November 23, 2024

Glorious Living w/ Coach Megan: Stress Management

May 31, 2013 by

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Dear Megan,

I have been feeling really overloaded and burned out lately and I’m not sure what to do to make it stop. I was on your GCH call last week and I completed the exercise you gave us and talked about in your blog last Friday…. but I just feel stuck with what to do next. I know I need to delegate more and God showed me some tasks He does not intend for me to do, but I feel like I could be handling it all (especially the stress) better. I’m hoping you can give me some advice on this!

~M.

Sweet sister,

Thank you for taking the first step by doing that exercise from last week ! I pray it was a blessing for you to be able to see in black and white how you are spending your precious resource of time. Our world makes it easy for us to feel overloaded, over burdened and over worked! What I heard through your cry for help is that you are looking for some practical stress-management tools to help you now that you are beginning to spend your time more wisely (as God intends you to).

Adopting healthy stress management skills will enable you to slow down, stop, yield and reduce speed at appropriate intervals on your path of life. In turn, your pace will be regulated and you will be lifted out of the ditch of overload and burnout. As you work through this exercise, you will see how you can begin to walk the road to transformation in the peaceful assurance that God will never call you to do more than He gives you time and ability to do (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

SLOW

{Slow down and make the necessary changes for good physical health}

  • Do you eat a balanced and healthy diet?
  • Do you exercise at least three times a week?
  • Do you take at least one day of rest per week?
  • Do you get adequate restful sleep most nights?

Psalm 127:2

 In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.

{Slow down and evaluate your priorities}

  • Do the exercise from last week if you have not done so (Link up above)
  • Consider other priorities that should be on the list
  • Choose your commitments with careful prayer
  • Eliminate unnecessary stressful obligations
  • Don’t accept impossible deadlines
  • Don’t give in to the pressure of urgency
  • Tackle only one problem at a time

Ecclesiastes 4:6

Better one handful with tranquility
    than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

{Slow down and nourish your spiritual life}

  • Remind yourself daily to “be still, and know that (He is) God” {Psalm 46:10}
  • Open lines of honest communication with God about your concerns, needs, and fears
  • Set aside time daily for personal prayer and Scripture meditation
  • Memorize Scripture that builds assurance of God’s love {Psalm 36:7; Jeremiah 31:3; John 14:21; Romans 8:39}

Psalm 119:71

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees

STOP

{Stop and look at the real reason you are experiencing stress}

  • Do you try to meet your own needs instead of waiting on the Lord?
  • Do you think God cannot accomplish His purposes without your over-achieving?
  • Do you seek self-worth through proving your adequacy and effectiveness?
  • Are you Spirit-led or people-pressured?

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?  If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

{Stop, confess and turn away from any known sin in your life}

  • Do you manipulate or control others?
  • Do you feel envious or jealous of others?
  • Do you express your feelings inappropriately?
  • Do you overreact to criticism?
  • Do you have impure motives?

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

YIELD

{Yield to God’s sovereign control over your circumstances}

  • What is God doing in your circumstances?
  • In what way does God want you to change?
  • How does God want you to respond?
  • Do you have impure motives?

Proverbs 21:1

A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand:
He directs it wherever He chooses.

{Yield to God your rights and expectations}

Dear God,

  • “I yield my right to control my circumstances.”
  • “I yield my right to be accepted by others.”
  • “I yield my right to be successful.”
  • “I yield my right to be heard and understood.”
  • “I yield my right to be right.”

Proverbs 3:5

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding

RESUME SPEED

{Resume speed, living in the presence of God}

Dear God,

  • “I choose to let Christ live His life through me.”
  • “I choose to live in the present, not worrying about tomorrow.”
  • “I choose to refocus my thoughts away from my pressures to Your purposes for allowing these pressures.”
  • “I choose to have a thankful heart regardless of the pressure I feel.”
  • “I choose to call on You, Lord, for wisdom and peace.”
  • “I choose to commit to talking less and listening more.”

