Peace of God, Cover Me

As I sit here writing this I'm looking out of our windows facing the backyard. It's a warm windy evening and the swings on my children's play set are swinging without any human help, toys are being blown across the back porch, and the trees are swaying in the distance. It's obvious there is a storm heading this way. Looking from the inside I wouldn't describe the scene as peaceful. 

Inside my home I just finished helping one child pick up more Legos than a kid should probably own, rocked a crying infant to sleep, and comforted another son after he got in a small fight with our dog. If you were standing outside and looked into our house you probably wouldn't describe it as peaceful. 

However, something God has been teaching me and I am trying so hard to remember is that peace is not determined by the outside circumstances. The chaotic scene that surrounds our life does not define peace. Peace is the internal calm that God gives us when we let Him guide us through the storm. 

About four years ago we were expecting our second child. I had a healthy, fairly easy first pregnancy and I was optimistic that this would not be any different. However, at our thirteen week appointment there was no heartbeat detected. We were devastated at the news and we were in a bit of a shock that this could happen to us. This miscarriage shook our world. 

I prayed for healing and I prayed for peace in my life but I didn't seem to find it.  The actual miscarriage landed me in the emergency room bleeding more than I should. I was scared and horrified as they told me they removed the sac and fetus and I cried as they took it out in a plastic jar. Every time I thought I was getting past the news I would have another physical reminder that I was no longer pregnant and we would not have a baby to hold when we expected. I thought that praying for peace meant it would all go away and it would be calm in my life again. 

Around the same time I remember my church singing a Mark Condon song called "Cover Me" and l buried the lyrics deep in my heart that day. The lyrics say "Peace God, cover me, though the storm, cover me." It didn't say "Peace of God, stop the storm," which is what I typically seemed to pray. 

I was reminded that day that storms do not always stop to make my life easier. Storms are going to come in my life, but that does not mean I do not have the peace of God. That peace may not stop my storm, but instead it will lead me through it while covering me. I can face a storm in my life and get through it with His covering. I don't have to run through it senseless and scared. I can walk through it, holding His hand and have a calm I cannot explain. 

 I wish I could say that was the only storm my family has faced, but it's not. We have experienced financial storms, health storms, and normal storms that any normal family will experience. But each time that I look around and I begin feel chaos of my surroundings I remember that God is in control. There is a calm in my spirit that He gives me. 

That calmness reminds me that peace is not defined by the winds blowing around me. Peace is also not defined by a quiet, uneventful environment. 

When an outdoor storm happens there is always such a peace after it has passed. I have to remember the same in my life--in order to define a true peace, I might have to first experience the storm. But I don't have to experience it alone. 

The alerts in my world remind me something big may be coming my way and sometimes warn me to take cover, and I do. I run to Him, He is my cover, He is my peace. 

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:7

Finding Time For God

All moms know that life with children in the house is a very busy life. Our schedules are filled with taking care of kids, keeping up our homes, running errands, getting work done, and anything else that pops up throughout our day. Many times we will end the day and realize that our to-do list for tomorrow is already full and it rarely includes time for ourselves. 

And while we know that being a mom is amazing, it's can also be frustrating. With everything we are responsible for getting done there aren't always enough hours in the day. And somewhere in all of our busy lives we are supposed to also spend time with God. 

But how are we supposed to get it all done?

When we get too busy we cut things out and unfortunately God is usually the first thing to go from our schedules. It's not intentional, we just keep pushing that time with Him until later in the day. We keep pushing it until it's so late that we are just too tired to take that time with Him. Without realizing it we have cut out the most important thing of our day. Time with Him is more important than anything else we do, so we have to find that time. 

We have to make a conscious effort to schedule devotion, it won't just happen. If we don't have a set time where we stop everything and give God our attention, I can guarantee that time slot won't just appear. Find the time that works for you and make it your daily routine. Can you wake up before your kids? Can you find time after they go to bed? I have found that nap time is my time of the day where I have the most effective devotion time. 

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you." 

Psalm 128:1

When we take time with God you will find that your thoughts and actions will be clearer. Everything you are dealing with doesn't just go away but He will help clear your mind so you can process it and think about it differently. We will be happy if we fear Him and walk with Him.

You will be surprised that when you do find that time with Him you will also find time to get your things done too! It's not that there are suddenly more hours in the day but everything else seems to run smoothly and more will get accomplished. 

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." 

Isaiah 40:31

Yes, moms everywhere are tired. Ask any mom what she wants and it's usually rest. But we think that if we checked everything off our lists, we would feel more rested. But the scripture clearly gives us our solution--if we don't want to be weary, we have to stop and wait on Him. 

