broken

Uneasiness.Stirring.Weeping

Romans 8:26-28 (New Living Translation)

 ²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers^[a] in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[b] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

:—:

My spirit is stirred…

my eyes are weeping,

…my heart is sad

and I have no idea why.  I have noticed a few of the other youth leaders posting on facebook lately that they have been anxious and unable to sleep.  My response to them was to PRAY.  They did and yet  still their anxiousness was the same.  

God is moving.

Powerfully in His people.

 

Today when I woke up everything seemed normal until my drive in to work,

my spirit started to feel really heavy

 

my heart began to feel sad. 

 

I wasn’t sad, my heart was sad.  I got reprimanded for something minor at work and immediately broke down in tears..

 

my spirit was hurting.

 

 Again, another situation at work happened out of my control … more tears. Where are all these tears coming from?  These are not things I would generally cry about and especially not at work. 

I am broken. 

Confused. 

Hurting.

 

On my way home more heaviness fills my heart, I can’t seem to shake this. What could it be?   This doesn’t happen often but when it does my husband is easily frustrated by it. This makes me sad. If I was sick He would be very sympathetic,  He doesn’t understand why I feel this way.  I can not explain it.

 

Romans 8:26 says, ” the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words” This describes what I am feeling.  Is there a shift in what is happening in the spiritual world?  Or is there something within myself that needs to be dealt with?  Romans 8:27 says, “²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers^[a] in harmony with God’s own will.”   God is so real, so tangible. He is doing a work in my spirit.  I am broken, and this is a great place to be, even in my weariness and heavy heartiness I know that God is working through me and in me to make sure that I am in His will.  I will steadfast in this place, I will not give up. I would be rather be broken with God then completely without Him.

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<3 Weekly Marriage Challenge <3

Ok friends, I have decided to start a weekly marriage challenge! This weeks challenge is to go to bed 30 minutes earlier than you normally would. If you have small ones, put them to bed early or turn on a movie. Tell them that mommy and daddy need a time out!
If you have work to do plan ahead to make sure you are using the best use of your time or just simply leave the work for later!
There is nothing more important to God then to be connecting with your spouse!

30 minutes that’s all I ask. You will be pleasingly surprised with the results.

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{Photography} me & betsy lunch date

South Pasadena CA : Lunch Break : Beautiful Day

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Project 31 – Proverbs 31:23

Support your man.

 

Proverbs 31:23 (New Living Translation)

 ²³ Her husband is well known at the city gates,
      where he sits with the other civic leaders.

————–

Great verse and very tender to my heart.  As I have been growing in my relationship with God and in my relationship with my husband I have found this overwhelming desire to support my husband and to encourage him to reach for his dreams.  It isn’t about the paycheck he could bring home but more about assisting him in reaching his potential and becoming the Leader he was made to be.

As much as I desire to support him I often fall short and become tire and weary and suddenly my focus turns to myself and I become selfish with my time, with my thoughts and with our relationship. 

My dream and goal is to one day not have to work and be able to stay home and just support and love my husband and family. 

Until then my strength will come from the Lord.  I will continue to plan ahead, to think what I can do for my husband to make the things he needs to do a bit easier. Like having meals ready for him or confirming appointments, making sure we are on schedule.  Most importantly Praying for my husband and lifting him up in the Lord.

Ladies, we should always be setting our man up for success!

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Project 31- Proverbs 31:21

Proverbs 31:21 (New King James Version)

²¹ She is not afraid of snow for her household,
      For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

—————

The virtuous woman, always concerned about the welfare of her family, is not afraid of the snow.  Snow is here a symbol of the cold that accompanies it. She is not afraid of the cold because she has made preparations ahead of time to dress her family in warm clothing. 

God’s word is always on time as we as a family and as youth leaders prepare ourselves and our hearts for High School Winter Camp next weekend.  Praying that chains would be broken and lives would be saved. That our youth would be set on fire for God. That all the weights of the world that have been piling up on their shoulders would be taken away. That they would be set free in the presence of the Lord.

As I prepare for my family to make sure that they have all the necessary clothing to go up to the mountains and play in the snow, would you help by praying for our youth, the next generation of young people sold out for God. That this camp would be powerful  beyond all expectations.

 

 

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Project 31 – Proverbs 31:20

How will you help? 

Proverbs 31:20 (New Living Translation)

 ²⁰ She extends a helping hand to the poor
      and opens her arms to the needy.

