A Daily Devotional Just for You

I am excited to announce that I have started another site in addition to my blog! I have been feeling God pull at me and it wasn’t until recently that I was able to see what it was that he was calling me to do! He has opened my eyes, ears and heart to his messages through everyday tasks and events that we take for granted. He has a message for all of you moms out there in every stage of motherhood and he has given me the gift of being able to deliver it to you through my writing! I will be posting daily devotionals along with scripture and a prayer for the day on my new devotional website, www.youarejustamom.com. Visit this website now and read your first devotional titled Just a Mom, and sign up to receive your daily devotional message via email! I will still continue posting regularly to this blog, I’ve got way too many crazy stories yet to tell, I mean come on the Holidays are upon us, it’s bounds to be exciting! I have a feeling that God has big plans on the horizon and I hope that you will join me on this new adventure and open the doors to what God has in store for you! God is calling, are you going to answer?

XOXOXO~

~Mommamamom~

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God is Calling, Are You going to Hit the Ignore or Answer?

Tonight was life changing. I mean really! I have always heard of people saying they were moved by the Holy Spirit, that they’ve heard God talking, that they’ve seen their clear path….and I always wondered why I hadn’t. Maybe I’m not christian enough or good enough or dare I say maybe God isn’t real and that’s why he doesn’t speak to me. Of course I know that God is real, all I have to do to know that is look around. But to say that I have never doubted my faith or my worthiness would be a lie. I think on some level we all have a little doubt…

You’re telling me that there was a woman that got pregnant without doing the deed and then gave birth to a boy who just happened to be the son of an invisible wish grantor? You mean to tell me that this boy that was born in a barn, grew up to travel the land and heal the sick, blind and lame by laying his calloused carpenter hands on people? You want me to believe that a human man could live a life without sin and truly, unconditionally LOVE EVERYONE by choice? Then you expect me to accept the story that he was beaten, mocked, and hung from a cross to eventually die, only to rise from the dead on the third day after his death and walk among the living and breathing men and women who cheered his death on? And he did all of this just so they along with all of us, natural born sinners, could live a full life and not suffer the sentence of death for our sins?

YES! I’m here to tell you YES, believe just that. Believe that you are here for a purpose and you are called to do GREAT things in his name. Believe that there is life after death. Believe that the sick can be healed, the blind will see, and the lame can walk again. Believe that your dreams will come true. Believe that miracles happen. Believe that you are stronger than your addiction. Believe that you are good enough, you are worthy enough, you are smart enough, you are pretty enough, you are skinny enough, you are a good mom, you are a good dad, whatever it is YOU ARE ENOUGH! God had a plan for you before you were even a peanut in your mother’s womb. He knew you and he knew the choices you would be faced with. He has confidence in you even when you don’t. HE BELIEVES IN YOU! He LOVES you.

Tonight I attended a party for women that one of our local churches puts on a couple times a year. They call it Girlfriends. Each Girlfriends has a different theme. This year’s was based off of Pinterest. For those of you that don’t know what Pinterest is, it is a website that is used to gather ideas anywhere from cooking, decorating, diy, photography, to funny quotes and so much more. It is designed to be kind of like a virtual pin board. You see something you like, you pin it to a designated ‘board’. For us hoarders it’s just another junk drawer, “I might need that one of these days….”, and for some of us mommies, like me, it is a reminder of all the things society I think I should be doing with my kids to be a good mommy.  Sometimes it’s just another way to let doubt creep in. But for tonight, it was AH-MAZING:) God really outdid himself tonight, using the creative talents of all the people that came together to organize and prepare for this epic worship experience. They had different stations set up with examples of Pinterest inspired crafts and snacks. This however, was not what made tonight’s experience one for the record books. It wasn’t even the absolutely terrific guest speaker Charlotte Gambill (google her, after you finish reading this that is). Although, I must say I was laughing, crying and agreeing with everything she said. She was a wonderful, funny, excited, steward of God. God spoke through her tonight and that was what made tonight life changing.

He used Charlotte’s words to move me. Literally, he moved me out of my seat, into the aisle and up to the front of the church! Have you ever felt the pull during an alter call at church? You know, the need to go to the front, but you just can’t seem to make your feet move?  What if people stare at me, what if they think I’m having marital problems or money problems or problems with my kids? No one else is going up there, oh well except that lady but she’d move to the front of the line for a flu shot, every time. I’ll just secretly pray right here where no one will notice, I would hate for people to think I’m weird. Been there, done that, and all I got was a stinkin’ t-shirt! But not tonight! Tonight, as I tried to fight the pull, I mean I tried shoving it way down there, underneath all those powdered donuts I had for lunch, I felt it get stronger and stronger. God pulled at me until I was in the middle of the aisle and up front. I was so scared of what people were thinking, and then I realized something. These people didn’t know me, but God knows me. He knows the desires of my heart. He knows my deepest secrets. He knows my greatest accomplishment and my worst failure. He knows all of my sins and yet he still loves me and wants to bless me. He sent his only son to this earth to die for MY sins, so why should I be ashamed to simply walk up to the front of the church for him?

