#pause

Housekeeping has always been one of my downfalls. I think I did ok before children but once my first child arrived I became so caught up on managing being a parent that I fell further and further behind with housekeeping on a daily basis. As our children grew older and our lifestyle became busier and busier our house became messier and messier. While I did a good job of cleaning bathrooms, floors, etc., I did not do well at creating daily routines and habits that would help to maintain a tidy home. Over the years as the clutter and chaos grew, so did my anxiety and guilt about not being a good housekeeper. I read books and signed up for daily emails that offered housekeeping tips. In my prayer time I cried out to God for guidance and help. Without realizing it, my lack of housekeeping skills was in a way causing a great sadness within me. And then God planted a seed in me about our family selling our home. At first the thought of dealing with all of the clutter was ominous and foreboding. How could I possibly tackle the project of even getting the house ready to be shown? Yet I knew in my heart it was the next step for our family. As I have shared before, I spent my school summer break last year preparing our house for the market. In June when we got out for summer break I began going through one room at a time. I picked up every single item and decided if it was worth keeping or not. Some items were sold, some were given away and others were thrown away. With those things we were keeping I had to decide if it was something we could do without for a time and put in storage or if it was something we may need to use. (Disclaimer: there were a few things I packed for storage that I later realized we needed lol.) This process was foreboding, time-consuming, and also cleansing. While I sometimes became frustrated and thought the task would never end, I also found that getting rid of “stuff” also helped with my sadness about housekeeping. I began to have hope. By the first week of August our house was ready to be listed and we put it on the market. Now we began the “show ready” lifestyle. We had to keep our house neat and tidy in case a last minute showing was requested. While this was hard on a daily basis to not really relax in our home, this practice was also creating daily routines and habits to teach me. Our house was on the market for almost exactly a year. While living through that year of being “show ready” was not easy and seemed to be never ending, now that I look back I can see that God was forcing me to pause. During that year long pause God was teaching me. In hindsight I can see that I had created the wrong daily habits to be a successful housekeeper and that God used our year long, “show ready” pause to answer my cry for help. WOW! GO GOD!

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.” Psalms 145:17-18

What about you? Is there an area of your life that you have been crying out to God about and asking for help? Are you currently in a forced pause? If so, I want to encourage you and give you hope. When you are in the middle of a pause, it feels never ending and it is hard to see the reason you are there. But God sees the big picture. Your loving Maker wants the very best for you I and is working on your behalf even though you may not see or understand. Stay close to God and trust. Focus on today and what God has placed in your path. Perhaps today will be the end of your pause. But if it isn’t, I trust that this pause will be the answer to one of your biggest prayers.

#welcomedblessings

Do we Expectantly wait for answered prayer? I have been circling a need in prayer. We have had our house on the market for several months now. Mid July I did a seven-day prayer walk around the house, where I did seven laps each day. I got the idea from Joshua 6, the March around Jericho. When completed, I contemplated to keep going. I decided to walk away in faith and leave it in God’s hands.

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#next #waterwalkinggirls

To some of you the cover picture may just look like an empty space, but to me it symbolizes the next part of a journey. To me it represents the faithfulness of God.  

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#breathedeep

This week I have been intently listening and looking for God winks. Earlier this week the thought, “breathe deep” came to mind. Breathe means to take air into the lungs and then expel it, especially as a regular physiological process”. Do you ever find yourself holding your breath when you are overwhelmed, excited, or anticipating something? If we have breath, we should praise the Lord, right? If we compare our breathing to our worship, would you be praising the Lord with every deep expel? Or would you compress and not take notice to God. Next time you catch yourself compressing a breath, I encourage you to intently take a few deep breaths and praise the Lord.

Ps 150:6 NIV “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”

Often while running I must remind myself to take deep breathes. Sometimes I get so caught up with my goals and agenda, that I do not take time to enjoy God’s beauty in my run. God winks are all around us. It is up to us to be open to receive them. When we are in a posture of praise, we tend to see our surroundings in a different perspective. If you live on the East Coast, you may have experienced Hurricane Isaias this past week. That night there were frogs all around making noise. The next morning, we awoke to a beautiful pink pathway. We may have a limited view of the path ahead, but we can find joy in a pink speckled path along the way. Every different species of frogs makes different sounds such as a; whistle, croak, ribbit, peep, cluck, bark, or grunt. Next time you see or hear a frog, remember it stands for Fully. Rely. On. God

Is 26:4 “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal”.

What sound will you make for God? Will you worship him with each expel? There are so many ways to make a joyful noise. Just look in awe of how God created the frogs.