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Cherishing Through Life’s Seasons

You just married the man of your dreams. You’re loving married life, even the adjustments (or not). Cherish the moments of failed meals, quiet evenings, and Friday dates. These are the memories you’ll pull out to tell your daughter one day.

You’re adding a little person to your home. It’s oh-so-exciting with a few fears all rolled together. What kind of parent will I be? Will I live Jesus loud enough so my child will see how much fun it is to serve Him? Cherish the moments of your growing girth, butterfly flutters and shopping for impossibly tiny socks.

You’re a mother! The love you feel for that bundle of joy cannot be explained. The exhaustion as you get up every few hours is equally unexplainable. But then, that first smile – your world just turns upside down. Cherish the dirty diapers, the insurmountable laundry, and the sweet smell of a freshly bathed baby.

You’re still a mother, but how can it be that your child is going to school? You’ve purchased the uniform, shopped for crayons, pencils, and a tiny backpack. What will you do all day? Cherish the tears in your eyes. Cherish the pride and the spring in your child’s step after school as they talk about their teacher, new friends, and games played at recess.

Cherish the simple moments through the seasons of life -- each one is a God-given joy. Click To Tweet

And you’re still a mother – a mother of a teenager. How did this happy? These are the days to cherish the most. The days of accidental talks at the local fast food restaurant, helping with algebra problems solved differently from when you struggled to pass the class, and saying “no” when your child so desperately wants a “yes.” Cherish them all. You’re mothering days are changing, so cherish the teenage years.

And yes, you’re still a full-time mother, but only for the length of an engagement. Your child –but soon to be a husband or wife. Make this the best time in your child’s life. Shop for bridal gowns and flowers, let your child make the fun decisions. Nobody will remember you had blue napkins when maybe white might be better. Explain to your son that a groom should never tell his bride, “My mother’s pie/cake/lasagna tasted better.” And cherish these times of your stars-in-their-eyes child – these last months under your roof.

You’re still a mother, but you’ve added the grand in front of it. A grandmother? Aren’t grandmas supposed to be old and rock all day in a chair? The emptiness of your home will become the fullness of your heart. Rock away, go to grandparent’s day at school, attend the sports games. Cherish the times you can bake cookies and cook their favorite meal. These are the times the cherishing is shared – because your involvement in your grandchildren’s life will be the memories they cherish, too.

What season are you cherishing?

This Life of Joy

This life — this one life I have — I’ve given to my Heavenly Father. It’s not that I can’t do life my way. I can. But when I do — oh, the mess I make of it. Words spoken that hurt and wound, attitudes shown that grieve the Holy Spirit, and actions taken that cause others to stumble.

It’s just easier to allow full access of my soul to the one who created me. It’s a day-to-day living and growing. It’s the Holy Spirit sweetly abiding, teaching, and guiding me. This surrender to God grows joy.

Joy in God’s Presence

I love being with RB. Even if it’s just going to the grocery store, it’s more fun with him. That’s how I feel about God. I just want to take Him everywhere.

Joy in Loving Others

I try to make each person I meet happier. I’ve found that a gentle tone, a sincere compliment, and an interest into their hurting souls gives me joy.

Joy in Becoming Like Jesus

One of my favorite songs was written by Thomas O. Chisholm in 1897:

Oh! to be like Thee, full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.

Oh! to be like Thee, Oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

None of this means I live a perfect life. What it does mean is that each day I ask Jesus to stamp His image on my heart. And as I try each day to love others, to live in God’s presence, and to strive to become as much like Christ as I can, my soul finds joy.

It’s a journey, sweet friends, a daily journey of surrendering myself and learning to live with a Christ-like spirit.

What does your journey look like?

The Joy in Downsizing (Part One)

Jesus told us, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” RB and I have some dreams for the rest of our lives — dreams that will never be met when we are taking care of a big house and forty-plus years of “stuff.” I’ve heard the Lord whispering, “Life consists of far more than food and clothing.” I’ll add to His list — Books.

Read quote by Frederick Robertson

A reader has books, and a writer has more books. Since I’m a rather eclectic reader, my library contains a wide range of genres. Here’s what I’ve found: I rarely read novels a second time, so it’s not hard to get rid of them. But the others…I may NEED them. Those titles cowered in the corner of the bookshelf, hoping to escape my scrutiny, pushing their neighbor to the edge so I’d pick them instead. All the while my Kindle was happy dancing because I wasn’t deleting him.

