Career moms

Who are we “adventing” for?

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The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah – Matthew 1:1-17

The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezronfathered Ram. Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.  Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse.  Jesse fathered David the king.

David fathered Solomon by Bathsheba, who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa.  Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah.  Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah. Josiahfathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel fathered Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor.  Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud.  Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob.  Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteengenerations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteengenerations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Have we ever slowed down long enough to investigate the names represented in this lineage of grace?  When I was in high school looking into the word of God asking what I should study next, He led me to the lineage.  These names, these people, and their stories are not here by accident.  They each represent another pillar of grace shown upon all of humanity.  When you review the fact that there are men from all walks of life and every journey known to man and they are the foundational rocksof welcoming the Savior of the world.  And five women.  Five.  Five is the number for grace in scripture that can be found all over the Word of God reflecting His grace on our lives, and He chose to give us five women in the lineage that represent each of us.

Tamar: the unwanted.

Rahab: the mistreated.

Ruth: the forgotten.

Bathsheba: the taken.

Mary: the misunderstood.

These women represent all of us.  None of us are left out and the Lord cherished them and chose to call them blessed.  They experience the Christ in many ways and one of the most powerful being through the birth of their own children.  The welcome of holding their own children, was partially welcoming the Christ.  And when does the advent season truly being?  I challenge that it took place every moment of every day, but especially in these families at the birth of the next generation.  The longing for the coming of Christ dictated their very existence and their family purpose – but did they know it?  With the creation of every new generation, they were one step closer to the Christ.  Could the same be said of us?

And then we have fourteen generations between Abraham and David, David to Babylon deportation, Babylon deportation to Jesus.  Is that a coincidence?  I say not.  The number fourteen represents a double measure of spiritual perfection.  But that is an entire study all its own, which I encourage you into more. The linage of Jesus is more than words on a page.  It contains the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in its every motion.  The enemy tried in many ways to destroy these people too… but he failed.  Just as he will fail in our lives and in our journeys.  Our High King has the victory, and we are privileged to walk in that truth and with that banner over us.  May we celebrate the birth of each new generation of believers in our midst as that is one more day closer to His second coming.  And may we rest in His goodness as we reflect on all He has done inus and for us, even then things that we are unaware of.

 

Photo credits – Clifton Haley Photography https://www.etsy.com/listing/1345639603/?ref=share_ios_native_control

Naked Toes

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Polish on toes. What is that about? Who decided it would be a good idea and that you cannot dare wear sandals without them being polished? Who made this declaration? Who put these chains on me?!? 

Polished toenails are beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But when did they turn from being a fun thing to do, to a down right chore that keeps me from showing them bare? 

As of late, I have purposely kept my toes unpolished. Wanna know why? A few reasons: 1. I couldn’t stand the thought of doing it. Why does it bother me so much? Not having my toenails polished? What is at the root of this? 2. If I struggled with having my toes bare, who else might? Is there something deeper with this than just the fact that my toes aren’t polished? 3.The idea that this could be really interesting to see what people have to say about it, will they notice? Duh, they’ll notice, but will they actual say anything… Or just think weird things about me? LOL! 4. I’m just weird and think about polishing my toenails way too much. So much, I am now writing about it. 

So, I am still left with the same thought… Why does this matter? What does polished toenails represent? They say- you’ve made time to take care of your toes; you make good money so you can even pay someone to take care of your toes; you’re fashionable; you like to have everything put together at all times; everything is always good when the toes are polished; a woman who has all of the plates in the air spinning in perfect harmony…. These may not be what they say to you, but sometimes these can/are true. Well, at least to me. 

Why is it that I feel like I need to make an excuse to all mankind about why my toes aren’t polished? Why does anyone care? Why do I care? Maybe because I feel like I am showing weakness in myself if my toes aren’t polished…. Maybe it means I am not super woman and that maybe, just maybe, I might not have it altogether. Maybe it means that I really am too busy for taking care of myself and that some of these things in life that demand so much out of me really do need to stop. Maybe it signifies that I AM NOT PERFECT! 

