A New Direction

A little bit about my family – my husband works away from home (Afghanistan) and is only home a brief amount of time every few months. He was just home and we had a wonderful time together, our sons (8^th & 4^th graders) are always anxious and excited for when Daddy gets to be home, so the time when he has to leave are always very hard on us – especially so with the holidays. While hubby is home, I take a break from my blog and any other volunteer activities to concentrate on him.

Two years ago, I became a stay at home mom, which was a huge scary step for me. I had always worked, but with my husband gone for 9 months out of the year, our sons getting older and my full-time work consuming so much of my time, I felt God was leading me to stay home. Instead of obeying what God was telling me, I asked my husband if I could work just part-time – I thought that might be ‘good enough’; but if you didn’t know, when God tells us his plan for us, He doesn’t change His mind or say, ‘you know what, I didn’t think of that, maybe your way is better’. So part-time didn’t really work, instead I was doing the same amount of work in less time and even more stress, with less pay – so after ‘letting go and letting God’, I quit working all together. When I had prayed on this, God gave me a word (or direction, if you prefer) He basically told me that my new ‘job’ was to raise our sons the way God intended them to be raised, to be godly young men – not of this world.

Several things have happened in the time since, I’ve grown spiritually and I know I’m far from done in that capacity; I also started this blog and my Facebook page, and every blog I’ve written has increased my faith on how God can use someone like me, to reach and teach people all over the world. Now I believe God has given me the next step to this adventure – homeschool. It’s a big step of faith and it’s one I believe God has been preparing me for, no way would I have been able to do this when I first quit working –but now, I believe I am at the place where God wants me to take on this challenge.

My boys and I are all home sick today with the flu and since we couldn’t attend our church services, we had church at home. In the lesson today we talked about Matthew 14:22-32, where Jesus walked on the water and Peter stepped out of the boat in faith. I was able to use the example of Jesus telling Peter to ‘come’ and how his faith was strong while he focused on Jesus but when he let the distractions of the world overcame him, he began to sink; as an example of God giving me the word to quit working, raise my children as godly men and now to homeschool. When I made the mistake of just part-time work, I began to sink - it was when I focused on God and quit all together that I began to grow in faith and have come to where I am today. I can’t be distracted by what I, others or the world thinks, God’s given me direction – I’m to focus on Him and His Word and follow His direction.

God doesn’t lead us into trouble, He leads us to blessings; yet the devil will do his best to distract us - to try and get us off the path we’ve been given. This path might not be for everyone so remember – God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I’ve been praying for continued guidance and subtle little things have been given to me to confirm the direction we are going, my sons are excited and anxious to start homeschooling – we’ve discussed what it will be like and what is expected of them and of myself. We know this will be a huge change for us all and we know this is not a task to be taken lightly, but I’m so thankful for this wonderful opportunity. I’m not sure of the direction of my blog in all of this; but I know that no matter where this adventure leads us, our faith will only grow stronger and blessings will follow.

Day 13 of 40 Days of Prayer

24 When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— 25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry?

    Why did they waste their time with futile plans?

26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle;

    the rulers gathered together

against the Lord

    and against his Messiah.’

28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. 29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:24-26, 28-31 NLT)

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your Word and your Holy Spirit; they guide us and direct us unto the path you made for us, long before we were even born. We thank you God for the wisdom you have given your children, for your understanding and discernment regarding our future; you have given us all that we need to pray and encourage one another. We ask for forgiveness of our sins, the sins we’ve committed against you and each other, the sins we’ve forgotten and the sins we can’t forget – we ask that they be cast away forever and that we turn from those sins and focus on you dear God. Your Word tells us that when your children lift their voices together in prayer, as one voice, in one accord; that this spiritual unity enables your Holy Spirit to operate among us. Together we pray that the people of this land would acknowledge you as their Lord and Savior and not seek salvation from the government.  We pray that the leaders of this nation be challenged to be people of honor and integrity –  and to place you above themselves and above all others, to lift you high where you belong, as the one true God – the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We pray that the lost would be found, the roaming would return to the fold and the hurting would be healed and restored. We pray for your will to be done in this land and that your mercy and grace would be seen and felt by all. We thank you dear God for your never ending love, we thank you for boldness in our words and in our lives; that we would minister to all the land, blessing everyone we meet with your light that shines through us. We ask these things, in your son Jesus’ name ~ AMEN

Day 5 of 40 Days of Prayer

Finally, dear brothers and sisters,  we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.  Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.  But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one .  And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you.  May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 NLT)

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for all you have done for our country and for your hand and favor upon our nation all these years. We ask for forgiveness of the sins of our country, sins against you and each other.  Lord your Word tells us to put you in remembrance, so we ask that you remember Nineveh and how they repented of their evil ways, and turned back to you.  God, we pray for a full activation of all the Believers in our country; that hearts would be changed, lives would be renewed and people would return to you and your ways. We pray dear Lord for your guidance, your direction, and your will in our lives, our families, our cities, our lands and our nation. We pray that each person would answer the call that is made to them, that the Holy Spirit would be heard and not drowned out by the noise of the world. Strengthen your children dear God, give us courage and boldness to speak the truth and protect us from the enemy. We thank you God because we know you hear our prayers, we know you care, we know you love us and we know you want our nation restored. We give you all the glory, honor and praise dear God and pray in your Son Jesus’ sweet name ~ AMEN