Weel 2: Ephesians 4:29

Well, we made it through week one together. I saw on Instagram that quite a few of you memorized last weeks verse, yay! I love seeing that and am encouraged that I am not on this journey alone. If you’re not following along on Instagram, well then... you should stop reading this blog now and go follow @themommytribe so we can interact through out the week. 

The verse for week two is:

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 

- Ephesians 4:29

(To edify means to instruct or benefit, especially morally or spiritually; uplift.)

Oh boy. This verse covers many areas of life.... but it is incredibly convicting for me in my current season of raising a four year old who keeps my mouth moving from 6:00am until he’s in bed at 8:00pm. His 47 questions every minute need answers. His sweet ramblings need affirmation. His tasks needs instruction and his behavior needs discipline. So my mouth is.moving.constantly. The introvert in me is exhausted by lunch time.... which is why I’m so thankful for a short intermission called nap time. If I can be totally honest, lately I’ve watched my kind hearted, gentle four year old develop what you would refer to as.... an attitude. I wont go into details but I can honestly say that when I see it peak out in his responses to me, it is as if he is holding a mirror up to my face. I am looking at my own flaws and my own attitude. A hurried response. An upset tone. It’s my sinful nature fleshed out in a four year old. An attitude looks ugly on anyone but it looks especially sad on a child, doesn’t it? That attitude is not an example of “a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” My annoyance and lack of patience is the opposite. It is graceless and does not help to instruct or benefit my children in any way. My responses should be gentle, my instruction filled with patience and my discipline marked with kindness and grace so that my children would understand Godly discipline. It is not a form of revenge but a deep expression of love. 

The truth is every word that comes out of my mouth flows directly from my heart (...for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.  - Luke 6:45). So why the hurried response or the harsh tone? Because I’m a sinner and my heart is prone to value myself above my children. I can view them as a blessing or I can view them as an interruption. Raising my two boys has made me understand being a sinner IN NEED OF GRACE more than anything else in my life. On my own I can not live up to this verse. I’ll fail.... most likely today, but I will lean into my Savior who offers me grace and gives me the endurance for this marathon of mothering. And as I fill my heart with more and more truth, I will trust that the outpouring of my heart will become sweeter and richer in grace. 

As we etch this truth into our hearts this week, my prayer for us is that Jesus would help us live it.... not just know it; to let this truth transform how we interact with our children from sun up to sun down. 


Oh Lord, let the words our mouths be of benefit to out children’s souls. Protect their hearts from any unwholesome words that may slip through our lips today. And would you help us to live lives full of grace that make You irresistible to the little eyes watching us and the little ears listening to us? 

Whatever is true...

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 11:18

I'm excited to finally be sharing about these little cards and inviting you all into a new project I am doing. 

This is a set of fifteen bible verses that I picked out with your heart in mind! Mothering is the hardest job I know of, and for most women it comes with a fair share of self doubt, insecurity and worry. There is something about raising these tiny little humans that, at times, has stripped almost all of my rational and confidence right from me. When my oldest was little I worried that if he napped in his baby swing I'd be forced to buy a hammock for him as a teenager because surely, like the books said, he would never sleep in his crib or in a bed. Looking back I recognize how crazy that thought was but I was worried and insecure about my abilities as a mother. Fast forward a few years and another baby and I would like to think I'm a little more secure and even somewhat rational again…. well, about most things. I am still fairly irrational when it comes to germs. Sickness coming into our home tends to ruffle my feathers pretty easily and takes me from being totally normal to a Lysol-ing lunatic pretty quickly. 

Last December, the week of Christmas, while I was 8.5 months pregnant my husband text me from the urgent care to say he had the flu. Before I was even done reading the text I was Lysol-ing every surface of our entire home. And as I did it…. I cried. Weeping might be a more accurate term. I was sure that we would all get the flu, miss Christmas and I'd end up in labor or something. See what I mean… motherhood has clearly stripped me of the ability to be rational at all times. 

Chances are you don't worry about the stomach bug as much as I do, but you still battle the worries of today and tomorrow. Life is hard and it is incredibly easy to let our hearts and minds be filled with the things of this world instead of the things that comfort our souls and give us hope for the long days of mothering. I haven't mastered the ability to not worry. I'm not sure I ever will. What I have learned is that God tells us in Philippians 4:8 to focus on truth. So on days that I'm worried, feeling short tempered or bothered instead of blessed by my children I must turn to God's word. It is there that I can be reminded of what God thinks of me, who he wants me to be and what He has given me. 