 —————

With everything we have going on, kids, husbands, schedules, work, church, grocery shopping, serving etc. we should be mindful that we are called to help the poor and the needy.  This is one of my personal prayers this year. To have the eyes to see those in need and to stop, meet them where they are at and to do something. Not to just feel sad for them but to talk to them and to do what I can to show Gods love to them and to let them know that they are not forgotten.  I pray that God gives me the discernment to know and to see, to not be selfish.  I pray that God would give me desires and ideas to uniquely help those who are poor and needy. To find my own niche’ in a world so forgotten.

How do you extend a helping hand to the poor and needy? Please share.

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Project 31 – Proverbs 31:19

 

Proverbs 31:19 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁹ Her hands are busy spinning thread,
      her fingers twisting fiber.

————

If a woman’s hands are idle and if she is not engaged in worthwhile, constructive pursuits, then watch out!    “Idle hands are the devil’s tools” and “If the devil can catch a man (or woman) idle, he’ll set him (or her) to work.”

The more I pray and seek God the more He is giving me opportunities to become a Proverbs 31 woman.  Just this weekend I was busier than I had been in a very long time.  Groceries, cleaning, family over, meeting with clients, Church, meeting with church peeps, breakfast, lunch & dinner and I completed everything successfully because my eyes and heart was focused on God.  If I had been focusing anywhere else I would have failed miserably or complained the whole time how I do EVERYTHING! God really showed me something new, I was serving my family and friends but ultimately I was doing Gods work and there was no room for the enemy to creep in.

Sisters, I know we often get exhausted but remember your strength is in the Lord and He put us here to do a good work in Him. Lean on God when you have nothing left and you will soon find that you will be doing more than you ever tought possible.

 

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Project 31 – Proverbs 31:17

 

 

Proverbs 31:17 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁷She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

 ——–

The virtuous woman has a reservoir of inner strength which is able to energize her and enable her to accomplish physical tasks which require a great amount of physical strength.  She is not weakened by laziness but she is a wonderful example of diligence and industry.  George Lawson describes her in this way:

As rust gathers on metals that are seldom used, so sluggishness of disposition contracts a rust on the powers of the body and mind; and idle persons by degrees realize those excuses for their conduct which were at first mere shams. The virtuous woman is of a very different temper. She declines not any part of her duty through aversion to toil; and by exerting her strength with a cheerful mind she improves it. Her labors give her health and vigor, and alacrity for new labors; so that she can with great ease and tranquility go through those duties which appear impossibilities to other women [Commentary on Proverbs, p. 564].

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Project 31 – Proverbs 31:16

 

Proverbs 31:16 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁶ She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
      with her earnings she plants a vineyard.

—————

The godly woman considers a field (a plot of land in open country).  She doesn’t do this  on a sudden impulse, but she has gives very careful thought to it. She has a plan for her family and she carefully thinks about what they need.  She decides that a prosperous vineyard would be beneficial to all, and so she decides upon a field that would be suitable.

“She buys it.”  The fact that she buys a field indicates that the godly woman was involved in financial decisions relating to the family and involved in financial transactions.  From what we know about this godly woman, she did not act independently of her husband.  We know that the heart of her husband  safely trusted in her, which would not be the case if his wife were running around purchasing all kinds of things without his knowledge   The godly wife, under the headship of her husband, can play a significant role in managing family finances.  Some wives are very good at keeping a checkbook and managing the family budget, and it would be to the advantage of the family for the husband to delegate this responsibility to her.

How many women buy all kinds of things on the spur of the moment without giving the matter careful thought and deliberation?  As she races out to the shopping mall with her friends, can her husband safely trust in her?  

My prayer today is that with everything we do as wives, that we can take a step back and look at our current routines and see how we can improve them for the betterment of our families.  Maybe we really don’t need that new pair of shoes! 

Be encouraged sisters, God has such an amazing plan for us! 

 

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Project 31 – Proverbs 31:15

Proverbs 31:15 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁵ She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
      and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.

—————–

“yaaawwwn” awe, good morning, rise and shine! That is what my mother always said to me when waking me up in the morning and that is what I  say to my boys.  However, our schedule is a bit different, Vincent gets up for work at 3:45am and therefore I just can not really see myself getting up at that time to make him breakfast!  However on my days off I do make sure he has breakfast when he comes home for lunch.

I used to me a morning person but as I have been getting older it seems harder and harder to get up bright and early to start my day.  Every morning I have a battle with the alarm clock and finally get up just when I am almost going to late.  I used to go to bed around 8-9pm and now it is closer to 9-10 or even 11 pm. Maybe I need to adjust my schedule a little.

I think the most important thing is that as an aspiring Proverbs 31 woman is to take time to spend with God every morning and to make sure our family is taken care of and with in that I believe God is going to make time and energy for you.

 

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