Psalm 62:1

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him

Blessings,

Coach Megan 🙂

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Girls with Swords: Chapter 10 – “Sword of Light – Discernment and Prayer” (pgs. 162-165)

May 30, 2013 by

Some weeks as I am sitting with my pink laptop, Bible, and Girls with Swords book, preparing the blog for you all, I wish I could just rewrite everything Lisa has written on the pages we are about to discuss.  Not because I do not want to write but because her words touch my heart so much, they challenge me, and they bring me closer to God.  So much of what she has written has led me to dig in to God’s Word more and more.  I pray that her words have done the same for you!  I am thankful for Lisa’s words.  Reading this section of the book, these are the words that stuck out the most to me; they are found on page 164:

  • Discernment and true intercession have the power to release restrained captives into their destiny.
  • Throughout His earthly walk, Jesus discerned the work of the evil one, then interceded by bringing light, truth, and healing into the darkened days of earth.
  • Discernment realizes when others are blind and then intercedes based on their ignorance rather than on their actions.  The Cross ended our separation from God, but His intercession didn’t stop there.  Jesus not only rose from the grave; he ascended into heaven:

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?  It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn?  Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 

Romans 8:33-34

Once again, Lisa’s words remind me that I am a princess warrior (in training) for the King.  I am challenged to remember what God has done for me over again so I will never forget!  I believe the best part of witnessing God’s work in your life is learning in those moments how to let God work in the lives of others by interceding for them.  These are the lives of the restrained captives and ignorant warriors who are blind to God’s power in their own life.  When God is working in your life to form you into the princess He has designed you to be, it is not always under the best of circumstances.  Sometimes, God’s best work is in the darkest part of our walk with Him.  Through these moments, though, we have found God’s light that we may shine brightly for others who are living in darkness to see.

GodsBestWork.jpg

I have learned so much of how to share God’s help with others because I was once held captive, restrained by Satan’s slithering grasp.  I was once an ignorant princess who did not even know she possessed warrior potential.  I was so blinded by the darkness my life was quickly becoming.  Can anyone relate?  When I was living in the darkness of my past sins, mistakes, shame, and poison, I remember crying painful tears every single day.  These tears left stains on my heart… dark stains.  Every time I cried, I always wished someone would see me crying, and then just maybe that someone would pray for me.  I knew I desperately needed prayer, but I had no strength or words to pray for myself.

When I finally decided to start getting back into God’s Word, I came across this passage one day:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Romans 8:26-27

The first time I read this, yes, I CRIED!  This time the tears were not painful; instead they were filled with joy and thankfulness to God.  These new tears washed away the stains the painful ones had left on my heart.  After reading this passage, I realized that God saw every tear that fell from my eyes and, not only did He catch them in His hands, but He also prayed each one away.  In those teary moments, God’s spirit interceded for me.  He was the One I was wishing for all along to pray for me—I just didn’t know it at the time.  This realization moved me to tears; wouldn’t it do the same for you?  This passage remains true for each and every one of us.  Whether it is our tears that are falling into darkness or the tears of others, God’s Spirit is ready to intercede for us on behalf of the tears that stain our hearts.

The darkness we go through is never pitch black.  There is always God’s light nearby or far away depending on how fast you are wandering from His path for your life.  In our darkest moments, God is interceding for us with His truth, light, and healing.

Because of the dark we find God’s light.

Because we have found God’s light, we are able to help others find God’s light.

From our darkened moments, we learn how to intercede for others who are searching desperately for “their light at the end of the tunnel.”

As conquerors through Christ, we are here for a purpose to be God’s light THROUGH the tunnel for others to see.  When lost warriors and restrained captives find YOU on their dark path, will you be shining on God’s path and guiding them to Him?  Will you be the reflection of God’s Light—His Son?  Will you discern God’s truth that is needed and intercede for all of the lost?  God desires to set the captives free through YOU and ME, can you believe that?!  We know we can handle such a task because God’s Spirit is our aide at all times.

When I was traveling through my dark tunnel, I found God’s light in the midst of the darkness because of faithful followers of Christ who looked through the exterior of my hardened self, and discerned what my heart truly needed, a healthy dose of Jesus!  For that reason and so many others, I desire to be that same light to the whole lost world.  It is not time for judging the exterior shells of others we pass by on our path to Heaven; it is time to intercede for the lost, darkened hearts, waiting to be broken out of their shell by Jesus’ mighty power.  God, we give YOU all glory forever and ever!

 *****

Let’s Pray:

Lord, thank You for Your goodness.  Thank You for giving us your Holy Spirit to live inside of our hearts.  I pray that You help all of us princess warriors in training to be YOUR Light for others to see.  I ask Your Spirit to help us discern and intercede on behalf of the lost darkened world.  I pray that others see Your light shining bright through us.  Thank You for teaching us how to be Your useful light, even (and especially) if it was not under the best of circumstances.  We trust that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  Lord, until we are living in YOUR GLORY, let us bring You glory through living out Your will for our lives.  We pray all of these things in your Precious, Holy Name. Amen.

