That Day When Nothing Goes to Plan

Am I the only one who gets tired of planning and then nothing happens the way it’s supposed to? This has been a struggle of mine for quite some time. I hear all the time how important it is to plan and I fully believe that it is. But when it feels like you plan every day, at least generally speaking, and then nothing goes the way you plan for it to.

I feel like this is the story of my motherhood life. Is anyone else there too?

Recently I realized that somewhere along the line I stopped really bringing my daily plans before the Lord. General plans, long term plans, big goals, No problem praying over them. I feel like that’s a must. But daily plans, it’s so easy to forget and feel unnecessary at times. Or the day starts off in a rush and I forget to ask for daily bread. Or I’m focusing on the big problems in my life, my family, my friends or the world and forget to ask God what He wants me to do that day, that moment.

I forget that all plans are subject to God’s plans.

“I know that You can do all things, and Your purpose cannot be thwarted.” Job 42:2

I’m trying to be God. I’m trying to control everything in my world. But that’s not my job, and I need to remember that. I’m not God. I’m not in control.

Should we plan? Yes. Should we plan daily? Yes. But ultimately all of these plans are subject to God’s governing authority and we need to pray about all of our plans. But if God says no to our plans, then we should seek what it is He has for us in those changes and teach our kids about God’s authority in our lives.

So the next time your day is anything but what you planned, ask God what it is He is wanting to teach you in the plans He is ordaining that are different than yours. Remember God is on your side. He is for you and will do what is best for you. 

Jamey: Our 7 Year Old

Seven years ago our family and lives were forever changed by our first born, Jamey. How much he has grown in such a short amount of time. You blink and they go from baby to a boy, a young man.

Jamey is so full of life. He has such a goofy personality. He has energy coming from everywhere. Really he just loves life. When you ask him what his favorite part of the day is, his reply is, "Everything but the bad stuff." I love his enthusiasm for life, and pray for God to give me a smidgen of it when it's been a long day and I'm just tired.

Jamey loves to learn. School is often his favorite part of the day. Currently his favorite subjects are math and science, though many days he says all of them. It is sometimes hard to challenge him enough because he is so quick to pick up on things. He is very good at learning on his own, which is great when you have so many kids! He also enjoys teaching his siblings. Jamey also loves to be schooled at home because he loves to be with his family. This melts my heart!

In his free time, Jamey loves to color, cut, draw, paint, really anything visually artistic. He is growing in learning to like to play outside. He also enjoys watching movies and TV. He loves all the colors because they are all good! (Love that personality.)

Jamey is so friendly and dynamic. He can be a little overwhelming at times because of his friendliness, but it's so fun to watch Jamey be Jamey. He enjoys meeting new people and will talk to anyone, especially when we go to the playground.

Jamey is growing so much in his love of learning the Bible. He reads most mornings all on his own and can tell you what he read. Memorizing verses is not his favorite, but he is growing in doing it. He really wants to know God and know more about Him and what it means to be a Christian. It is amazing and such a blessing to see God's grace at work in his life already. He is growing in prayer as well, which is such a blessing. God is so good.

Thankfully, Jamey has become a great eater and will eat just about anything. His current favorite is latkes. In fact for his birthday dinner he asked for sweet potato latkes! He also loves eggplant. What kid loves eggplant? This kid!

He is always surprising us. Jamey is so good with the baby and loves to wrestle with his brothers. He is so excited about having another sibling. He has been asking for another sister for years and we pray God will give him his hearts desire this time. It's exciting to see God's grace working in Jamey as he grows into his role as the oldest and the responsibility that it entails. We have great conversations with him about all these things. It's amazing what he understands.

We pray God continues to shower His grace and Jamey and that He will use Jamey's life in amazing ways. It's so wonderful to see what God has already done and we know His work is not yet finished in Jamey. As great as Jamey is, he is still 7 and he is still a sinner, just like the rest of us.

Father, thank You for Jamey and 7 years with him. Please continue to pour out Your grace that He might know You, love You and serve You with all that he is.

The Last Battle

Our family finally finished The Chronicles of Narnia, with The Last Battle. This book was in the middle for me, not terrible but not great. A lot of the imagery Lewis describes is beautiful and the adventure is certainly there. I got frustrated with some of it, but I do believe it's because you are supposed to. Lewis does a great job of showing in allegorical form the battle for truth that is always present as people seek to make God who they want, so I appreciated that (though where some of the frustration came in).

Like most of the books in this series I felt the ending was odd and kind of a let down. I don't want to give anything away as I know people who are still reading these books, but it was seriously like, "That's what happened?"

Along with this, one of the chapters had horrible theology in it, that I cannot even accept in allegorical form. I had been warned about this from others who have read it and still hearing it was beyond my comprehension.

I'm not sure how I would rate this. Maybe 3.5 stars or 4. Probably closer to 3.5.

Jesus Had Nothing to Prove, and Neither Do You

Recently I have been reading about Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion. It is always challenging and interesting reading about this time as I reflect on what Jesus went through for me. But this time, the Holy Spirit whispered a new revelation to my heart about this passage.

Jesus had nothing to prove, and neither do you!

How it hit my heart like a knife. How often do I try to justify my parenting, my homemaking, my homeschooling, my life to others? I must do everything right so that people think I’m doing the right thing. But this is just not true! We are called to follow Jesus in whatever we do. So much of life is grey and we need to walk in that grey with bold confidence that we’re following what God has for us to do in the way we parent, keep our homes and teach our children. When we clearly sin, we repent and start over again. But we have nothing to prove to anyone. Not even God.

