Weekly Reflection | 40 Days of Faith

Thank you so much for coming to check on how my Lenten Journey is going! We are now on Week 3 (if you are just joining in here’s the Initial Post,  Week 1 Reflection, and Week 2 Reflection) and this continues to be a crazy beautiful, yet challenging journey for me. It’s forcing me to step out of my comfort zone and open up to you guys about faith and feelings…which is still scary and intimidating, yet thrilling and freeing all at the same time. I’ve said it a zillion times, but thank you again for your constant support and kind words…they mean to world to me!

3/13 Friendship

Job 6: 14

“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

You know what? There’s not a ton of wisdom about friendship in the Bible. There are a lot of warnings against false friendships, etc but not a ton of direct messages about good and true friendship. (Disclaimer: I’m sure that there ARE, but remember I’m an amateur at this.) As I was researching, it got me thinking about friendship in general and that it’s damn hard to be a good friend at this phase of life. I’ve actually started to write an entire post on in because there’s a stark and hard change in what friends mean to you once you start a family of your own. Friendship in your 30’s takes WORK, and maintenance, yet it also requires loads of grace and understanding enough to know that relationships with friends just look different during this phase of life. I think that God was calling me to just take a closer look at my friendships (admittedly they are the first things that I neglect when life gets too busy) and to pay a little more attention to fostering those relationships in any way that I can, because we all need each other to survive motherhood. Funny enough, this word was Monday’s word and I’m thinking all of these thoughts as I go to sleep and I woke up on Tuesday and realized that I had lunch AND dinner plans with different groups of friends…which I literally haven’t allowed myself the time to do in years. Hours of chatting, tons of laughing and even some crying with friends old and new is good for the soul. It makes you really realize that we are all in this together and once you strip everyone of their social media highlight reels…we are all going through some of the same struggles.

3/14 Light 

Matthew 5: 13-16
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

This has been one of my favorite readings thus far. Yes, I’ve heard it before but it never gets old and actually the older that I get the more I understand what it means. God gave each of us a light to shine in His name. Unfortunately, some days I find it easier to hide my light than to shine it. Some days, blending in is more appealing and more comfortable. Burying my light into social norms or pretty facades is always the easier thing to do, but it’s definitely not why we were created. God gave each of us a different light to shine so that his grace could be glorified from every angle. This was such a great reminder to speak up, stand out, and shine my light in His name…because you never know who’s candle might be burning low or who’s flame might be being tested by the wind and by shining a little of your own light onto others, you are then giving them the strength and courage to do the same.

3/15 Forgiveness

Matthew 18: 21-35
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.  Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back. “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

This was another hard one for me to read and comprehend. How can God call us to keep forgiving people who hurt us seven times seven times? Am I supposed to roll over and die? At this stage of life, I feel like its WAY more personal when someone close to you knowingly hurts your feelings. I can’t imagine hurting someone intentionally…it seems so not worth it…so when someone does it to me, it really stings and I have to admit it’s really hard for me to wrap my head around. You expect a meaningful apology and for the person to be remorseful, but that’s not always what you get…making the process even harder. The Lord uses the Master and the Servant as an example and tells us that if we expect forgiveness from our sins that we should have mercy on our brothers and sisters, forgiving them over and over and from our heart. He will judge us, as we have judged on earth…

3/16 Hope

1 Timothy 6: 11-21

“…But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.”

Another reading that was completely perfect and one that I was totally enamored by. We are called to not put our Hope in the riches that this world has to offer, not to get caught up in worldly things and what they can do for us in the short term. The Lord tells us to put our hope in Him and he will richly provide everything that we need to live a long life, in His name.

It is so easy to get caught up in “things” and even HOPE for new “things” or better “things.” Our culture tells us that the more “things” that we have, the richer that our life will be. Instead we are really called to put our hope in the promise of eternal life and live an earthly life rich not rich in “things” but rich in kindness and good deeds.

3/17 Children

Psalm 127 

Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.

This was a great reminder to build a house centered around the Lord, because otherwise my house is built in vain. Also a great reminder that, while parenting is dang hard, these babies are a precious and perfect gift from Him, a reward to us and an outward example of his trust and love for us. Looking into the innocent eyes of a child and seeing them as a covenant with the Lord always restores my patience and graces…

3/18 Commitment

Mark 10: 6-10

“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this.

When I saw that yesterday’s word was commitment, of course I thought about marriage first, but upon sitting down to write my reflection on this word, I found myself consumed with “commitment” and how over-committing at this phase of life is such a slippery slope. Marriage, kids, work, friends, family, events, school, sports…all of these words swirling around as I thought about how many commitments we take on on a daily basis. It’s so easy to get lost in saying “yes” to things that you should be saying “no” to and to commit your precious time to things that should have never been a priority.

This word reminded me to take a step back and prioritize my commitments. I should be committed to my time with the Lord first and foremost. How am I serving him daily? How often am I talking to Him? Relying on Him? Giving things up to Him or doing acts of service in His name? Secondly, I should be committed to my marriage. How am I serving my husband and family daily? How am I encouraging him? Helping him walk in faith? How am I spending time to make sure that our marriage is strong enough? Third I should be committed to being a mother to my daughter (s). What kind of example of faith am I setting on a daily basis? How can I teach them to walk in Christ? How can I serve them as Mary served Jesus?

After these 3 things, I have got to be better at prioritizing which commitments I take on every day. With what time that I have left, how can I use it best without exhausting myself? Over-committing to things is such a drain on my spirit and it takes a toll on how well I devote myself to my priorities. I have got to be better about saying NO to things that don’t help me to walk closer to Christ…

3/19 Health

Proverbs 15: 29-33

“The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.”

I love this entire chapter of Proverbs, but these last three verses about health and humility really stuck with me. The older that I get, the more I realize that good health is something so precious and never to be taken for granted. Physical and mental health are our livelihood here on earth, yet God made each so fragile and able to be taken away from us at any given point. He tells us to nourish our bodies with His word and it alone will bring health to our bones. So often I focus on the tangible things that I need to stay healthy…working out, eating right, sleeping, etc….and much less often focus on nourishing my soul with the word of the Lord. But, in the end, I will leave this physical body behind and it will be my well nourished soul that moves on…

Thank you guys for following along this past week. I hope that you’ll stick with me as the journey continues as that you have an awesome week ahead! xo

Initial Post,  Week 1 Reflection,  Week 2 Reflection