Build Their Daddy UP

The old familiar quote-

"I thought I loved you, until I saw you love our children" comes to mind.

Images of wrestling on the floor, chasing little bare feet down the hall, and cuddling chunky toddlers when they fall and cry...flash through my head. 

They are only toddlers.

But they honestly have the best Daddy in the world.

Yesterday was just one of those days. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it. You know...the day where you work through your lunch and forget you are supposed to eat? One of those. We come home to a messy house, dishes, stinky laundry, and no dinner.  Kids screaming and whining as he walks through the door. And me...looking (and feeling) like I've been hit by a Mack truck.  His smile lights up the room. "How can I help?" He scoops up the kids, tickles them with his beard, and carries them each under his arms outside.  I stand in the, now so quiet, kitchen and think to myself- wow. Such a selfless man he is right now. In the window I see them walking to the garden, Emma's mouth moving a hundred miles an hour telling him about her day. And he's listening to every word.  Luke- listening and toddling to keep up.

We all want our children to have amazing fathers, right?

What if I told you, it's easier than you think?

When I encourage Garrett, its like turning on a light switch. Motivation, eagerness, and spunk fills his eyes. Everything I desire to see in him takes place. And when I'm down, he will then have the strength to pull me through as well.

How can someone as little as me have this profound of an impact?

Because God designed it that way.

"...it is not good for man to live alone..."
Notice he is talking about the man. Women, our men NEED us. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. They need the companionship and the attention. Whether they ask for it (most won't) or not!

I know what you are thinking...because I have thought it, and still think it often: "Im tired, I dont want to be *needed* anymore, the man is supposed to seek ME out all the time." And I get it, its hard! Some of us give and take more than others.  Recently, I came to the revelation that those excuses above are lies. The devil's lies. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  How do you think he will do this best?

You got it- slowly break up a strong marriage.  Satan HATES the family unit. Because it is the best representation of God's everlasting love. So tiny little lies...they can sneak in and before you know it, you believe them as truth.

Instead, God's word tells us to live selfless. Not for self. Meaning, not what you *want* in life.  But that is opposite of what the world says.  The world says life is about what you want and how you feel.  Again, lies.  Marriage is one of the hardest jobs you will ever have. But God tells us not to give up. To push forth with effort even when we feel like there isn't any. 

Garrett and I have been together for 10 years, and just now dedicated ourselves to nightly devotion time together. In front of the Word. Uninterrupted by children, chores, dogs, feeling crummy, etc. Just us. And oh my goodness, what a positive impact it is. If I can encourage ONE mom with this, it will be worth it- dedicate time to your marriage. 

It is in need.
And it deserves it!

Xoxo,

Kay

Greek Lemon Soup

Want a spring soup that makes you feel like melting into your chair with crisp lemon flavors...

Greek Lemon Soup

8 c chicken broth
1/2 c chopped carrots
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 c fresh lemon juice
6tbs chicken soup base (unless you use homemade stock)
1/4  c flour
2 chicken breast diced
1 c cooked rice
1/4 c butter
8 egg yolk

-In large pot, melt butter
-saute carrots, onions, celery
-add flour, stir until tinted
-add chicken broth & whisk to remove lumps
-bring to boil, simmer 15 min.
-beat yolks until light in color
-gradually add yolks to soup, whisk
-add chicken, rice, lemon
-salt & pepper to taste! :)

Serves our family of 4. Enjoy!!!

He knows my name.

How well can you describe your spouse?
How well can you describe your children?

Hopefully pretty well.  Right? I mean you at least know their name...the sound of their voice...

Well... how well can  you describe your creator? How WELL do you know Him?

Music speaks to the innermost part of my soul.  For Christmas, Garrett got me the best present in the world.  A radio for my kitchen. It picks up everything in the surrounding counties...and I love it. Its not new news to anyone that I spend...oh...probably 90% of my day in the kitchen.  When one child is fed, the other is hungry.  Dishes need washed, groceries put away, and then the next meal planned.  Thus is the cycle of a Mommy.  Or I should say, a home-maker.  I cannot tell you how many times I turn the radio up to where the walls are almost shaking.  Sometimes a song will just "get me" as I call it.  And my soul wants to join every note in complete unison.  The words, the beat in the music, everything.  And sometimes it could have been a song that I heard 201 times before and it just didn't click until that moment.   In the rush of life you don't always have quiet alone time with God like YOU would imagine it'd be.  My prayer each week is, Holy Spirit, talk to me and I want to listen.  God please show yourself to me in the most simple of ways.  And lately it has been through music, because honestly I haven't had enough time in front of the Word.  But I get it through the pastors on the radio and through music.

Today, the song "He Knows My Name" by Francesca Battistelli came on.