As we watch Jesus in the garden, before pilot, on the cross and as He died, it is clear that He knew He had nothing to prove. He was silent while they hurled insults. Jesus says Himself that God would give Him twelve legions of angels if He just asked for it. But He went willingly to the slaughter because He knew who God says He is, He knew His mission. As they hurled insults, taunting Him to come down, He listened and asked God to forgive their ignorance and stayed to take our sin. He knew they thought He was a liar, a lunatic, but He died anyway. Jesus had nothing to prove.

What are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to impress?

Stop and just be who God created you to be and live the life He has given you to live.

32 Years On Earth

God has allowed me to walk this earth for 32 years. How much I have learned during that time. This past year God has grown me a lot in learning more about who He is and who I am as well as accepting who God has made me to be and grow in that.

So who is God? God is perfect, holy, mighty. God is Creator of the entire universe and He alone holds it together. God is just. God is love. God is God, the great I Am.

Who am I? I'm a sinner. I'm an idolater who takes the name of my God in vain. I'm a Sabbath breaker. I dishonor my parents. I'm a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, and a coveter. I'm selfish, greedy, unkind, unloving.

But so much more than this, I am Saved. I am Redeemed. I am Chosen. I am Loved by the King of the universe. God calls me daughter and friend. I am a new Creation because of Jesus's death on the cross for all of my sins. I am alive because Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death for me. I am free to live the life that God has called me to and to live it to the best of my ability because He gives me all of His strength through the Holy Spirit living in me. Yes, the God of the universe lives in me and I can be who He has made me without fear, without shame. When I fail, He does not push me away, but I can repent and He still loves me, picks me up and continues to show me His path for me.


So who has God made me? I'm constantly figuring this out. Aren't we all? Here is what I've gotten thus far:

I'm a daughter of God and follower of Jesus
I'm a wife, a mother, a daughter/daughter-in-law, sister/sister-in-law, aunt, granddaughter-in-law
I'm a homeschool teacher, a nurse and educator
I'm a friend, church member, and part of the Body of Christ
I'm a writer, a reader, a movie/TV watcher
I'm a singer and enjoy many types of music
I'm a deep thinker and hate surface level conversations
I like logic problems and trying to figure things out
I love studying the Bible and praying so I can learn more about my Savior
I don't like technology (I know I have 2 blogs but it's true) but learn how to use the basics
I don't like being pregnant, but I do love giving birth and teaching others about birth

I love having a big family and how much God is teaching me through it
I love encouraging women to be who God created them to be and teaching them to read the Word, pray and know God
I love missions and telling others about it
I love learning other languages and learning about other cultures
I like traveling and would love to live in another culture
I'm opinionated and passionate
I'm weak and in desperate need of a Savior to help me through every moment
I love being around people and I love being alone
I like order but I have learned to live with clutter
I'm a perfectionist and God is always working on this


This is not exhaustive as I'm always learning more about who God has made me and who I am as God redeems me and makes me who He wants me to be in the image of His Son.

Good Enough for Who?

I failed again. I turned on the TV. I picked up fast food instead of making dinner. I didn’t get any laundry done today. My house looks like a tornado went through it. It’s been a month since I cleaned the bathroom and I didn’t do that today either.

Do thoughts like this zoom through your head too? I often feel like I’m not enough, like I will never measure up. Are you with me?

The question in the title is from “Mom’s Night Out” (which if you haven’t seen, you should) and is asked at the turning point for the main character in the movie. She is asked this question and since seeing this movie, I ask myself that question too when I feel like I’m failing at being a wife, a mom, a homemaker or anything else yet again.

In Christ we succeed. Does that mean we do everything perfectly? NO! How I wish it did. But it does mean that we are free to live and turn on the TV if it gets a little crazy or pick up fast food because unexpected things happened.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

As wives, mothers, homemakers, daughters, church members, contributing members of society we labor and this culture has given us a heavy load to bear. Let it go and give it to Jesus who takes all of our burden on Him. It doesn’t mean everything will be easy, but it does mean we can be who God created us to be and be the best at it.

Because of Jesus we are already seen as good enough and we have nothing left to prove. So go be who God made you to be and stop listening to everything else. 

If all you do is teach them about Jesus, it’s a good day

I sat surrounded by lesson plans, looking at all that needed to be done for our school year. We were adding curriculum and I thought for a moment, maybe I had made a mistake. I felt beyond overwhelmed, thinking to myself, “I only have so many hours in the day. How will we ever get through all this material?”

That’s when I heard His still small voice. “As long as you teach them about Me, it has been a good day.”

I stopped and asked myself, “Why am I homeschooling?” There were so many reasons, but the primary reason is so that I can teach my children about Jesus in everything I do. As long as I teach my kids something about Jesus every day, then it is a good day.

Do you find yourself in that boat? Do you think, “We didn’t even get to school today. We are completely off schedule. I have way too much housework to do. I can’t do it all!” Then remind yourself of what Jesus says, You cannot do it all, but I have done everything.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This is our charge. Whether you get through every subject in your day or none at all. If we have taught them the ways of the Lord and the salvation He gives through His Son, Jesus Christ, it is a good day.