A Thought on Love

Yesterday I was stuck inside the house all day with my two little girls while my son was at school. For the first part of the day I played puppets, colored, and did whatever else they wanted to do. The cold weather kept us inside and we were unable to explore outside like I really wanted to so I could get some fresh air and get out of the house for a while. I am one of those people that really can't stand to be inside all day!

Also, looking around the house made me realize I had a lot of little things to tackle, like that mounding pile of laundry. (after all, Friday is one of my official "laundry" days) The stress of that took over but right before I stopped playing with the girls a phrase popped in my head and I thought, well, "that had to be from God" and not me.

I often ask God to give me inspirations for writing and in His timing He does. As I was sitting on the bed looking at my daughter, my heart, this came to me:

"Real love in its most basic, organic form is sacrificial. Our human, "flesh" nature pulls us away to our own agenda but real agape love like that of Christ always pulls us back."

Sometimes it is not the natural thing for me to get down on the floor and play with my kids but I do it anyway. Sometimes, like my grandmother tells me I have to just "let the house go" and put my children first.

I think God smiled on us yesterday. And today. He is showing me a thing or two about love. And I'm ready to listen.

Turning Over a New Leaf

Ecclesiastes 3:1: " There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven..." (NIV)



This fall I've stumbled into a new hobby: Running. Now, if you had asked me a year ago if I'd ever consider running, or anything close to it, I would have laughed in your face but- I actually run now. Or jog, or struggle along like I'm running, or something like that.



I'm loving it. I really am. This is a new adventure for me. I have so much more energy now. That is one thing I love about life. If you stick around long enough, the monotonous will change and something exciting will come around the corner, something new to ponder, or explore or try.



And on those days when I want to throw in the towel and give up, I recall a favorite scripture of mine from Hebrews 12:1-2- "Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (NIV)

I thank you, Lord, for the strength, abilities, and renewed energy you are giving me and for working so evidently in my life.

My prayer is God strengthens you too.

Just Showed Up For My Own Life

This past weekend, God laid it on my heart to share part of my testimony to my Sunday School Class at our marriage retreat in Lake Junaluska, NC. I am so glad I did. It is my hope to share my entire testimony in the future and I think this was a great starting place. This is such a feeling of freedom I have now, knowing I can just be real and honest when I feel led by the Holy Spirit to share.

I am listening to this song by Sarah Groves in my car lately and it explains how I feel exactly with my life right now. The name of the song is "Just Showed Up For My Own Life." Here are some of the lyrics:

Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing holes in the shiny veneer
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up
for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel what is honest and real
until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until its finally clear
and it changes our lives

Wow, this is how I feel.....like I just showed up and I'm loving this journey I'm on. God is revealing so many things to me. He has taken a broken life like mine and restored it full circle with the wonderful life I have now. I thank God for all He has done in my life.

For My Friend

This blog entry is a tribute to my best friend, Rebekah. I don't really have any other friends left from high school anymore. I don't know where they all went or if I really ever had any. There are a few aquaintances and that is all.

This is for my friend. Like the bible says in Proverbs 17:17 "A Friend Loves at all times....." (NIV) And this is so true of Rebekah. She knows absolutely everything about me, the good, bad, and the ugly and loves me just the same.

Our lives are very different. She has a career and is single. I am a married, stay-at-home mom. But one thing remains- we are best friends. She called me just this week out of the blue to see how I was doing. And she does not know it but it really made my day!

To know someone else is out there thinking of you, how comforting. Hearing from her makes life a little more worthwhile in this hectic life of mine.

I thank God for giving me our friendship. I never had a sister growing up and always wanted one. God is so good, he gave me a special kind of sister in Rebekah.

One final verse: Ecclesiastes 4:12- Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themseles. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (NIV)

A Special Calling

How do we know when God is calling us to do something specific in our lives?

I really want to know the answer to this. So, if any of my bloggy friends out there want to reply feel free to do so!

Obviously, I have to pray specifically for God to show me what to do and when to do it.....but of course there is also the part of me actually knocking on doors too, but which doors and when?

It all comes back to my basic faith and trust. I must learn to trust in God for every breath I take and every step I make. Afterall, my life verses are: Proverbs 3:5-6- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." (NIV)

I feel like God may call me to share my testimony and be a writer/speaker in the future. I am just going to pray about it. Why? Because there is so much more to it than I am saying in this blog entry that's why!

