Hope Found in God's Word

Dear Girl Mom,

We are so excited to have you join us here at Dear Girl Mom!

Although our summer break has been rich and filled with many fond memories, Nicole and I are very mindful of how difficult and broken our world is. Life can, quite simply, be just plain hard. As we each struggle with our own areas of challenges and brokenness, we find the need to continually point each other back to Jesus, our true hope and anchor of the souls (Hebrews 6:19). As we each wrestle with our own areas of hurt, doubt, and/or anxiety, we hope to spark a gentle reminder over how Jesus walks with us, talks with us, and is always there for us. We pray the words shared could be just the fresh breath of air you need at this very moment.

Allow us to spend some time together encouraging you as we each seek to fix our eyes on Jesus and allow Him to be the balm over all areas of our great need.

We are eager to be in touch with each of you, girl (or boy) mom community!

Love,

Stacy & Nicole

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Change Will Come, Yet God's Word is Unchanging

Whether we like it or not, managing shifts of change is something that occurs on a regular basis. No matter what new development we face, our tendency can often be to lean on positive experiences to get us through the circumstance. Maybe I just speak for myself, but many times I can fail to focus on God’s word.

I think about how, when my kids face challenges, I want to fix those circumstances immediately. I’ll go for hours turning the whole thing over and over in my head, striving to come up with a plan for all the worst case scenarios! This is my human preoccupation, yet it's not God's desire or His design for me.

Romans 12:2 reminds us:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

God's Word reminds me that it is literally a daily renewing of my mind to turn my focus away from what I can do and focus on what God alone can do. Or, what He alone has done, and will do in the future. We have His Word at our fingertips. We simply have to seek Him and allow Him to bring us peace and comfort in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. “The pattern of the world” would tell us that the power lies within ourselves. Yet, when we know God and His Word, we know that He is in control and is our firm foundation. His Word is a guide and a balm when the world hits us with issues that are out of our control, no matter what we do!

Hope in His Word

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

As I find myself in the particular stage of motherhood where I am not only releasing our oldest daughter into the world, but also trusting our youngest to find her way with only nine months from graduation, this verse has come to mind over and over again.

God has shown me how He goes before our girls (and myself). He has faithfully provided more than we could ever ask or imagine, and it encourages me that He will do it again! God has divinely orchestrated so many beautiful blessings during and through this season, such as deep friendships, opportunities to grow, and solutions to problems that seemed unfixable.

Likewise, this verse extends the reminder that God hems us in. He holds us and He has us, no matter what circumstances surround us. He is with us and will never leave or forsake us. This is truly such a huge comfort and praise!

Along with all of this, this verse is also such a great example of how God comes alongside us perfectly in our everyday life. In reading words from theologian, Edward Welch, in his book A Small Book About Why We Hide, I was recently encouraged by his words that beautifully share how we can go before God and expect to see His words from Scripture to match the concerns of our hearts:

“We can expect to hear gentle encouragement and expect God to do something because He is a compassionate God who is familiar with our weaknesses.”

God Speaks Through His Word

Just recently I had the pleasure of experiencing a powerful encounter where God’s presence walked with me, upheld me, and never left my side. Our oldest daughter and I planned a four-day-backpacking trip in southwestern Colorado. We enjoyed an amazing experience of hiking six miles into the Chicago Basin, while simultaneously making a 2,000 foot elevation gain. We set up base camp and then planned to summit Windom Peak at 14,089 feet. Yes, we climbed an additional 3,000 feet in elevation, with limited oxygen, over the span of six additional miles!

Needless to say, as I prepared for this challenging endeavor, I knew I would need something more than my own positive thoughts or sheer grit to tackle this incredible feat. To say that I battled a great deal of fear and anxiety is an understatement! I consistently wrestled with an internal dialogue of everything from “Can I physically do this?” to “Will we get lost in the woods? We’re both directionally challenged!”

All in all, I knew I needed God and His strength. He brought to mind Hebrews 12:1–2, specifically these key words:

. . .let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. . .

I knew that to truly be present and enjoy this amazing time with my daughter, I had to release fear and embrace my utter need for Jesus.

Fix my eyes on Jesus.

This phrase became my motto and laser focus.

But, here is the tender, God-is-always-with-us part of the story:

A memory came rushing back as God gently reminded me how, many years ago when our girls were very young, I had gone before Him and prayed for specific verses that would be life verses for each of our three daughters. These verses would become the very words I would pray over them throughout the many days of their growing-up years, and beyond. At that time, I then took the verses I felt He had given and I cut out the words in the form of vinyl wall clings. It was my project of declaring, “God’s Word on our Walls!”

God reminded me how, for our oldest daughter, back all those many years ago, I heard Him leading me to Hebrews 12:1–3. It was these very words that were on her wall for so many years! Fast-forward to present day and our tender Lord directed me to these very same verses for our time together in the mountains. He revealed to me how, literally, His Word is life, and it upholds us and strengthens us. God is so good!

“God’s words are quite powerful—they are food that strengthen your soul.” Edward Welch

Welch's words could not express this truth more accurately or adequately. Truly, our God is ever so gracious in how He bows down low from heaven to walk with us, talk with us, and fortify us in all He ordains. The even deeper beauty of it all is that He doesn’t do that just for me. He does that for all His children—all who believe in Him!

God Speaks Through Many Outlets

I cannot help but think of all the ways God uses personal ways to reach us, even outside of His Word: creation, other people's actions and words, as well as podcasts. It never fails that there always seems to be a very specific message to be shared through a podcast that meets my specific need, especially when I am struggling with something specific!

For example, just recently God used a podcast by Bethany Kimsey in Episode 146 When College or Kindergarten Calls Us to Let Go. God used this episode to speak encouragement as well as a bit of conviction (which isn’t always what I go seeking, but am grateful when the Spirit gently nudges).

In her podcast episode, Bethany says:

“My motherhood has always been a battleground of idolatry. It is the battleground of my soul.”

Our hearts were created to center on God, yet our flesh focuses on other things like our kids, their well-being, and happiness, our identity as moms, etc. Idolatry is a sin struggle. Even idolatry of motherhood. And that’s a tough one to come to grips with.

Romans 6:14 states,

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

That means sin no longer has dominion over those who are in Christ. But it is a daily renewal. Likewise, Romans 4:20 shares,

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.

Abraham, the Patriarch of the faith from the Old Testament, is who is being referenced in Romans. He never wavered in believing God’s promise—his faith grew even stronger for it. So, we as moms and as women can do the same when we put our full trust in God, regardless of our circumstances. Or our children’s circumstances. We need to focus on what God says is true, fix our eyes on Jesus, and trust Him at His Word.

For instance, Psalm 44:21 declares how “God knows the secrets of the heart.” God desires for us to speak our concerns and anxieties to Him rather than trying to solve them ourselves. I know I truly find it encouraging to know I have God as my guide, and that He is in control. God alone has my best interests at heart. I am grateful for how His Word is living and active, and how our hope is found within the beautiful pages of His love letter to us: the Holy Bible!

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Jesus, our Mighty Prince of Peace,

Thank you for the depths of your unconditional love and how your ancient words teach us and guide us. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit to help reveal and speak words of truth into our hearts and minds. Thank you for the Holy Bible which tells the unified story of Your redeeming love from the very beginning of time, until now and forever.

Jesus, you are the Word. You were there in the beginning and You will be there in the end. We praise Your precious and holy name for pursuing us with such a righteous and unconditional love.

Amen