Hunter’s somehow taken up residence in my bed. Shhh … don’t tell anyone … but beside those heel-to-my-ribs midnight jabs, I really don’t mind. There’s something comforting knowing my babygirl is snuggled up next to me.

I didn’t always feel this way, but slowly she’s wiggled her way in and it no longer seems important to make her leave. My reasons were mostly selfish anyway.

I used to do my morning quiet time in my bedroom. I have a fireplace, coffee maker, my Bible and necessary accoutrements all within an arms reach. And seriously … how inconvenient for me to go into the next room so she can sleep in the morning!

But like I said … she wiggled her way in, and I no longer see it as an inconvenience. And instead of pining for my comfy bedroom luxuries, I’ve moved my morning time to the living room.

Let me take a moment and be brutally honest about something … lately, I have been completely and utterly exhausted. I used to have an internal alarm that would wake me at 5:00 am. Up and at’em, I was raring to go! But now? It takes all I have to drag myself out of bed in the morning to get my prayers and quiet time in before I start the day. Some days my snooze button gets a better workout than I do.

But. I know. I’ve learned. If I’m not intentional about my morning time — even if 10 minutes is all I can muster — then I’m basically willing my day to go astray.

All that to say …

Hunter’s my earliest riser and most mornings she finds her way out to the living room for some early morning snuggles, before a little iPad or TV time.

But last week, she completely shocked me! She was getting ready for bed and asked me to wake her up so we could do “quiet time” together. She told me she had her Bible, pens, and paper all ready to go for the morning.

My first impulse was to tell her she was crazy!! Ain’t no way a momma’s gonna wake a sleeping baby before sunrise to do “quiet time.” Not to mention the fact she’d interrupt my quiet time!

Instead I bit my tongue.

Yes babygirl … I’d be honored to have quiet time with the Lord together.

And we did.

Is there something you stay intentional about and see it pay off in your children?

I’ll go first.

Last Thursday night the girls were whining a bit about going to their extracurricular classes, so we skipped them.  Visions of jammies, pizza and movie night suddenly filled my head so I was on board without much convincing.

We got home a little later than usual because they had a special art camp they attended right after school.  By the time we got home, unpacked book bags {that’s southern for backpack!}, got a snack, and started homework … I remembered.

We’d volunteered to bring bag lunches to church … and they needed to be delivered by 6:30.  A glance at the clock told me it was already 5:00.  It also told me our peaceful night was just thrown out the window.  Sigh.

And now I realized why I had the nagging feeling to get to the food store all day.  I knew I needed to go, I just couldn’t remember why!

So here it was 5:00 pm and I needed to run to the food store before I could make and pack the lunches.

I scramble to said store … reach for my purse … and d’oh.

Run back home and grab my purse.  5:20 pm.

I get back to the store, deposit $$ into the Salvation Army bucket and then frantically run through the aisles gathering what I need.

I check out and head back out the door.  Past the woman ringing the Salvation Army bells.  I get in the car and God tells me to buy her a hot chocolate.

But I’m already in the car.  And I’m late.  I’ve got to get these lunches to church … for other people we’re trying to help.

I keep glancing at the woman.

I’m already on my way to help those in need.  I don’t need to buy her a hot chocolate.

And have I ever mentioned … I get kinda hot & sweaty and nervous when I approach someone with a good deed.  Like when someone’s out asking for money, I usually help, but I get all nervous and sweaty.  What’s with that?

Anyway.

I drive around the parking lot.  Literally.  Arguing with God.

Alright, alright!  You win.

I park on the opposite side of the store and go in the other entrance.  Like I was worried she’d think I was crazy for going back into the store.  {p.s. there’s a Starbucks in our food store}

I order a hot chocolate and a piece of pound cake too.

Goods in hand, I walk to her entrance and tell her I have a surprise for her … or something lame like that.

And that’s it.

I don’t have a miraculous ending to the story.  She was obviously very happy to receive the unexpected surprise.

And I walked away smiling too.

The point of sharing my story is to encourage you to listen to that still small voice.  We have no idea what a seemingly small act does in someone’s life.

More important than that … the more you listen … obey … that small voice {God, the Holy Spirit}, the stronger that voice gets.  When that voice tells you to pick up a piece of trash at the edge of the sidewalk … do it.  Before long, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you’ll be buying hot chocolate, witnessing to people, and ultimately … brushing their hair.

Scary thoughts to me.  Scary.

But I know God is equipping me.  He’s equipping you.  He knows what we can handle.  What we’re capable of … what pace we need … baby steps are workin’ just fine for me, thank you very much!

