Tell me if this happens at your house.You circle Mother's Day on the family calendar, you leave note with the URL for your favourite florist beside the bathroom sink along with the phone number just in case. You tell your children for weeks in advance that"mom special day" is coming and have them repeat the food that I like best.
Then MD comes. You still have to make breakfast like my youngest son said to me this morning, Happy Mother's Day Mom!and 3 minutes later "Mom I'm hungry"! Your flowers don't arrive, and your husband takes the family through the drive-thru for lunch or ask to some leftovers from last night. The result- you spend the day stewing and your family is miserable.
Maybe that's not how it works for you. Maybe you are one of the few who is celebrated exactly how you want to be each Mother's Day!But for most this holiday can often be a major disappointment.
And you know what our husbands and children aren't to be blame...
Thinking your the centre of the universe, even if it's only for a day, misses a major point-namely that you're not the centre of the universe. We're a part of a family, an important part, yes, but not so important that we've earned the right to demand adoration, affection, and one-day Get Out of the jail free card.
Here are some biblical truths that many of us, including me the most I need to be reminded on this day.
We are called to humble.
Matthew 23:12- "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted"
Our role as a mother is not a burden, but a gift.
Psalms127:3-" Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward". If your are blessed enough to have children, your gift has already been delivered.
Remember Whom we serve
I know my kids don't send Thank you notes very often, and my husband doesn't always notice all the things I do, But the truth is I don't work for my husband and my kids, I work in pleasing my Creator and His the one who fullfilled my needs in order to be a better mom and a better wife.
Colossians3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Your serving the Lord Christ"
Serving your family is an important job, most of the time subestimed but is a way to demonstrated Christ to them and the outside world, where a lot of family are crumbling because they don't know how to serve each other. Psalm100:2 urges us to "serve the Lord with gladness". Losing sight of this even for a day, won't make for a happy heart or a happy family.
I want to say sincerely thank you to all my friends that over the years thought me so much about parenting and for being great moms. Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting require to teach your kids about Jesus, thanks for being great friends and good example to my children, and for parenting tips according to God's plan.
As for me I thank the Lord for His help in trying to model my life before my children even when I don't feel like, and for the practical ways to live like is not about me, so that the children knows it's all about Him. Today I tried to remember myself that I don't need to be glorified but to bring glory to our Saviour!
Have a blessed day!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Too Embarrassed to Ask for Prayers
Is been a bit tough at the Bitoius household, as we are waiting to see what the Lord has in store for us and which direction he wants us to take. Few months ago I couldn't believe that there is no room in our schedule for unplanned interruption. Well I was wrong! God had a different idea!
We are in the process of opening a new restaurant-bakery-cafe but our planning and scheduling was way off and now were are in our almost third month of Mario not having a steady work instead working to make it in time to all the meetings, waiting for phone calls and lawyer letters in order to get everything we need to start getting the work that needed to be done in order to open the doors.
I got so discouraged, sad and I fear that I will not be able to make it thru all this. I had to take care of my kids, but at times I was very sad and anxious about meeting our deadline in opening the new place.
One day when I wanted to pray but I couldn't get words past the lump in my throat, my friend called me and I broke down. She prayed with me and asked why don't you ask for prayers and Ill recruit others to pray for you too. I didn't want to sound rude so I said Okay. She keep her word, within few hours I start getting few texts or emails from friends saying that were praying for my family. That's when I ask for prayers on my FB wall(never underestimate the power of FB) and I got a great assurance from friends that encourage me with phone calls, texts or private messages with encouraging Scripture or by simply saying we're praying....
Here is the funny thing. All the prayers didn't make me feel better. A least not at first. The emotion that I felt the strongest that afternoon was embarrassment. I didn't like everyone knowing that things weren't perfect behind our front door. I didn't like the feeling that I couldn't pray for myself out of this mess all on my own. Most of all, I didn't like the harsh reality that I couldn't keep up with my plan.
The Lord tenderly deal with my heart that day. He remind me that He created friends to be a support network, and He called my reluctance to ask for prayer what it really was- pride.
As I sat down to eat dinner that evening I thought about the pride of not sharing how people can pray for me. When people ask, I rarely have to reply or I go for something safe and surface like - Im feeling down, maybe because of the weather! I rarely go deep and open up about the areas of my life where I really need Gods power to create change. I'm realizing that if I want to see the power of prayers in my life and in the lives of others, I need to get real about the broken places where I need God to work. That means admitting areas where I'm weak and cannot do it on my own.