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Girls with Swords: Chapter 10 – “Sword of Light – More Than Meets The Eye” (pgs. 159-162)

May 29, 2013 by

Growing up in church I have always heard the word discernment used, but I can honestly say that I have never looked at the term from this point of view. Discernment, to me, meant that a person had the ability to see past the first few layers of a person or a situation to see the truth behind the facade (if there was one). It was the ability to see the darkness hiding behind the light. Discernment had a slightly negative connotation behind it.

For some reason, some churches teach discernment as seeing the bad through the good, instead of how it should be, which is seeing the good through the bad. “Discernment is about knowing what is really going on, so that heroic daughters can turn what others see as a disadvantage into an advantage. The discerning warrior will know how to turn evil around for good” (pg. 159).

Let’s look back at a much loved scripture…

Romans8_28.jpg

The good is there, it may be deep under the surface of the situation, but it is there. We are promised good in His Word, but that doesn’t mean that He will lay it in front of our eyes each time.  We will have to use wisdom, discernment, compassion and prayer to see it.

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and help them to become what they are capable of being.” – John Wolfgang Von Goethe (pg. 160)

We are a society that almost automatically labels those around us; we label ourselves just as much. Often times these labels focus on our negative characteristics, they focus on what we or others may see wrong on the outside, or on our brokenness. We create labels that we can’t look past…labels that others can’t look past. But there is more beyond those labels.

We as warriors, girls with swords, Godly women, need to look past these labels; we need to see those around us and the situations around us through God’s eyes. I’m not sure why it is so easy for us (people in general) to see the bad in most situations; I do this also.  It’s easy to point out the bad instead of searching for the good. But God did not gift us with discernment to see just the bad things in people. He gifted us with discernment so that we could see the good and the bad in them.  So we could help encourage the good and help us see ourselves and those around us for what He created us to be.

*****

Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, with the world in the state that it is in, it can be difficult at times to see Your creation through Your eyes. We judge, and we label.  We do this to those around us and we do it to ourselves. Lord, I pray that You touch our hearts.  I pray that we see people and situations for what You created them to be. Remind us that our job is to lift-up and encourage. I pray that we walk with wisdom and discernment, that we walk in compassion, and in prayer.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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Glorious Living w/ Coach Megan: Managing Your Time

May 24, 2013 by

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This past Tuesday night I had the privilege of being a part of an incredible conference call with many of you and my dear friend Crystal Breaux. I gave a little assignment on the call and I know that many of you have taken me up on it with much success! Praise God! I thought it might help to give you more in-depth background on this subject of time management and the exercise as a whole. I pray this is a blessing to all of you!

______________________________________

As Christian women, it is incumbent upon us to achieve good time management skills. We need to be on time for appointments, conference calls, or any of the millions of events we commit to. Some of us already have these skills and others of us need to do more work in this area.

I have found that when the events you commit to line up with your values, you have less of a struggle with participating or completing them. When events are contrary to what you feel is right, is it any wonder why confusion or stress can result? It has been said that if we do not control the events in our lives, then the events can overrun and begin to control us. So, my friends, now is the time to take control of our time and begin to prioritize more effectively!

I certainly know this first hand…. From the outside looking in, I have a pretty busy life as all of you do. I am a mom to 3 teens and 2 young adults (all 5  live under our roof.) I have a husband who travels just about every week for 3-4 days…so most of the time, I am a “single mom.” I work 20+ hours a week outside my home and I work 20+ hours a week as a Christian Life Coach. We lead a bible study in our home Friday nights and I volunteer with the high school kids Thursday nights at our church…and then there’s all of my other household duties, appointments, dates, etc.

Are you still with me?

To some of us, this may sound easy and others may feel overwhelmed by this concept, but God does not call us to anxiety or confusion…. That all comes from the Devil and he would love nothing more than to de-rail your day from the Lord’s purposes in your life. How much longer do you plan on letting satan win?

First, we need to understand event control: There are only 2 types of events

  1. The events we cannot control: traffic, weather, time of day, other people, your family
  2. The events we can control: the time I get up, the foods I eat, my exercise program, how I allow others to make me feel, and who my friends are

The problem lies in the basic thought patterns of most individuals…. There are some events in life I CANNOT control, but I believe I CAN!! There are some events in life I CAN control, but I believe I CANNOT.

We cannot control people, places, or things. The only thing in life we can truly control is ourselves. Also, others cannot make us feel a particular way, without our permission. If we feel bad, we have allowed this. It takes a conscious decision to feel good and remain positive…. understanding these concepts and successfully living them out will save you a lot of time!!!

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference!”