I have more stories to share this week … I pray you’ll join me!  And be sure to stop by later today when I announce the winner of this giveaway!

Alright … fair’s fair!  I’d love if you shared a moment when you heard God speaking and you were obedient to the call.

I’ve never really talked about Taylor’s boyfriend on the blog before … but I think it’s time.  I took these photos of them last week and sure, I’d like to show the beauty of them to you … but what I’d like to share, is the beauty inside these two kids.

We met KP and his family over a year and a half ago in Exuma.  While on our sabbatical for the month, I was determined to make sure we got to church on a regular basis.  Turns out the church we found and attended was founded by KP’s family.

They were regular folk {yes, folk} living in the northeast when they felt God place a calling on their lives.  So they obeyed and started a ministry planting churches in the islands and as divine planning would have it, the first church they started was in Exuma!

This family has been the most incredible blessing to me.  I love, love, love how God, in all His infinite wisdom, works!

I’m thinking I don’t have to explain how Tay and KP were attracted to each other … :)  But what I love, love is the beauty these two possess inside.  They both realize that God has a plan for their lives and they strive to follow that plan everyday.

You know how in relationships you should seek to be with people that make you better?  I see that in these two.  But even a step further than that, I’m so thankful they both have a relationship with God and help each other be better in Him.

I’d like to share something …

I wasn’t ready for this relationship.  I wasn’t intentional in talking to Taylor about my expectations of when she’d be allowed to have a boyfriend.  In all honesty … it happened much sooner than I was prepared for.  And sure, technically I’m the parent and could’ve put a stop to it … but there was something too special about this boy … and his family … that I fell in love with.

I wrote this post about them over a year ago and their character and values couldn’t be more true today.  In fact, I feel like they’ve only deepened that commitment.

I believe that God has ordained this relationship … and although I don’t know what the future holds for them, I’m so thankful they have the high standard of each other to live up to.

Anyway … this week, I’m reposting and sharing some of my thoughts on parenting and I wanted to include these thoughts as well.

In the end, it turns out I’m thankful for this sudden, unprepared and unexpected relationship.

KP has been a rock for Taylor during these last few months.  His family has been interceding in prayer on our behalf.  Taylor’s sisters can see, and maybe measure what a relationship with a godly boyfriend looks like.

That said … the other thing I’m thankful for and have now learned … is that I need to be intentional with the little girls in what our expectations are for them in future relationships.  I’ve realized that I need to have small, but intentional conversations with them starting now.  I also need to be better about praying over their future spouses.

I trust God has a plan for each of my girls lives … and it’s my job as their parent to pray over that plan, to disciple them in that plan, and to continue to hold fast to that plan.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is
plentiful but the workers are few.”
Matthew 9:37

In this little pink house, nestled not too far from the crystal blue waters of the Bahamas, lives a 95 year old man … Brother Clifton.  You see, in the Christian community in the Bahamas, there’s an old school respect for addressing their brothers and sisters in Christ. I love that!

The girls and I went on an outreach program one morning with Clear Water Assembly of God, where we visited a couple other brothers and sisters in Christ, but first I’d like to tell you about Brother Clifton.

As I mentioned, Brother Clifton is 95 years old.  He’s also blind and bed-ridden.  He’s also alone.  He’s also hungry.  He’s also filled with a deep love of the Lord.

There’s a story in Luke 2, where Jesus is 12 years old and stays behind in the temple to learn from, and talk with the religious leaders of the time.  Mary and Joseph couldn’t find him and were worried.  When they found him, Mary basically scolded him and explained they were worried.  Jesus’s reply was, “Don’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?”

So as the girls and I were visiting these houses that morning, I would ask them excitedly … “Whose business are we doing?”  And they’d reply, “God’s!”  Why do I mention this?  Because when we walked into Brother Clifton’s small home, to find him bed-ridden and hungry … he was ALL about his Father’s business.

The church does this outreach once every week.  And they found out that Brother Clifton hadn’t eaten since the previous week they were there.  So when we arrived, we immediately asked if we could feed him.  But no … he told us to “take care of business first!”

He wanted us to first be about our Father’s business.

He wanted his spirit fed … before his belly was fed.

We read from God’s Word.

We sang worship songs.

We prayed over him.

We fed his spirit.

Then, we fed his belly.