James5;13-16 says,
"Is any of you in trouble, it should pray. Is any of you happy, let him sing songs of praise. Is any of you sick,he should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the person sick well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will
be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
The verse tells us to relay and confess our sins to each other and pray for each other, so that we can be healed.
Ladies, I am learning that part of why God placed you in my life so that I have prayer support when I need it the most. But in order for it to work that way, I have to take off my mask of perfection and say- I'm struggling, would you pray for me...but if I keep offering up only trivial prayer requests, I cannot tap into the true power of prayer.
I can attest that the prayer was so efficient and God works in his Mighty way. The more people pray the more we saw things moving into the right direction. Last Friday we had very great news and in probably next two weeks were going in. ya!
I can describe this as a -"loaves and fishes experience" God multiplied in every way. I know that if I had to refused to ask those around my to pray, this story would have a much different ending.
How about you...Are willing to get real about areas where you need others to pray for you-or will you stick to the surface stuff, I encourage you to find a praying friend, take off your mask of perfection and ask for prayers. everyone needs them! their the best gift that we can offer to each other...
We are in the process of opening a new restaurant-bakery-cafe but our planning and scheduling was way off and now were are in our almost third month of Mario not having a steady work instead working to make it in time to all the meetings, waiting for phone calls and lawyer letters in order to get everything we need to start getting the work that needed to be done in order to open the doors.
I got so discouraged, sad and I fear that I will not be able to make it thru all this. I had to take care of my kids, but at times I was very sad and anxious about meeting our deadline in opening the new place.
One day when I wanted to pray but I couldn't get words past the lump in my throat, my friend called me and I broke down. She prayed with me and asked why don't you ask for prayers and Ill recruit others to pray for you too. I didn't want to sound rude so I said Okay. She keep her word, within few hours I start getting few texts or emails from friends saying that were praying for my family. That's when I ask for prayers on my FB wall(never underestimate the power of FB) and I got a great assurance from friends that encourage me with phone calls, texts or private messages with encouraging Scripture or by simply saying we're praying....
Here is the funny thing. All the prayers didn't make me feel better. A least not at first. The emotion that I felt the strongest that afternoon was embarrassment. I didn't like everyone knowing that things weren't perfect behind our front door. I didn't like the feeling that I couldn't pray for myself out of this mess all on my own. Most of all, I didn't like the harsh reality that I couldn't keep up with my plan.
The Lord tenderly deal with my heart that day. He remind me that He created friends to be a support network, and He called my reluctance to ask for prayer what it really was- pride.
As I sat down to eat dinner that evening I thought about the pride of not sharing how people can pray for me. When people ask, I rarely have to reply or I go for something safe and surface like - Im feeling down, maybe because of the weather! I rarely go deep and open up about the areas of my life where I really need Gods power to create change. I'm realizing that if I want to see the power of prayers in my life and in the lives of others, I need to get real about the broken places where I need God to work. That means admitting areas where I'm weak and cannot do it on my own.
James5;13-16 says,
"Is any of you in trouble, it should pray. Is any of you happy, let him sing songs of praise. Is any of you sick,he should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the person sick well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will
be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
The verse tells us to relay and confess our sins to each other and pray for each other, so that we can be healed.
Ladies, I am learning that part of why God placed you in my life so that I have prayer support when I need it the most. But in order for it to work that way, I have to take off my mask of perfection and say- I'm struggling, would you pray for me...but if I keep offering up only trivial prayer requests, I cannot tap into the true power of prayer.
I can attest that the prayer was so efficient and God works in his Mighty way. The more people pray the more we saw things moving into the right direction. Last Friday we had very great news and in probably next two weeks were going in. ya!
I can describe this as a -"loaves and fishes experience" God multiplied in every way. I know that if I had to refused to ask those around my to pray, this story would have a much different ending.
How about you...Are willing to get real about areas where you need others to pray for you-or will you stick to the surface stuff, I encourage you to find a praying friend, take off your mask of perfection and ask for prayers. everyone needs them! their the best gift that we can offer to each other...
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My beautiful front yard
Cookies and milk