Charlotte Gambill told us tonight that we needed to move our seats. She said to move to a seat that isn’t obstructing our view, our view of what God has in store. She said to be bold and quit waiting around on the rest of the group to make a move. By the end of tonight’s worship experience I was in tears, not because I was sad or embarrassed, but because I was so over the moon happy! You see I didn’t plan on going tonight, I kept telling myself I didn’t have time, the kids have practice, the house is a mess, I need to cook supper. But the pull that I felt tonight while sitting in my chair listening to Charlotte, started earlier this afternoon and throughout the day it got stronger and stronger, God called I hit the ignore button so he called again, until finally I caved and said the heck with it, I’m going! God needed me there, because he had a plan for me. He planned on speaking to me tonight, he planned on the Holy Spirit moving me to the front, because he wanted me to have a front row seat for the show, his show!  The thing of it is, it’s not just me that he wants to give this to, oh no, he wants to give it to you to! As Charlotte said you just have to be willing to move and pay the price for the better seat. Go out and be bold, be different, be a weirdo! Just make sure you’re being one for God:)

Thank you for reading and I pray that what you read was not of my own but of God’s. Is God pulling you do something that makes you uncomfortable?

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:20)

I would love for you all to leave your comments, thoughts on this, hopes, dreams, prayer requests…

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XOXOXO~

~Mommamamom~

Just another day? Oh no it’s a BIRTHDAY!

Today was Snookums birthday! I love me some birthdays! Around this house a person’s day of birth is something to be celebrated! For the kids I usually decorate their bedroom doors and their place at the table. They will be allowed to open one birthday present that morning before school and the rest will be saved for that evening after dinner. We always let them pick out what or where they would like to eat their special birthday dinner. One year we got off real easy, Why For (our first born) insisted on having Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup for his special meal! Now he want’s a steak! I try and make sure I have all the birthday person’s favorite things on hand for the day. As you can imagine birthdays keep us pretty hooked up throughout the year considering there are twelve months in a year and we have eight birthdays to celebrate in our family!

When I woke up this morning my thoughts went straight to my mental notes on what I needed, to make this day great! Of course Snookums gets up way too early to head into work for me to decorate his door:) Plus I can’t quite imagine the words that might come out of his mouth if he were to groggily stumble into a web of streamers taped across the door waiting for him to bust through. He isn’t exactly a morning person. Although, come to think of it… I may have to try that next year with a camcorder ready to capture his “excitement”! That could be just the video we need to get that reality t.v. deal we’ve been working on rolling! Just kidding, about reality t.v. anyway, the entertainment world isn’t quite ready for our crew’s shenanigans! To sum it up today has been a full day of preparation for the celebration of my husbands birth 33 years ago:)

Of course birthdays are never quite as big of a deal to him as I make them. Earlier while on the phone with him I asked him if he was having a good birthday so far. His answer was “it’s just another day”. WHAT?!?! How can he think that? Today is the day that my soul mate was born! Today is the day the father of my six children made his debut into the world! Today is the day his mother’s life changed forever! 33 years ago today this world became a better place! I believe this is a day to be celebrated! Call out the marching bands because we need to have a parade:)

Birthdays are meant to be celebrated. Really, do you know what a miracle you are? It’s amazing that any of us made it through life in our mother’s womb, let alone the first five years of life, what, with learning to walk and climb and learning what the meaning of hot was and a whole lot more important safety lessons. Then of course you have our adventurous years from about five to eleven-ish, and don’t even get me started on on the pre-teen and teenage years, survival of those years are for sure a mother’s answered prayer. But let us not forget the ones who were taken from us to early. For these beautiful souls alone we should celebrate. A birthday is not to be taken for granted. A birthday is the mark of yet another year that God has so graciously given us. Another year for us to rewrite our dreams and set new goals. A chance to mark events and or places off of our bucket list. Yes, our birthdays are special, it’s the start of a new year in our lives where we can leave the past behind and look forward.

So now before you catch yourself saying “oh well, it’s just another day” think about all the people that wouldn’t be the same without you or wouldn’t be at all, if you hadn’t been born on that glorious day the angels sang. Celebrate like there is no tomorrow, because after all they aren’t guaranteed!

