This month Bless Your Heart and Home is celebrating its first birthday!! And so, this week, I’m throwing a birthday bash, offering you a peak into some wonderful ministries where you can shop and celebrate and hunt for the next gift on your list while simultaneously seeking to serve the Lord and to make an eternal impact on the lives of people all around the world….
archives
Happy Birthday, Little Boy
Dear Little Boy,
Mommy’s told you how often daddy and I asked God to give you to our family, and three years ago this week, you entered our world. We had been missing you and waiting for you for a very long time, and so had so many other loving friends and family members.
Our friends gave lots of parties for you before you arrived, and we had blue balloons at happy parties, and we ate blue cake on blue plates with little blue napkins and opened blue gift bags stuffed with blue paper that mommy still uses for wrapping up your birthday presents today. You have been loved by us and those around you since before your birth.
Mommy’s tummy started to grow, and it was hard to believe that we were really going to have a baby. When they told us, “It’s a boy,” your mommy cried joy, and your daddy smiled misty-eyed very proud….
Creating Home {It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful}
As a young wife, creating home initially seemed simple to me. I lived with my parents until I got married, where I lived in an 8 foot by 10 foot bedroom until I was whisked away on my honeymoon.
Upon settling into our newlywed little rental house, I quite simply unpacked my new wedding gifts, setting the decorative items around the house on rescued-from-the-curb end tables, brown particle board bookshelves, and a borrowed chest of drawers or two….
Live like Yesterday Was Easter
Just last week, the highly anticipated One, the Messiah and coming King plunged your life into a whirlwind nightmare that you never had anticipated. Sure, He had told you of His upcoming death and even of His resurrection, but you didn’t understand Him and even rebuked the Son of God (Mark 8:31-33; 9:31-32).
Just last weekend, you denied Him and just plain drifted off to sleep during His hour of agony.
But, you had come armed. You were ready to fight….and you came out swinging. You were going with Him to the death.
And then…He undid your work. He made new and healed the enemy you had attacked. He made you cease from your own kingdom-conquering, because it was HE who was conquering this kingdom. He was going to drink the full cup of the wrath of God that rested on your own head and that of all mankind. And He did.…
God Set Eternity in Your Heart
It’s an overcast, dull and sleepy day in our little corner of the southeast, but inside of me there is a yearning and longing that seems to frequently punctuate my days. It’s a longing for the eternal and the significant, a longing for peace and beauty. I lay my little boy to nap, start another load of laundry, light a candle, try to relax and spend time with God and in the scriptures. He is my peace, He is all beauty, He is eternal, and He is the only reason my life carries meaning and significance. And I know that my work is eternal. I know that raising a child and breathing prayers and serving my husband are kingdom-work. But why does it feel like I’m not “there” yet? What is this stirring and longing in my heart?…