Refuge for a Single Mom

There is just so much that bombards our every day lives and it never seems to stop.  We wake up with a migraine, get stuck in traffic, someone is rude to us at the grocery store . . . I mean, trivial stuff to just sit and read it . . . but when you have a day filled with it . . . it can become too much.

Have you ever had one of those days where you fix the kids` cereal and end up spilling it all over the floor (the one you finally mopped the day before)?  Or, you rush to do a load of laundry only to spill the soap powder all over the laundry room floor?  I do this stuff all the time.  Some days though, it is enough to drive a person plum crazy!

Add in those days where your pre-schooler, whom you love desperately, hangs on your `mouse` arm while you are trying diligently to work, refuses adamantly to take a nap and then for some obscure reason, manages to stay awake until 10:00 pm.  Meanwhile, you have lost your mind ~ a few times!  *smile*

There really is hope for us girls!

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.  James 1:12

It is so refreshing to step back and take time with God.  Take time to pray. (Wherever you can manage it!)  Give your concerns, frustrations, and fears all up to Him.  He promises us a `crown of life` just for loving Him!  How easy is that?

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.   James 1:25

Don`t become so consumed by all this other `junk`, the distractions in life, that you become a `forgetful hearer`!  Be an `effectual doer`!  If you do, God promises that you will be blessed in what you do!  That means everything!  (Even the dishes and the laundry!)

I heard a preacher once talk about remembering to pray before you do the most simple task.  For example, you are looking for your car keys . . . say a little prayer!  Ask the Lord to help you find them quickly and without frustration!  I have actually started to do this and I have to tell you, it makes a world of difference!

That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.  Deuteronomy 30:20

He really just wants to be included in everything!  He loves us so much!  He wants us to love Him enough to remember Him and think of Him ~ always!

"Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."   Joshua 22:5

That says with ALL your heart and ALL your soul!  To me, that is such a deep down, through and through conviction and love that it can`t even be described in words!  It is something you `feel`!

I have been defeated and hopeless!  I have been weary and depressed!  I can tell you this first hand . . . there is only ONE answer!

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.  John 14:6

Labels: Conviction, Dedication, Perseverance