Happy Birthday to you, you handsome husband of mine:)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” ( Jeremiah 1:5)

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to celebrate with somebody on their special occasion! If you liked this please click on the Top Mommy Blogger link to vote for my blog!!! Make sure you follow my blog so that you don’t miss out on my next post, just click the follow link! Feel free to share this with anyone and everyone, especially if it’s their birthday!!!

XOXOXO~

~Mommamamom~

Soccer Balls, Cleats, and Shin Guards Oh My…We are All Precious In His Sight

It has been a busy season in our household! Out of six children we have four of them in a sport. The oldest, “Why For”, is in swimming year round and at the moment football, the second in line, “Sporty McGee”, is currently playing football and within the next week he will be starting basketball, the fall season that is, because where we live you can play any sport in any season! Number three, “Butter Bean” and number four, “The Challenger”, are both playing soccer. Soccer…I have come to realize is not just a sport but a lifestyle, at least it is where we live anyway. You know a person would think that this town would be all about football considering we live in a town with a University that has one of the top football programs in the nation, but in the world of parents and children soccer is THE sport here. We are blessed to have a wonderful soccer association that organizes games for over 1400 children every Saturday in the Fall and Spring, and that’s just in the recreational league!

When Butter Bean decided he wanted to play soccer last spring my first thought was “aw man…soccer” and not in the “WAHOO” way but in the “DARN” way! I know I can speak for Snookums on this too, soccer was not our forte. In fact when it comes to sports I am completely inexperienced, I’m learning right along with my children. Snookums on the other hand was Mr. Athleticism while growing up, even now the man doesn’t lose in a competition! So when Butter Bean said “I want to play soccer” I knew we were in for a loooong season of ball watching. Neither myself nor Snookums knew a thing about soccer. But of course like any good little parent I signed him up and payed the small fortune for his name to be thrown in the bowl with about a thousand other kids just to be plucked out by a random stranger. A random stranger that our family would have to be closely involved with several times a week for the next ten weeks, give or take. As you can imagine we were bubbling over with excited anticipation. I was so excited when I finally got the email from Butter Bean’s soccer coach giving us the details of what our lives would consist of the next couple months. When I read the coaches name I discovered our first hurdle…I wasn’t sure how to pronounce his name. Living in a college town for almost a year now I have grown very accustomed to the diversity that this world has to offer. In fact I am in aw of how well this town seems to blend together. That brings me to the point of my story. Different cultures, backgrounds, colors, religions, names… those things do not matter when you have one common goal.

Previously I wrote a post about how we have lost the love of the game. The story was written specifically about baseball but the idea could be applied to any sport. Well I am excited to report that the love has been found, I found it growing and nurturing children on a field composed of little grass, a few stickers and a lot of dirt! This last weekend Butter Bean played his first official game in the Hispanic Soccer League. One thing and possibly the most important, I got out of our first of many games played at this field was how much these children truly loved this sport. Not only children of all ages but their parents too. I’ll be honest I was a little nervous. I was nervous to be taken out of my little box of comfort. My little box where everybody spoke the same language, a language that I understood. My little box where the soccer fields were nicely trimmed and all the jerseys matched. Another lesson I learned from our first game in this league was how boring and small my little box was! Why do we imprison ourselves? We box ourselves in nice and neatly with almost no wiggle room, and by doing this we miss out on so many wonderful experiences. We seem to forget that there is in fact a world out there, and a rather large one to be honest, that doesn’t revolve around us alone!

Let me go back to our last spring season, the season that started our soccer experience. Our random draw for a team couldn’t have worked out better for our little Butter Bean if we had personally selected his coach. He ended up on a team with a coach that moved to the United States on a soccer scholarship from Argentina. Not only does this coach know the game, respect it, and love it but he also has a way of teaching these children how to truly play and enjoy it! I can see that Butter Bean has a God given talent for this sport and God has given him a coach and a team perfect for him. Watching these children play together is nothing short of amazing. They have been taught to play TOGETHER and at this age that is a huge accomplishment. I have seen so many times children playing team sports for themselves. What I mean by this is they are taught to worry about how they look and how they play individually. Our little soccer team has been together since the start of last spring, they got together a few times throughout the summer and kicked the ball around and started back into regular practice times shortly after school started in preparation of the start of the fall season. In that short amount of time they have been taught certain team skills and soccer skills that take some, years to develop. I accredit that to the natural talent all these boys have, their dedicated coach and of course all of us parents that put our time and effort into making sure they are where they need to be when they need to be there.

