Simple Devotions

What are you passionate about?

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“I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God!” ~Isaiah 61:10 (NLT)

I have been in a sales position for many years now. It all started with me working for a tour company selling packages to Europe, and then working as a Travel Agent and now working in sales at a conference center.

Many times my parents tell me I can sell anything. What happens is, I feel strongly about something and then it turns into a passion of mine and it just pours out. I really do get excited about what I am doing and I guess it rubs off on people.

When I was teaching for a while, I would come into class sooo excited about the new lesson or project I had for my students and they would ask me if I stayed up all night planning this event. They thought I was crazy for being so excited about school work. But I loved what I was doing!

What are you passionate about? Now I know not everyone is a salesperson and we all do not have the passionate drive about the same things. Ask me about my kids, my husband or my home and I could go on for hours. I would end up getting so excited that you would probably walk away and tell me that I am a little nuts!

If someone were to ask me about the Lord would I be so excited? When people see me walking, talking and interacting with others can they see the passion for my Lord? I need to ask all of us this question. What are we passionate about? Can people see the passion fruit growing in our lives?

The Bible tells us to be overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God, excited, passionate are part of this too.

If someone met you today, would they see passion, deep-rooted love, excitement in your life and would your life show the passion fruit that we are to bear? No time for gloomy faces and gloomy lives….we need to be excited about our Lord for the days are numbered.

Lynn A. C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

The Good Old Days

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Philippians 2:14-15

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent.”

Colossians 3:15

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

The Great Depression, this is a time in history that I can only read about.  I was not born in that time, but I can learn to appreciate what happened and how the way of life was then.  Many times I have sat and listened to my dad talk about a meal called Scrumptial; his father would make this for them on Saturday nights with the leftovers from the week. This unique pot of leftovers was the highlight of his week.

Recently, I was listening to an older lady talking about living in the Depression era, and she recalled one of her fondest memories. She remembered that on Sundays they would go to her aunt’s house, but her aunt could not afford heat. So they would grab the kitchen chairs and huddle around the stove while lunch was cooking, and they would get warm by the fire.  She went on to say that they would sit facing the stove to get the front of them warm, and then have to turn around so their backs would get warm. As she talked about this, she was giggling and repeating, “Oh the good old days.”

Fast forward to 2020, and what do we have? Central air, heat in our homes, cars to drive, and so many other advantages. We have plenty of food, clothes, and almost everything we could want or need at our fingertips. Yet, I never hear, “These are the great present days.”  What has happened to us? Why do we not seem like a happy people? You would think with all these “things” that make our lives more convenient and stress free, that we would be overjoyed.

Many times I have said to my husband that I almost wish we could go back to a time like that. A time when we as a people appreciated what we had. Working in a guest service position, I see the side of people that is ungrateful and demanding. I see this at church when we want what we want and demand our rights. What happened to being thankful, grateful, and appreciative?  I personally am challenged to look at what I have and learn to be content in these things and to appreciate them even more.

Lynn A. C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

 

The Journey that Saved the World

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I am about to teach this coming Friday to a group of young people at church.  The ages range from three to fourteen. Trying to incorporate enough information to keep them all interested in the devotion can be hard at times. We, as a church, have committed to reach out to our neighborhood kids and share each week with them that Jesus loves them.

This weekend the topic is “The Journey that Saved the World.”  We have gone with an overall theme this year of the “Olympics.” Teaching the kids about preparation, endurance, and finishing the race.  So, let me take you on the journey that I have prepared for the kids.

  • Preparation:
  1. In order for Joseph and Mary to hear the call of the Lord, they needed to be prepared and walking close with Him.
  2. Then when the angel came and told them what was to happen, they needed to prepare for the journey.
  • Endurance:
  1. Because they were prepared, they would be able to endure the journey.
  2. They knew that God called them to do this task, so they needed to endure no matter how hard the journey would become.
  • Finishing the Journey:
  1. When they got to Bethlehem the journey was not done. They needed to find lodging, a safe place to deliver baby Jesus, and prepare the area for the baby to come.
  2. Once the baby was born, they could look back and see that they had prepared for a work to be done. They could see that they endured the journey they had to go on to get to the place where He needed them to be, and then they needed to deliver the baby to finish the task.
  • What we can learn from this:
  1. We need to be ready and prepared for when He calls us to do a job.
  2. We need to know that we will need to endure the journey, and that it might not be easy all the time.
  3. We need to know that when the journey is over, we can look back with joy, and we completed what was asked of us.