How many times have I heard it? Probably 202. And this time- it was the FIRST time I heard it.

Listen to the words-

"I wouldn't choose me first if
I was looking for a champion
In fact I'd understand if
You picked everyone before me
But that's just not my story

True to who You are
You saw my heart
And made something out of nothing, so

I don't need my name in lights
I'm famous in my Father's eyes
Make no mistake
He knows my name
I'm not living for applause 
I'm already so adored
It's all His stage
He knows my name
He knows my name 

I'm not meant to just stay quiet
I'm meant to be a lion
I'll roar beyond a song
With every moment that I've got

True to who You are
You saw my heart 
And made something out of nothing

 

How many times do you feel like a roaring lion ready to "roar beyond the song with every moment that you've got"?  

So...today....I'm going to roar.  

Do you KNOW Him? 

Can you describe Him, His voice, and His nature? 

Just like you can your family? 

And how much do you listen to the truth and know without a shadow of a doubt that it was truth? 

If you don't, ask for it! 

God made us something out of nothing. Who's to say that he can't use US to do that with everyone in the world? HE CAN! 

Even our worst enemy, killers, sex offenders, nasty politicians...he can do it with anyone.  He IS.  And he DID in the Bible time and time again.  The entire Bible is full of flawed men and women, those were the people Jesus was drawn to.  It wasn't the people who thought they were perfect and looked down on others- it was the rude, the sick, the adulterers, etc.  Complete hope for the hopeless.  That hope should radiate out of us like beams of light blinding everyone in our path.  If we all took a long thought about that, our outlook on other people would change from judging THEM to judging the unrighteousness...which in turn causes compassion.  We will instantly want them to have the truth that we do.  And how contagious that compassion is...in its rawest form.  It roars within you like a lion ready to escape! 

He knows my name, do you know His? 

 

Blessings, 

Kay

Isaiah 55:11

"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent." 

Just Breathe

Sometimes you just hit a breaking point.

And you need-to-breathe.

Ever felt that way?

Last weekend I did.  I felt like I finally hit the point to where I said, "Enough feeling overwhelmed."

God did not create, in mothers, a spirit of anxiety, or a spirit of feeling overwhelmed.  We are intended to nurture, grow, cultivate, educate, and mentor ALL day long!  Whether that is from your phone at work, or at home.  You make it what you need to.

Ran across the "Hands Free Mama" today and heard her speak a bit on air.  She talked about the same things.  Her breaking point that led her to discover the hands free approach and her advice to moms caught in the rut.  What do you do when you feel so completely overwhelmed.  Her answer was that if you feel that way, then you start small.  And you start with your alone time.  Alone time needs to be based off your family and your needs  Some people would be in the morning before anyone wakes up.  Others in the afternoon after dropping off kids to school.  And maybe even at night when the house is lulled and everyone is asleep.

Unplug from technology, grab a book or your Bible and have alone time.
Alone time to dwell, reflect, and prepare.

So this week, I am going to post one post per day of a way to not feel overwhelmed.  Not because I've got it all figured out because I DON'T.  But because we are here to encourage each other to simply live.  Live with purpose and desire.  And if we aren't doing that, then something needs to change.

Proverbs 12:25 "Anxiety in a mans heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad."

Lets make each other glad today.  Share this post or post your own stress-relieving HANDS-FREE approach!

Blessings,

Kay

What I Deserve.

What do we deserve?

The world in us wants to say -everything-.

"Our kids deserve the best"
"They deserve not to have hard trials"
"They deserve peace and happiness." ...

I've heard it far too often. And many times I've seen it consume people like a disease.

Does God want greatness for us?
Yes.
At what cost?
Laying it ALL down for Him.

That means that one of our main goals in parenting must be both to show and teach humility. (Those two must go hand in hand- teach and show)

Please stop using the phrase "Oh hunny, you deserve it." or "Our kids deserve the best". Lose the mindset that what you are trying to do for them must be perfection.  Instead teach them the gospel- you don't *deserve* anything. But your loving and caring God sent Christ just for you, even though you dont deserve him. 

People are not perfect.
Show God's grace to those imperfect people.
That imperfect workplace.
Their imperfect school.
An imperfect waitress who got your order wrong.
An imperfect pastor
Whoever you meet.
Show God's mercy and grace.

