I am on the Struggle Bus

struggling

What has helped me-maybe it can help you

Six months ago, I had a second baby. Six months ago we moved three hours away. It was God’s will and it still is.

I am still getting used to having two children and unpacking my house, but I do not feel as overwhelmed. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I knew when I had the baby and moved that people were concerned about me. I did not think the transition would take that long, so I was not worried. Plus my husband and his mom were able to help me a lot more with my toddler. My baby was sleeping through the night pretty well. It was easy for about the first 8 weeks. Now that I have two kids, I am a full-time “stay-at-home” mom.

Thankfully, growing up, my parents instilled the daily habit of reading my Bible and praying.

Daily Bible reading and prayer will help ground your day, it will grow you as a Christian, help all of your relationships, including the most important relationship, your fellowship with Jesus Christ.

I’m also assuming that you have already asked Jesus into your heart once and for all. Salvation is number one priority. Nothing else will matter unless you are going to Heaven when you pass away.

My parents also started me in piano lessons when I was 7 years old. Student teaching children music was mind blowing to me. I learned so much about myself and music and I loved it.

Music can be so helpful. Music has helped me as well as helped me be a blessing to people. Music has grown and stretched me. Music helped kept my mind focused and has kept me awake. Music has kept me from dwelling on the negative. Music has also kept my blood pressure down.

I say all that to say this. When reality of the move and having a second child started to settle in, there were days that I was pretty down, lonely, or just bored with the mundane routine. Music is one of the major components that kept me sane. I NEEDED to play piano. I NEEDED to sing out loud.

There were a couple other things I realized that I needed to do and have:

  • Realistic Expectations for myself, my family and my situation.
  • DO NOT COMPARE myself to anyone else-comparison brings jealousy.
  • Patience with my family, myself, my life, my situations and God.
  • Honesty with myself, stop trying to be someone else or perfect. Accept who God made me to be, what I like, who I am, who my family is, and what my family is like.
  • Perfectionism is impossible, brings stress and is a lie from the devil. Only God and Heaven are perfect.
  • There are other priorities over a clean house. Is my family happy?
  • I do not enjoy cleaning my house.
  • Friendships – Be a friend, invite people, start a group
  • Go over basics– Did I read my Bible and pray today? Have I drank water today? Have I eaten protein and vitamins? Do I need shower or sleep?
  • I NEEDED to do hobbies that I enjoyed. If I do not play piano or read regularly I will feel like I am going insane. Journaling my thoughts also helps me.

Thankfully time never stops. When you have bad days, they will not last forever. They make good days even better.

Ask people to pray for you. DO WHAT YOU ENJOY. If you are doing God’s will, good days are inevitable.

Let me know in the comments how I can pray for you.

my hope is

The Next Day

John 1:24,29

And they which were sent were of the Phartisees (.. typo…)Pharisees.

And the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him,

“The next day.”

I love that.

One day, the Pharisees were verbally attacking John, and the next day Jesus shows up to help John and to be baptized of John.

I love that so much.

Jesus is our advocate. He is our helper, our comforter, our supporter, our cheerleader. He is our everything. He’s got our back. He wants you to succeed.

If I were John, I would be mad after the Pharisees left. I would have second guessed myself way too much. I might have been a little discouraged. It is always nice to know when you have someone that backs you up and someone who encourages you.

Did John know that Jesus would show up the next day? Being cross-examined is not fun. Being cross-examined in front of the public is not fun. I would be embarrassed. I have a hard time with confrontation.

John answered with so much wisdom and humility. He did not stoop down to their level. John did not back down. John did not quit. John did NOT apologize. John stated the truth with a backbone.

How wonderful it was for the Lord to come to John the very next day.💙

John was preparing for Jesus. Then, hesitantly, John baptized Jesus.

Immediately after the baptism, Jesus was sent to the wilderness for 40 days and tempted of Satan and was with the wild beasts. (Mark 1:12-13)

Soon after the baptism, John was sent to prison and beheaded. (Mark 1:14) John went to Heaven.

We think we have it hard. We do not always understand why we go through things. Jesus is there. Jesus knows. He has been through the wilderness. We might not understand or like when people question our beliefs. We need to know what we believe and why we believe it. Stand up for the unpopular truth.

Have you prayed and God does not seem like He is there to hear or help you? Give Him time. Do you ever just sit still and listen? Do you pray before you read the Bible to be ready to receive something from Him?

We have to be constantly reminded that we do not deserve anything. We need to be patient. We are blessed beyond measure.

Do the right thing. Stand up for the right beliefs. Be humble and wise. Pray daily.

Just because we are doing right, does NOT mean life will be easy- usually the opposite. But who and what are we doing the right thing for? For comfort? Or for God? Remember this is only our temporal home.

Are you preparing yourself for Jesus to come? We do not know when He will come. Have you asked Him into your life? If so, are you telling others about HIM?

Are you faithfully attending church, reading your Bible and praying?

Prepare yourself. Prepare others. Stand up for the Bible.

Dealing with Doubt-My Salvation Testimony

read me

I hope my personal testimony will help encourage and strengthen your relationship and fellowship with the Lord.

My whole life I have gone to church, and from 5 years old and onward I have been a member of Baptist churches. Now, just to be clear, church does NOT get me into Heaven when I die. This is just to help you understand where I am coming from. How and where you grow up tells a lot about you.

When I was 5 years old, we were going to Calvary Baptist church in Waukon, Iowa. At that age, most children want to do right and please people, and I was so young the only thing I remember vaguely was someone talking to me in the front of the church about salvation.

