Archive | Encouragement

Take A Leap Of Faith

By Heather on March 13, 2013 in blog, Encouragement

We all know the Bible says to trust God. We repin all the scenic Pinterest images that quote scriptures like Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your hear and lean not on your own understanding.” Let’s be honest here. We can talk all we want about trusting in God, but it is a lot easier said than done. Matt and I had a situation in our life where trusting in God meant we had to take a leap of faith, and man it was a LEAP.

Take a Leap of Faith

Matt has worked 2 jobs for the last year and a half. He has a great corporate job, but also painted houses on the side. The painting business was a really nice source of income for our family of 6. Last September, Matt was promoted and his job corporate job became much more demanding. At that time, we both felt like God was saying to stop the painting business.

This is where the hard part came in. We both knew it was time to walk away from painting, but we both had a very hard time coming to terms with “losing” that extra income. It felt like obeying God was asking so much of us, and was going to be a huge sacrifice. So, we drug our feet. In fact, we drug our feet for around 6 months.

Finally, we got to the point where not stepping out in faith was turning into disobeying God’s direction for our lives. Things stopped going smoothly with the painting business. Jobs took longer to complete, we were constantly over budget on supplies, and the houses were getting more nasty by the minute. The grace was no longer there!

So, we finally agreed to stop living in fear, and really trust what God was saying. We closed the painting business. It was such a relief, but there was still that nagging fear that we had made a huge mistake and were going to devastate our family financially. But, we decided to trust in God and His ability to lead our family.

Then an amazing thing happened. A situation at Matt’s work changed, and he is going to have to cover extra hours for a least the next 5 months. There is no way he would have been able to do any of the painting now anyway. God always knows better, and His ways are ALWAYS better than our ways.

God was putting us into a position to where Matt could work extra hours, which will more than cover what we let go of financially. God asked us to give something up so He could replace it with something better. We took a leap of faith and landed right in the will of God, with His blessings.

What is something you know you were supposed to do, but didn’t see how it would work out? Maybe it is homeschooling your kids, or that career change you have been feeling led to do. It doesn’t matter what it is take the step. God will always meet you right on the other side of your obedience.

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To The Homeschool Mom Who Is Ready To Quit

By Heather on March 9, 2013 in blog, Encouragement, Homeschool

You just finished the worst day on the books this year. The tears started at handwriting, and it went downhill from there. Trust me we have all had those days. The days when you are ready to march down to the local school and enroll your entire family. Wouldn’t that be so much easier anyway? Let someone else teach them, and you get them back for the fun times after school. The thought crosses your mind, but you know in your heart that would only make you miserable.

To The Homeschool Mom Ready to Quit

Why? Because, homeschooling is your ministry. No, it may not be super glamorous all the time, and yes it is hard work. It takes commitment and dedication. It is your ministry, it is what you were called to do at this season in your life. Your children are the greatest gift that a mother could ever be given. Our children are a heritage of the Lord. He has given them to us to nurture, protect, and to train up in the way they should go. What is that way? To follow after God with their whole hearts, to strive to be absolutely great for Him.

Homeschooling will not always be easy, but the good far out weighs the bad. Getting to wake up and teach your child something new. Seeing their little eyes light up when they finally catch that concept they have been struggling with, that is the greatest gift. In that moment, you forget all the bad for a few minutes and see that what you are doing really is working.

So homeschool mom who is ready to quit….DON’T! What you are doing is a ministry. I know when the bad days come, I stop and remember that. It helps to know what I am doing really is worth the hard work.

I am sharing this on Titus Tuesday.

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I Don’t Feel Like Being Perfect Today!

By Heather on February 15, 2013 in blog, Encouragement, Parenting

It’s around 10:00 am and you are just relaxing drinking your cup of coffee. The week is about over and you are taking an easy approach to the day. Then you decide to check your phone. There is a missed call from your friend wanting to know if the play date is still on.

You forgot! You take a quick evaluation of your house and realize that it is a complete mess. Kids are running around in pj’s and you are sitting in yoga pants and a t-shirt. In that moment you have a choice. You can either choose to stress yourself out and pretend to be the perfect housewife who has it all together. Or you can be real.

A few months ago I would have ran through my house like a crazy lady throwing stuff in closets, cleaning at a rate of speed that would make your head spin. I am pretty certain children would have been yelled at to get in line and help get the mess picked up. They would have been stressed, I would have been stressed, and no one would be in a good mood. Then we would all suck it up, put on our perfect little faces to pretend that everything is fine.

Today as the above scenerio of forgetting a play date unfolded, I sat in my chair with my coffee and honestly thought, “I don’t feel like being perfect today!” I don’t want to run around here cleaning like mad and pretending we are a perfect little family. We are real people. There are 6 of us in our house, and my house isn’t perfect. We have pj days and you know what? It is OK.

Here is what I said instead. I forgot today was the day…my house is a mess and I have nothing to fix for lunch. In response I got, “I have kids and understand messes in the house. Want me to bring you some lunch?”

So on this day instead of all the chaos. I told my kids we were having a play day. We straightened up the best we could, got dressed, and got ready to play. Real friends understand. They don’t expect us to be perfect. So many times we add all the stress to ourselves, when in reality we need to just be real.

“Be Who You Are and Say What You Feel Because Those Who Mind Don’t Matter and Those Who Matter Don’t Mind.”~ Dr. Suess

This quote is one of my very favorites. Can I tell you how much more relaxed the day has gone? It is a night and day difference. I don’t want my kids to resent company coming over because I turn in to the ogre mommy right before they get here. I want it to be a time of fun and great memories. The quote is true, those that matter really don’t mind. A real friend is coming to spend time with you. They aren’t coming to evaluate if you are a good housekeeper and mom. So relax, do the best you can do, and don’t worry about the rest.

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