~The Serenity Prayer

Increasing Productivity

When we control our events, we have increased productivity, thus, higher self-esteem! People who feel good about themselves produce good results! Isn’t it true that when you take the time to plan your day, you accomplish more than when you fly by the seat of your pants? Isn’t it rewarding to check off the things on your list and see what you have completed?

Ideally, your first step is to get a day planner or learn a new application in your smart phone. I prefer Microsoft Outlook because for my job, I spend much of my day on the computer and Outlook also syncs to my other mobile devices. In that calendar or day planner, you will be able to organize your day from morning ’til night. The benefit of this is that you will be able to see exactly how you spend each hour of your day.

I have an exercise for you to make you aware of how you currently spend your time:

First, begin by writing everything you do in real time as you go throughout your day. This includes everything from saying your prayers to brushing your teeth to having lunch with your favorite friend. Everything takes time! Next to each event, write down the time it takes to do it. Do this for three days to evaluate how you spend your time.

Next, you must plan your days’ events with priorities in mind. Use a letter A to indicate high value priorities, B for medium value priorities, and C for low value priorities.

  • An  A  event is a “MUST” (doctor appointment, boss meeting, pick kids up from school, etc.)
  • A  B  event is a “should do” (getting your car washed, calling your mother-in-law, sending a card to a friend)
  • A  C  event is a “could do” (read a good book, a sale at the mall, etc.)

       ****can you make any into a D event and DELEGATE????

This is a great way to see what we deem as most important in our lives. Is God really first? Or do we just say He is and put Him on the C list??? When we look at our list it is important to realize that no matter what, we should get every A event accomplished…then we can go to the B and C events are those we can push to the next day or things we can fit in if time allows.

What we realize when we schedule everything we do, like watching TV and spending time with our spouse, is that we sometimes spend more time watching TV than we do spending time with our spouse! The problem most people don’t realize is that WE CANNOT MAKE UP TIME!!! Once time is wasted, we cannot get it back. There will be time for re-runs of your favorite show, but if you show up for TV more than you do for your spouse, you may be watching those re-runs alone!

Optimum time management is when my behavior is in line with my values!!!

 To help you decide how to spend your day, pray for God to give you discernment. What is important and what is not? By listing all the things you do each day, you can begin to see what it is you spend your time doing. Most of us waste time, but until we look at it in black and white, we have trouble seeing it.

I spend the first 45 minutes of my morning with God every single day and since I have let Him have complete control of my to-do list, I am amazed with all I get done and how good I feel about it! I live for Him, so its silly for me to think that I can actually control my day! I can create boundaries around the tasks God wants me to complete but that’s about the extent of the control I have on my days!

We must live our everyday life and fulfill our obligations.

The Universal to-do list looks something like this:

  • Work (meetings, marketing/ publicity, desk tasks, planning, billing, reading, writing)
  • Errands (banking, gas station, post office, cleaners)
  • Children (school, lessons, sports, car pool, play dates, parties)
  • Appointments (health, fitness, beauty, car, animals)
  • Shopping (food, clothing, home, gifts)
  • Correspondence (bills, letters, cards, packages)
  • Home (cleaning, laundry, cooking, repairs, entertaining, gardening, decorating)
  • Family (holidays, reunions, get-togethers)
  • Friends (dinners, hobbies, coffee dates)
  • Church/Community (attend church, fundraising, service projects, Bible study)
  • Personal (rest, introspection, relaxation, grooming, creativity, education, pleasure)

Life is made up of one resource: TIME. You do have choices on how you spend your time. Start by considering why you waste time on the things that do not agree with your priorities based on what your values are. Re-evaluate the importance of these events.

Life is too short to waste because you can never recover what you lost. When you realize this, you will see the changes you can implement. You will then begin to experience relief when you have more time to spend on the things you cherish and less time on the things you don’t.

How to realistically manage your time wasters (TV, Facebook, email, phone, etc…)

I schedule it in! Seriously! It might look like I am on Facebook all day because I have it available to me on mobile devices, but I only really spend TIME on Facebook in the morning and in the evening for a half hour at a time, if that.

I do not answer my phone every time it rings and I do not answer emails as soon as I get one. I carve out periods of time in my day for those things. Now, if it is my spouse or one of my kids, I answer when I can; but for calls that I KNOW are not urgent, I give them a backseat until the time I have scheduled for that. Otherwise, I would let my day get de-railed all over the place! Satan would love that, right?

You might not like to hear this, but I don’t watch TV. Now, I have other ways I unwind, but TV is not one of them. I like to play words with friends or read a book, but that time is scheduled and it is a “C” item for me…as time permits. God is so good, He knows when I need that time and He always makes a way for me to have it!

