Tag Archives: Moms Class

A Quiet Place With God – Part 5

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Then He will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful.  Isaiah 30:23

IMG_4135A year ago a shuffle of steps came up my walk and a gushy splat followed, our door cracked to illuminate a trail of pony-tailed girls running and hiding behind a Fiat across the street.

Facebook revealed smashed pumpkins in our neighborhood around ten pm.

We were not alone.

I live with a couple of artists and the previous year we had a watermelon carved like Larry the Cucumber.

Quite popular for photo ops with the under five crowd.

This past year the creativity continued …IMG_2159

A Fiat is not the best place to hide and as I  ran off our porch and heard my family say, “Stop, turn around and get back inside… now!”

How often in conflict, when pressed by a foe, I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;

How often, when trials like sea billows roll, Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.

In Cynthia Healds,  Intimacy With God, she teaches us to take refuge in God.

Our Moms Class spent the last week under her teaching and she emphasizes the Almighty offers the ultimate refuge for any need.

The Lord pulled me into a quiet place with Him.

One year later, the planter next to the crushed pumpkin is producing fruit.

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Cynthia Heald, Intimacy With God, NavPress, P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO 80935

Hymn quoted from Cynthia Heald. Intimacy with God, Chapter 5 – God Is a Refuge “Hiding in Thee,” lyrics by William O. Cushing, in Hymns for the Family of God, (Nashville: Paragon,1976), #70

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Friendship with God

19 Sunday May 2013

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Everyday God wants to reach you and share His Glorious Presence.

He has reserved a special moment just for you and it is almost like a secret the two of you share.

I saw Him in those black fierce rolling clouds.

Friendship with God is for those who reverence Him.SONY DSC

With them alone He shares the secrets of His promises. Psalm 25:14 TLB

In Cynthia Healds “Intimacy With God “page 55, she challenges us to check our lives in terms of how it reflects reverence for God.

Do we “lift our souls to falsehood” or compromise the truth to spare someone’s feelings or make another think well of me.
As we reverence our Lord our families are watching.

Communicating His Truth and His Ways to our children does not always make us popular.

He rewards us as Mothers as we quietly watch the breakthroughs that come into our child’s life.

They see the All-Knowing, Ever-Present God and His plan.

May God bless, honor and favor you in a special intimate way this week.

Happy Belated Mothers Day!

Photo credit to George Lee Southard

Words That Heal – Part 5

19 Friday Apr 2013

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Listen to counsel and receive instruction so that you may be wise in later life. Proverbs 19 v.20 HCSB

Providing expectations for your children and young adults that live in your home is tiring.

ITC – exhausting.

Is it worth it!

Margaret Thatcher  left a powerful legacy for young men and women throughout the world.

In the movie the Iron Lady,  Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher remembers

her father provided clear instructions for her as she was growing up.

He did not leave her in the dark on his expectations.

Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become habits. Watch your character for it becomes your destiny.

Words wound when accusations are laid out. Words cut when punishment arrives in a  harsh sarcastic tone.

Instruction must heal and encourage.   Occasionally our children may come to us for advice. Hold your thought before answering and see what Gods Word says. When the answer is not present in scripture, pray and wait with them.

Watch as God reveals His good and wonderful things to your children.

NOTE – The Term ITC comes from Barbara Tompkins who has taught”The Moms Class” in Tucson,  Arizona for the past 31 years.

Words That Heal – Part 4

05 Friday Apr 2013

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Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and whan you get up.  Deuteronomy 6:7 NIVUK

On Good Friday we visited the Blanton Museum at the University of Texas with our daughter and a friend.
We have visited almost all the museums in Austin, and the expression – save the best for last – certainly fit here.
As our daughter grew we would always give her a clipboard with paper and pencil and eventually a sketch book. We pushed her in her stroller even as she was far too old and would visit for just as long as her interest held and left, making it a special memorable visit. Sometimes we would stay for an hour, but not much longer.
Museums give a great reference to see larger than life examples of Bible greats of the faith.
We were walking by the head of Goliath held by David and we overheard a little boy gasp in awe.

“What is that Mom?”
She and the grandmother dismissed him. “It’s just a myth”
Todd and I saw them walk away and everything in us wanted to shout “its true! ”
God can step in the most challenging situations and give His strength and His power. David was just a boy when He slayed Goliath with a stone.photo (83) I will never forget that young man and I’m praying for people around him to speak truth into his life.
Never underestimate the hope you can share as you are interacting with your child, their friends, a neighborhood friend just as you walk along.
Gods Word heals, gives strength, imparts hope, it saves, it gives wisdom. Those are just a few that come to mind.
You are special to me. You are a child of the Most High God.

Words That Heal – Part 3

30 Saturday Mar 2013

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This weekend the world takes a breath, shops close early, and families spend time together in prayer, fasting and contemplation of Gods sacrifice of His Son Jesus.photo (81)Ecce Homo  circa 1623 Daniele Crespi    “Behold the Man”

Our family viewed at The Blanton yesterday on Good Friday. Notice Pilate touching Jesus arm.

