Sometimes You Have to Encourage Yourself in the Lord

Song of Deliverance

You lead me in paths of righteousness,
You show me the path of life.
In my heart there is love and joy unspeakable,
At the wayside lie jealousies, envy, and strife.

The enemy stood to accuse me,
To tell me these thoughts were my own.
I accepted fear, anxiety, and insecurity,
And welcomed them in my home.

There began the destruction,
The fight for the godly seed.
To make his mark on God’s creation,
Was the motivation of his evil deed.

But the light of Christ, The Word,
And the faithfulness of my Father above,
Have brought the TRUTH to my existence,
And have restored the foundations with LOVE.

The truth is that principalities and
Wicked rulers of this world,
Speak lies to men and women
And to every boy and girl.

To find agreement with their evil,
Fear, shame, and guilt.
To manifest ungodliness
In the church that Jesus built.

BUT GOD IS STRONGER
Than the evil that tempts me.
His love gives me the strength
To enter in the race.

To yield the Sword of Truth
And look the enemy in his face.
It is time for the Sons of God
To take their rightful place!

Lay aside every weight
And the sin that discourages me
Spirit of anxiety, spirit of fear,
Spirit of lies, I renounce you right here.

My Father has called me
To run this race with patience and to win.
So to agree with you any longer,
Truly, would be a sin.

The enemy thought that he had lamed me
To disqualify me from the race.
But Christ has come with healing in His wings,
To rest upon this place.

You see, He makes the lame to walk
And gives strength to feeble knees.
He makes straight paths for their feet.
And gives sight to those who can not see.

He has set before us the prize,
An incorruptible crown.
The weights no longer hinder
The sin lies lifeless, on the ground.

The battle has begun,
For the heart of mankind.
With whom do you align yourself?
To whom do you give your mind?

I align myself with Jesus
My heart, my soul, and mind.
The Kingdom of God shall rule me.
The VICTORY is mine!

January 29, 2008
Lisa R. Hill

Nine Basketball Games and No Hubby: Another Lesson in the Important versus the Urgent

Two games Thursday, one game Friday night, and six games Saturday and a hubby out of town for the weekend........this sounds like a recipe for exhaustion.

Not to mention, the reason my husband is out of town is because he is moving his parents here on Saturday and on Monday my dad and his family are coming to visit us for the first time since I moved from Iowa. There is grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and organizing to be done.

What to do? Well, after much deliberation, I decided to skip the games. It wasn't an easy decision because you know, we moms, think we can do it all and make it all happen. And we don't like disappointing our children. But what is important?

I finally decided that I am not supermom and I cannot do this all, and do it all well. Something would get short changed; the first being my ability to ward off frustration, fussing, and exhaustion. What is important is teaching the children that making sacrifices, like missing games that they really want to go to, for the opportunity to be a blessing to their grandparents is pleasing to God and a blessing to their mom and their selves. What is important is making the people who have raised us and cared for us all our lives (our parents) feel welcomed and loved.

By the way, the children weren't as disappointed as I thought they would be. They are a tremendous blessing to me. So maybe I should rename this blog: "One Mom, Seven Children, and a Clean and Peaceful Home".

Sidenote: Seven children because my niece is staying with us for the summer:-)

Time to Write My Own Review

You know there comes a time in life when you need to write your own review. Let me explain. This year we are trying a completely different home school curriculum and at first I was feeling a little uneasy about it because it just wasn't my style. See, ever since Justus was 2 years old I have been scouring the home school catalogs and websites for the best of the best curriculum. I have read many books and attended many workshops trying to find the best homeschooling philosophy to follow. Reading reviews by authors, other home school moms, and magazine editors. Reading the reviews really had an impact on whether I would purchase a certain book or not. Well, after we decided on our curriculum for the year, I went out there to all the reviews again, only to find that some people absolutely loved it and others utterly hated it!! Ugh! What to do? I really wanted the assurance that this curriculum would work for my family. When I mentioned this situation to Jonathan, he said,"Well, after we try it, we'll write our own review!" Wow! Suddenly my eyes were opened. How would I ever really know if this curriculum was a good fit for my family, if I didn't try it for myself first.

In other areas of my life I find myself doing the same thing; Looking for others approval of what I should do about this or that. How to cook, how to raise my children, how to be a pastor's wife, how to love my husband, how to schedule my day. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in gleaning wisdom from the mature people that God has placed in my life, but there just comes a time when I need to have confidence in that fact that the Lord is working in my life. There comes a season to acknowledge the Lord's grace and purpose for your life and walk in it. It's good and wise to eat the fruit of wisdom from others lives: but at some point it's time to bear your own fruit and allow your life to be a field that others can glean wisdom from. It's time to write my own review.

Thank you to my hubby, Jonathan, and my new friend, Dorsharica Jefferson for opening my eyes with your encouraging words. And by the way, in December I will be writing that curriculum review.

Important vs. Urgent: My Love List

I don't think that I completed all that was important today, but here is my Love-List (instead of To-Do list) for today:

1. Read a devotional this morning/I prayed for a friend as I watered the flowers this morning
2. Caught a grasshopper for Jude and talked to him about the GREAT CREATOR who created the little green grasshopper
3. Explained to Liberty that Jesus and His Father, Our Father, are One, as we read her bible together this morning.
4. Made my husband's lunch before I left the house for the day.
5. Looked into Laylah's beautiful brown eyes as I nursed her today
6. Coached my daughter and the rest of her basketball team. That was fun!
7. Harshly corrected my son and had to go back and apologize and ask his forgiveness.
8. Spent time laughing with friends today
9. Hugged my niece and told her that I loved her and that I was glad she came to visit us this summer.
10. Went outside with my children as they played in the water and Laylah in her baby pool.
11. Studied what is means to be an "older woman" (Titus 2)

Truth: It is such a blessing to be able to love and be loved.
Truth: As a wife and mother I am a life-giver.
Grace: I have a river of life flowing out of me.
Truth: I am called to love.
Grace: His love is shed abroad in my heart.
Truth:By His grace I can and will walk worthy of my calling.