by Stacey | Mar 31, 2016 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
I’m on my third pot of soup.
This dry, raw throat craves salty chicken broth, and my pre-teen hasn’t yet mastered the soup cooking skill. So, I’m up, stirring soup.
I’m tempted to tuck myself back into bed and forget my responsibilities. I’m tempted to cozy up to Netflix and waste the day, popping pain pills. But, instead, I stir soup.
And the kids crawl out of bed and open their school books (we still homeschool when Mom’s sick). And my husband presses a kiss on my forehead and asks if I need anything else before he leaves. I need so much, but it has nothing to do with the pain in my throat.
I need to press pause. My little ones have become big kids. They no longer fit on my lap or tug at my skirt. They’ve grown into thoughtful children who work hard, play quietly, and try their very best to behave when their mamma is ill. I have husband who loves the Lord, who works hard to provide for his family, who spends his entire day off running the house so I can rest and still asks what more he can do to ease my load. I need to press pause and be thankful.
So, instead of feeling overwhelmed at the laundry, the dishes, the long grocery list, I’ll thank God for the gift wrapped in a raw throat. Because one day, I’ll wish for just one more day. One day, I’ll want to turn back the clock, I’ll wish I had taken a day to be fully present.
So today, I’ll cozy up to my pre-teen with a cup of hot soup and we’ll work the math together. I’ll whisper-read with Irish twins and cherish the slower paced day spent in our jammies. Maybe we’ll get that Netflix movie, but it won’t be me alone in the room. It’ll be us, piled high on the bed, cozy together.
I won’t wish away the gift that is today. The gift that slowed down a busy household to embrace the joy of just being together.
by Stacey | Mar 24, 2016 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Thank you for all the prayers poured out on behalf of this precious family. Because of the overwhelming response to this petition for prayer, they have allowed me to update you on momma and baby. Meet little Matthew, who has changed so much in the few weeks you have been praying for him.
God has answered our prayers and poured out amazing grace toward this family. Momma’s organs are functioning again (praise the LORD!). There are tentative plans to stop dialysis because her kidney function has improved so rapidly. The hospital staff are amazed at her recovery.
Initially, she had limited time with her son due to the severity of her (and his) condition. When she finally got to see him, fear overwhelmed. What if he didn’t know her? How could he know her when the majority of his care came from the nurses? He kicked up his legs, arched his back, mouth wide open in typical new born frustration. Her heart ached. She and her mother prayed that the Lord would show her that Matthew knew SHE is his Mom.
This new momma, still weak and overwhelmed in many ways, rose from her wheelchair and reached out her hand. She placed it on top of his little head and she sang a tender song she had sung to him while she was pregnant. Her boy instantly settled. His legs relaxed and he started that sweet sucking motion with his lips. He knew his mother’s voice.
I love that our God cares about the small prayers just as much as He cares about the big ones. I love that He saw fit to grant her that sweet connection and joy in comforting her child. Thank you, Lord.
And please, keep praying. Little Matthew needs to gain more weight, and there is a long recovery road ahead of him. Pray for his protection against infection.
by Stacey | Mar 17, 2016 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
If you look closely, you’ll see it—the evidence of a dried up root, the lack of passionate worship, the absence of devoted prayer. It caters to the appetite of culture. It softens the Word, resulting in worship of the blessing rather than worshiping the Bless-er.
And God departs.
Bounty may remain for a period, fooling many, but inevitably, the fruit shrivels. The plant dies when the Spirit of God leaves. It’s happening all around us. Once a picture of abundance and blessing, now withered nations, withered congregations, withered families, withered hearts struggle to survive.
Why do passionate people drift from their first love of the Lord? What causes us to grow indifferent and callous toward Him? What transforms faith into routine that breeds fickle love? Our attendance slips. Weariness grows. Works become a chore and tongues wag. The atmosphere dips and eventually turns cold. God departs and takes His blessings with Him. It is the consequence of fickle love.
Look close and you’ll see it. In many places, the Lampstand has been removed for the abandonment of first love.
It is not enough to toil with patient endurance. It is not enough to test and expose false teachers. It is not enough to endure patiently, bearing up for Jesus’ sake and not growing weary. It is not enough, because without passionate love for God—God removes His presence (Rev 2:2-3).
The bride is no longer like grapes in the wilderness, like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season. Woe to the bride who becomes a thing of shame.
*Read Hosea 9 , Revelation 2:1-7
by Stacey | Mar 10, 2016 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
A young momma, in the fight of her life, inhales God’s strength. Her young man, yanked from dreaming dreams into a living nightmare, stands on the Word, inhaling Truth and exhaling prayers—
—prayers for his love, praying she has more days written in the Book. Prayers for the one so tiny and precious, knit by the Maker, his days pre-determined and purposed for His glory. Day by day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute, second-by-second, each breath is a victory. Each breath declares God’s goodness.
The breath of the Almighty gives life. He ushers His own to the place of dependence where faith truly lives. God’s mighty name is praised because nothing is wasted—not even this.
God is good when it is dark and when it is light. God is good when it is hard and when it is easy. God is good when He gives and when He takes away. His Truth is the oxygen a suffocating world needs to breathe, and needs to breathe deeply.
*pictures and story shared with permission in hope you will pray for this family.
by Stacey | Mar 3, 2016 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
“Not my will.” Can I be honest? Those are the three scariest words I have ever prayed. Not because they represent me relinquishing control, because I already know I do not control anything, but because they represent my heart’s willingness to forfeit even the illusion of control. After praying those words—and meaning them—there is no space to pretend that I control anything. Everything I love is spread before the Father to do with as He sees fit.
As I kneel at the bedside of my children, hopeful their days with us are many, desirous that their joy abounds, and that their heart delights in the Lord. Yet, as I pray for health and protection, I surrender them. Not my will, Lord, but Yours.
As I poke at this keyboard, praying that God would chose to bless my desire to worship Him this way, I surrender my goals, ambitions, and talent to Him. Not my will, Lord, but Yours.
As my husband travels to Haiti for mission work, I pray everyday for physical protection, powerful impact, and his safe return home. Still, I must surrender even those desires. Not my will, Lord, but Yours.
Just as Christ submitted to the will of the Father, just as Christ uttered the hard prayer—not my will—so must I. In everything I do, in everything I desire, the heart driving my prayers must yield to the will of the Father. And if His will is different than mine, if His will directs me down a path I’d rather not take, even that resistance must be surrendered in recognition that His ways are higher than mine.
Even when it is hard, Lord. Not my will, but Yours. May that be the honest prayer of my heart.
by Stacey | Feb 25, 2016 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
You’ve forgiven iniquity, covered sins, turned from your anger, and withdrawn your wrath. Will you do it again?
Restore us, O God, our Savior. Revive us that we may rejoice. Show unfailing love, O Lord, our God. Grant us your salvation.
You give goodness and beauty, bounty and blessing, yielding a harvest of hearts. Deliverance is close to the people who fear you. Salvation is near to those who revere you. Rejoicing will sound in our hearts.
Restore us again, O God our Savior. Revive us again, that we may rejoice. Show us unfailing love, O Lord our God. Grant us your salvation.
