Where does the time go?!

Sometimes in life, I feel so busy.

Things I need to do, things I want to do, things I don't want to do but have to anyway.
I feel like I need to do an overhaul every now and then, lay it all out on the table so I can see the directions I am pulled in, and so I can see where my priorities lie.

God, my husband and my children are my priorities, so I know this should be reflected in where I spend my time. But this isn't always the case.

So again, I need to look at my time, where I spend it and where I need to let go of things so that my priorities can be seen in where I do spend my time, and what I spend my time doing.

I want God and my family to get the best of me I can offer, and if I'm not careful, I can end up so busy that no one gets the best of me, let alone the people I most want to be there for.

I need to remember to think of time as a privilege, not a commodity, and to use that time in a way that glorifies God, and that is showing good stewardship of what he's entrusted me with.

When I am wondering where the time goes, I need to look at where my time goes.
I can waste it so easily! I don't mean wasting it in the way of reading a book, because its what you do to relax of an evening before bed, or that games, tv, and other such things are bad.

But I know I need to be aware of things that drag me in so I feel my valuable time is slipping away. Like playing a game instead of folding some washing I had planned to get done.
The game isn't bad, but I want to be a good steward of my time. Not a time waster.

I think it's important to plan for some relaxing, winding down time, so you know that you have the time to look forward to, you know you're not missing out, but you are also able to use your time well during the day. This is what I am beginning to try, and I don't always do it, but when I do, I feel better about my home, and I feel more relaxed at the end of the day.

I thank God for His grace and mercy at whatever stage we are at on our journey with Him!

Hidden In My Heart

A couple of weeks ago I bought an album on iTunes called Hidden In My Heart, a lullaby journey through scripture.
I've been listening to it in the car, in my home and sometimes at night if I can't sleep.
I love listening to scripture voices put to music. It has been a real blessing, and I am finding myself memorising and having the words go through my head throughout the day. Also, praying the verses over my family.
"I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might it sin against you."
God's word is powerful. Full of good things, food for our souls.
I've been challenged about what I fill my heart, and my mind with.
Sometimes I fill it with junk. In the form of music, tv etc...
I know it's not all bad, but when you ask God to examine you, to show you what needs to change, he does, and its usually hard to hear, and hard to change.
I'm not perfect, but God can change hearts, he can draw people to I self, and I am thankful for what he's doing in my life.

Building, not tearing down...

I've been challenged to think, even throughout the day, of how what I am saying and how I am saying it contributes to building up my home, not tearing it down.

I know how as a wife and mother, I can set the tone for how everyone feels and acts in the home. My mood can make people walk around on egg shells, and make my family think they are responsible for keeping me happy, or I can try to take a deep breath, pray and then respond to what is going on in my home.

I feel the need to wake up each morning and ask that God will work through me, reminding me that I am not just a mother, not just a wife, but I am, in His strength, to be an example of the love and grace of Jesus to my family.

This isn't easy, and that is why I do it in God's strength, not my own.
Of course, I don't do it perfectly, but that means having the humility to admit where I am in the wrong, to apologise, and to be thankful everyday for the grace that God has first shown me.

It is often in the small things, the seemingly unimportant moments of life, where we can have the biggest impact on our family.

It is my prayer that I show God's love to my husband and children, and that I can be Jesus with skin on to them.

May I never lose the wonder of the cross...

With Good Friday only a couple of days away, I've been thinking about what it means to me. Realising how Jesus died for all mankind - and that that means He died for me.
I struggle to grasp it.
I wonder why?!
Such love.
Such grace.
And my mind, in its humanness, cannot understand.
Yet I want it to always be this way...

May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross
May I see it like the first time, standing as a sinner lost
Undone by mercy and left speechless
Watching wide-eyed at the cost
May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross

Where God Leads

For a long time, I have been travelling along in my journey with God, feeling confusion and wondering what God's purpose for me is.

I have felt a stirring within, that God wants more, and for a long time I thought He wanted me to do more.

But later I have realised He wants more of me. Of my time with Him, of my desire for Him to be number one in my life.

As a wife and mother, I often feel like I am really busy, but I haven't always felt that my busyness was important work, or that it was doing anything for the Kingdom of God. I felt my work was temporary, until my children grew up.

I have had a realisation of the true importance, and the counter-cultural calling of a Christian wife and mother. To be called home, for me, is to realise that I don't need there to be something else more important that I do so I feel I am serving God.

Home is my number one calling, and it is where my heart needs to be.

God has lead my heart to where it needs to be, and I commit myself to fully being where I am, instead of following the world's call that I need to be more than a mother, more than a wife.

I have begun this blog to share the things I am learning, and I pray I am a blessing to others.

Please join me on my journey...