The world becomes quiet.

 Quiet waiting before The Lord in prayer will give Him a chance to change your mood. The situation may not change, but you will have changed for the better in spite of the situation” Robert A. Cook

Psalm 88 v.1,2 is a cry of desperation  Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out before You day and night. May my prayer reach Your Presence;  listen to my cry.

There are times we must walk dark valleys and we can only get on our face before Him and plead.

Our hearts are so tainted we let sin bloom dark.
Jesus let the eyes of our hearts open to Your calling.
When words escape you let quiet rest in your soul and sing softly and praise His wonders.

Jesus took the penalty of our sin,  your sin, and my sin.
When Jesus died on the cross our sin was covered with His blood.
He died in our place.
“But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.” Isaiah 53:5

His Words spoken out loud heal our wounds.
Praying for each of you!
2 Corinthians 5:21

Words That Heal – Part 2

26 Tuesday Mar 2013

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Have you ever been somewhere and watched a wife nag and berate her husband?

Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

Proverbs 21:9

Have you felt the fear that creeps over her children as they cringe and attempt to hide as Dad gets verbally assaulted.
As a shop girl I saw a lovely woman become quite ugly as she lit into her husband nagging about his lack of something.
I shudder to think of her two daughters self-esteem.
 I wonder will they catch her hot temper and play it out someday on their co-workers, children, husbands?

Beware of criticizing or nagging others.

The one who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Proverbs 21:23
Holy Week is stressful as we prepare for company.
Make a plan now and refuse to let unkind remarks be your legacy.
A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding; by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious treasure. Proverbs 24:3,4
This week gives yourself permission to unplug and fill your heart and home with Jesus.photo (23)
Wait and see the words that heal that come from your rested heart and mind.
Praying for you!

Words that Heal

21 Thursday Mar 2013

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Today is the second day of Spring and I came across a great message to begin fresh in our families, a second chance to begin new with a promise from God.photo (69)

A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.  The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness.  Proverbs 15:1,2

In other words… speak words that heal, encourage, and respect your child for who they are.

Think of the strong-willed child and catch them being persistent.

Strong-willed children will not easily give in to the demands of peers, and the blessing is watching them choose to stand alone and not follow the foolish behaviour of others.

The strong-willed, filled with God’s Holy Spirit is a thing of beauty as they persevere and choose the way of honor.

When others are quickly swayed, they are sensible, watching their steps.

Verse 4 of Proverbs 15 states another promise.

A tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.photo (72)

We spent time on will and spirit this spring in my Mom’s Class, todays lesson from the bible is a great reminder to speak words of healing.

May our Lord Jesus anoint you as you give life to your families with your words.

Discipline is Love

17 Thursday Jan 2013

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Parenting from the middle is no place to parent.

I notice runners stay in the middle of the road as they weave in and out of our neighborhood.

The middle is not exactly a safe place. Leaving your children to run down the center of the street is unsafe.

It is a perfect place for a flat surface for the runner, but not for a child.

Choosing to stand back when our children are young and let them figure it out on their own is a recipe for a child without self-control. They will run down the middle not knowing boundaries.

photo (27)

I love to walk on the sidewalk canopied by trees.   Depending on what time I hit the pavement, I’m fully shaded as long as I take the protected side of the street under the lush boundary of the leafy trees keeping me cool as I stroll.

Walking my dog down the middle of the road would be a bad habit  in the unfortunate instance she takes off and tours the neighborhood without me. Disciplining our pets to walk on the sidewalk shows them love even if they can’t understand it.

The middle leaves you open and when it comes to parenting it gives your children confusion.

Barbara Tompkins of the Moms Class in Tucson, Arizona teaches us to ITC.

Instruct, Train and Correct.

Barbara is a teacher, seminar leader, and inspirational speaker. She holds a B.A. in English and Elementary Education and an M.A. in Education. Barbara has taught the Moms Class every Tuesday morning during the school year for over thirty years.

Privileged to attend her class in Arizona, and I’m still studying under her leading the Moms Class in Texas with my friend Rebecca Price.

We are so grateful she is sharing her materials and her wisdom, experience and encouragement to our Texas Moms.

Barbara instructs us all tirelessly holding her Bible, encouraging us all with love.

Discipline to follow through even when exhausted shows our children love.

Instructions, guidance and training and correcting  gives our children freedom in the boundaries we’ve set and coached them on.

Confident choices made with boundaries we’ve set.

Today we started another Mom’s Class at Hope Bible Fellowship and the Spring Semester will focus on giving our children love through setting boundaries, giving instruction and training.

Teaching our children, discipline is love.

Discipline is love.

The Lord bless you and protect you;

the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;

and give you peace.  Numbers 6:24-26