And that is why I designed these cards, along with a gentle nudge from a sweet friend who thought other women might want something like this too. These cards are designed to be slipped into your bible, taped up to your mirror, hung on your fridge or all kept together on a little metal ring. Their purpose is to put beautiful truth in front of you consistently. They're adorable, small and full of God's truth. Each card has a verse on one side and a blank area on the back where you can write your own memory verse, what you're learning or names of people you want to pray that verse for. Make them yours!

Starting in January I will be memorizing one verse a week from this set. I'd love to invite you to do it with me. I'll be announcing the verse each week on Instagram (@themommytribe) and blogging about what that verse means for me in this season. I'll be asking other women on this journey to share on my blog as well. I believe it will be a rich experience for all of us as we choose to tuck God's truth deep within our hearts. I am looking forward to seeing how it helps me love my husband, shepherd my children and know Jesus more. So, would you join me in January? Invite your friends to join because... it takes a village. 

You can get your own set of cards here. Purchasing the set of cards is absolutely not necessary to join in since I will be announcing the verse each week. I'm a visual learner so I need this…. it also helps that they're just cute!

Grandparent's Day

Today Greyson had his first school performance. It was Grandparent's Day. 

The very first time I went to Greyson's preschool to register him I was handed a stack of papers. The paper on top was a full year calendar and as my eyes glanced down the first thing I read was "October 2 - Grandparents Day." It took my breath away for a second…. and it took me right back to the night my mom was diagnosed with an aggressive, terminal cancer. This is a excerpt from something I wrote in my journal last year about that night. 

I thought the days following her diagnosis were the hardest because it was the first time I imagined a life without my mom with me, calling me every five minutes and reminding me to take medicine or schedule a dentist appointment. The days after her diagnosis were miserable. I was sick to my stomach constantly. I cried myself to sleep the first few nights and woke up to relive the feeling all over again. I was paralyzed when I thought of Greyson going to pre-school and having Grandparents Day breakfast knowing that my mom wouldn’t be there. I still dont know why that was the one thing I kept thinking about following her diagnosis. I couldn’t sleep the first night because of that one thought. I remember coming out into the kitchen and she was standing at the counter. I looked at her and burst into tears saying, “who will be there when Greyson has Grandparents Day?” Like thats a big deal considering all the other things she would miss. She simply hugged me and cried with me. Then she turned to my dad, smiled and made him agree that he would take off of work and be there. Greyson wasn’t even in pre-school. There was no grandparents day breakfast scheduled. And yet the thought was crippling. 

I never thought I'd be able to make it through a day like today. 

But the truth is…. I did. Do I wish my mom could have been there? Absolutely. In fact, I thought about my mom several times today. Watching Greyson sit on a stage with all of his friends and sing sweet little songs is something she would have loved. She would have been the person sitting there crying, simply because she was enjoying it so much. She also would have found a way to help us escape after the preschool portion (instead of having to sit through another hour of performances by Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th grade! No offense to all of those lovely elementary kids, of course!)  

Today I saw God's provision in a tangible way. I saw my dad take the morning off to go to Grandparent's Day. He was present for him and by him being there it felt like my mom was there. She was physically represented there today. My Great-Aunt and Uncle, who have loved Greyson as if he was their own Grandson since he was born, drove an hour to be there for him. I got to watch him be surrounded and supported by people he loves today and it reminded me that God is always taking care of us…. even if it feels like He isn't. 

I also saw God's provision in the fact that I had all the grace I needed for today. The night my mom was diagnosed I was sobbing at the idea that there would one day (whenever it was) be a Grandparent's Day that she wasn't at. I never thought I could make it through a day like that. It reminds me of something my mentor told me a decade ago…. God gives you the grace you need every day, similar to how he rained down manna every day for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness for 40 years. It kept them alive. He doesn't give it to you ahead of time. He gives you exactly what you need for the day. As a young twenty-something I struggled with being single  and being afraid God would want me to stay single forever ( a whole different blog post!) and she would ask me, "Well, can you be single for today?" My answer was always yes… because let's be honest, a day isn't that long. The truth that God gives us fresh mercy and grace every day has been one of the sweetest things for me. Today was such a good reminder of it. Almost two years ago when my mom was diagnosed I couldn't bare the thought of today - because I didn't need to. I didn't need to worry about October 2, 2015 on the evening of November 17, 2013. But today I could handle it. 

Not only did God give me the grace that I needed to make it through the day but He filled it with joy. It wasn't a day to just be survived. It was a day well lived and enjoyed. (Yes, we were a little rushed and running late this morning and Liam missed his nap so he was a little fussy…. but you know what I mean. It was a real life moment stuffed to the brim with real life joy.)

Today was a day that I will always be able to look back on and remember God's faithfulness. 

So what is your "Grandparent's Day"? 

Do you believe that God is taking care of you today and will continue to do it through the very thing you are afraid of?