one point in my life, purple was my absolute favorite color!  I got compliments when I wore it. I appreciated the really deep purples. They were so rich looking, I could almost taste the color.

Purple indeed is a rich color. I know this is a "five minute prompt" but let me take a break for a few minutes to look at the significance that purple has in regards to royalty it it indeed is a color for the royals.

Now after a quick read through an article regarding purple in Wikipedia, amongst other distinguishing facets, purple indeed was a royal color.

Even in the Gospels you will find that they put a purple robe on Christ because He was the King of the Jews but they did it more out of mockery then respect. (Mark 15:17; John 19:2 and 5)

Then there was Mordecai (Esther's uncle) who was put into a high position set by the king that his garment was of "fine linen and purple..." (Esther 8:15)

Since being saved by grace through faith, God says in His word, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (I Peter 2:9)

My color preferences may have changed and purple may not be at the very top of my list but it's still on my list and it's Royal!

From my heart  to yours,

Mrs. M

Love - In 5 Minutes

Love

Love is a loaded word. When I think of love, I think of patience, not giving up on another person, selflessness, sacrifice, thoughtfulness and a host of other things. It's action!

When I look at love, the biggest display of love for me came through Christ. God knows me from the inside out and still loves me. He calls me His Beloved. Jesus loved me (and the world) so much that He died to save us. Save us from what? Our sins and ultimately hell.

Society as a whole has turned love into something totally different from it's true meaning. We "love" so many things: our car, our phone, our new hairdo, etc. I mean, I guess we could love those things but when it comes down to it, would we give up our lives for our car if someone tried to rob us of it? Would we lay down  our lives for our phone, if someone tried to jack it from us? Probably not.

I could say "I love you" but would it mean anything if I didn't show it through some sort of giving up of myself? Probably not.

How would you define love?

From my heart to yours,

Mrs. M