Now…. have you done this exercise yet? I would love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

Blessings,

Coach Megan 🙂

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Girls with Swords: Chapter 9 – “Kill or Defend” (pgs 150-151)

May 23, 2013 by

I wanted to point out to you ladies that in the introduction to this chapter, Lisa explains that the machete is a formidable weapon for self-defense, capable of fending off assailants and wild animals and killing venomous snakes (pg 140).

This reminded me of something a friend told me last night.  I was explaining how sometimes I feel like I am in a tug of war with Satan.  I feel him wanting to wrap his slithering body around my arm and try with all of his might to pull me on his side, but God is not pulling my other arm, He is holding me securely in His mighty arms.

Her response was this: Satan is first mentioned as a snake in the Scriptures.  Did you know that when a snake gets its head cut off, it can still live.  They do not know that they are slithering around without a head.  Satan is walking around with his head cut off, he just doesn’t know it yet.  Genesis 3:15 says Satan will strike HIS (referring to Jesus) heels BUT HE (Jesus) WILL CRUSH HIS HEAD.  Satan is still trying to have you because he doesn’t know that he is dead, but he is.

YES!  He sure is dead.  There is something more powerful than the machete; the stained cross where our Precious Lamb was slain for you and me.  That same cross sliced the head of Satan the day He rose from the dead.  Jesus has overcome Satan’s many attempts to strike His heel, with His stained cross and empty tomb.  Jesus has freely given us this same victory over Satan’s many attempts to pull us on his path!

Satan is slithering around headless, he is dead, and he just doesn’t know it yet.  When he tries to wrap around your arm, that is when we, princess-warriors-in-training, MUST slay his grasp with the machete of God’s word.

When we are on God’s path for us, we will encounter the snake in many forms.  The snake wants us on his path.  He will pull out all of his tricks to discourage us on our path for God.  Lisa tells us on page 150 that even if the snake is not positioned to strike, it must be removed.  Snakes are a threat, but not to God.  When we are living our life for Christ, snakes lose their threat to us.  Especially when you know the snake doesn’t have a head!

We have all power and all authority of God behind us, ready to take on that headless snake!  Philippians 3:21  “The Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”  The same God who raises our bodies to be with Him in Heaven one glorious day, is the same God who has beheaded Satan’s body.  We have God’s mighty power behind us, the work has already been done, Satan is already dead.  We must continue on God’s path and be prepared princess warriors with the machete of God’s word in our hands and on our tongues at all times!

 

*****

Let’s pray Lisa’s prayer together:

Dear Heavenly Father,  direct my paths by the light of your Word, and instruct me in ways to leave a clearly marked trail behind for others.  I want to use your Word to create environments that encourage others to flourish.  I choose to guard my heart so as not to mistake co-laborers for competitors.  Open my eyes to see the fields surrounding my life that are white and ready for harvest.  In Jesus’s name, Amen.

AMEN!

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Girls with Swords: Chapter 9 “Manage Harvests” (pgs 147-150)

May 22, 2013 by

I have been to three churches in my adult life and have been able to see the different cultures in these churches. One of the things that I have noticed is the fact that some individuals in the church are more concerned with their image and looking better than others than they are with spreading the Word. I think that being competitive is part of our nature; it can be fun. I know that I enjoy a friendly competition with family and friends; but, “Competition has its place in the Olympics but not in the house of God” (pg. 148).

I enjoyed how Lisa examined the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist.  I liked how the powers that be (religious leaders) were unable to create a rivalry between the two.  I like how John was “a forerunner who understood his season and purpose…Like him, we should herald the One to come” (pg. 149).

Life is full of competition and it is full of trying to be the best. But there are areas of life when competition is not warranted and, in this case, it can do harm. When we are going head-to-head with our fellow Christian, what message are we sending?

I’ve heard the term herald before, and I knew that it was an individual who acted as an olden day announcer; but I wanted to look the word up in order to better understand the responsibilities.

her·ald

1: an official crier or messenger

2: one that precedes or foreshadows

3: one that conveys news or proclaims

4: one who actively promotes or advocates

Messenger

Crier

Foreshadows

Proclaims

Conveys News

Promotes

Advocates

Are we clearing the paths, or, are we adding more barriers for those trying to reach Him?  “In times of harvest, paths must be cleared and maintained so the harvesters can get to the fields” (pg. 147).

TimesOfHarvest.jpg

We have been assigned many titles—woman, wife, mother, daughter, friend, employee, girls with swords, warriors, and now we are also heralds. We now need to walk our paths, sword in hand, clearing paths.

