Sunday Sermon Notes

A visiting preacher came to our church this past Sunday, and his sermon was so good. As I was ferociously taking notes during his talk, it dawned on me that I just had to share all this goodness on my blog! 


You all have been there through our families journey on, and then off the mission field. You've heard more than your fair share of my sob stories of failure, disappointment and regrets. Here I am, more than a year later, and there are still pieces of my heart that need healing. (am I a broken record, or what?!) The sermon that this guy (wish I could remember his name!) preached was so healing for me. It resonated so strongly and gave me hope.  I'm gonna go ahead and mainly just type out my notes... I hope this encourages some of you as it did me!

He started by setting the stage for us of Moses' life. Here this child is SAVED out of a mass murder by the wisdom of his mother who places him in the basket in the river where he is found by none other than Pharaoh's daughter. He's taken into Pharaoh's household and raised as a prince, basically. And because God loves the mother heart (which He created!) He allowed Moses' biological mother to be his wet nurse. Talk about AMAZING. Well, the preacher said that perhaps Moses' mother spoke to him about how he was to be the deliverer of his people. Perhaps she spoke vision over her son's life as she nursed him. Perhaps she prepared him for greatness even from such a young age.

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Well then, when Moses grows up, he gets angry and kills a man in a fit of rage. He is sent out from Pharaoh's house into the wilderness where he....HERDS SHEEP. Real great, huh? No doubt in that time, Moses accumulated pain and feelings of failure. For 40 years he led sheep in the wilderness. So much for "deliverer". So much for greatness. He led these sheep in the middle of nowhere, far from the people he was created to deliver. For FORTY years..... UNTIL! One day, God broke through his routine with a burning bush. God presented His plan to Moses one day that could have been like all the others. And Moses had to make a choice. To continue in the routine of 40 years, or to get up and to walk into God's plan for him.

"Out of the brokenness of our disappointed dreams, we must ask, 'WHO IS THE LORD, AND WHY MUST I OBEY HIM?'"


We must know the God we serve for who He is. God has had a calling for us since before He created the world. We can keep ourselves from that calling by "camping" in places that hold us back.

When Moses returns to Egypt and requests that Pharaoh allow him and his men to go make a sacrifice to God in another land, Pharaoh attempts to strike a deal with them--to bargain. He first tells them "yes, go, but make your sacrifice still here in Egypt." When Moses says, "No we must go out from this land" Pharaoh comes back with "Well, then leave your women and children here." When Moses says, "No we must bring our wives and offspring." Pharaoh returns with, "Fine, then leave your livestock." Moses replies, "Not a hoof must be left behind, because we do not know what God will expect as a sacrifice." The point of this conversation is that Pharaoh was attempting to anchor Moses and the Hebrew people to Egypt. He wanted something to always be there to call them back.

There's always something that draws you back and anchors you to "Egypt". But you must PICK UP ALL YOUR ROOTS AND GO WHEN GOD CALLS YOU. We don't know what God is going to ask of us--we just have to lift it all up with open hands. IT MUST ALL BE AVAILABLE TO HIM.


There is no time for looking back. No time for "dual citizenship".

You will NEVER possess your promised land with your heart still attached to "Egypt".


Being filled with the Holy Spirit is living in such a way that we allow the Spirit of God to do everything He wants to do in every part of us. If I ask to hear what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life, don't you tell me about an experience you had 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago, even a day ago. Tell me what God is doing RIGHT NOW...TODAY!


There is no such thing as being able to say "No, Lord". Because the moment you've said no, then He is no longer your Lord. There is only "Yes, Lord." 


God's expectation for His people is to love Him with ALL THEY ARE (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) Understand the traps that are attempting to hold you back. Moses did.

Where Have I Been? Pressing the Reset Button...

It's been a while. So where have I been?

Not far, actually.

To be honest, blogging has just felt like another box on my checklist lately. And that's not what I meant for this to be. I started this blog to be a sweet release. A place for me to come and share my thoughts, my rants, my life. But lately life has been sweeping me up in its crazy, swirling wind.