I couldn’t part with my Alexandra Stoddard set. I’m not sure I’ll ever read them again, but they hold such special memories of my mother, sister, and me collecting each one, and implementing the author’s ideas of “Living Beautifully.” Randy Alcorn’s “Safely Home” couldn’t go. It touches my soul and challenges me to give my all to God. I need Max Lucado books. I think he’s one of the best wordsmiths ever. The books on grief, kindness, Bible studies… See my problem?

My Joy books all stay. Their yellow spines make me smile. And the truths about joy are shaping my joy journey. In “Surprised by Joy,” C. S. Lewis says, “This idea of Joy is not a satisfied desire but an unsatisfied desire ─ a deep longing for God, a hungry pursuit of God’s heart that never ends and is more satisfying than any earthly happiness.”

This idea of Joy is...a hungry pursuit of God’s heart that never ends. C. S. Lewis Click To Tweet

But there were many books on my shelves that didn’t hold my heart. So I grabbed a couple stacks I could sell. Some craft books, books for a project already completed, biographies, etc. I went to Book Scouter and plugged in the ISBN numbers. They list 18 places that will buy your book for various amounts. In one evening I made $234.00. Letting go of the books was suddenly easier.

I made one rule: For every five books I read (I read 100+ a year), I will read one off my shelf. Then I will decide if it’s one I need to keep.

Jesus doesn’t want us to worry about “things.” I lost most of my books in a house fire 30 years ago, and didn’t care at all — they didn’t hold a candle to losing our Sarah. But books do bring me joy. So, I’m keeping some, selling some, and giving away some. And we’re a few pages closer to our dreams.

I’d love to hear how you keep your books under control. Do you have a system to decide which ones to let go?

The Joy of God’s Presence

In the Psalms, King David gives us a peek into his relationship with God with the words, “In thy presence is fullness of joy.” Franklin, at the funeral of his father, Billy Graham, recalled, “The last few years of my mother’s life, my mother was sick in bed, and she would lie in bed on her side and my father would come in and he would sit beside her, and the two of them would look at each other. Just look at each other – I mean, eye-to-eye – for hours.”

There are times we need to sit in God’s presence and look into His eyes. When life is a tangled mess, when sorrow’s shroud envelops you, or when your body is broken, these are the times you need to take time and sit in God’s presence and gaze into His eyes. For it is in this quiet presence and love that joy is found.

It is in God's quiet presence and love that joy is found. Click To Tweet

Circumstances may not change. We will still be facing divorce, prodigal children, death of loved ones, cancer, or other heartaches, but there is joy in knowing the depth of God’s love for us. To see our pain reflected in our Heavenly Father’s eyes. To know He is walking each painful step with us.

This, dear ones, is the joy and happiness we find in God’s presence. It’s a daily walk, we must pledge, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). So wash your dishes, do your laundry, go to work, love your children; weep, laugh, and sing, with your heart always looking in God’s eyes, and sitting in His presence. This heart joy can be yours.

Welcome In — With Joy!

Welcome to my new blog! A Sheltering Tree served its purpose since 2010. Some of the set up of that blog changed and couldn’t be reinstalled without purchase, so I decided to use the money for an updated look.

What you’ll find here is what you found at A Sheltering Tree – encouragement and joy for your journey. Sometimes amid mothering, empty nesting, and grandparenting, life can throw us frustration, heartache, or grief. Let’s take the dark of life and learn how to mold it into a kaleidoscope of color.

Grab a notebook or journal and your favorite colorful pens. We’ll be journaling, verse mapping and studying the Bible. We’ll share quotes, joys, prayer requests, and heartaches. It will be your blog as much as mine.

This is a safe place to unlock your greatest fears and biggest heartaches. Click To Tweet

We need community, and we’ll be intentional about keeping things authentic here. It’s so easy to want to parade the good of our lives publicly — leaving our struggles, family issues, and work frustrations under lock and key in the bottom of hearts. I want this to be a safe place to unlock your greatest fears and biggest heartaches.

You’ll find reviews on books that will help you on your journey, printables to help you focus, and ideas to make it easy to begin or continue your own ministry of encouragement. Most of all, I hope you find Jesus here – that you feel His presence through the words and ideas.

So I welcome you!