In times of harvest, paths must be cleared and maintained so the harvesters can get to the fields (pg. 147)

 *****

Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the path You have placed us on. Lord, with so many responsibilities and titles we often try to outdo one another. Please forgive us for this and remind us that we are all assigned to be Your heralds.  We are assigned to proclaim Your glory, working together to clear paths and lead others to You. Thank You Lord for Your assignments in our lives.  In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

 

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Glorious Living w/ Coach Megan: In God’s Strength

May 17, 2013 by
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Hey sweet lady,
How does a working mom balance time for kids, home, work, church, etc when husband travels for his job?  Brian’s job has been more stressful & time consuming than I thought it would be a year ago.  I’m left to manage EVERYTHING for the household and lately have been reprimanded for being too grumpy.  How do I keep things running smoothly without feeling resentful, unappreciated, etc for what I do?
~AB
My Dear AB,
Ah… I know this world you speak of all too well and my husband has traveled for work for the past few years, At first, I was a HOT MESS…. but I have learned strategies that have helped so much! There are many layers to your question…. but they all come down to RELATIONSHIP!
Your relationship with God
Your relationship with your Husband
…and, yes… in that order!
***I could easily write whole blog posts on each item listed below… so please forgive me if I am too vague or if you need more clarification. I will do my best to share with you what has worked well in my own family and I am more than happy to expand on any of these suggestions in future blog posts or in comments on today’s blog!
The more intimate your walk with the Lord, the better you will handle every single situation and circumstance that life brings your way!
  1. Be consistent with your daily quiet time and be in The Word.
  2. Keep God with you throughout your day.
  3. Let God prioritize your day! Don’t give HIM your to-do list… give it up to HIM and I promise you, what MUST get done will get done… in perfect timing!
  4. Take a look at all you do in one day and ask God if there is anything you can delegate or anything you have taken on that HE is not intending for you to do in this season. If He shows you anything that falls into these categories, give them up.
  5. Give yourself a “time-out” when you need it to re-center and focus and not be “grumpy.”

The stronger your relationship is with your husband, the better you will handle every single situation and circumstance that your kids bring your way! 

  1. Submit to his authority and let him handle the big stuff…. even while out-of-town.
  2. You both need to be on the same page with boundaries and consequences (good and bad) with the kids.
  3. Clear expectations need to be set with the kids. We call it our family’s “culture” and I highly recommend drawing up a family constitution together with the kids so that everyone has input and understands what is expected of them.
  4. Woo your husband even {and especially} when he is out-of-town.
  5. Stay positive and know that this, too, shall pass!

Philippians 4:11-12

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,

whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Philippians 2:14

Do all things without grumbling or arguing

God calls us to be content in all situations and circumstances. That is not an easy task, but it IS possible through God! I know how hard it is to stay content when you have so much pulling at you and you feel as if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Where we get into trouble is when we start doing things for people and not for God. You are not here on this earth to please your husband, kids, friends, or even your boss! If you truly are living to please our Heavenly Father, that will help you maintain the proper perspective no matter what curve balls get thrown your way! Yes, people might not like what you do or how you handle something, but as long as you know that your actions, words, responses (not reactions) are in line with God’s Word and His commands, that ultimately is what matters.
Remember, feelings can be so deceptive! If something happens and you feel out of sorts, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself…
Is this really a BIG deal? {If your answer is yes OR no: Why is this hurting my heart? What “button” is this pushing?}
  1. Check your heart condition! {Most of the time if something happens that is small but our reaction is BIG…. we need to check the condition of our own heart}
  2. Go to God and let Him fill that space! No one else needs to own what is yours to go to God with!
Dear Lord, comfort my sweet sister and help her to know that You are always near and ready for her to run into Your arms when she is feeling overwhelmed, over tired, and over burdened. Strengthen her and help her to find the balance she so desperately needs. I pray that You strengthen her marriage as they are one accord and may YOU always be at the center of every decision and conversation, Father. Direct their steps and keep them all safe when Mr. AB is out-of-town. I thank you in advance for all you will do! In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen. <3
Blessings,
Coach Megan 🙂 
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Girls with Swords: Chapter 8 – “Warnings” (pages 134-137)

May 16, 2013 by

JesusLife

Jesus’ life fulfilled the Word of God.

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  Each day He arose with God; He knew what was ahead.  He knew what God’s will for His life was.  He prayed God’s will for His life.

Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  After reading this verse in the Bible, I am awed by Jesus’ prayer.  ‘This cup’ is the terrible agony Jesus knew He would endure.  ‘This cup’ was separation from God so that He could die for your and my sins.  This is what Jesus prayed for.  I know we bloggers have been asking a lot of questions this week, but let me pose another one to you today:  When was the last time you prayed God’s will for your life over your own desires?