Our team of eight little boys is made up of four different cultural backgrounds…American, Argentine, Honduran, and Vietnamese. This makes me so happy. One thing Snookums and I want for our children to know is that the world is bigger than they can imagine and it is there ready for them to grab a hold and run with. How can we ever teach them that if we don’t show them what’s out there? People learn best from experiences. I may be the only parent on the team that sees it this way but I believe that our children are learning a lesson far beyond how to kick the ball, they are learning to love each other despite their differences. They are learning that different is good. They are learning that as different as they may look they are more alike than anything. They are learning that not every child has the opportunity to play on finely manicured fields. They are learning that in order to play the game you don’t have to have the best equipment, field, etc.. you just have to have a mutual love for the sport with others. They are learning that language barriers can be broken easily when you have two goals on each end and a ball between you. Further more these children are teaching me that the view of this world and life I have been taught can be changed. Despite all the hate we see on the news and in everyday life we can live together and love one another the way God tells us too. We just have to step outside of our little boxes and experience life. I am so proud of Butter Bean’s team. I am proud of the message that I see being broadcast to everyone who is willing to open their eyes, ears and heart and listen. Boys from different backgrounds and cultures playing together like brothers. The brothers God intended them to be.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please share it with ALL!!! Have a Blessed day!!

~XOXOXO~

~Mommamamom

To my dear child,

This world is scary, it is big, mean, cruel, unjust, cold, evil, unloving, and at times very dark. I want you, my child, to be aware, stay alert and be on your toes at all times. Be ready to fight and stand up for what is right. Be ready to be judged, mocked, laughed at, and sometimes beat down. You will be yelled at, spit upon, cursed, possibly by the person you love the most. There will be times when you have to stay strong in the midst of complete and utter fear and despair. You can’t let your guard down, not even for a second. Your heart will be broken, you will lose jobs, you will lose loved ones to death and sometimes even worse…drugs and alcohol. You will see grown men cry and innocent children hurt beyond repair. In your lifetime you will witness famine and war. You will see people of power, people in which you are suppose to trust, lie, cheat, steal, and kill. Sadly you will hear of people being murdered because of their choice in clothes, lovers, music, freedom of expression. There will be children that kill themselves because the cruelty of other children is unbearable. In your lifetime you will have to watch your spouse, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, or possibly even God forbid your children fight battles with cancer and other diseases. You will suffer loss so horrific that you won’t be able to see the sun shining for weeks, even on the brightest day. Sadly, there will be times you feel scared and alone.

However, you are not alone. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) I want you to know my dear child that through all of this you will never be alone. All earthly people will at times disappoint you, even me, the one who felt you grow from within me for nine months, even me, the one who prayed for your existence in my life and felt you grow within my heart. The greatest people will disappoint you in times of your greatest need. In all of your existence there will only be one that can truly give you what you need. There is only one that will always be there, showing you the love, grace and forgiveness that you need. You will not feel deserving or worthy of it. You won’t believe that it is really there. You will probably always question it. I do. But I want you to know and to believe that you are worthy and deserving and special. You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Our God, your God is always there and never disappointing.

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10) Now you know that through all the angst of the world in which you have no choice but to live in, there is hope. There is hope in God, and if you have hope in God then you have a chance at life. Please hold onto the hope and love that God gives you. If you can do this, you will live a life full of color and happiness. With hope in your heart you will see hunger being satisfied. You will see smiles and hear laughter. You will see war’s coming to an end and lives being rebuilt. With hope, doors will close and new ones will be opened for you. You will reach for the stars and succeed. You will see the good in helping people up after they have fallen. You will want to be the solid rock in which helps them climb up instead of the jagged edge that trips them. There will be first dates, first kisses and late night phone conversations. You will run and be free and oh baby, you will smile, will you ever smile! You will dance at your wedding and be a witness to life being born. You will know true love and pure joy. There will be sunsets and sunrises that are so beautiful that no words could ever describe. You will sing so loud you’ll lose your voice and dance so hard you’ll lose your breath. You will laugh, oh child, you will laugh so hard tears will fall! You will rejoice in battles that have been won, and you will hold onto those you love when they start to lose hope from battles lost. There will be birthdays and cake, yes, lot’s of cake! You will walk barefoot in soft grass and warm sand. You will swim in waters that have no end in sight. Did I mention you will love and you will be loved? There will be great joy in looking back at the years you have lived and knowing that you lived, you really lived a life full of hope, love, grace, and happiness.