I encourage you moms to find a daily time, whether it is just for a few more minutes or a longer period, when you can meet with God. Put away your lists for a few minutes, clear your minds, and let Him speak to you. Wait on Him and He will give you the rest your soul strongly desires. I guarantee you will not end your day with regret that you wasted thirty minutes in devotion time. Instead of regret you feel thankful that you stopped for a few minutes to focus on what really matters. And the more time you spend in daily devotion, the more you will long to do it and you will find yourself naturally clearing your calendar just to make sure you get to spend time with God.

His Mercies Are New For Us

I'm not sure what your nighttime routine is, but after my kids are in bed and the house is finally quiet, I pop a bag of popcorn and sit down to finally have some me time.

But there are those nights when I finally relax that I have a wave of guilt rush over me about how I handled my day. It's usually because I lost my patience with my kids, I yelled when I didn't need to, or I just didn't give them the attention they needed. When I have those bad days I tend to feel like I failed my kids a bit that day and I say a silent prayer that my kids won't remember me as the crazy mom who screamed.

Does this sound familiar? It's so easy to dwell on the feelings of failure and succumb to the thoughts that you aren't an adequate parent because your day wasn't one you wanted to brag about on Facebook.

I want to encourage you that every honest mom has had a bad day (or many of those days) and most of us strongly dislike feeling like we can do a better job.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

The Bible tells us that His mercies are new for us every day. He doesn't run out of mercy for us and if We have repented and turned to Him, then when the sun rises we get to have a fresh start.

This goes for being a mom too. Maybe there are things we need to change in our parenting and things we need to do a little differently. We shouldn't stop trying to be better moms, it's healthy to evaluate and grow from our shortcomings.

But remember, even when that day didn't go as planned and you were the mom who snapped in the doctor's office when her child had a complete meltdown in the waiting room over a toy (true story) His mercies are new everyday. When you have to walk away from your children and go to a quiet place for a few minutes, His mercies are new everyday. When your family night turns into a family fight, His mercies are new everyday.

If the sun rises for us the next day, then we get a fresh start. Tomorrow we can wake up, pray that God helps us throughout the day, and we can get out of bed with a new perspective. And maybe tomorrow we'll get to tuck our kids in for bed and we can smile knowing we rocked it as a mom. 

But if not, just remember, if God is merciful to us when we sin and He gives us strength to overcome temptation then surely He can give us grace as moms and He can help us become the mothers we want to be. And if God can give us that kind of mercy, then we should be able to extend that kind of forgiveness to ourselves as well.

Today, My Ministry is Motherhood

I was fortunate to be raised in a family that loved to serve in church. Since I was a child I remember being at the church anytime the doors were opened—and not just for services. We cleaned the church, we knocked doors every Saturday, we visited the nursing home, and many other things. If the Pastor announced they needed help, you can bet that my mom was signing us up as volunteers. This teaching taught me to do the same and from the time I was old enough to volunteer on my own, I did. I rarely said no to church related work and I looked forward to serving when I could. I don’t say this to put myself on a pedestal, I say this to give you a background on who I am and why I think the way I do.

My heart beats for ministry. I find a great joy in serving at church and working to grow the kingdom of God. My husband is an active minister at our local church and I have been blessed to support him and serve alongside him through our marriage.

When we had our two children I did not slow down in church. If it was an activity that would be hard to have the kids at, we left them with my parents. Otherwise, they went with us and as they got a little older they were even able to help at certain activities.

We recently had our third baby and suddenly my life has changed. Our newest child came at a time when my husband and I were transitioning out of youth pastoring and into a new ministry. I also took a small leave from the music team while I am adjusting to life with three little ones (I can’t even imagine trying to make it to an 8 am practice right now!) and with many other transitions I now spend more time in the pews with my three boys than I ever have before.

I started missing having something to do when I showed up to church. My only responsibility now in church was to make it on time, wrestle with my kids during worship, and spend the rest of the service in the nursery with the baby. I missed ministry, or at least what I called ministry.

I have struggled with this and searched for answers and prayed that God would help me get back to those things again. But last night as I spent another midweek worship service nursing the baby in the nursery, my eyes were opened. I’m trying to get back into the role I called ministry and I have been fighting the role God calls ministry.

Yes, all of the serving I have done in church has been important and it is necessary, but my ministry right now is to be a mom to these three boys He has given me.  My boys don’t need to see me on the platform every service, they need to see me worship next to them, holding their hands. My boys don’t need to see me leaving for another event, they need to see me praying in our home. My boys don’t need to hear me plan another activity, they hear me teach them about the beautiful God we serve.

I want my boys to grow up and love ministry the way my husband and I do. But they don’t have to learn that by only seeing me busy—busy isn’t necessarily ministry. Ministry starts by loving people and I can teach them that by first loving them.

This season of young kids isn’t forever, I will have the opportunity to spend church service times serving again. But for now, my ministry is motherhood. It may not always be easy, but it’s the greatest ministry I could ever be called to do.