 

We also can look at the fact that when we prepare and answer the call, endure the journey, and finish it, that it is not only us who are affected but many around us. A task given to us by the Lord always has layers to it. Our lives are not our own, and we affect others all the time.

Mary and Joseph answering the call brought us the Savior (His divine plan). This Savior would ultimately be the One who would save the world. I am sure that Mary and Joseph had no idea the impact they would have on us today, thousands of years later.

Read Luke Chapter 2 today for the story of their Journey.

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

Dig in your own dirt….not your neighbors.

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There are so many cool things to learn in life and from people.  I recently was reminded of this by listening to one woman as she shared her life with me….and what a lesson I learned!

This woman is a homemaker, a mother of three, a crafter, an extreme couponer and a great bargain hunter.  She shares her gifts with many by teaching classes and sharing some of her finds with others.  She inspires me how to save money, and she inspires me to create new things from things I already have.  She also has such a passion for her husband and children with all that she does.  To me she is a great example of a woman who builds her home.

One day she was explaining that she has been judged for having too many things, too many crafts, her large stash from her great finds with coupons etc….  Many of us can look at our neighbors and friends and have a list of things that are wrong with them in our own eyes.  We can look at all they have, the way they act and so on and come up with our own judgement of them and their lives.  Do we ever take the time to realize that they live in a different world than us?  I love the expression, “you live in a very small world”.  I heard this growing up and never really understood it, but now I get it as I am getting older.  This woman deals with much criticism and judgment from people and most of them have no idea what she is all about.

Maybe this woman is a picture of your own life.  You might not live the life that she does but you can relate since you are a person who loves living life and yet people judge you for what you do.  People who don’t really know what you are all about and yet they look at your life and make decisions in their own heads about you.

One day she was chatting with me….she made reference to how some people live in such a small world, and this seems to give them the right to critique others.  One great point she made was that she is always working on finishing a project and then the next one is already waiting for her. Most times they probably haven’t even started their first project and yet we stand in judgement of someone who has done many.  If this is the case, then you certainly don’t have the time to look at your neighbor’s or friend’s yard and criticize and judge.

How many of us sit in judgment of each other’s lives, possessions or things?  I can relate to her because somedays when I am running around doing three or four things in a day, to have someone stop me and question me over the silliest thing.  Then they pass judgment on how or why I am doing what I am doing.  These people probably have no idea who I really am and why I do what I do. How small is their world that they need to live in my world? The verse comes to mind in Proverbs 16:27 (TLB)…..” Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece”.

I once heard that if you are always digging in your own dirt, you will never have the time to see the dirt on someone else.  Today I learned a lesson from my friend, this great quote and a good look at this verse.  I am a very busy person and yet even with all that I do, I too can sit in judgment and ask, “why” do they do that….”how can” they do that and so on.

Today I share a piece of my heart, my thoughts and my life with you.  I pray today that my hands and life are busy for the Lord and that they do not become hands of the devil’s workshop.  I pray that since I have enough dirt in my own life to dig into…that I can have grace and compassion and the right attitude for others instead of sitting in judgment or criticism of them.

Take up the challenge with me today….will you dig in your own dirt instead of others!

Lynn A. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

I can’t find my cookbook…..

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I know that I have been missing from the Blog scene for a while.  My plan was to have several blog posts per week, to be a huge encouragement to many of you and to get everyone excited about new things.  Well stop the train and let me off!!!!….

What happened to me is just crazy and somewhat simple to fix.  I needed to just get off the train….even jump if I needed to ….even when it doesn’t stop for me!!

If you have read any of my other posts than you will know how crazy my life is.  Seizures, Epilepsy, ADHD, Autism, full-time working mom, special needs wife and mom, blogger, speaker and the list goes on. But in addition to my normal crazy life I have been adding too many “sure I can help” etc… things to my schedule.

Life took over so much so that the “life train” ran so fast that I could not see what was happening to me.  I was simply enjoying life with my family, my work, my ministry…..but I kept on going, going and going.  My days would start at 5:30 am with getting up….then at work most days by 7 am.  Then home at 3 pm to pick up my son and husband and head out to an event that was carefully planned and something that we wanted/needed to do.  Next… run out for dinner….run to the next event, food shop, or help out someone else in need.  Then home anywhere from 9-11 pm…..change into PJ’s…..layout work clothes for the next day….hit the hay. Then start all over again. We have a phrase that we use all the time in our home….it is “drop and go”….we come in and “drop off” bags, misc things etc…. and then pick up the next several items that are needed and “go” to next event.

