Wake up my Heart!

Scripture of the Day: Joshua 2:17-18 17 The men said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.”  (emphasis added) For a little background, these were the words spoken to Rahab, the prostitute, in the town of Jericho. The words were spoken by Israelite spies, who promised to save Rahab and her family, after Rahab had protected them from the King and promised not to tell anyone their plans. In order to not kill her family, Rahab would hang a scarlet cord in her window.  During this reading of Scripture, I was struck repeatedly not by actions and words spoken by Rahab, but by the words of the men she protected. It was God that led the men to Rahab’s house in Jericho. God that caused Rahab to hide the men and ask them to protect ...

Scripture of the Day: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Have you ever had times in your life where you really wanted something, or you have felt that you should do something, but God just isn't working with you on it? I remember clearly the first real conversation I had with my now husband-prior to even dating. Five years ago I was feeling like I should move back to Wisconsin (my home state), but it wasn't lining up and my gut was not sure it was the right thing to do. And then came his genius suggestion, "Stay until God tells you to go." WOAH! Why hadn't I thought of that?? :) It was so easy. It helped relieve my stress and let me enjoy where I was (even though I didn't know at that time where the future would lead). Remember my post from last week, about the heart changing moment to where I am happy staying home with my little man? I am still happy doing that, but the job...

Scripture of the Day: Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 19  Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions,  and enables him to enjoy them,  to accept his lot  and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.  20  He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. In the past couple of weeks, I have truly come to appreciate exactly how much of a gift from God it is when we are happy in our work. My full time job is that of being a full time mom. My little man and I have had some trying times of late and I was actually considering trying to go back to work (mind you, not because God was telling me to, but because I was very frustrated). I got to a point two weeks ago where I told God that if he wanted me to be a stay at home mom, he needed to change my heart to be content there. And what do you know? Poof - it happened! I don't know how it works for you, but when God changes things in my life, it isn't a chan...

Scripture of the Day: Genesis 9:13-16 13  I have set my rainbow  in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow  appears in the clouds,   15  I will remember my covenant  between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  16  Whenever the rainbow  appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant  between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Back when I was in middle school, as an assignment, we had to write a haiku (Japanese poem with 17 syllables). I took some liberty because technically my last line is 6 syllables...but I have always remembered what I wrote: Rainbows shine above God's covenant to show us  All's well with the world. Last night, after a surprise rain while we were at the park, I looked up to...

Hello readers! Due to longer weekends and a less reliable sleep schedule for my two year old, I am changing the days of my posts! Please come back on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10am, rather than Mondays and Thursdays. Thank you for you understanding! ~Betsy

Scripture of the Day: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 16  Therefore we do not lose heart.   Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly   we are being renewed   day by day.   17  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.   Every once and a while, we need a different perspective – “God perspective,” if you will. When I have a bad day, it tends to consume me. Instead of taking it as one bad day that will end, I look at everything that happens on that day and in my head I take it down a path to a horrible ending sometime in the future. And then I bring everyone down with me :( . In my house, as in lots of others I’m sure, it really is, “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” And then I read the Scripture above and what happens to me…?! The bad days don’t seem so bad in retrospect. Inwardly we are being renewed day by day! I think we know this is true – it is an example of why w...

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 100:2  Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Starting last fall, my husband began singing the song "I Love you Lord," to our kiddo before he went to bed, as a lullaby of sorts. The lyrics are simple: I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship you, oh my soul rejoice! Take joy, my King, in what you hear, may it be a sweet, sweet, sound in your ear. It has since become a very popular song in our house! We sing it before nap time, bed time, and I hum it when sometimes when our little guy is upset or over tired. I love singing it slow and asking him to sing with me – at this point he knows most of the words and there is really nothing sweeter than hearing that little voice sing “I yuv you yord,”  (no “r’s” yet you see)! The song has also worked it's way into my personal worship of the Lord. The words are meant for Him to hear and I think he loves to hear them sung! I find that singing that j...

Scripture of the Day: James 3:17-18 17  But the wisdom that comes from heaven   is first of all pure; then peace-loving,   considerate, submissive, full of mercy   and good fruit, impartial and sincere.   18  Peacemakers   who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. Have you ever seen the film Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock? An FBI agent under the alias of Gracie Lou Freebush becomes a contestant in the Miss America Pageant. As part of the interview portion of the competition, most contestants respond that they wish for “world peace,” and the FBI agent mocks them behind their back for this – yet at the end of the film, she says, “I do really want world peace.” It’s humorous, but also touching and always makes me think more about the feasibility of that concept of world peace. Let’s take a step back from world peace arena and look at peace in our homes. Although on a much smaller scale, that is the peace we have more control ...

Scripture of the Day: Hebrews 11:1 Now  faith  is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Having a two-year old means that a lot of my time is spent teaching...we go over what every object is (I love to hear him say, "What is that new thing?", we talk about colors, we go over manners, numbers, letters, etc. Most of these things my husband and I go over and over with our son. Eventually he gets most things, but there is always something we need to "re-teach." I'm almost thirty and I feel like God is doing the same thing with me because like my son, I forget things! This weekend I had two separate "light bulb" moments where I felt like God was telling me that the answer to the the "why?" in life was faith. I was very excited about this discovery. And then I went back and re-read my own blog post from May and realized I had this discovery a few months ago and wrote about it to an extent then too! Oops! I am so g...

Warning: long post today!  Those pop up every once a while...hang in there - shorter ones back on Mon! I would love your feedback on this...for good or bad! Scripture of the Day: Mark 9:22b-24 "...But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23  “‘If you can’?”  said Jesus.  “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” A verse I have pondered over long and hard is Mark 9:24. It is a story most are familiar with, a father has a demon possessed child and is at the end of his rope. The father not only questions Jesus, he bring up belief and unbelief. How do those things work together? I think I understand what the man is going through because I go through it on almost a daily basis. I believe that God created heaven and earth. I believe He can move mountains. I believe He can perform miracles. The unbelief comes in because I don’t ...