At Home With Sally

His will today is for you to find His joy and blessing and to enjoy life. He is doing an invisible work that is beyond what you could accomplish yourself. He is faithful. He will reward every decision of faith that you make in the darkness when no one else sees, He sees. It is your integrity, your spiritual service of worship, to believe even in the invisible, weary moments of your life. He is with you and has a heart for all children--even you.  He is the one who cast the flowers upon the field for his child to enjoy.. He is the one who is willing make all things in your life beautiful in His time.

Today on my podcast, I share some of the foundational values shared in these books. Leave a comment below, on Facebook or Instagram and you will be entered to win one of four books. (2 of each will be given away.)

When we seek to redeem the normal, daily, mundane by imagining how we might bring grace, hospitality, love, light, beauty, we can actually help cover the darkness and impact of despair with beauty that creates and cultivates new life.

We have been meeting this way for thousands and thousands of meals, delighting in one another. Hearing the love of Christ defended this evening between each bite, talking of God’s manifest love in the midst of a dark world, peaking into the souls of each one as they shared their heartfelt convictions made a very tiring and exhausting day worthwhile.

Even when we are tempted to fear, we can cry out to our God and He will answer and calm the storms of our lives. Yet, we must rest in the fact that He is sovereign over all powers and is working beyond what we can see during this time.

I think I would have been so much more content and joyful if I had just known at the beginning that life for me would not be balanced--but could always be meaningful--if I would just accept the limitations of each day, each season, each child, my marriage and my finances--none totally balanced or perfect--but all a blessing.

I read it when I was 10 years old, (you hear the story in my podcast) and it has left and impact for life. Consequently, I read it and discussed it with my children and it became one of their favorites. Enjoy!

What you believe about who God is, then, becomes the platform for your behavior, your values, the grid through which you see life. When you ponder God and cultivate a personal theology, it will influence what you pass on as a legacy to your children as your life messages of integrity.

Nathan is my out of the box, adventurer, story-formed son who fell in love with hero tales. We have long talks about how much he was inspired by the books that captured his imagination and gave him scope to imagine himself as a hero in his own story. We had so much fun today talking about some of his favorite books and why they still live in his mind today.

I was not a perfect mom and rarely in one year accomplished all my educational goals with my children. But almost every day, we had devotions and read-alouds--sometimes at night, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at tea times, but I kept baskets of books everywhere--in every room, in the bathrooms, in their bedrooms. And each year on birthdays and Christmas and other holidays, they all received books as gifts and I helped each of them build their own libraries.

Motherhood came upon me by surprise when I was almost 32 years old. Then I had 3 children in less than 5 years and was hopelessly out of control of my time—and I didn’t know that was to be expected. I kept looking for books that would make it all easier, manageable, give me order and predictability in my life. But finally, God said, “What if the problem with your frustration is you? Children have had needs through all generations but when. mamas lived into the season of life with littles, they found more joy and peace.”

I wish I could invite all of you, my friends, into my home, for a warm meal, a friendship conversation where I could listen to what is on your heart, a place to restore your soul— and to spoil you just a little. Hospitality, the tender care, attention, love and attending to the needs of others is a way we use our place to give others welcome. After such a wearying 3 months, many are in need of our invitation. You are probably in need of it yourself. Our homes can give life where hearts can find comfort, welcome, belonging if we use our them to invite those who need care Into a place we have prepared as a haven for them.

Today, as I was reading and praying for our world, my friends and all that is going on, I was reminded of a profound question that an educated, earnest lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor.”

Forty-six years ago, I went into full time Christian ministry--can. you believe it? And. through these years, I have experienced so many times of trials in history and personally, as well as deep joys. But as I learned to walk one step at a time, learn to trust God one day at a time, learned to put aside bitterness and cynicism, I could eventually always see the grace, love and goodness of God, and learned to stretch towards HIs light and love. You might enjoy my podcast as I share more about this.

Whether as a mother training the character of children, filling their minds with excellent writers, artists, thinkers, or as a woman being a steward of every aspect of her life, one can only become excellent by stretching, determining to obey His still small voice and then using every resource to pursue bringing His light and imprint upon this world.

Justice has been a study of mine. through the days. Jesus is a God of just love—equitable generosity and care for all people, all created in His image. Most of all, though, as. Christ followers, we are to exhibit Him in every relationship. He humbled himself to give us everything. We owe all people His love and grace and friendship. And so choosing to pass on racism as a legacy of our lives is not acceptable. if we have given our lives to serve Jesus. Yet we do see hate, small mindedness, violence everywhere.

Teen years are the making of the child into an adult and the humbling of the parent who realizes they never were in control of their children! But it also makes for forming great adult friendships that will give back to you the rest of their lives. Take heart and a deep breath and expect to see God's grace and provision in new ways--and above all, don't let it get you down. It is a normal process for all of history--the reason Solomon wrote Proverbs to teens,  and the means through which many adults become more humble and compassionate for others.

I hope you will enjoy the second podcast with Clay and me sharing our thoughts about what we have learned about parenting to reach the hearts of our own four, who love us and love the Lord—all by His grace. We are always putting in something in their lives—we invest thorough the seasons:

Many of you who have read our books know that Clay and I are very relationship-based in our approach to children. As we looked to Christ for His model in how He reached the hearts of his disciples, so we wanted to develop a close and deep with ours. Yet, I think because every parent wants to do everything right, they often become susceptible to whatever parenting book they get their hands on first, seeking to find a formula for disciplining children.