The Lord Is My Strength

I don’t have a lot of words today, but rather a verse of encouragement.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7

There are times when life knocks you back, people let you down and you feel LOW. Their words may pierce your heart but I am encouraged that God’s word tells me that He is my strength and I can trust Him with ALL my heart and I will be helped.

If this is you today, join with me today – put on your favourite worship CD and offer him worship and praise. Let your heart rejoice and praise Him with your song.

It is well.

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On This Your First Father’s Day

On this your first Father’s Day… I want to tell you just how proud of you I am.

Fatherhood has come so naturally to you and as I watch the bond the two of you share, I am so grateful to God for your relationship. You really are her first love and I pray that it remains so.

My own personal father-daughter relationship has been challenging at times, but my experiences only makes me appreciate what you do and who you are you even more.

You consciously make the effort to buck the mould, REJECTING the stereotypes that society try to enforce as a black father. Instead you carve out your own blueprint for practical biblical fatherhood, understanding the importance of spending time, being hands on and giving of yourself 100% regardless.

Thank you for walking the walk in fatherhood.

Thank you for showing your love practically.

Thank you for being a wonderful father to our daughter. She is blessed to call you Daddy.

Happy Father’s Day!

Friday Finds: Inspired By The Men In Our Lives

How is it Friday already! Hope you’ve all had a good week!

With Father’s Day upon us this weekend, this week’s finds are focused around the men in our lives.

I was on Pinterest and saw this post in someone’s ‘things for the man I love’ folder. Our husbands are the most important people in our lives after God, so if you’re looking for ways to inspire your other half, here are 50 Ways. I loved the article so much I had to share.

Via Twitter I came across Unveiled Wife  which is a fantastic blog with the sole purpose to provide help and encouragement to wives, daily. She has a feature called Letter to My Husband, where you write a letter to your husband and send in. It gets published on a certain day and you direct your husband to the site to read. I think it’s a really nice way to show appreciation to your man publicly (or privately if you want to be anonymous).

Finally if you’re short on ideas for Father’s Day gifts, there is still time to get creative. Check out the great craft ideas from The Crafting Chicks where gift giving doesn’t have to be expensive!

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to show the fathers in your life some love on Sunday!

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Proverbs 31 Series - Investing into your future

The Proverbs 31 woman was a wise investor who understood the value of sowing and reaping.

Verse 16 – She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard.

A prudent saver, she ‘looks’ (or ‘considers’ as some versions put it) a land and then makes her purchase. She is not an impulsive shopper but rather a thoughtful one.

This verse tells us she decides to plant a vineyard. Why a vineyard, you might ask? Of all the ‘businesses’ she could have gone into, she chose something that requires hard work and toil and does not produce a harvest overnight. However she considered all of this and based on the needs of her family believed that this was the best venture to undertake. A vineyard is a long term investment, therefore this shows that she was forward thinking and PATIENT – looking to the future.

‘With money she has earned’ indicates that she only made purchases from money she already had. She does not make financial decisions which will put her family into debt, but rather in agreement with her husband (who trusts her - Proverbs 31:11), she considers the best ‘deals’ for her family, weighing up the overall cost and purchases accordingly.

As I reflect on this verse, I ask myself ‘Do I look and consider my purchases?’, ‘Am I patient enough to sow into the future of my family?’ Am I making good financial decisions? ‘What is my vineyard?’

As a Proverbs 31 woman I believe we need to always consider these questions and how we can apply it to our current situation.

In what ways can we show financial wisdom in our lives?

Other Posts in the Proverb 31 Series
Proverbs 31: 10-31 CEV Version
Proverbs 31 - A woman that Fears the Lord
Proverbs 31:12-15 - Doing Him Good + Having the Right Attitude
Proverbs 31: 15 - Planning + Starting Your Day Right

Proverbs 31 Series: Planning + Starting Your Day Right

Continuing with our Proverbs 31 series, last week’s verses were Proverbs 31:15-16. My original post was too long, so I have done verse 15 today and will post verse 16 tomorrow.

Verse 15 – She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do.

Getting up early allows for time in the Word, time for yourself and time to plan and prepare for the day ahead. Even Jesus did it (Mark 1:35), which shows you how important it is.  Sometimes my baby will wake up at 4am and not go back to sleep for a while. After she finally goes back to sleep, since I am already up, if I am not too tired, I will try to make the most of the early morning. In addition, depending on the day, I might be able to prep for dinner or do a load of laundry as well. The great thing about early morning starts is that I manage to achieve a lot before the day officially begins and by planning the day ahead, it allows me to focus my time on the important things I need do.

Obviously rising early depends on your season of life, it might not be practical with a newborn baby for example and what I describe above doesn’t always happen, but I know as she gets older, I will look to instil a regular early morning routine for myself.

The second part of the verse talks about servant girls, now I don’t have any servant girls but I could liken what a servant girl would do to all the modern day conveniences that I currently have. Courtney suggests things like your washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer etc. The Proverbs 31 woman has a plan before the day begins. She is aware of the needs of the household, and is organised in addressing them. So if laundry needs to be done today, it gests done.

As a planner she does not do this on her own, but she plans with the Lord as her consult. She does not go off and do things but rather, she prayerfully considers the things she wants to achieve and asks God to bless her plans.  Other parts of Proverbs reinforce the importance of this:

“Ask the Lord to bless your plans and you will be successful in carrying them out” – Proverbs 16:3

“Plan carefully and you will have plenty, if you act too quickly you will never have enough – Proverbs 21:5

How many times have you just started your day without any consideration of the things that need to be achieved or entered into a new venture and realised that you jumped in head first without considering everything properly. Even worse you didn’t ask God for his input. I know I have and while it doesn’t mean your venture will outright fail or your day will be poor, you open yourself up to potential challenges or misfortune. God is our loving Father who wants to be part of everything we are doing, even the daily stuff.

By bringing our plans to God He is able to open our eyes to any things which we may not have thought about and order our steps. He might even tell you not to go ahead! Planning is not something to be rushed and takes careful consideration. As the old saying goes – failure to plan is planning to fail.

Are you committing your plans to God?

Other Posts in the Proverbs 31 Series
Proverbs 31: The Contemporary English Version
Proverbs 31 - A Woman That Fears The Lord
Proverbs 31:12-14 - Doing Him Good And Having the Right Attitude

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