I turn to His Word tonight for comfort in these thoughts. Psalm 100:5 tells me "For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (NIV) He will give me the answers I need in His timing.

So until then like it says in Psalm 4:3- " In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."(NIV) I will learn to wait for His voice, His calling for me, in His timing, not mine.

My journey continues.

You Get What You Ask For!

Okay so I'm learning more and more to be careful about "what" exactly you pray for. Case and point. Our family just finished passing around a nasty stomach bug. Ironically (or not?) I just prayed to God last week to "please help me lose this last little bit of post baby belly jiggle."

God has a sense of humor doesn't He? That is ok. We are all much better now. (And I think I actually did lose a pound or so, who knows??) I certainly haven't "felt" like eating for the last several days.

And here is another example of how I need to be careful what I ask for. I stumbled across this verse recently. It is Psalm 19:14- "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (NIV) So, why is it so hard to speak so nicely since reading those verses?

Well because the devil does not like it when we cry out to God for help. This is when he gets a foothold and tempts us at our weakest. But, I've realized this over and over: My God is greater than all my doubts, fears, pains, and weaknesses. And I know He will see me through it all.

Did I mention I stumped my toe too? (Call the "toe truck" please!:) How silly of me. And I think I broke it. I guess I just needed a little sympathy. God hears my needs for that too. Isn't it great we have a "Daddy" who loves us through all we go through, no matter how insignificant or unimportant it may seem to others? He hears and He cares.

About our little Motley Crew: My son loves his new school, our middle child and daughter is doing well, and our baby is just as precious as ever. She smiles all the time and is so easy-going. God knew my 3rd (and final as far as we know) child needed to be pretty easy. He knows what we can handle and he is so good!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Y'all are going to laugh when you hear what happened to me this week. The other day I was making my daughter's bed like I do every day and all of a sudden this big, black, enormous, scary spider jumped out at me. Okay, so he wasn't that big I don't guess and maybe he didn't really jump at me but it was very scary and dramatic! At least that part was true.

Why? Because I am absolutely terrified of spiders. Especially ones this big, even if he was mostly legs. My mom was over helping me around the house and she said she knew when she heard that scream, the one I only make when I see a spider she chuckled to herself and then strolled down the hallway to see what the damage was.

The only damage done was my heart beating 200 beats a minute and I had sweaty palms going on as I sat on the floor pointing to "him" under the bed. Mom grabbed something to swat at the spider and then we captured him (okay she did the capturing) and put it in a small container. I wanted to save him to show my husband when he got home from work. So I can say, "See honey, we really do have a spider problem." "Please spray for these guys."

And he did spray this week. And I'm over the drama. We went online and researched and this is a simple grass spider. And probably a wondering male looking for new territory. (He should have stayed in the grass.)

As crazy as it sounds, this little silly incident made me think of a few scriptures I've read on darkness. (You know because spiders like darkness, and its creepy and well, you get the point.) Some of my closest friends know that since 2006 I have stumbled across so many verses in the bible on light and darkness and for some unknown reason these type of verses absolutely fascinate me. I almost feel as if God wants me to use these verses concerning my testimony (which I will eventually share on here later.)

Anyway, here is one I've known for a while from Daniel 2:22- "He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him." So beautiful and here is another that I more recently read in a devotional from Isaiah 45:3- "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."

What are you afraid of today? Maybe you don't go nuts when you see a spider like I do but I know most people are afraid of something. And I know God is aware of this too. He will give you strength in those areas where there is darkness in your life. Just ask him. He is only a prayer away.

A Change of Heart

For the last several weeks I have been reading and pondering these verses. They are Psalms 51: 10-12- "Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence, or take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant a willing spirit to sustain me."

Why am I reading these verses in particular? Simply put, I am hoping for a "change of heart." I want to see, hear, and feel God in my life- I need this. And I think if I keep reading these verses then maybe He will begin to work in me more and more. I want to be transformed from the inside out.

What is on your heart today? I hope these verses will inspire you to desire a pure heart for Jesus too. He is only a prayer away.