As Lisa explains on page 136, our Father gave us Jesus to be the example of how to live what we speak.  There will never be anyone who will be perfect—as Jesus is perfect—but we can all strive to live a life pleasing to God as Jesus did while He walked the Earth.  Jesus lived out God’s will for His life.  We can lay down our plans at Jesus’ feet and strive to fit into God’s plans.  We can find God’s will for our lives by reading the Word and praying to God.  One thing I have learned in doing this is that God surely has created us to share His love through the ends of the Earth.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I think one of the greatest things about reading the Bible is it lights a fire in my soul.  In reading, I find this huge desire to share God’s truths with every single person in the entire world.  When telling someone this once, the response was, “Oh no, at trick-or-treat time you would totally be one of those people that hand out tracts instead of candy!”  My response: “Absolutely, inside the tracts are the words people need to find God.” Do you desire to be the tract lady for Jesus, giving people His words they are in desperate need of?

Isaiah 55:8-11 in its entirety is absolutely beautiful, let us focus though on verses 10 and 11:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

What words are we using when we fearlessly share the saving grace, love, and power of Jesus Christ with the lost and the hurting?  When we use God’s words instead of our words there will be victory every time in Heaven.  We know it is truth that God’s word shall not return to Him empty.  The words He sent out will fulfill His plan and not return void.  It is our job to be the messengers.  We are called to make God’s word known to others.  This means we must know His words.  We must not only know how to speak them to others, but we must also know how to live out God’s words with our actions.

We are the only Jesus some people will ever see.  That is not something to take lightly.  That is something to remind ourselves of daily.  When you are at home, at school, at work, in the grocery story, at the mall, (insert other here)…be Jesus.  Someone is always watching.  Let them see Jesus through you, let them see the TRUTH.  When you are a princess-warrior-in-training for the King of Kings, your actions matter just as much as your words matter.  Both are used to bring others to our Father in Heaven.  Others must see Jesus in us; we cannot get in their way from finding Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Let His words transform your actions to line up with what He is showing us to do.  We know what to do through His word, through prayer, and through Jesus’ life.  Let’s thank God for giving us the Bible, giving us access to Him through prayer, and giving us an amazing example of how to live a holy life, through His son, Jesus.

________________

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Holy Word.  Thank You for giving us the privilege of prayer where we can meet with You and hear from You.  Thank You for giving us Jesus’ life as an example for us, daily.  Thank You for giving us the desire to fulfill Your will for our lives.  Lord, I ask that You give us the strength and desire to lay aside our plans, and to fit into Your will for us. Lord, we give You glory for all You do in our lives and in the lives of those we encounter.  You are an amazing Savior!  Amen.

Lisa has one more question for us, and I encourage you to journal about your answer: “Do you want to do His will so all that was written of you will be something to behold?”  (Page 137) ~SELAH

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If you would like to join us for the “Girls with Swords” Online Bible/Book study, click HERE to be taken to our sign-up page.  Once you complete the enrollment process, we will email you further details.  We hope you will join us!

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Girls with Swords: Chapter 8 – “Sword of Words” (pgs 129-134)

May 15, 2013 by

What are we doing with our words?

In the world we live in today, the power of our words means more now than ever; the power of the Scripture means more than it ever has, and the impact of its words will reach further than ever. I can honestly say that I have always known that there is power in our words; there is strength behind what we say and strength behind how we say it. That strength can have either a positive or negative impact.

Proverbs 12:18 NIV

The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

I’ve seen well-intentioned words hurt, and I’ve heard well-intentioned words lead someone astray. We don’t do it on purpose, but when we aren’t intentional about what we say and how we say it, the interpretation of those words can become skewed, even in a conversation between only two people.

“Far too much is lost in interpretation when we pass the words through the filter of earth rather than fashion the earth with the words of heaven” — Lisa Bevere (page 129).

Are we allowing our words to become earth-based? Are we allowing them to become catchy or cliché?  Are we trying to make the sacred words common?  Are our words lacking wisdom and hurting instead of healing?

The Bible was not only given to us to help us grow closer to God, to help us understand God’s love for us, to teach us the history and to give us a guide in which to live our lives; but it was given to us  for us to share it with others.  We must retain the power it holds.  We musn’t allow the filter that the world has placed on it to lessen the power it holds.

Hebrews 11:3 NIV

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

When I read this quote by William Booth I said “wow!”  “In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without a hell” (William Booth, pg. 133).