Later on, going into 5th grade, we moved to Columbus, Georgia, and I loved the big school, the sports and my friends. In 6th Grade, we moved back to the Midwest and joined a smaller school and church; it was then that I began to doubt my salvation. Now the devil will always put doubts and questions in your mind, but God will put absolutes in your mind; with God, you will know for sure yes or no, but I was depending too much on my thoughts and emotions instead of God.

The Devil will ask you questions like, “Did you really mean that?” God will know for sure about whether you are saved or not. God does not question your salvation. God died on the cross and rose again. He is not going to ask you IF you asked Him into your heart.

I remember multiple times going to different people and sharing with them my doubts of my salvation in hopes of getting past my doubts once and for all, but later on the doubts would come back to mind when the subject was brought up. It does not help that I am the type of person to second guess myself on everything.

Finally, in April of 2013, in Wednesday school chapel (during a Phil Kidd revival) I made my decision public; that is where I decided that Jesus already did the work for me on the cross­-I just have to accept Him and what He has already done. My questions and emotions have NOTHING to do with it. I also was baptized that night in church, and I resolved then and there that I was saved and on my way to Heaven.

Also, I had started actually reading my Bible faithfully and actually getting stuff out of my Bible reading. Before then, my parents had made us read our Bibles, but I would speed read or skim through my Bible. Daily devotions definitely discourages doubt! I randomly started reading through a J. Vernon McGee Thru the Bible commentary and that blew my mind. I was in love with Bible commentaries and the Bible! Until then, I had no idea you could get so much out of your daily Bible reading. Commentaries grew my love for the Bible.

I would highly recommend that you read 1 John if you doubt your salvation. If you have never read through the Bible, start with 1 John (not Genesis) – I would read the New Testament before I would read the Old Testament. Also, if you have doubts of your salvation or what you believe, you should make sure that you are consistently reading your Bible and praying daily.

I am currently reading a book called “How to Study the Bible,” and it helps you know what to read your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year of reading the Bible. You do NOT have to read the entire Bible your 1st, 2nd or 3rd year of reading the Bible daily; you need to get something out of your Bible reading, NOT just finish it. Currently, in my daily reading, I am reading through the One Year Chronological Bible to mix it up.

In the comments, let me know your salvation testimony or what helped you consistently read your Bible daily.

[See other blog post about “the Biblical Way to Heaven.”]

Thoughts ❤(my sister Anna’s Blog) ❤

Site Title

Where do your thoughts take you?

Have you ever had this said to you? “What are you doing?” You reply thoughtful, “I am thinking”. The kind person next to you so gracefully says, “Well, that is dangerous!”
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this! Of course, this remark is sarcastic in nature, but it really holds some truth.
Topic #2- Thoughts
What we think effects your whole day and how you act. Our thoughts are the underlying groundwork of our words and actions. Several times a day you may realize your thoughts are rooted in bitterness, anger, worry, fear, or gossip. Our minds are a vital battleground.
2 Corinthians 10:15
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
If you are like me, I love to imagine practically…

View original post 155 more words

Challenged

💙A new blog my sister just started💙

Site Title

“If thou faint in the day of adversity, they strength is small.”Proverbs 24:10
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 24:16

If you are like most people, we enjoy activities that charge us. We like activities that we are good or even excellent in doing. However, God doesn’t always ask you to do things that we are experts in. There are times when He will require more from you. An area you must be willing to challenge yourself in.
God knows we like to be comfortable. The only problem with being comfortable is that it does not challenge or change us. We just continue in our current state. But the areas that challenge or change us might something that we are afraid to do. It might be difficult or hard. It might not be our personality. Or it might…

View original post 77 more words

What Has Not Changed? Life Update

IMG_20150724_203751

So much has changed, I knew it would. I do not regret our decisions, because I had been praying for a long time about moving.

Our 2nd baby boy was born in July with no complications; I do not think the labor and recovery could have gone smoother or easier. We had good help with the move and people made us meals the week after the baby was born and we were moving.

Where we live now is closer to a lot of family which has definitely made it easier on me for sure!

Finding the right rental, no matter how much money you have, is ridiculous with how many different requirements each different apartment has. I know that saves the landlords bank accounts and peace of mind, but whew!!

Finding the right job has taken longer as well. Ultimately we want to be in a church full time ministry not part of a school/church full time ministry. Now we just have to wait, stay encouraged, and not be annoyed with the situation.

Moving cities, changing churches, jobs, houses, doctors, phone numbers has definitely been a process. Insurance has been annoying as well. I did find doctors that I like, Alex is able to be very involved in our new church, and I love the new city we are in.

Baby has been sleeping great for now; my toddler, on the other hand, definitely has characteristics of a boy and a toddler. It is a battle to do anything and everything. He is like a teenager. I have to pray before disciplining him, because I hate any kind of conflict, disciplining, confronting and fighting. I was not a great school teacher because of it. I want everyone to like me.

I had just started praying that I spend the right amount of time on devotions, family, cleaning and myself, when a couple days later my personal Instagram was hacked. I wasn’t able to log back in because of an old email I did not update (eye roll). I think it was God’s way of telling me to spend time more with my priorities. I still have my Christian_growth_resources Instagram account, which is probably how you came across this blog.

I keep telling myself I need to blog about every book I read.

What I have been reading:

  • To Fly Again-Gracia Burnham
  • Pied Piper of Rock Music-Dennis Corle
  • Hinds Feet on High Places-Hannah Hurnard
  • David Bassau-Janet & Geoff Benge
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer-Janet & Geoff Benge

All of these authors are amazing and have written other books.

Podcasts I love:

  • Friend 2 Friend Podcast (designed to help women)
  • the Bible Recap (a short commentary on what you just read in the Bible)

I usually do not write about myself. I want to keep you all updated and know that I have not forgotten about the blog. I want to keep writing. Thank you for reading my blog posts!

-Sarah