Matthew 6:23
I have had several mothers of toddler-age children ask me recently how is it that my children are so polite, well mannered, and well behaved. They say I make it look so easy (if they only knew!!! -- they weren't here ten years ago when I was in that phase of life with three under three!)...
The truth is, every child is different and each family's circumstances, environment, and needs are different so what worked for me may not work for you.
There are, however, a few basic, universal principles that we applied to our lives that I believe have blessed us so much.
I remember being a brand new Christian mom with twin 2 year olds and a newborn and just about pulling my hair out. I frequently lost patience and no matter how hard I tried, I went to bed most nights filled with regret of how I mishandled my time with the babies. I remember sitting on the floor crying with my arms outstretched in opposite directions holding my toddlers in their toddler beds begging them to take a nap...I was exhausted and frazzled and so alone. We had just moved 6 hours away from everyone we ever knew to live in a tiny two bedroom apartment we now affectionately refer to as the Meadow Ghetto. It was a dump and this new land we were living in seemed unfriendly, cold, and unfamiliar. Tony was working second shift at his new job so most of the day with the kids was up to me.
Yep, I was the mom who yelled, belittled, yanked, begged, and berated her toddlers daily....then, when I was all worn out, I let them do whatever they wanted because I was too tired to care. Then I would check on them while they were sleeping and they looked like little cherubs and pangs of guilt and sadness overtook me. We barely had enough money to survive, our marriage was growing worse by the day, I was failing horribly as a mom, we had one car, and I felt like an alien in this new, strange land we'd moved to. We couldn't quit and go back. Something had to change.
Well, what do you do if you want something to change? It definitely isn't going to happen by itself. YOU have to change something.
Not even knowing how to pray, I started opening my Bible and read through verses I had heard referred to here and there as well as some books recommended by different acquaintances along the way....I read books like Personality Plus and Hung by the Tongue, Battlefield of the Mind, and Creative Counterpart. I got a hold of an old school Kenneth Copeland tape which totally lit my fire and then, over time, started studying his broadcasts. I loved listening to their daily broadcasts and watching their marriage and their children and their grandchildren. I so wanted what they had......not the money and the big house and all that, but the joy and the peace, and the laughter, and the boldness, and the kindness....I learned that Kenneth and Gloria started out quite similarly to Tony and I which gave me so much hope.
Through Kenneth and Gloria I learned about authority and the power of the spoken word. That means, I had to quit talking about all the junk and circumstances in my life -- I had to quit saying how bad my kids were -- I had to quit talking about what we didn't have -- I had to quit confessing fear and lack -- I had to quit saying what I saw in my kids and in my husband and START confessing instead what I wanted to see -- what God saw in them....I changed my words from words of defeat, sickness, destruction, lack, and hopelessness to words of victory, peace, joy, abundance, health, and life. I began framing our lives with the word of God. I picked up Power of a Praying Parent and learned how to intercede for my children and cover every area of their life in prayer. I prayed through their rooms and their nightmares stopped. I prayed over their health and used the authority Jesus had given me and saw them miraculously healed numerous times. I spoke and prayed for obedience, for peace among them, for their joy.....and little by little strongholds were broken, generational curses we didn't know we had were destroyed, and God began to knit our fractured lives back together.
It's not quite as simple as all that but if there is one major thing we did right which unlocked everything else it was obedience to Matthew 6:23:
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you.
That is my life verse without question.
If you are willing to do what Proverbs 1,2, and 3 lay out for you -- to seek Him with your whole heart, to seek Him as for treasure, to put the Word first, to get up in the wee hours to have quiet time with Him...this is all part of Matthew 6:23 --
See, by seeking Him with all your heart, He will lead you into pleasant pastures, alongside quiet streams, and down straight, well lit paths. He is the way to life and His Word is His instructions. Everything we have and are today is a result and testimony to faithfulness to His word and to diligently seeking Him, then diligently obeying Him as best as we knew how at any time. Seeking Him 1st has taught us obedience, love, patience, joy, discretion, justice, parenting, marriage, association, character, and all we are. He has led us to the right books at the right time, the right people for help, the right mentors to coach us through, the right church family to associate with, and so on.