Maybe, naked toes are just the ticket to remind me and everyone around me that God never called us to be perfect…. He called us to be Holy. Maybe, I will keep naked toes until they can find their proper place in my life and in the scheme of eternity. 

Everything we do, whether in word or deed, is to give glory to the One who made us. May my toes bring You the glory You deserve. Thank You for teaching through my naked toes. 
PS. My toes are polished in this pic. 😑 The struggle is real. 

Guest Post: Amanda Day shares her personal story on fitness. 

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Guest Post: Amanda Day shares her personal story on fitness

Why do I work out? 

My whole life into my early twenties, I was bullied for being over weight. I was bullied to the point of wanting to drop out of school, never return, go home, and curl up in a ball away from the world. I had to learn health and nutrition on my own as a young adult. At the age of twenty-two, I began to run and my desires of food began to change. Long story short, this became a huge part of my life, and I lost 63 pounds in a just over a year. So needless to say, my life changed tremendously.  Sadly, more people became my friend.

The scars of my bullies will always be there, but today, I know and believe with all of my heart and soul where my identity is. I am a daughter of the King, child of God, chosen one, beautiful in His sight, fearfully and wonderfully made. I am God’s Temple where His Spirit dwells! 

I was introduced to Zumba, four years ago and at first, I’ll be honest, I thought,”huh,no way, I can’t move like that!”  Well, I kept going simply because I LOVE music and I LOVE to dance! One class led to another and I became quickly addicted to it, in a good way! Zumba changed my life in many ways. From physical form to inner confidence.

Zumba was the only workout I found that I never got tired of.

Then a dear friend came to me about a year ago and suggested I become an instructor for Refit. Refit is similar to Zumba, but I said right away that there was no way I could ever get up in front of everyone and teach. Obviously, I still struggled with thinking I couldn’t achieve anything. I became nauseous just thinking about it! Then she asked me again, several several months later, and I began to pray about it, asking God to show me the way. HE knew fitness was a passion for me and HE also gave me the spiritual gift of exhortation. So I prayed, “Lord, if this is what I am supposed to do for You, please give me the courage and confidence to do it.” Without a doubt, the Lord orchestrated this for my life. So stepping out in faith, believing He would take away my fears and insecurities of teaching in front of a crowd, I registered for training and off I went. I became certified April 20th, 2016, as a Refit Instructor.  Even as my training began, the enemy came and said, “you know that you can’t do this, your too insecure, you don’t have enough talent…..” I became very anxious and almost felt that I needed to walk out and come home. But I serve a mighty God that told me to stay right where I was and with Him, I can do all things who gives me strength. And that is exactly what He did!  I would not be standing in front of my class teaching Refit if it wasn’t for the Lord Jesus Christ working completely through me and my dear friend’s encouragement and belief in me. You see I’m not capable of it at all.   It is only Jesus working through me to give me that confidence that I need to teach other women to be the same way: to overcome their fears, their insecurities, the negative feelings they have about themselves, that they aren’t good enough, pretty enough, fit enough or look a certain way or can’t move like the instructor can, etc….

It is my great passion to help them to believe in themelves, to love themselves and see themselves through HIS eyes and not their own. As long as we view ourselves through our eyes we will never measure up. I never ever thought I would do what I do now but isn’t that how our amazing the Father works?! He works in us in ways we never thought possible! I have been set free from the bondage of insecurity and self doubt! Do I struggle from time to time? Sure I do. It’s our human nature and the enemy’s desperation trying to creep in. But as long as I have my armor on daily and seek HIS face with all I have, I am able to defeat the enemy. 
So…I workout to have a strong temple for Jesus Christ, to do His work as He calls me to do it. To honor my body as He desires us to do (our bodies are the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, you know), to encourage other women, make new relationships to share God’s love with them, because I love to dance, I love music, it is my 100% stress release therapy, and to be healthy for myself and my family! 