There is one more thing I want you to know. Always remember that I love you. I have loved you from the beginning and I will love you until the end. There will be times I disappoint you and I know that there will be moments I am disappointed in you, but there is one thing that will never end and that is my love for you. A life without disappointment is no life lived at all. Go out and spread your wings. Live this life to the fullest. Achieve the greatest and don’t be afraid to fall, just get up and try again. Smile that beautiful smile of yours. It would be a disservice to the world to keep it to yourself. Try new things. Meet new people. Visit new places. Make mistakes and learn from them. Open your heart and mind and love life. Listen, listen, listen to the sounds of the world. And pray like there is no tomorrow. Ask for God’s guidance in all that you do and you will live a successful, promising life and you will leave a mark on this world to be proud of. “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)

Love,
Your Mom…

P.S. I hope I’m there to see it all!

Loving Blindly in a Colorful World

Colossians 3:12-14 says: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Imagine if the world loved as God intended us too! If we loved in perfect unity would we suffer from hunger, sickness, abuse of any kind? Would we be terrified of the masses of children seeking shelter in our grand Country? Would we still live in fear to this day of losing what our soldiers, their families and our founding fathers have given their blood, sweat and tears for? Would we have to bring back heroes in coffins with flags draped over? Would we still be fearful of another 9/11 attack? Ask yourself this if we loved the way God asks us too, would we have to worry about our belongings being stolen out of our vehicles or being mugged, raped, or murdered coming out of the store after last minute Christmas shopping? Would our children be safe to walk home from school without carrying whistles and a can of mace? Would we have to worry about our children going to summer camp and being “alone” with other adults? What if our only worry was our child falling down and getting a scrape, when they went out to explore the neighborhood, instead of being snatched up by a stranger. Imagine what kind of world we would live in if more people truly used the Bible, God’s word, as a guide to live life! What if people behaved the same way they do in Church on Sunday throughout the whole week?

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34. Loving each other the way Jesus loves us would require an amazing amount of love, forgiveness, and a huge dose of open mindedness. The code that we live by today tells us that a love like this in impossible. We are taught to be judgmental and close minded. We are taught to be afraid of the homeless, the immigrants, the gays/lesbians and so many more. God doesn’t say show love to only those who YOU think deserve it. He doesn’t say shun the sinners. He doesn’t say only give to those who you know for sure need it. He says, “As I have loved you, you must love one another”. He says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:17-18. He says, “If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.” Deuteronomy 15:7-8. Did God not give us the WORLD? God does in deed talk about the sin of homosexuality in the bible, if you don’t agree read the book of Romans. But something else that he talks about is the fact that there is no one sin greater than the next. He is adamant in the fact that he, God, is the ONE and ONLY Judge. So for those of you who condemn others for their sin, I ask you one question…Have you, yourself lived a life without sin? LOVE the sinner, hate the sin. If we could hold true to this commandment everything would fall easily into place. To love in this fashion would mean to forgive, to not harbor hate in our hearts, to not spread malicious rumors (gossip), to not judge one another for our mishaps but to help each other up when we fall.

When we were given the choice to give our love to a child through adoption, Snookums and I knew the right answer immediately in our hearts. We sat the boys down (at that time their were 4) and we discussed what it would mean for our family to open up our hearts to another child. A child that would not look like us, a child that we had not been prepared for, a child that would be a different color, a child that may or may not have health concerns that we weren’t aware of, but ultimately a child our Heavenly Father made specifically for us! While discussing this, we explained to our children that people would more than likely look at us and judge. That at times it may be hard for them to take. I’ll never forget Why For’s answer to whether or not we should give our hearts, life and love to this beautiful child that did not grow in my belly. He simply said…”Well, she’s human ain’t she?”… “YES! She is.”, we exclaimed. “She deserves our love then.” he said.

God want’s us to have a child like innocence. To have an innocence like this would mean to love blindly. To love blindly would mean to love in the purest form. Maybe we should all strive to live by State Farm’s motto…”Like a good neighbor, State Farm I’ll be there.” So….imagine if we upheld one of the greatest commandments of all, to love one another the way Jesus loves us. Our world would be full of smiles and laughter. Our children wouldn’t know hunger or prejudice. We would all work together to clothe, feed, and nurture each other. God’s commandments would be our law. Imagine if we lived in a blind world!

Thank you for reading!! If this spoke to you in any way please feel free to share it with the world!! If you are new to my blog and like what you read then click the follow link on my page to get email notifications when I write something new! Tell everyone you know to check out my stuff!! I love hearing back from you so please leave your thoughts about this:) As always I hope you have a truly blessed day! Go out and love blindly!!!!

XOXOXO~
~Mommamamom~