THE AWKWARD MOM
because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having
Tag: peace (page 2 of 2)
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Reading Time: < 1 minute
I wish that writing about my anxiety actually meant I didn’t wrestle with it anymore… I find the need to meditate on the words you, too seemed to resonate with in The Scribbled Heart: Fear-parenting vs. Faith-parenting.
So today’s quotable is from The Message–with a free chalkboard printable of these sweet words about worry: Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns…It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Today’s quotable is from Elisabeth Elliot–with a free chalkboard printable of this anchoring truth:
The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
A friend of mine who eventually lost his wife, and the mother of his four children, to Lou Gehrig’s disease once recalled to me a profound moment with God. While he still cared for her as her body spiraled downward, he had lain on his bed, overcome by loss.
But God seemed to be pointing him toward thanks. Not able to immediately turn to full-on gratitude, my friend simply started small. He thanked God for the ability to breathe; for the bed he wept on; for the air conditioning. From there, his gratitude snowballed, steering him into praise.
My friend’s attitude has revolutionized my approach to my bad days; to my pain.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
- Be the Prince of Peace in my home. Be my Wonderful Counselor; be the Mighty God who controls my home. Let me love and parent as you do, Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). Let my peace come from you rather than my circumstances.
- “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” (Psalm 141:3)
- Lord, be the One who controls me—not my emotions. Help me keep in step with your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Let me hear you.
- Let my anger be a constructive, precise tool of Your Kingdom—not a destructive tool of my own kingdom.
- Change my kids’ hearts and my own, not just our behavior. You’re the only One who can truly change us from the inside out (see Matthew 23:25; Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 24:7). Make our hearts soft! Bring us true, life-giving sorrow that brings us to live differently (2 Corinthians 7:10).
- You are mighty to save me not simply out of this situation, but through it. You give us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2). Help us honor you here!
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Maybe it was the most obvious with the guy who showed up at my gate a couple of years back. When I (um, naively) requested our guard open the gate for him, the guard respectfully bowed his head, an unspoken “no.” Maybe I should have been tipped off by the sweat beading on our visitor’s forehead, or the darting of his eyes as he presented me with the medical bill for his daughter, being treated for typhoid.
I remember praying fitfully while I listened to him, for wisdom from the God who actually knew this guy’s story. From what I know about African ways with money, Super White Woman! swooping in to save the day seemed to disintegrate what his community did actually have to offer. I declined his offer for cash. He turned away, angry and possibly hopeless (I thought) that he was no closer to a solution for his daughter.
Pull up a chair for practical ideas and discussions on the parenting, relationships, and spirituality we're all army-crawling through every day.
After five and a half years in Uganda, my family and I returned to the U.S., where I write and speak professionally, and we continue to work on behalf of the poor.
My first solo book, Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids' Hearts (Harvest House), released October 2021.
#instagoodness
Most popular: Shame-parenting vs. Guilt Exposure
Popular: When Your Help Makes Kids Helpless
Spiritual Life Skills for Kids
Popular: What does God think of strong women?
Popular: 11 Ideas for Emotionally Healthy Parenting
Popular: Am I Judgmental? Judgment vs. Discernment
Popular: Complaining vs. honest expression
On God and the dreams of women
20 Practical ideas for every love language!
![Now You're Speaking My [Love] Language](https://www.janelbreitenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/love-languages-text-1.jpg "Now You're Speaking My [Love] Language")
Ideas and Questions to Take Your Relationships Deeper: Click here!
© 2024 THE AWKWARD MOM
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