Brother Clifton lives in this small house.  It consists of one main room and a couple of small bedrooms.  He is bed-ridden and blind, so stays in this bed all day.  I simply can.not imagine that.  His sister lives just down the road from him.  She’s blind too.  But she’s in a home being taken care of.  I’m not sure of the circumstances surrounding them and why one is being cared for and the other isn’t.  Right now the church is working to reunite them and get Brother Clifton into the same home as his sister.  At the very least, get them together for a visit.

Again … I simply can.not imagine.

After our visit with Brother Clifton, we went down the street to visit Sister Mary.  I simply fell in love with this woman!  Although old and living with not much of anything … she was full of spunk and a love of Jesus!  She’s one of the very few in the area that has been blessed with fertile ground.  She literally lives off the things she’s planted near her small home.  In one of the photos below, you can see where she has a mango plant literally growing from the rock!

Sister Mary was proclaiming the Word of God … singing His praises and goodness!  At the end of our visit, we asked her to lead us in prayer, which she did … and left me with tears rolling down my face.

The faith … grace … love that shines through.  We were on a mission to bless others that day … but God, in His infinite wisdom, blessed us!

And then there’s Brother Deacon.  I’m smiling just thinking of him.  He didn’t want to talk about anything else but Scripture … and he could quote it with the best of ‘em!  The first thing I saw when we walked into his tiny home, was his well-worn Bible sitting on the table.

Brother Deacon loved the girls.  He told them repeatedly to “Honor your mother and your father.”  He read Scripture to the girls and explained to them over and over how they’ll live a long and healthy life if they obey their parents.

I was so proud of my girls.  Even though they felt uncomfortable and out of their element, they were gracious, kind and caring.

The day before we went on this outreach, I talked to the girls about fasting.  I explained what it was and it’s purpose … and that there are many different ways to fast.  But the most important thing in fasting, is to know why you’re doing it.  Then I asked if they would like to join me in fasting.  It warmed my heart to hear them excited to do it.

We agreed that we’d do the fast the day after this outreach and we decided that we would be fasting breakfast.  I also explained that Hunter, being four, doesn’t understand fully what we’re doing … that I didn’t expect her to … and that she’d probably be eating something while the girls were hungry.  They bravely said they could handle it.

After this outreach, I talked to the girls about the people we visited that day … how they didn’t have much of anything … how Brother Clifton hadn’t eaten in a week and the pears we had just fed him would be his only meal that day.  And as we went into our fast the next morning, I asked them to remember the people we visited.  When their bellies would growl, or when they had the desire to eat … to instead pray for our new friends, to pray for strength and to give thanks for what we do have.

At one point, Hunter asked for something to eat so I took her into the kitchen and again explained what the girls were doing and that I’d like her to eat what she wanted in the kitchen, so the girls weren’t tempted.  Hunt was asking for some goldfish crackers and after I explained it to her, she said, “Well, I’ll just have one goldfish.”  So sweet to recognize the sacrifice she was willing to make in her four year old mind! {I gave her more than one}. ;)

We prayed the morning of the fast and even though the girls played and watched TV most of that morning and I would check in on them and ask them how they were doing … it wasn’t this great-big-drama-fasting thing.  It was a small … intentional learning moment in Christ.

In light of my recent single mommy post, I wanted to share some further thoughts …

First … I’ve been so blessed to have found an incredible group of women to join in with Good Morning Girls.  We’re currently reading Sally Clarkson’s Ministry of Motherhood and studying Scripture referenced throughout the book.  I am so incredibly thankful to have these godly women {Stacey, Amy, and Stef} holding me accountable to be in the Word each day.  The bits of wisdom, truth, and perspective they breathe into me on a daily basis is something that I will forever be grateful for.

Second … I truly can not express to you how highly I recommend this book!  I could write a book about what I’m taking away from it … but I think you’d be better off just purchasing Sally’s words instead! :)

The premise of the book is that, as mother’s, we are discipling our children.  Just as Jesus ministered and discipled His followers, we are ministering and discipling our followers … our children.

There are so many … too many pieces of wisdom in this book … and I’m not even half way done with it!  A few things I want to share with you though …

“Like Jesus, we are to draw our own children to a life apart from the rest of the crowd.”

“If I want {my children} to be open to my messages, I need to be willing to serve them -
to voluntarily give up my rights and my time to meet their felt needs – just as Jesus
was willing to give for his disciples.”

“Jesus’ example of servant leadership sets him apart from so many historical religious leaders.”

“I realize my love and service to {my children} must come before any of my great words,
my teaching and training.”

“Jesus showed us the power of a different kind of leadership.”

