Author: jamie

By Posted on Posted in God's covering 1 Comment

The life of a homeschooling mom is a busy one. Throw a baby in there… and it feels like a day at the Indy 500. Going around and around the same circle at ridiculous speeds. Burn-outs, crashes… and constant pit-stops needed.  The only difference is that I don’t have a team in jumpsuits to help me!!

With all of the things that I am trying to do on a daily basis,  styling hair and applying make-up don’t fit in. Rarely do I wear anything besides sweat pants! Recently, I’ve taken to wearing hats on days that I cannot do anything with my hair.  Unfortunately, I think the hat IS my new hair style.

I’m so grateful for these accessories that cover up my lack of time and style!  They cover up my unruly hair that needs 20+ minutes of blow-drying or flat-ironing.

I was thinking today about how God’s grace is like my favorite hat…

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 peter 4:8

His love covers my sins… just like the hat covers my imperfections. Every time I throw my hat on to run out the door, I am reminded that God covers me and you with His love and grace.

By Posted on Posted in contentment, trusting Him 2 Comments

Today, the Lord brought me back to Psalm 16… thinking about the boundary lines that He has chosen for me. Over a year ago, this sovereign idea really spoke to me and I wrote a blog about it.

Well, here I am again. Struggling with where God has me. There was a time when I felt the call to full time ministry SO strongly. There were multiple confirmations that could not be dismissed. He was using me in ways that I could not believe. I experienced His presence and his power in life-changing ways.

At the time that I thought the Lord would lead me into full time ministry, He began pulling me out of all the places that I served. I saw fewer and fewer opportunities to teach His word. Now, I’m at home full time with a baby and two homeschooling students. I don’t get out much… especially for teaching or speaking.

I know I’m blessed to be home. I know that what I am doing at home is incredibly important. Yet, my heart is restless… so restless.

The grief comes at me in waves.  Things will happen, and another wave washes over me. That’s where I am today. Trying to understand what God’s plan is for me. What do I make of all the callings, confirmations, affirmations that I received two years ago?

I have to go back to what I know about God. He is always, always good. The place that He has chosen for me right now is the best place for me. I have to let go of what I thought, what I expected, what I interpreted.

Maybe you are feeling restless too. The path you’re on is not going in the direction you thought it would. Maybe a promise you received from God seems a million light years away from being fulfilled. His promises and our current situations can be tough to reconcile when we look at things through our own eyes.

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me…

Psalm 16:5-10a

I will trust Him and His plans. I will wait for that calling to be fulfilled. I will consider my present circumstances as training and preparation for the future that He has planned for me. I will trust these boundary lines.

By Posted on Posted in hearing God, trusting Him No Comments

I sat down the other morning to read my bible for a minute and was led to Psalm 25. I read through it like a prayer, and I felt like I had a direct line to Jesus. I began talking to Him about all of my failures… and then I grabbed a pen to begin writing down all of the thoughts that flooded my mind. I don’t regularly have these kinds of thoughts, so I knew they were coming from God.

You are not a failure. The truth is that you are being transformed. I have plans for you. I am trying to teach you and grow you.

Your transformation does not come from performing or doing. It comes from letting My Spirit work within you.

So do not mourn over your present state. There will always be sin, there will always be room to grow and failures to learn from. There will always be impossibilities to face. Just keep your eyes on Me and let Me transform you.

Confess your sin and let it go. Let it go! I want to change you and heal you– stop trying to fix and change yourself. You cannot! It just creates more worry and frustration.

Will you trust Me to work in you and make you more like Me? Will you trust Me to work out the details of your life? Will you trust Me to bring healing where you so desperately need it?

Are you not broken?  Sinful?  Weak?  Stop trying to perform and fix. Confess to Me that you are powerless and that you need Me to work in you. I am the One who will transform your situation – your heart – your relationships.

This negative cycle of despair that you are in comes from your attempt to change yourself and your life… but your inability to make any progress.

Hope and peace come when you let Me work. Watch Me work. Rejoice in My work. Give praise to Me for My work.

I love you.