An Opportunity to Love

Okay so I've not blogged in a while....and there are three little reasons why and they are my three precious children.....who occupy most of my time! I'm sleeping or reading or doing my quiet time when I'm not writing. Anyway, thanks to my faithful friends who have read and commented on my blog entries. I'll try to do this more often! We went to the beach on vacation for a week and I had a lot of extra time to think about stuff....some good and some not so good stuff about my past. These thoughts inspired this blog entry and this is from my heart so here it goes.....

Have you ever been hurt? I'm not talking about a car accident, though that is something bad to go through. I'm talking about hurts that other people have done to us. Most of us have been hurt in some way by another person. I know I have. But God is using that pain in my life in positive ways.

My senior pastor's wife once spoke to my mom-to-mom's group and she said one thing she has learned to do is to see problems as opportunities instead of actual problems. I have tried to use that advice since then. I think it can be applied to past hurts as well. See, God loves us with a love so deep that we can't possibly fathom it with our finite minds. And once we start a life as believers we are told in II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" That means no matter what has happened in our past, God can cleanse us from all unrighteousness and he can heal our hurts. He can also take away the shame and guilt we feel about our past.

I am still trying to grasp this concept of love from my God, my Father. I am praying and asking God to teach me about love, how He loves me, and how I am supposed to love others. In my search for answers, I have come across many scriptures on love. In Deuteronomy 7:9 it states, "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." This is an awesome verse because it tells me God is serious about love. He created us to love us and have fellowship with us. And I'm not sure about you, but a thousand generations sounds like a long time to me!

God made the ultimate sacrifice when he gave His only son to die so that we can live. (See John 3:16) Jesus died and suffered and bled and hurt so I don't have to. Isaiah 53:5 tells us "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." You see, as Lysa Terkeurst, founder of Proverbs 31 Ministries, says in her testimony, "His heart broke so mine doesn't have to." Jesus, God, was actually peirced and crushed. He suffered so I don't have to. I can live a life of freedom now, being totally submitted to Him and His love for me. It is not an easy concept to grasp sometimes. It is easy to hold onto past hurts or failures. It is in our nature to do so.

I am convinced that our past does not define us. Through living a life in Christ, we are free from the bondage of sin and past hurts. If we trust in Him and allow Him to work through us, He will never forsake us. This gives us hope. I am a firm believer that God will use our pain for the better. In Romans 8:28 we are told this: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Whatever you are facing today, know this: You can lay it down at His feet in prayer and submission. Grasping this will change your life as it has mine. We have the opportunity to love! One final verse, though there are so many, that can help us in this quest to understand God's love- "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (all scriptures taken from the NIV translation)

The Sock Bowl

One day last week I was doing my (almost) daily routine of laundry and I stumbled across our infamous "sock bowl." You know what I'm talking about, right? No? Well at our house, the sock bowl is the little blue bowl sitting on top of the dryer that holds all the miscellaneous socks that have lost their matches.

These poor little guys have been piling up for weeks due to my obvious procrastination in dealing with them. Anyway, as I looked at the bowl and set it aside, a thought occurred to me. "Thank goodness God does not just toss us aside like these seemingly forgotten socks."

No, it is just the opposite. The bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committted to him." (NIV)

Ironically, a few days after I was thinking about this, I heard Lysa Terkeurst speak at the She Speaks Conference and she talked about the same thing. She mentioned how David in the bible was a simple shepherd boy, tending his sheep. There was nothing special about him at all but he was made king. He was overlooked by everyone else BUT hand-picked by God. (So are we!) She also mentioned the same verse in Chronicles- wow! I felt a warmth and a confirmation from God. He was definitely speaking to me and letting me know I was meant to be at that conference this weekend. (I'm seeing more and more how God talks to me in these little ways during the mundane activities in my life, very powerful.)

I met so many amazing women this weekend at She Speaks. There were over 560 of us there from all over the US and four countries all in all. Some wanting to become writers, some wanting to become speakers. As for me, I am asking God to show me direction. But most importantly, I am asking God to just reveal Himself to me. I would love to be published but I need to be walking with God closely before I try to plan things on my own. I just went to the conference to "take it all in." And maybe next year for She Speaks I will have a book proposal ready? Who knows.

Tonight, I was reading some things Lysa Terkeurst says about hearing from God.

