A Woman Who Fears The Lord {OUR FIRST GIVEAWAY!!}

Recently I began working out again.

I use to go to the gym several times a week.

I was improving my endurance with running

and making some baby gains in the muscle department.

Burning off the cares and worries of life 

and just enjoying pushing myself physically.

Then two years ago,

I started working again.

And between working, doctors and therapy appointments,

kids and the everyday responsibilities of life,

I let it go.

A few times I would start again but I just could not

find the time to fit it in without it 

taking away from somewhere else.

All of my children started school full time this year

and my husband told me to take a little time for myself 

before going back to work if that's what I chose to do.

I was so excited about this!!....

well not initially, it was quite uncomfortable knowing

I would be home....alone....

without any kids for the first time ever.

I thought to myself, 

"I'm going to start working out again!

I'm going to get back to me and take care 

of myself like I use to!"

One day after a good morning workout,

I was just thinking about where I may be in a few weeks.

What will I be lifting by then?

Will I see some of those little baby muscles growing?!!

I had this image in my head of what I may look like

or where I would like to get to.

Then I heard the Holy Spirit say,

"Will you truly be happy if you look like that?"

..........I immediately stopped what I was doing and pondered

the depth of His question.

We, as women, are our biggest critics.

We critique every square inch of our bodies.

We assess every wrinkle or line.

We fight every stray gray that emerges in our mane-

which by the way is not what we want-

the curlies want straight and the straight envies the curlies.

We stare in dismay at our abundance of curves or lack there of.

We do not see ourselves as others see us.

We don't have that ability.

But we surely don't see ourselves as He sees us.

The Bible gives us a glimpse into this.

He sees us as

BEAUTIFUL,

COURAGEOUS,

RIGHTEOUS,

VIRTUOUS,

STRONG,

FAVORED,

ANOINTED,

GENTLE,

POWERFUL......

I could go on.

But what I realized is not one of these is speaking of physical qualities.

They are speaking about the heart.

He sees our hearts.

Please do not misunderstand me,

I completely believe that we have to be 

good stewards of our bodies.

We have to eat well and build endurance 

and take care of ourselves so we can run this

race with tremendous strength and grace!

But our happiness and value cannot rest in this 

ideal of obtaining a certain physical look or condition.

It is all temporal and fading.

Proverbs 31:30 says,

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;

but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised."

When I thought about the Lord's question,

I evaluated my heart.

I know that anything I try to do in my own strength without Him

will not bear fruit or bring me happiness.

So I instantly answered no.

Our value or worth is not found in something we do not have.

It's not found in something someone else may possess.

We do not have to have these feelings of envy or jealousy!

I love what Lisa Bevere wrote in her new book,

"Without Rival",

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Psalms 139:13-14 says,

"For you formed my inward parts,

you covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise you, 

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are your works 

and that my soul knows very well."

You were fearfully and wonderfully

and purposefully made to be 

His righteous daughter!!!

Let your value, happiness and identity

to wholly and completely be in what He 

thinks and says about you!!

********************************************************

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

This month marks 6 months since beginning this journey of blogging!!

I want to celebrate by giving away Lisa Bevere's new book

"Without Rival"!!!!

All you have to do is go on Facebook,

Like Love of Poppys page,

comment on the post,

share the blog,

and wait for the winner to be announced on 

October 15th!!!

You have a chance to be put in the drawing with each blog post from now 

until October 14th!!!

But be sure to follow the instructions to be qualified!!!

Thank you for all of your encouragement and support over the last 6 months!!

Bullied By Fear

Satan can be sneaky.

He can tip toe into our thoughts,

plant a tiny seed of worry,

water it with unhealthy emotions

and watch it grow into a creeping, thorny vine of fear.

That fear,

if well fed,

will then grow up the walls of our mind

and then take root into our heart

and tighten its reign of control over the 

garden of our life until its suffocated every other

living, pure and fruitful growth

that we had once living within us.

Meet anxiety.

Worry, fear, anxiety and depression are not our portion

from The Lord.

They are tactics from the enemy to control us

and to take our focus off of the Deliverer and Healer

of our body, mind and soul.

John 10:10 says,

"The thief does not come except to kill, and to steal

and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they 

may have it more abundantly."

One year ago, I walked through a season of crippling fear and anxiety.

I wanted to curl up somewhere away from it all and just fade away.

I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and 

I had no hope.

That thorny vine of fear had almost completely killed all that 

I had grown in my garden of Life.

How could someone so passionate about The Lord become so 

debilitated by the enemy's fiery arrow?

I loss sight of who I am in Him and 

the authority and power that has been bestowed upon us.

Initially when the first sign of fear crept in,

I didn't turn from it.

I did not access the power that we have been so freely given.

I did not call on the name of Jesus.

I didn't rebuke the enemy and his attack on my mind.

I didn't surrender that area of weakness and the control

that I wanted to have over the situation immediately.

I could list one hundred things I didn't do...

But, in my time of walking through the valley of the shadow of death, 

He NEVER left me.

He was there every step of the way.

This season of my life was ONLY a shadow.

What is a shadow?!

It is darkness that forms when someone or something 

comes between a surface and The Light.

Once I chose to step out of that shadow and let His pure and radiant

Light shine in,

my crippling fear that had bullied me for months turned into

a holy righteous fear.