I missed TWO doctors appointments this week. TWO! On different days for different kids. My brain came out with my babies I think. I also shrunk my favorite shirt. 

Being a mother of two seems to get harder rather than easier. Although I love both of my girls to death, Quiet moments have become few and far between. 2 years and 6 months.... I do have my hands full.


Add in to the mix that my sister has been in town from South Africa so I've been soaking up this time with her... and that we flew to Minnesota for a weekend to be with family... and whew. This momma has been running circles!

Today I decided we needed a day at home. Peyton seemed to agree because she reluctantly crawled out of bed around 11. Yeah, you heard me. She's 2 going on 16. 

We've been going, going, going and I've been realizing that sometimes we just need to stop. And by we, I mainly mean me. I needed to be home today. I needed to wear my jammies until 3pm. I needed to pour a piping hot cup of coffee and sit down with my baby in my arms and look out the window at the breezy backyard. I needed to scrub my bathroom with my ipod blaring and re-organize my daughters messy room with the birds chirping out my window.

Sometimes stopping isn't just about relaxing. Sometimes (okay most of the time) as a m
other, stopping is about dishes, laundry, vacuuming and window cleaning. Because sometimes those are the things that relax us, focus us and ground us. As keeper of my home, sometimes I need to just BE home.

I've been trying a new trick on myself. Because, I'll be honest, I like to complain. Especially while doing housework. Especially while picking up my husbands dirty work clothes off the bathroom floor.... and wiping his stubble off the bathroom sink after he finishes shaving his face... and washing his dishes that he left in the sink.... oh AND... (cough, whoops, ahem) sorry, right, my trick.............. when I feel my heart start to wander to that place of complaint... I reach for my ipod... I click over to my podcasts and select the Focus on the Family series called "Focus on Marriage" after one (or sometimes more, cough) of their 6 minute heart to heart talks on loving your husband, it's like someone hit the reset button on my heart. Suddenly I'm down on my knees scrubbing the floors while singing a love song...

Sometimes as mothers and wives, we can lose control of our good temperament very quickly when we let our minds and hearts wander to places of complaint and contempt. We have to learn to curb those emotions and press that reset button. We've all heard the phrases, "Happy wife, Happy life." or "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" (I'm sure there's more too!) we can laugh those phrases off, or we can take them to heart. Are we setting the climate of our home to happiness? Are we loving our husbands and our children as we clean up after them? Or are we cursing them under our breath? Believe me I've done both. BUT! By learning to reset my heart, I am learning to be a better wife and mother. And at the end of the day, this is my job, and I want it to be a job WELL DONE.

Do you need to press the reset button on your heart today?

I Never Do This...

I have NEVER done this before on my blog... but there's a first time for everything, right?? Now, maybe it's just because I've been gone from the States for a few months, but I just HAVE to spread the word about this mascara I just discovered! I've seen a couple commercials for it... but then I went out and bought it yesterday and FELL IN LOVE!

It's called "The Falsies" by Maybelline

I'm a huge fan of big lashes. I'm notorious for spending 5 minutes on my whole make up routine and then another 10 minutes JUST on mascara! But (drum roll please) with this new mascara I got the same amount of volume in like ONE MINUTE! (Do I sound shamelessly like a commercial???) But the best part about it all... Is right now it's only FIVE BUCKS at Walmart! AMAZING! Seriously, I'll never go back. Andd.... some of those volume mascaras just flake within a couple hours and you have to re-apply... no WAY! I rocked this baby all day :)

Okay, I promise the commercial break is over :P I just HAD to share!

Featured Blog: Love, Actually

I just love the concept of this, and am definitely going to be becoming a frequent reader over at Love, Actually! I also think it's great that you can submit ideas to their blog! How fun to have ideas coming from lots of different people! Talk about creativity!!! They also have a shop on their blog (Love Actually, Boutique) with some fun romantic items! The blog is set up so it's easy to find fun ideas that are right up your alley :)

I'm definitely planning on using this blog to plan my next date night!