Living the Mom Life - Part of Day 2 and Day 3

I am putting part of day 2 in with day 3 because they involve the same speaker, Barbara Rainey. Saturday evening Barbara showed us part of her Ever Thine Home collection. Her goal in doing this collection is to aid us in making our homes a place of refuge and peace for our families but more importantly helping us surround our families in God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 states:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

After giving this verse and others, she then asked a question I would have rather never heard. "What does your home say about you?" 

HA! What does my home say about me? Toys clutter up my living room, hall, both kids bedrooms and sometimes even the kitchen. My master bedroom is continually overwhelmed with so much stuff my husband bumps into it and gives me the "I'm so tired of this mess" sigh. My laundry stays piled in baskets or on the dresser after being washed rather than folded and put away. My master bath is a total wreck we won't even get into. Most of my decorations and pictures are in boxes in the garage. There is a major lack of storage in most of the rooms. Hands down, my house says I am either too busy or too lazy to maintain it, we have way too much stuff and not enough places to put it and we're just lucky the thing is still standing. There is no way my home is a refuge of peace for my family. The two kiddos maybe, but not for me or my husband. After listening to her, I definitely know I need to make more of an effort in making my home a refuge of peace and that is in the works even as I type. 

Sunday Barbara spoke to us being intentionally involved with our kids and intentionally involved in God's Word. She spoke of the Holy Spirit. Reminding us that the Holy Spirit was sent to be our Helper (John 14:16) and guide us. Jesus designed the relationship with the Holy Spirit to be very personal because the world is a dangerous place, marriage and being a mom are dangerous jobs and we need a guide. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will be with us forever and will always be within us. He will teach us all we need to know and remind us of Jesus's teachings and words (John 14:25

Then Barbara did it again and said something I would have rather avoided. "If you are not studying God's Word, then you can not teach it to your kids. You can not remember something you do not know." Ouch. I definitely did not want this reminder that I needed to spend more time in God's Word so that when times crop up that my children ask or need it, I can provide it. 

Barbara sent a reminder out to all of us women. God has given us our children to raise. We have two jobs he has blessed us with: being a wife and being a mom. God knows what he is doing and we need to have faith that he does and remember it is his business not ours. We are so prone to looking outwardly for guidance and answers when the answers lie in God's Word and the Holy Spirit that dwells within. The only way we are going to know what God wants us to do with our lives is to listen and follow the Holy Spirit. In making choices, we know the Holy Spirit will never lead us against scripture and God's will. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, speak to us and lead us. He is here with us to help us follow Jesus's teachings and I am so glad he is!