I went from wanting to let that shadow swallow me up to 

fearing that I would allow such lies to keep me from fulfilling

His great purpose for my life.

I didn't want to miss God!!!!

Anytime that nasty Satan would come and poke to see if he could 

plant a seed again, I would stop and I would pray,

"God, make my thoughts Your thoughts."

Then I would worship.

For me, I would play worship music and turn my heart and affection

completely towards Him.

I would think about the promises that have yet to be fulfilled

and thank Him for what He had promised me He would do.

Our greatest weapon is worship and praise!

Many times it was hard to do this because my emotions

weren't in alignment with my spirit.

But He is faithful and through this act of faith,

victory swept in and took hold of the root and ripped its 

shallow shoots out of my heart and left in its place

seeds of hope, peace and expectancy.

"For God does not give us the spirit of fear but of power and 

of love and of a sound mind."

2 Timothy 1:7

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff comfort me."

Psalms 23:$

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God

for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every

high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,

bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Finding Me In A World Full of Mommy Guilt

If you're a mom, then you've done it.

You've had that inevitable case of Mommy Guilt.

My husband had planned this amazing trip for us for my birthday this year.

Sadly, getting a sitter and everything set up for our children

as well as other circumstances hindered us from being able to go.

And I.WAS.CRUSHED!!!

My heart was broken.

See, I had just spent all summer....

ALL EXCRUCIATINGLY HOT summer with my three kids at home.

No trips to the beach, very few play dates,

and on top of it all my daughter had to have her tonsils taken 

out.

Also, before summer even started, 

I quit my job to stay home and home school

Kaleb, our little boy who has autism.

So I was craving and NEEDING this break away.

I don't feel like needing is a strong enough word.

I believe I told my husband something along the lines of

"If I do not get to get away for some sort of break,

then I am going to be the one breaking."

Dramatic....

....maybe...

Say what you want.

I have only had that feeling twice in my life and they have both been 

this year.

First, when I knew preschool was not working out for Kaleb

back in February and I (along with everyone else) was

just worn out from trying to make it work.

And then this instance where beautifully laid plans were made 

and fell through.

My wonderful husband responded by saying,

"You go somewhere. Go alone.  I will keep the kids.

Just go and relax and regroup and we will be here when you come home."

In case you didn't know this already,

I adore my husband.

He is the most considerate, giving,

compassionate man I know.

He knows what I need before I even do most of the time.

Then he waits ever so patiently while I get to the place 

of realizing that he is exactly right.

So I did.

I left.

BY MYSELF!!!

For the first time ever.

And let me just stop here and say,

I will be doing it again!!!

I had no idea how much I needed to get away,

to go and sit, alone, in the quiet.

To go to a restaurant and look at a menu and 

choose what *I* want to eat without having to think about 

ordering for three other people.

To sit and read and pray and spend time with God

without having to "squeeze" it in between

preparing meals and doing laundry and 

shuttling from one appointment to another.

Time stood still for one day....

for me.

And it was exactly what I needed.

You see,

we live in a world SATURATED with guilt and shame.

Especially us moms.

The past couple of years, 

I have struggled with so much Mommy Guilt.

Feeling like all of my energy gets poured into the one with 

special needs while the other two float by the wayside.

How maybe I should be more active in one's school activities

yet I was working and trying to get two other's settled in their own schools.

Or what if all of this time and research and fight for my beloved Kaleb

has been in vain.

Tons and tons of Mommy Guilt.

But I've also received Mommy shame from others:

"If you know he is like this then why wont you medicate? 

What will it take for you to finally medicate him?"

"Well I bet she would like to do girly things,

she does have two brothers, you know.

She needs a break"

"All he needs is a good butt whoopin'. 

I bet he would straighten up then."

How unfair is it to judge someone's situation when you 

are not the one walking in it.

But you know what,

we all do that as well.

What has brought me great freedom is the verse that says,

"There is now therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus,

who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."

Romans 8:1

How amazing is that?!

We, who believe, are all placed in Jesus so

there is no condemnation in Him.

He is not condemning me for my shortcomings.

He is not shaming me for the choices that I make.

But when we walk in the flesh,

we lose sight of the amazing freedom and grace we have been 

given by being placed in Him.

When we walk in the Spirit,

we access that freedom and grace fully and

there is absolutely NO condemnation.

How awesome!!

All guilt and shame melts away in His Presence.

Because in His Presence is freedom, peace, hope and joy

to overcome all!!

So I will do me,

without guilt,

and ignoring any shame.

I will take a break,

so I can re-energize and give my children

the best of me.

I will take care of myself without constantly

pushing myself to the back burner when things 

get crazy.

I will not allow all of the "demands" and pressure to be a perfect mom

to cloud my perspective on what I am doing right.

I will allow my weaknesses to be seen

because in my weakness,

He makes me strong.

We, as moms, have been given such
an incredible privilege.
I am so excited about what our children are going to walk in.
So much freedom and authority in Him.
It is absolutely mind blowing!!

But we have to realize that it is okay to take
time for ourselves.
It's not selfish.
It's not rude.
It's not inconvenient.

It is wise.
It is needed.
And it will bring good to you and
your children!!!

NO CONDEMNATION IN HIM!!!!