Not one day passes I don’t thank my heavenly Father for what He is doing in my life through the fitness world. It has become my ministry for Him….who knew?….HE knew! 

I’m humbled and thankful that He believed in me and had this plan for me.

Career Mom’s Guilt…. How to deal? 

/ heatherhaley07 / 3 Comments

So the battle is real. What happens to the moms that the Lord clearly ordains to have a career? How does a woman deal with that? What does His Word say about it? What do His people say about it? Why is there such guilt and frustration? What is the actual truth about this? 

I am finding that a few years back my world shifted. I was always focused on education and career, but at no point did I ever slow down long enough to ask the Lord about what I do with all of this when babies come! (Plus I had a few extra years to think about it because baby did not come very easily, well at least not in my timeframe). Then she did come. Precious baby girl, Miss Georgia Ruth. I was now called mommy. This was a new title. One I was unfamiliar with. One that had more honor than all others… Except one, wife. 
What do I do with this? How do I manage my time? My thoughts? My heart? My focus? 
I was somewhat angry when I had to go back to work and take her to her new daytime sitters- her Gigi and her Mamaw and Papaw. I know, I’m a brat, how do you complain when you are blessed to have grandparents watch your precious girl??? Eh, anyone can complain about anything at anytime. It comes with our bag of bones… Somewhat natural. 
Anyway, the struggle was real. Since I was young, I would daily ask the Father to give wisdom. I knew early, only by the grace of God, that I clearly did not know or understand A LOT and that I was going to need His wisdom in all things. I wondered why He didn’t tell me “hey dear, you might want to save your money so you can take a few years off when you have children…..” Or I wondered why didn’t some honest, amazing women tell me that. I regretted not planning well. 
And then I went into a season where I was seeking wholeheartedly what the Lord wanted me to do for a career. My prayer was that He would tell me to quit my job and completely live by faith on where each meal was coming from. But He didn’t. My prayer was that He would tell me and Clif to pack up and move to some big adventure on mission with Him- Southeast Asia, NYC, Washington DC, anywhere really! But He didn’t. My prayer was that He would quadruple Clif’s salary and then I would just quit and do mommy stuff all day. But He didn’t.  
He chose to increase my salary and give me a new mission in my career. He chose to give me great opportunity for advancement and great traveling opportunities. He chose to do the one thing I didn’t pray or ask for, but He made it clear where He wanted me to go, what He wanted me to do and where He wanted me to do it. 
So what now? What happens to the dreams of having lunch on a Tuesday with baby girl? What happens to the ideas and desires of having a garden and growing our food and making beautiful flower beds? What happens to being around every time she is sick, every time she does something funny and every time you think she may become a homeschooled child? 
And today was no different. Asking the same ole questions, but today He answered. Today, He spoke words that penetrated to my heart. Stop complaining and be thankful. Stop comparing and be thankful. Stop being so self-centered and BE THANKFUL. Joy cannot be where complaining, comparing and self-centeredness are. Be joyful. Stop looking twenty years ahead and live today. Be in today. Be thankful for today. 
Stop viewing my circumstances as bad and start being thankful for each and every one. 
Enjoy today. Have gratitude today. 
Father, forgive me for my lack of thankfulness for my amazing husband, amazing daughter AND amazing career. Father, did you not make both the career mom and the stay at home mom? Did you not speak to both and give each of them their mission? Will you not supply all of our needs? Do you not take care of the birds, so you will also take care of me? Father, have you not told me that I will face trials of many kinds, but through them all, have joy!?! Lord Jesus, forgive me for all of my failures to say thank you. Father, help me to see every day as a new day and a new set of joy to be walked in. I pray that I never participate in the things You don’t want me to. I pray each day is lived as YOU perfectly planned it to be. Thank you for Your grace.