She mentioned that Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God." She said God does not call us to be perfect but to long for Him and He will bless us for that. And He will reveal Himself to us. (I'm paraphrasing here.)

Anyway, like the old childhood song we sang in preschool goes, "He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be, It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth and jupiter and mars, how loving and patient he must be- He's still working on me."

I am blessed God listens to me. (Maybe I'll match those socks this week.)

Renee

"Basking in the Son"

As I was floating in my mother-in-law's new pool yesterday, a phrase popped in my head and I decided it would be this week's blog title. I really was basking in the sun and enjoying the beautiful (and hot) weather God has blessed us with lately. This phrase came to me and I thought, "Now this is what it is all about." God really wants us to live happy lives and sometimes that means we need times to relax and just "be". It is then, when we are quiet that we can really hear from Him. In the bible there is a verse that says draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (paraphrased) When we are really intent on hearing from Him, He will reveal Himself to us. It might be in a beautiful sunset, the lyrics of an inspirational song, the laughter of our children, or the relaxing new pool we are blessed to share in. But rest assured, if you are tuned in to the source, He will whisper in your ear. And when He does we are so blessed.

PS: We are leaving for the beach today and will be back Monday. Pray for us to have a safe trip. (And hooray, more basking in the sun/son.)

Be Strong and Courageous

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

My dear friend Emily (check out her new business at www.empoweredfitness.net )and I are doing a bible study this summer by Mindy Ferguson called Walking With God, From Slavery to Freedom. This was our verse from our previous lesson and it has encouraged me so much. As you may recall from my last blog entry, I am really praying God will speak to me about writing and that He and I can take our relationship to a new level (meaning becoming closer through my quiet times and prayer). Several wonderful things have been happening in my life lately that I feel are confirmations from God. First of all I signed up for the She Speaks conference coming up in a few weeks and I did not really have the money to pay for that since Wayne and I are supposed to be saving money for a new house. Well, this week God blessed us financially and Wayne received a raise that will cover the cost. I had been praying for God to show me a way to work that out. ( I even thought about ebaying some personal items!) Anyway, then yesterday I was at my son's End of the Year party and ended up speaking with another stay-at-home mom that owns her own newspaper that covers the kids' news of local schools and she not only asked me to do some freelance writing for her but she also referred me to her friend that runs a local newspaper here in Concord who is looking for freelance writers. So I am sharing all of this to say that God is real and He is working in my life (as He always has) and I know this is all from Him because I told God that the writing would be something that would only come in His timing and direction.

I am asking that you pray for me that God will continue to answer prayers about my writing. I feel so alive when I write and I know it is my passion because I've been doing it since I was a little girl and I know it is my passion because I never grow weary in doing it. I get excited when I read a good book or hear new words, silly but profound examples of how I know this is my calling....

I also want to encourage other people with my writing and work for God through my writing as well.

I hope anyone who read this post is truly blessed today.

Love to you all,

Renee Motley

Living Under A Rock

Well today is my first time blogging and I'm super-excited about this! I've always kept a journal and I enjoy doing my quiet times and reflecting on what God is speaking to me about. So.....this is awesome. My new friend, Lisa Whittle encouraged me to do this, as well as others and I think it is a fabulous idea. And, afterall, if I want to become a published writer, I have to start somewhere.....

Anyway, the title of my entry today is about how I feel sometimes as a stay-at-home mom. Often, I feel as though I am always the last one to know about things, including current events, the latest fads, and well, even the weather. Also, on a spiritual level, I feel as though there are rocks or "barriers" keeping me from living my faith out the way God intends me to. I prayed this week that God and I take our relationship to a new level and that I really learn more about Him and His Word, and that He would reveal His plans for me and that He would reveal what those barriers are so that they be lifted.....because it is then that I will be able to see His Light shine down on me and give me diretion for my life......because I don't want to live my life simply "existing" and standing on the sidelines. No, I want to be an active participant in my own life. I think He has plans for me. And most importantly I want to be the person He intends me to be. (Thank you Lisa for this insight from your book Behind Those Eyes). I am praying that God shows me the woman He intends for me to be. If I can strive to be the woman God wants me to be and not who I think I should be, then to me I will be living out my life's purpose.