The Voice of God
Over the last few months, I have really been thinking and praying about God's purpose for my life. I just feel like my whole pregnancy and now with small infants, everything has been about "me me me". My whole world has been focused on me, my pregnancy, the birth, the babies, etc. I want God to 
use me. The most important way I want to be used is with my children. I am reading the most amazing book called The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. http://www.wholeheart.org/whmain.php (Which I will probably end up bloggin about the whole thing!) It's one of those books that you don't just sit down and read front to back. There is so much "meat" in it that it wants you to read a section and meditate on it. It grabbed my heart right from the start.
use me. The most important way I want to be used is with my children. I am reading the most amazing book called The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. http://www.wholeheart.org/whmain.php (Which I will probably end up bloggin about the whole thing!) It's one of those books that you don't just sit down and read front to back. There is so much "meat" in it that it wants you to read a section and meditate on it. It grabbed my heart right from the start. In the first section, the author is talking about a down moment she was having when the phone rang. Her friend was on the other end of the line who she hadn't talked to in awhile. She just called to tell her that she wanted to encourage her. The author uses the phrase "she became the voice of God for me in that moment". Wow.. how well put. I think of all the times that people have become the "voice of God" for me.
When we first moved to Houston I had a hard adjustment. We had finished a great year in Birmingham with our friends, we had joined a great church and begun to develop new friendships there, my job was going well.. I honestly could not see anything good in moving. Once we got here, I heard on the radio about Beth Moore holding a Christmas event at a center near our house. Well, at the time, I thought Beth Moore was the only thing Houston had going for it so I took Justin and we went. We were coming off several rounds of fertility treatments and were "on a break" while we decided what to do. Beth Moore delivered one of the most powerful messages I have ever heard. It was the weekend before Christmas and she was discussing Elizabeth and struggle to conceive. Beth said she new there were people there in that room that needed to hear this message. I swear I felt she was talking straight to me. She said the message that she wanted me to hear was that "what comes easy and naturally for some people, will come super naturally for me". That God was big enought to bless Elizabeth after all these years and He was big enough to bless me. .. The voice of God in a moment.
Most recently, the first Sunday that we went back to church was also the first week that I had gone back to work. All week, I struggled with my decision. Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing right by my children? I was so overwhelmed with all the responsibilities in my life. To handle my full time job, my husband, my household, my children, my church. I went down front during prayer time and just threw myself on my knees and prayed that God would give me strength and He would show me how to handle it all. During Sunday school (we go after church), Eli got really fussy so I decided to take him out and feed him. I was sitting on a bench outside in the hallway when this woman walked up to me. She was making small talk and looking at Eli. Then she asked me if I worked? I explained to her that I worked full time and that I had just gone back to work this week. She asked me how I was doing and I said "It's tough". She touched my knee and proceeded to tell me her story. Of how she worked weekends and her husband would bring the children to church and then to the hospital to have lunch with her on Sundays and how tough it was. And the she said, but you know? You get through it. Your children will fine. You will be fine. She encouraged me and lifted my spirits. The voice of God in a moment.
Most recently, the first Sunday that we went back to church was also the first week that I had gone back to work. All week, I struggled with my decision. Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing right by my children? I was so overwhelmed with all the responsibilities in my life. To handle my full time job, my husband, my household, my children, my church. I went down front during prayer time and just threw myself on my knees and prayed that God would give me strength and He would show me how to handle it all. During Sunday school (we go after church), Eli got really fussy so I decided to take him out and feed him. I was sitting on a bench outside in the hallway when this woman walked up to me. She was making small talk and looking at Eli. Then she asked me if I worked? I explained to her that I worked full time and that I had just gone back to work this week. She asked me how I was doing and I said "It's tough". She touched my knee and proceeded to tell me her story. Of how she worked weekends and her husband would bring the children to church and then to the hospital to have lunch with her on Sundays and how tough it was. And the she said, but you know? You get through it. Your children will fine. You will be fine. She encouraged me and lifted my spirits. The voice of God in a moment.
The section of the book, is to emphasize how important words are. The whole universe came into being because God spoke the words. That as mothers, we are the shepheds of our children's lives and hearts. Our words are the first words that they will remember. Our names are usually the first sounds on their lips. Before they even know who God is, they know us. We are the Voice of God to them. How we speak and what we say to them is what they will know of the love from our Father. One of my purposes that God has blessed me with is the ministry of motherhood. My mission field is little hearts inside my boys - growing them, loving them, and preparing them for the life that awaits them. I pray for "lips that speak grace and show the heart of God's love through the things I say".
Love in Christ, The Riley's