2010 at 2:15 pm | by Girl Talk
Whew! After devotions, exercise, grocery store run, beds made, dishes done, house straightened, laundry underway, Chad homeschooled, soccer carpool completed, editing project for my husband finished—I can finally attempt to write a post
Life is busy!
And it’s not just me. Whether you are a student, holding down a job, or caring for a family—the fall season unfailingly fills our lives with lots to do.
So what does it look like to glorify God in the midst of a busy season?
The first must-have to survive—and even thrive—during busy seasons: humility.
I still remember the wise and helpful counsel my husband CJ shared with me many years ago when I was having one of those “I just can’t get it all done” breakdown crying sessions. When he finally got the chance to speak, he said: “Carolyn, only God completes His to-do list. We are not God. We are finite creatures with serious limitations. Therefore we need to humble ourselves by accepting our limitations and draw upon God’s strength to simply do what we can.” CJ’s advice not only helped me then, but continues to benefit me to this day.
Here are 3 simple ways we can be mindful of our limitations as we make our to-do lists these days:
1. Separate the-really-do-matter items from the really-don’t-matter items—of course doing the really-do-matter items first.
2. Simplify the really-do-matter items where possible. (e.g. pizza for dinner or store-bought cookies for entertaining.)
3. Trust God for all the things on the list that don’t get done.
Let’s honor God by responding to our “endless” list of to-dos with humility—joyfully accepting our limitations and simply doing what we can.
(reprinted from the archives)
2010 at 8:53 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
2:38 p.m. Shopping Trip!
52home
2010 at 8:35 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Fun Stuff Friday Favorites
My new favorite drink (thanks Joshua and Bethany!)...
1 glass of limeade
+ 1 splash of cherry juice
+ 2 or 3 cherries
= 1 very refreshing glass of cherry limeade
2010 at 7:44 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
2:42 p.m. Fall
52home
2010 at 7:28 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
4:41 p.m. Post Downpour
52home
2010 at 3:47 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood Fear Motherhood
There is not grace for our imagination. But there is grace for today’s mothering trials. Not tomorrow’s imaginary trouble or next year’s envisaged problems. Just for today.
That’s why Jesus tells us: “[D]o not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34)
Moms of all people know this to be true: each day really does have sufficient trouble without adding tomorrow’s worries!
But for today’s sufficient trouble there is God’s more than sufficient grace: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). “As your days” it says in Deuteronomy, “so shall your strength be” (33: 25).
What’s more, for the Christian mother, goodness and mercy are behind every moment of today’s trouble. Our trouble isn’t meaningless. God is pursuing us with goodness and mercy today and all the days of our lives (Ps. 23:6).
“Courage, dear friend” encourages Charles Spurgeon, “The Lord, the ever-merciful, has appointed every moment of sorrow and pang of suffering. If He ordains the number ten, it can never rise to eleven, nor should you desire that it shrink to nine” (emphasis mine).
God is busy working today’s trouble for our good. So do not worry about tomorrow but look to Him today.
2010 at 8:10 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
3:50 p.m. Making Progress!
52home
2010 at 3:30 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood Fear Motherhood
What do our mothering fears have in common? They are all in our imagination.
Our fertile minds generate countless scenarios whereby one calamity or another befalls our children: What if my son rebels when he hits the teenage years? What if my daughter doesn’t want to be my friend when she grows up? What if my son gets in a car accident? What if my daughter is diagnosed with leukemia?
After thirty-four years of mothering, I’ve discovered that most of the bad things I imagined never actually came true. But there have been other trials—ones I never anticipated.
That’s why Elisabeth Elliot’s wise advice has been invaluable to me in fighting fear: “There is no grace for your imagination.”
God does not sprinkle grace over every path my fear takes. He does not rush in with support and encouragement for every doomsday scenario I can imagine.
No, instead He warns me to stay off those paths: “Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil” (Ps. 37:8).
There is no grace for our imagination. That’s why our fearful imaginings produce bad fruit: anxiety, lack of joy, futile attempts to control.
There is no grace for our imagination. But God does promise sufficient, abundant grace for every real moment of our lives. That’s why the Proverbs 31 woman can “laugh at the future in contrast with being worried or fearful about it” (ESV Study Bible note on Pr. 31:25)
There is no grace for our imagination. But there will be grace for our mothering future—the moment it arrives.
2010 at 9:46 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
2:52 p.m. 7 Wins in a row. Go Cougars!
52home
2010 at 1:14 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
“Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds.” James 1:2
“Life is full of hidden rocks, sudden violent winds of circumstances lying in wait for the believer. Every single one of them is embraced in James’ word it. There is no trial, no great calamity or small pressure, no overwhelming sorrow or small rub of life outside that plan of God, whereby it is a stepping stone to glory. And it is for this reason that our settled conviction must be to appraise it as all joy, not because it is joyful in itself (for ‘all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant’ [Heb. 12:11] when it is in full flood), but because ‘later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness’ (Heb. 12:11). In James’ words, it is the only way forward to become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Alec Motyer
2010 at 8:41 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
11:10 a.m. More Frogs
52home
2010 at 3:23 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Homemaking Recipes
So many of you asked for the Tomato Basil Soup from Janelle’s 52home picture the other day, so here it is. Enjoy!
La Madeleine’s Tomato Basil Soup
4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
12 fresh basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick (1/4 lb) of sweet unsalted butter
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Simmer tomatoes in saucepan for 30 minutes. Puree, with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender or food processor. Return to saucepan and add cream, butter, salt and pepper while stirring over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.
2010 at 8:08 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Fun Stuff Friday Favorites
My favorite camera handbags...
Ketti Handbags
2010 at 6:51 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
12:14 p.m.
52home
2010 at 4:57 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood 52home
3:34 p.m. Tomato Basil Soup
52home
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Whew! After devotions, exercise, grocery store run, beds made, dishes done, house straightened, laundry underway, Chad homeschooled, soccer carpool completed, editing project for my husband finished—I can finally attempt to write a post