“It was because of Jesus’ total life commitment to {his disciples}, their friendship with them, and his
willingness to give to them – his time, his wisdom, his practical help, even cutting short
his precious prayer time to rescue them from predicaments such as a tossing boat – that
they were able to respond in return, giving their whole lives to him.”

“Passing on the gift of grace to our children requires a commitment – and yes, a sacrifice
– of time, love and heart service.”

“The grace they show to others will largely come from parents who learned it first
from our own servant King.”

The most poignant part of the book {so far} is the image this paints, but as you read it … read it from the heart of a weary, wornout, tired mama:

“The night before Jesus was to be crucified, his heart and mind must have been filled
with weariness and exhaustion at the thought of what he would soon endure.
The sins of the whole world – throughout all of history! – were about to be placed
upon his back as he laid down his life to pay the penalty for all of us …”

“Yet it is at this point that we see him making a beautiful gesture
of love and service toward his disciples.”

John 13:1, 3-5 tells how, knowing what was to come … He got up from the
dinner table and began to wash the disciples feet.  He must’ve been worn,
weary, tired … and He knew no rest was in His future.  But yet in His weariest time,
“Jesus {chose to spend} his last night on earth with his disciples in
service to them.  How powerful their memories of that night
must have been – the King of the whole universe touching and rubbing
their dusty feet and gently drying them with a towel.
Their Lord and Master breaking the loaf of bread
and serving each of them for the celebrated feast of the Passover.”

This tender example of discipleship and service pushes me forward when I am tired … when I am worn and weary.  I’m thankful … forever thankful … that He’s shown us how to disciple and minister to our most precious followers … our children.

My prayer is that I will never forget the sacrifices, service and love that He’s shown … so I can in turn instill that same discipleship model to my followers … and them to their future followers.

I think sometimes, as parents, we get down on ourselves for not doing enough in teaching our children about God and Biblical principles.  But what I’ve learned is those moments don’t have big, drawn out, educational moments.  If you’re living it, talking it, breathing it and most importantly, aware of it … those moments happen throughout the day in the normal course of living.

Here’s a small example, and maybe one of my favorites … I’ve got a couple of fibbers storytellers on my hands who like to either embellish or hide the truth.  Something I’ve started asking them {and now they’ll even ask each other} is, “Is that what Jesus saw happen?”  Every. time. that’ll draw a sheepish face and apology.

Anyway … here are some things I wanted to share that my girls recently did on their own.

First, Piper’s note to her penpal:

Do you believe in God and Jesus?  Because Jesus died on the cross for our
sins and do you read the Bible because it’s good to read the Bible.
From your friend, Piper

And these are Wynter’s notes.  She’ll write down different Scripture verses or nuggets she got from a devotion we’ve read {she still does a lot of phonetical spelling, so I’ll translate}:

Three notes you should know.
When you are sad don’t feel so bad, cuz God is with you wherever you go.
If you don’t have a Bible you should get one.  If you don’t know God you should read the Bible.
Don’t feel bad it’s all still in you.  You just have to look deep enough and you will find it in your heart.

I was in awe the other day when Wynter and I were having an “I love you more” conversation … she put the convo in a dead-halt when she said “but God loves us the most.”  I sure couldn’t top that one!

Lastly, my love Taylor.  She’s been struggling with some things lately and my heart melted when she posted her Scripture for the year as her Facebook status.

And then she sent me a random email the other day saying I should post this song on my blog … so I am.  I pray it blesses you all …

If We’ve Ever Needed You
:: Casting Crowns ::

Hear our cry, Lord, we pray
Our faces down, our hands are raised
You called us out, we turned away
We’ve turned away

With shipwrecked faith the idols rise
We do what is right in our own eyes
Our children now will pay the price
We need Your light, Lord, shine Your light

:: chorus ::
If we’ve ever needed You
Lord, it’s now, Lord, it’s now
We are desperate for Your hand
We’re reaching out, we’re reaching out

All our hearts, all our strength
With all our minds, we’re at Your feet
May Your kingdom come in our hearts and lives
Let Your church arise, let Your church arise

:: chorus ::

:: chorus ::

:: chorus ::

We need You now
Revive us now
We need You now

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I have no shame in calling myself an over-protective mom, and seriously, in today’s world I pretty much have to be.  I’m very careful about what my girls watch on TV or in the theater.  In fact, my {one-month-away-from-being} sixteen year old still asks permission to see a PG-13 movie … something she does even when she’s at a friends house, or visiting her dad.

Join me over at the MODsquad blog where I’m sharing what I’ve learned.

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