I Did It Scared

This is the promise that I have been holding on to for the past few weeks as I have been preparing to lead a Bible study for moms at our church.

One of the fears I have been struggling with is speaking in public. I am talking butterflies the size of cows even thinking about it let alone actually doing it. When my mentor asked me to lead, I thought of a million reasons to give her for why I should not do it and then heard a small voice coming from deep inside that said, "yes." 

And I immediately thought to myself, "You have just lost your mind."

So over the past weeks of preparation I looked up every Bible verse that said "do not fear" in every translation. I thought if I could just get rid of the fear...

But the reality for me was that I just had to do it scared. 

I had to turn it over to Him and say that this is beyond me and I needed Him. The fear didn't go away. I stood on Tuesday morning in front of a group of women and taught (flipboard, notecards, markers, and all). My heart was beating a mile a minute the whole time and the last thing I prayed before I began was "I need You Lord. Please..."

When I was done I sat down and let out a huge sigh. 

All I kept saying in my head over and over again was "Thank you Lord."

Here is a little of what I shared...

In order to learn how to be a better mom to our children, we need to learn more about how our Father parents us. What better way to begin than

In the beginning...

God our Father is the Creator of everything. At the very beginning of Genesis we hear how everything came to be. From light to darkness to stars and oceans. At the end of each day, God looked over everything He had made and said it was good. But something changed after He created human beings in His image. God looked over ALL He had made and said it was VERY good.

That ALL is you. You are His creation and you are VERY good in His eyes.

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

Psalm 139:14

There are so many times as moms that we don't really feel so marvelous. Maybe it's a bad hair day. Maybe it's a day that we don't get everything done on our to-do list. Maybe we are short in patience with our kids.

But how we feel isn't the truth.

The truth in His Word says that we are marvelously 

made in His image and we are very good in His eyes.

That truth isn't just for us though.

It is also true about our children.

There are some days that it is a challenge to remember that they too are very good. (You know...one of those days where there is constant bickering.)

But their behavior doesn't define them.

God does.

They too are marvelously made.

When we focus on the positive, the negative is harder to see.

So for the next week I want to challenge you to write down 

5 things that you find marvelous about your children.