Take a deep dive and really look at yourself. Than do it again. Where are you strong. Where could you improve. What is your goal? Once you do that, notice where you’ve grown. Maybe you noticed some weaker areas. Make note of them. We always get to move forward. I don’t know about you, but I want to move forward in a positively good way. So, I’m not just going to wait for what happens, but I’m going to make, trust God, hope, and will for the best possible way forward.

First off, it is up to you to know the end game. No one else can do it for you. Figure it out. You can do it! I’m just going to put some things out there that I think makes a difference. You can sort them how you want.

Love is essential. Love makes a way. Love blesses. Love cares for needs even when you’re tired. Love gets you through the terrible days in each and every way. Love is critical to the success of your life.

Laughter and humor makes your home fun. Pastor Pete would often say to us, “Are you fun to live with?” That’s a good question that we should ask ourselves. Lighten up, We can be too serous at times. Enjoy your time together. Sometimes we just have to make ourselves easy to live with. I remember when my youngest daughter went to the insurance office with me. On the desk was a jar of candy, I noticed her noticing it, but I had coached her to not ask for anything, and she didn’t. Instead, she asked about the things on the desk, what she used them for and etc. You know how that went. In just a couple of minutes she was offered a candy.

Validate, accept everyone’s uniqueness. Play to people’s strengths. Encourage the areas of interests. Be sensitive to their fears. Minimize comparisons. Strive to know your child as a person, especially as he enters his own. Some people do this extremely well. Those people stand out. On the opposite end, be careful with your criticisms. A child’s spirit is easily crushed.

Another tool is prayer. Prayer is a resource always available to you. We pray for protection. We pray for spiritual needs, salvation and growth. We pray when someone’s sick, we pray, pray, pray. I remember when my first son got his driver’s license. I prayed for him. He needed the license to go babysit his nephews. He made it, then driving to and from babysitting. Prayer is such a wonderful habit.

Develop a spirit of gratitude. It took me awhile to make this one grow to become a part of me. When life is rough it is hard to remember to to give thanks to God. We develop a spirit of gratitude. Our homes reflect the gratefulness of our hearts. We should give thanks for the many wonderful ways God brings so many big and little things into our lives.

Give praise in all things, good and bad. Praise releases God to work in a situation. It takes some time to learn this one. The more you praise, the less you complain. You can’t praise while you’re complaining.

Shape their lives for Jesus. Disciple is part of it. It is unwise to hover and smother (to act like helicopter parents), but it is also unwise to not have limits and boundaries. Children need structure. The structure helps them control their impulses.

What area spoke to you? There are so many ways God speaks to us. If you noticed one sentence, think about it. I originally wrote this like sixteen years ago when my oldest daughter was expecting her first child. I shared it at a baby shower in my mother’s home. So much has happened since then…she has seven children, lives in Florida, and is a busy mother. I think the same concepts I wrote back then are true today. God gives us opportunities to grow, and change, and develop, and bless, and hope. He blesses us as he brings us along.

This year I’m doing things a little bit different than other years. I’m reading five chapters a day in the old testament. I started in the prophets and just finished with Malachi. Now I’m reading in the Psalms.

Things Are Changing

It’s weird but the world seems worse than before the pandemic. It may not be worse but it sure seems to be. Or maybe I’m just on the media thread too much. Whatever, I get discouraged if I listen to the common thread for today. People need the Lord.

But One Thing Hasn’t Changed

God is still in control. Let’s not forget that He is in charge of the world. But why doesn’t it seem like it? you may ask. There’s a mixed bag of answers for that question. We are losing our way but make no mistake, God is still bringing people to find Him. I listen to some YouTube videos that prove God is still at work.

God Is Still In Control

Start looking and you will find Him. Through videos He speaks loudly. However, the message is being delivered in many unique ways. I listen on the YouTube videos to a variety of Christian messages intent on sharing the gospel of Christ. It is being shared far and wide, from coast to coast. His word speaks loudly.

Intention To Listen Well for Him

People are being bold with their message, but warm in sharing the grace of God. When you figure it out, you become intentional. You decide to be careful with what you watch. If you aren’t careful, you get stuck listening to stuff that leads to despondency. So, you must determine what you will allow yourself to listen to.

God Meets Us Where We’re At

God waits for us until we’re ready and willing. We think we’re waiting until God is ready but in reality God is waiting until we’re willing and able to carry that cross. In many respects we are ready but there are things we don’t quite understand or grasp. And, maybe, it’s just not the right time.

Follow God Through It All

Often the following is hard for us. We get ahead and work it out the way we think it should go. We don’t even realize we’re doing it because we’re so focused on doing it right. Learning to lean on His directing and facilitating makes a world of difference. God brings things about in His way and according to His purpose. Our eagerness causes wrong impressions and may lead to troublesome actions.

In My Life

I have had this problem big time. I mean well but I do it my way. God has slowed me down. I have learned to listen and wait. But the wait is active. I don’t just sit and twiddle my thumbs. I am waiting while I learn and listen. LEARN + LISTEN = WAIT. God is constantly teaching us. He waits and wants and wishes for our attention, but He never forces His way.

We Can Do This

The more we listen, the more we ascertain His wishes, the more we learn to follow His lead, the more we step into His fulfillment in our lives. It’s kind of uncanny how it works. God leads, we follow. Simple, yet difficult. Good, but hard. Yes, sometimes we are unsure. We aren’t sure when we’re leading or following. Ask Him. He will guide you to find the answer. He uses His Word, people, or circumstances to bring the issues into focus in ways we can understand. It’s really beautiful the way in which He teaches us.

If You Aren’t Sure

There’s a lot of confusion about some of these things. We aren’t sure of God’s plan for us. Lean forward, lean inward, and lean outward. Look to God. Make yourself open to Him. Be honest. Be willing. Invite Him in. Trust Him. Confess your problems. Open up to Him. Seek His way. Rest in His truth. Obey His word. Really, take some time and look to Him. In every way you know, you are His child and precious to Him. Always remember this. He loves you.

Go With His Plan

You can do this. He is with us. We are God’s children. We mean the world to Him. He means the world to us. We’re in this life for a reason, and part or all of that reason is to glorify God. We don’t feel adequate but that doesn’t matter. Give your all to Him. How do you do that? Give your whole self, bit by bit, thought by thought, to God.

We Are No Mistake

God us our most precious Father in heaven. Tell Him you love Him. Maybe you already have. God’s love is the most precious thing we have on earth. He has a far-flung mission that you may not realize. . .yet, it’s in a beautiful plan of God. He wants to use us, but He waits until we are willing. Though, we must be willing and without any reserve. As our Father, He knows and keeps us in the palm of Him hand. So glorious it is to be used by God in the world in which we live.

God be with you.

Take a look > https://meridianwoman.blogspot.com/2020/11/judging-others-hurts-us.html

No Matter What It Costs, You Need Jesus

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