I don’t believe that we are intentionally creating this reality, but I do believe that we are unintentionally making this statement true. When we say things, are we saying them because they sound good and will grab the attention of others? Or have we passed what we are going to say through God’s filter?  Have we asked His advice about what to say and how to say it?  Have we sought out His Scripture?

Ladies, we need to be aware of our words. I know that this needs to be a goal of mine, too.  I am not always intentional about what I say. I always tell my kids to think before they speak. Not only do we need to apply this to our lives, but more importantly we need to pray before we speak.  We need to run our words through the Heavenly filter.

Let’s Pray:  

Dear Heavenly Father, our words can do harm as easily as they can do good. Lord, touch our hearts before we speak as a reminder to pray about what we are going to say and how we are going to say it. Your words hold power that we want to retain. Please help us to use our words to heal and not hurt, to draw ourselves and others closer to You and not to lead them astray.  In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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Girls With Swords: Chapter 8 – “Sword Words” (pgs 121-125)

May 13, 2013 by

Click HERE for this week’s reading assignment

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Part 3 – ARMED

 It’s time to break camp, Warriors!  We have been called. We have been trained.  We have been forged into a weapon to be used against the forces of darkness.  We are “ministers of hope whose words are seasoned with salt and light and sound foreign in a world peppered with darkness” (Bevere, p. 121).  How is it that we have these sword imageries and our weapon is one of ‘words’?  Have you ever stopped to think that the words coming from your mouth directly reflect the heart inside your body?  That is pretty powerful stuff.

Lisa tells us that “words are invisible, but if misused, they can prove deadly.”  Have you killed someone with your words?  Have you left walking wounded?  It’s time we thought about this for a little while, take stock in our words and let the Holy Spirit reveal areas of our speech we need to work on.  Take time to do that now.

(pause)

My Bible tells me that we were all created with one language in the beginning.  We spoke the same language as God, the Father.  We knew His voice.   We could recognize Him as He walked with us in the garden.  I like to think God whistled as He walked in the cool of the day, asking Adam and Eve how their day had been.  I say “we” because we are descended from Adam and Eve…and God the Father.  We are here, now, because of them…back there.  “God has given us His language… He has framed the words in strength and carefully structured each sentence so that every syllable is woven with power and punctuated by promise.”  (p. 122).

I think that makes our words pretty powerful!  They are the words of our Father, they are powerful, and we should be sharing them with the world.  How will we know what to say?  Where will we find the answers to our questions???  2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us:

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

You have been forged as a SWORD.  Are you ARMED???

I was asked these questions last week, “If the Bible is my guide book to life does that mean I should follow all the ideals set forth?  Do I pick and choose which ones I like and which ones I don’t?  If I do have to follow all of them, how do you translate those stories to apply to modern day living?”  So many good questions from one seeking person.  After our basic training, and now our warrior training, how would YOU answer these questions?

Lisa poses an interesting point:  If we knew we were going to live out the rest of our days in a foreign country we would take the time to learn the language and the culture and learn to communicate.  As born-again believers, we KNOW we are going to live out our days in heaven with our spiritual family.  We need to be learning how to communicate.  Our Father speaks a heavenly and holy language.  We need to learn heaven’s language NOW.  “We lift swords when we lift His Word:  ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21)” (p. 123).

So let’s go back and apply what we have learned in our training.  Let’s use the language we are learning to shine a light for a lost soul.  Give me some Sword Words to support your answers to this person’s questions.

  1.  If the Bible is my guide book to life does that mean I should follow all the ideals set forth?
  2. Do I pick and choose which ones I like and which ones I don’t?
  3. If I do have to follow all of them, how do you translate those stories to apply to modern day living?

This language may seem foreign to you right now.  Or it may come naturally and you have suppressed the sound of the Father’s voice.  Either way, let’s put our hearts together and help this brother out with his questions.  I would like to see how you WARRIORs put your SWORD to use.  Are you ARMED?  We need to light the path, ladies!!!

Our Call to Arms for this week comes from Hawk Nelson and Bart Millard (Mercy Me):

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father,  I want to remember Your voice.  I want to hear the language of Your heart coming from my mouth.  I want to be a light to draw others out of the darkness and onto Your path.  Give us the desire to love our neighbors, to share Your words with those around us.  Let our words point the world back to You.  You have given us every weapon we will ever need to survive this world.  Give us a willing heart to take up those weapons and use them for Your glory.  In Jesus’ Holy Name we pray, AMEN.

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If you would like to join us for the “Girls with Swords” Online Bible/Book study, click HERE to be taken to our sign-up page.  Once you complete the enrollment process, we will email you further details.  We hope you will join us!

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