It doesn't mean you settle for less.
It means your own humility will promote HIS best and not your own idea of *best*

And honestly, it might mean that at sometimes we aren't happy. Not one place in the Bible does it say that God's number one goal is for us to be comfortable and happy. If I'm not joyful, there's something I need to address in my own thinking...not in someone elses actions or in God's actions. ((Humility))

:)

Take these lyrics today.
If its a hard day, sing them aloud.
I did yesterday.  **Phill. 2:3**

For King and Country "Crave"

Hope sleeps without me
Her sweet dreams surround me,
But I'm left out
I'll need a fix now
To believe, to feel

These rooms are dark now
These halls are hollow,
And so am I
She is hard to find now
To believe, to see

Hope is what we crave,
And that will never change
So I stand and wait
I need a drop of grace
To carry me today,
A simple song to say
It's written on my soul:
Hope's what we crave

I won't turn to dust now
Let these tears rust now
On my face
Give me the spark now
To believe, to see

Hope is what we crave,
And that will never change
So I stand and wait
I need a drop of grace
To carry me today,
A simple song to say
It's written on my soul:
Hope's what we crave

[2x]
To live, to die,
To lose, to care,
To rise above
To love again

To love again

Hope is what we crave,
And that will never change
So I stand and wait
I need a drop of grace
To carry me today,
A simple song to say
Hope is what we crave
I need a drop of grace
It's written on my soul:
Hope's what we crave

It's written on my soul:
Hope's what we crave

Hope's what we crave

Hope's what I crave

Stretched THIN.

Im sure you've heard or said that phrase- "they are just stretched thin" or "I can't. ..I'm stretched thin."

When you stretch something thin,
what happens?

Whatever you are stretching starts to become unreliable.
It gets holes, it tears, it unravels. 

People are the same way. And God did not design us to purposely stretch thin. He designed us in His image, to dwell in His peace, and REST. Nowhere in the Bible does it say, "Work to the point of frustration.  Giving Me no time of day, taking matters into your own hands." It is the complete opposite!

Lately, I've really dwelled on the phrase "Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy." It struck me one Sunday when I looked at what we were doing and wondered how it fit into this command.  Then ironically a friend posted that SAME question on Facebook.  I call it a reminder, not coincidence.

God is so methodical. He is all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful.  And he designed commands for us. Truthfully, if I had designed commandments for the human race.....it'd be a massive book. But Him-ten. Just ten! And in the midst of those ten commands is to remember one day, snd to dwell on Him. Its in there guys!!! God sees rest as SO important that he put it in the 10 guidelines to human life. How to put Him first. One thing is- - - REST.

I look around me all the time and notice people stretched thin, myself included. People who had great intentions, but have become consumed with the -work- rather than the -reason-.  People who think that we must do everything to be *happy* or fufilled.  If we are working, and do-ing for God...then it should always bring a smile to our face. Right? Even if no one acknowledges what we are doing?

I myself am SO guilty. We all are. But we should constantly be coming back to His presence for rest.

Do your very best.
He will take care of the rest.

...but in order for Him to help with the rest...you have to have a relationship with Him.

Do you?
Are you?

"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." MATTHEW 11:28

Be a blessing,

Kay

Not a bad thing.

What is your initial reaction when something bad happens?

I'm sure if you're like me, you *first* say, "That's awful!"

Or if its something bad that has happened in our country you join in the chant
"we are going to hell in a handbaslet, I cant believe how awful our country is?!"

I realized recently that it is unBiblical, or more importantly unChristlike, to say these things.

Instead of looking at it as a *bad thing* like I described above, look at it like this-

God is bringing wickedness to LIGHT.
Its all coming out.
And that can be a great thing!!!

Think of all of the *bad* that is coming to light right now, that has relatively stayed hidden.

-Planned Parenthood Abortions
-Funding terrorist actions
-Poor American Leadership
-Increased Homosexuality
-Satanic worship
-Ashley Madison ...or whatever that site is called.
-Kanye naming his future child God West??

People can see this as bad.
That reveals truth.
The truth between good-and-evil.
Because WE know that there is such a thing
People can see this an be saved!
Saved from lives of torture and no hope.

We should ooze Jesus Christ in all that we do.  It should be our first and greatest desire.  Do I struggle with this? YES! Absolutely.  But I won't stop the fight to keep showing his mercy, love, and grace to everyone I meet.  I will take each reaction, each struggle, each trial through the lens of Christ.  And if I don't...point it out to me.  If you know me personally and see me on a daily basis- call me out on it!  It doesn't mean that I'll react perfect, or that you will.  But I can guarantee you, in the end, we will be different than this world.

Thats what my hope stands on.
This country is not my future
But I can help change the future of this country. :)




God, thank you.
Thank you for being greater
And living in us.
Thank he who is in the world.
Whatever may come,
Your strength is enough
Thank you for making our heart at peace.
Amist strife and evil.
Here in Your arms, we know who we are.

We repent for our nation that we live in.
And the nation that we know does not follow you.
We beg your mercy upon us and upon our leaders.
Thank you for Jesus
And for life. <3

Amen.

-Kay