Mid-Week Motivation
Starting Your Day out Right
Scripture, Short Devotion
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
He pulled me out of deep waters.”~~Psalm 18:13-19
In too deep.
Think back to the time when you first felt the grasp of that firm hand, reaching out of what seemed like impossible hope, and finding you, gasping for your last breath. The moment we experience salvation is certainly a moment we realize our desperate position, but sometimes that glimpse is all too fleeting. Through the adolescent Christian years that follow our infancy, we often miscalculate just who came to Whom in the first place. We can become presumptuous in what we consider our “strengths” and that leads to spiritual carelessness. Before long our hearts are consumed by a sense of entitlement. We are drowning in our own pride, fully convinced we have “made a difference.” Isn’t that what the enemy wants most?
Thank Jesus that He reaches down to pull us out of that suffocation. Waters so deep they have saturated our world–we don’t even see the hypocrisy anymore. Often He reveals to us, in His mercy, the true nature of our helplessness. The manner in which he found us suddenly washes ashore in our memory. We are caught off guard by the truth of the matter.
Thank Him today that He pulled you out–then and now. Has He reminded you lately of your weaknesses? Thank Him that He overcame them, and set you on a rock. Live this day devoted to your Rescuer. Remember, it’s only by His hand that you made it out alive.
Is Your House in Order?
Cleaning, parenting, marriage, organization tips, etc.
You feel a tug at your elbow. You shift your position a little, tugging the sleeve out of her grasp. Another nudge and then a pause. You feel the creep of her gaze and feel uncomfortable beneath it. But then you continue in another unbroken frenzy upon the keyboard, brushing the guilt away. Doesn’t she see that you’re busy? There’s just no time right now for this. “Mommy.” The tide is too strong for your patience; it crashes right over the top.
“No. I’m busy, can’t you see that? Just leave me alone. I’ve got something very important to do.
I love the name of this website, because interruption is so typical a characteristic in the life of any Mommy-writer…or Daddy-writer. Our thoughts flow in unpredictable patterns. We never know when inspiration will hit, washing into our consciousness the ideas we have searched for during low tide. We find ourselves frantically scouring the shoreline, afraid to miss any treasure for fear we will lose it, and for how long? Everything else must wait. This is too rare an event to miss.
But do we want our darlings to resent our love, our joy? Do we want them to see our passion and our drive some reckless source that robs them of our devotion whenever it hits? Do we want them to wonder what matters most to us–a spontaneous flurry of thoughts or the steady consistancy of parenthood? After all, that tide will come in again one day–hasn’t it always? But his moment you have to spend with your child may never surface again.
Afternoon Pick Me Up
Writing Inspiration
The weather’s getting warmer. The sun is shining later into the afternoon, thanks to daylight savings. A more attentive probe of the tree across the way reveals fuzzy bits on the ends of the twigs. This morning I awoke to a curious sound I haven’t heard in a while. The birds outside were celebrating the break of day.
As spring draws near our senses awaken to the changes in the world around us. We alter our busy schedules to drink in long, mild, draughts. We make an attempt to take a walk beneath the budding dogwoods, even if the dinner dishes have to wait. We spend some family time together, just tossing a Frisbee in the gentle breeze. We are reawakening too, and inspiration is in the air.
Walk outside and sit for a while, taking in all that the Father has bestowed on you this season. Record your thoughts about the changes occurring around you, and the beauty of nature as it blossoms anew. Be as descriptive as possible as you experience this blessing. Write as though you want your reader to experience that blessing right along with you.
What’s For Dinner?
Oven-Fried Chicken
You’ll need:
4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 stick margarine or butter, melted
1 sleeve saltine crackers – crushed
1/3 c flour
1 egg, beaten
salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Pour melted butter/margarine into the baking sheet. Mix your selected seasoning in with the crushed crackers. Coat each chicken breast first in the flour, then in the egg, then in the crushed saltines. Place the chicken on the baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes turning halfway through. You can also use whole pieces of chicken or chicken strips, just adjust the length of time you bake.This is so easy and tastes very much like fried chicken. Enjoy!
A Restful Night’s Sleep
Scripture for a restful sleep
“He brought me out to a wide-open place;
He rescued me because He delighted in me.”~~Psalm 18:19
Wide Open Spaces.
This morning we intentionally remembered what it felt like to be lifted out of our entrapment. As you close out this day, I want you to know that He not only lifted you from hopelessness, but He set you free in your salvation. We no longer live enslaved to the flesh that would seek to shackle us. And we were not set free to live a life of penitent, sulking, defeat, either. Obedience to His direction is crucial, but we can truly live now, and live in the wild open freedom that characterizes our abandonment of self. Self once had a choking hold on our willpower, our perspective, our priorities. Now we have been set down into a wide open space of Grace, and nothing is impossible in this abundant, new world.
He did this all because He delights in you and me. Remarkable, isn’t it? Just sit for a moment, breathing in the exhilarating liberty you have in Christ. And thank Him for the redeeming Love He shed so that you can be free.