I cannot make any promises over your future because we have not met and because life happens, but I can absolutely promise if you apply Matthew 6:23 to your life, life as you know it will never be the same again, for the better!
The truth is, every child is different and each family's circumstances, environment, and needs are different so what worked for me may not work for you.
There are, however, a few basic, universal principles that we applied to our lives that I believe have blessed us so much.
I remember being a brand new Christian mom with twin 2 year olds and a newborn and just about pulling my hair out. I frequently lost patience and no matter how hard I tried, I went to bed most nights filled with regret of how I mishandled my time with the babies. I remember sitting on the floor crying with my arms outstretched in opposite directions holding my toddlers in their toddler beds begging them to take a nap...I was exhausted and frazzled and so alone. We had just moved 6 hours away from everyone we ever knew to live in a tiny two bedroom apartment we now affectionately refer to as the Meadow Ghetto. It was a dump and this new land we were living in seemed unfriendly, cold, and unfamiliar. Tony was working second shift at his new job so most of the day with the kids was up to me.
Yep, I was the mom who yelled, belittled, yanked, begged, and berated her toddlers daily....then, when I was all worn out, I let them do whatever they wanted because I was too tired to care. Then I would check on them while they were sleeping and they looked like little cherubs and pangs of guilt and sadness overtook me. We barely had enough money to survive, our marriage was growing worse by the day, I was failing horribly as a mom, we had one car, and I felt like an alien in this new, strange land we'd moved to. We couldn't quit and go back. Something had to change.
Well, what do you do if you want something to change? It definitely isn't going to happen by itself. YOU have to change something.
Not even knowing how to pray, I started opening my Bible and read through verses I had heard referred to here and there as well as some books recommended by different acquaintances along the way....I read books like Personality Plus and Hung by the Tongue, Battlefield of the Mind, and Creative Counterpart. I got a hold of an old school Kenneth Copeland tape which totally lit my fire and then, over time, started studying his broadcasts. I loved listening to their daily broadcasts and watching their marriage and their children and their grandchildren. I so wanted what they had......not the money and the big house and all that, but the joy and the peace, and the laughter, and the boldness, and the kindness....I learned that Kenneth and Gloria started out quite similarly to Tony and I which gave me so much hope.
Through Kenneth and Gloria I learned about authority and the power of the spoken word. That means, I had to quit talking about all the junk and circumstances in my life -- I had to quit saying how bad my kids were -- I had to quit talking about what we didn't have -- I had to quit confessing fear and lack -- I had to quit saying what I saw in my kids and in my husband and START confessing instead what I wanted to see -- what God saw in them....I changed my words from words of defeat, sickness, destruction, lack, and hopelessness to words of victory, peace, joy, abundance, health, and life. I began framing our lives with the word of God. I picked up Power of a Praying Parent and learned how to intercede for my children and cover every area of their life in prayer. I prayed through their rooms and their nightmares stopped. I prayed over their health and used the authority Jesus had given me and saw them miraculously healed numerous times. I spoke and prayed for obedience, for peace among them, for their joy.....and little by little strongholds were broken, generational curses we didn't know we had were destroyed, and God began to knit our fractured lives back together.
It's not quite as simple as all that but if there is one major thing we did right which unlocked everything else it was obedience to Matthew 6:23:
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you.
That is my life verse without question.
If you are willing to do what Proverbs 1,2, and 3 lay out for you -- to seek Him with your whole heart, to seek Him as for treasure, to put the Word first, to get up in the wee hours to have quiet time with Him...this is all part of Matthew 6:23 --
See, by seeking Him with all your heart, He will lead you into pleasant pastures, alongside quiet streams, and down straight, well lit paths. He is the way to life and His Word is His instructions. Everything we have and are today is a result and testimony to faithfulness to His word and to diligently seeking Him, then diligently obeying Him as best as we knew how at any time. Seeking Him 1st has taught us obedience, love, patience, joy, discretion, justice, parenting, marriage, association, character, and all we are. He has led us to the right books at the right time, the right people for help, the right mentors to coach us through, the right church family to associate with, and so on.
I cannot make any promises over your future because we have not met and because life happens, but I can absolutely promise if you apply Matthew 6:23 to your life, life as you know it will never be the same again, for the better!
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