As I put away and finish off all the fun Valentine’s Day projects and decorations to remember God’s love and ways we enjoy being loved (like eating yummy strawberry cupcakes!), my mind wanders to–what next? This is how I feel after Christmas….and then a bit after Valentine’s Day too…but THIS year, we have Easter at the end of next month—already! So, thus begins the adventure of seeking the Lord in how to teach my children more about Easter–Christ’s resurrection, and what that means to us. The Lord often shows me in a very personal way what His resurrection means to me…but how to do this for the children? I can only hope that He will show me so that this Easter is special in a personal way for all of us. I shall pray and seek Him and hope I can sense where He is leading us for this most SPECIAL celebration of the year. Christ’s birth to me shows me, among many things, God’s incredible love to me, the sign of HOPE coming, and the humble way God’s redemption was brought into our world. Christ’s resurrection shows me the HOPE fulfilled—and His POWER over all sin and the NEW LIFE we have in Him….and the humble way He left. I hope I can learn more about this special time, so that I might know Him more and help my kids also know Him too. My kids are just beginning to understand…and in that, I’m not really sure how much…but God intimately knows our hearts and what we need to learn and when we need to learn it…in the most loving way 🙂
As for the lent season, I am committing certain HABITS OF THE HEART to Him this year. I am praying over certain habits I have that are not honoring to the Lord, and also for my family–in hopes that we might be delivered in a special way this year and press further into the POWER of His Victory over sin.
Beautiful lessons He’s been teaching me this winter:
The Lord has been showing me how to draw nearer to Him, through spending more quality time with Him (just as date nights with my husband has helped in the same way). He’s been helping me learn to die to my selfish desires and to grow in maturity in my faith (Phillippians is a wonderful study to learn about what a mature believer looks like), to learn to let Him lead me in every step, and to learn how to hear His voice more clearly. He’s teaching me to really rest and trust in Him, which is a lifelong battle…it is a fight to do this…where I learn to resist and instead keep His words with me.
A sweet helpful tip He gave me a bit ago…as I was a bit sad at the lack of progress my love was making to a certain person…He told me—“you are not sowing My Love to this particular person, you are sowing to my SPIRIT.” As I sow to the Spirit…the Spirit gives from elsewhere. I shared a precious story with my husband, as the lights came on in my head…”yes, do you remember how we sowed [during a particular time of our lives], but the love that came back to us was from other people, some we barely knew?” Also, as we sow, sometimes, we see the fruit of our labor…the person grows, or they change…many other times, there is no obvious or surface change….but seeds are planted, and then later on, another person comes into this same person’s life…and THINGS CLICK…and fruit is reaped…fruit other people have labored to sow. We sow to the Spirit and can take comfort that the sowing is done…it is helpful, it is held by the Spirit, it is NOT in vain…and fruit shall be reaped as the Lord has appropriated it from the beginning of time, in His perfect Wisdom, in His perfect timing. My mind wondered to how many times I have reaped the fruit of someone else’s labor. Being able to sow without seeing any fruit…for long periods of time…to be obedient to the Spirit and to Trust Him…is another sign of a mature believer.
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My neighbor upstairs told me this morning, as we had a HUGE snow storm on Thursday and Friday–12 inches of SNOW!!!–and as I shared with her that I am a sunshine girl…I love snow…I’m not too fond of the cold…but I sure do love the sunshine 🙂 —that another storm was coming on Monday…BUT by April, it should be warm enough to wear dresses outside! Yeah! As we have been snowbound in the home…attempting to make a snowman from a CUTE snowman kit we were given…and drinking yummy hot chocolate…our excitement has worn out a bit and now we are excited to get OUT of the home! But, another one is coming! Perhaps this one will have stickier snow to finish up that snowman! I think having littles has a bit to do with my winter home-bound jitters…and that my sweet little Hannah can last about 30 seconds in the cold before she is crying hysterically….so, managing Lewis’ excitement to get out and Hannah’s desperate pleas to “go home and be warm…Hannah so cold”….isn’t easy. I am dreaming of the pool days, the fun walks, the playground trips, the picnics…and oh how I love sundresses too. I was encouraged to hear that one more month is about all we might have to wait. We can do one more month 🙂
This month, we shall focus on these precious weeks leading up to Easter. I am really excited to see what God has in store for us to learn, to have victory over through Him, and the memories He’ll have for us to cherish forever for this upcoming Easter 🙂
Sweet Love to you all. The Celebration of His Resurrection is Almost Here!
Walking in Faith 