Tag: kingdom living

Soul Food and Kids

Ahhh, kids! We want them, or they drive us crazy, or make us laugh, or give us a new perspective on life. This week I thought I’d focus our soul food on kids. Jesus said they can teach us much!

What if you took a few minutes today, or when you Sabbath, to sit with the following passage and consider these questions?

  • Imagine yourself as a little kid in this story. How would you feel if He said, “Let ______ come to me.”?
  • Imagine crawling into his lap. How might Jesus look at you?
  • When you were little, what did you most want from your parents? What do you want from Jesus?
  • What do you think He might say to you?

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on themand pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

matthew 19:13-15

An article about the value of children:

If you are struggling with infertility, there are no great answers, but check this out.

Maybe today you find yourself sitting in a pile of ashes, feeling desperate. While our hopes and desires and plans for our lives are finite, an infinite God Who loves us can take our messiest messes and make something beautiful.

Heather Avis

For those who want to better understand the emotions of infertility, check this out.

If you are a mom, Thriving Home is a great resource (think kid-friendly freezer meals)! They have Table Talk Cards and recently shared a series of questions from them. Try these questions tonight around your dinner table!

For pre-schoolers:

  • If you could make raindrops taste like anything, what flavor would they be?
  • Who is a good friend to you? Why?

For elementary school kids:

  • Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?
  • Share one thing you like about each person at the table.

For tweens and teens:

  • What is your most vivid and happiest childhood memory?
  • What accomplishment in your life are you most proud of? Why?

A book I like to give to new mamas: Today and Always, this is True, God Loves You!

Some Instagram posts to make you smile.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4

If you are a mama, I’d like to close with this blessing for you.

At the end of today, may you rest in the assurance that you are enough, because God is enough.

You are beloved.

God, your perfect Parent delights in you. He sings over you with joy.

May He give you the grace to be gentle with yourself, and the grace and patience you need for your kids.

May He give you peace tonight, with the reassurance that He never sleeps. You are secure in His loving care.

Kingdom Conversations

One of the amazing blessings of my life is that John serves on the World Vision International Board and I get to tag along as he travels with them.  Seeing new places and learning about new cultures is enriching, but I also get to spend time with remarkable, godly people I admire!  This week we’ve been in London and Windsor with these friends.

One of the things I notice is the power of a mantra my friend Sharon repeats often: “Words matter.”  Too many, too few (a compliment left unshared), life-giving words, words of gratitude or complaint.  Our words can be the thermostat that sets the temperature of a conversation.  If God is noting the temperature I set with my words, I’m wondering how often it would be set at “foot in mouth”, or “insensitive”, “self-centered”, or “gossipy”.

IMG_4064

Sitting at lunch yesterday my friend Helen didn’t just let the conversation drift.  She asked the seven women around the table, (all of us new acquaintances) to share what one of our passions is.

After the first person spoke, another woman at the table suggested that we pray for each person after they shared.  What could have been nice chit-chat became a lovely, richer time of fellowship because these two women took the opportunity to set the temperature of our conversation, creating a God-honoring environment.

Whether it’s our friends on the board here, or mentors elsewhere, some of the things I’ve observed about Jesus followers who know that words matter are:

  • They listen really well.  They are present and will sift through the extraneous and pick up on the important heart issues.
  • They ask good questions.
  • They find things to affirm.  Their speech is “seasoned with grace.”
  • Even when asked for advice, they limit what they say. (This one is a huge one for me to learn from!!)
  • They model what Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”

What is it that you think makes the difference between conversations that lift our minds and those that lower them?

An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

So awhile ago I told you about a flip-me-on-my-butt book I read called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.  Anyone read it??  What are you waiting for?  Go get it!

I said I was going to do a book group this summer and we’d try our own experiments.  So last week five of the craziest, most adventurous-for-Jesus bunch of women came to our house to launch the Summer of 7.  Molly, Cara, Cathy, Heather, and Theresa.

I can’t imagine a funner (“funner”?) group to be deprived with!

The idea is this…We’re concerned that we may be trapped in a culture of excess where we’re so enmeshed that we can’t see clearly how out of sync our lifestyle is with the kingdom priorities of Jesus.

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