You can only do this so long….as I have been finding out. I found out how bad it had gotten for me when I went to make a recipe and I could not find my cookbooks.  On this day I stood in the room where they had been…then I remembered oh yes  …we moved them. So I looked and looked everywhere and I could not find them.  I felt like I totally lost the connection with my home, as a wife and as a mother….. how did I not know where something so simple was not where it was supposed to be. I walked away feeling down, discouraged and useless as the woman of my home.  You ask …was this simply all because of cookbooks?….Yes, this was a picture of who I had become and where my crazy life had brought me.

STOP the train and let me off.  I needed to spend the next few days reviewing why I had no idea even in my own small home, why I could not find my cookbooks.  What in the world was going on with me?  I thought maybe I am was just getting old, maybe I just needed a day off, maybe….maybe….NO, I had to take a good hard look at my schedule and make some major changes.

If you look at my planner….it is color coded, lines, circles, arrows pointing to numerous things.  Sticky notes on top of sticky notes with notes of “must do’s”, place to go, things to get done and some events noted that we have 3 or more things schedule at the same day and or time.

Well….the verse kept coming to me that I heard on a mini devotion from Andrea Mills on her You-Tube channel.  She explained the verse….”A wise woman builds her home….and a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands”.  Me talking to me….”Lynn grab hold”, stop the train, stop and write down priorities and what is really important to you! Right now for me it is important to stop being so involved in everything and regroup and gain control over the little things like cookbooks in my home.  This makes me happy, it makes me a better wife and mother, and it makes me a better Lynn.

I need to limit my “yes I can”…”sure I can add that to my schedule” etc.…. My husband and I sat down this week and reviewed what I need to tweak and reorganize in my life to satisfy both myself and our family. I must say that my life is not my own. My husband due to health issues cannot drive, and my son is too young and has autism and is not able to drive. So this puts me as the only driver. So the times where I would like to stay at home and get things done but they need to get to an event, puts me back in the drivers seat so my schedule becomes overloaded at times and not by choice. So updating my schedule, will not necessarily be an easy task with all that I need to include. And I go back to the verse in Proverbs… A wise woman builds her home and the Lord says if you lack wisdom ASK.  So I can pray, I can wait for the Lord to direct my steps, I can receive counsel from my husband and review my family’s needs and be the wise woman in my home that I have been called out to be! 

Hopefully….some of these changes in my life and schedule will allow me to blog and share some goodies along my life’s journey with you.  I still go back to my claim to fame….”I found my norm and it is a moving target”.  This seems to be a never ending reality in my life. Read my blog post about this if you haven’t already.

I would love to hear your comments where your life has brought you, and the changes that you have been able to make. What steps did you take along the way? Leave a comment below, and thank you for visiting with me today! 

 

Lynn A. C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Brewed Devo’s….

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When I was younger and having my first son….I remember thinking that I was going to be “Super Mom”.  Yes a career woman, a mom, housewife and everything else that goes along with this.  Well…..the brakes came on and I came to a screeching halt and learned very quickly that I cannot do it all.

I very quickly learned that I can not do it all that when I tried to… something got neglected!!! Most times it was me who was neglected!  I became tired, overwhelmed, frustrated and more.  I found that my devotions were forgotten and I wondered why I was feeling so empty and I could not think clearly.img_4634

My oldest son is now 27 and my youngest is 14 and I still live a crazy life style.  Having a devo time for myself….sometimes is the last thing on my mind, if I can be honest.

Back in the day I was given a devo book for moms…it was simple, short and to the point and a big help in giving me a quick shot in the arm for the day.

I will be starting a new Devo series that I hope will do the same for you….called “Fresh Brewed Devo’s”.  It is designed to be short, simple, practical, honest and a quick shot in the arm to help you get a good start to the day and an added pep in your step.

So grab a cup of your favorite “Fresh Brewed” coffee, sit in a comfy chair and have a quick Devo with me.img_0547

Leave me some comments down below and let me know some topics that you would like to see.

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother