A Letter to the Kingdom Building Momma: An Invitation to ABIDE

Dear Momma,

I see you quietly tiptoeing to the kitchen, eyeing the coffee maker and trying to quickly determine if you’ll be able to make a cup without making the only sound needed to wake your sleeping baby…

I see you passing up the sweet invitation to join your baby for a nap that your body so desperately needs…

I see you up late, choosing to write another page in the book you’ve been silently working to finish over the last few years…

I see you choosing the wee hours of the morning, when it is still dark and the house is quiet enough for you to fervently hear the voice of God, lay out and pray, then peel through the pages of your bible, and shed the tears that your soul has been waiting for you to release.

I see you forsaking sleep to lay every burden down that you’ve carried for much too long, at the feet of Jesus…

You are always choosing. Will you slowly shower and dress yourself while no one calls for you, and then begin the course of your day where little hands reach for you and pull on you nonstop?

Will you choose to pursue the presence of your Creator over the time you have begun to secretly idolize and prioritize creating?

These are the whispers of my own heart, and so often I wish that I could somehow tuck them away deeply for no one to hear or see. Here I am, writing it, speaking it and praying it out loud…in exchange for freedom, peace and healing.

The Invitation to Abide...

Sweet Holy Spirit tugs at my heavy heart, and reminds me that my weakest moments are the very human parts of me that expose the greater need for His guidance, His direction, His peace, and His STRENGTH.

I now SEE, that the Savior of the whole world didn’t create a space of freedom for me to come to the Father partially, but rather, He paved the way for me to enter into His presence and into His arms FULLY… with the only requirement being that I MUST deny myself, my flesh of it’s constant cry and desire for me to feed it and fill it with what is never and can never be enough to satisfy it.

Only the love of Jesus, and the complete desire to live my life carrying His heart and His message through everything that I do…that call to come into a space of delivering HIM to my family, and to the world is a weight that demands my attention and now makes those moments when a decision must be made, much easier for me to choose…

The call to build the Kingdom of God is leading me to the feet of Jesus first…

The call to obey my Maker is leading me to do what will point my family to Christ…

Those heavy moments are now lighter. I trust the FINISHER to both, write and FINISH my faith.

And so…I’ll continue to brave the oceans that Jesus calls me to sail out on, and then WALK UPon…

…with each book, each song, each lesson, each meal, each hug, each kiss, each cry and prayer…

I Pause and Pray...

Father, In this moment I am unloading my fears to you, my weights and my uncertainty. Whether I steal away quietly, or show up boldly, I declare that I am building WITH YOU, and not without you, in each moment that I choose to build by faith, and NOT according to perfection…

I. AM. NOT. BUILDING. ALONE.

The MASTER BUILDER is with me through it all. NOTHING is impossible with God. I take hold of every challenge I will face today, and I choose to make my seat at Jesus’ feet priority over the duties that are temporal. I choose to see and choose what brings eternal gain to me, and to my family. I rest in knowing that the peace of God surpasses what I can understand. And it is so, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

Your innate ability to see the things that others miss, beyond the surface is not a weakness. It is your strength. Your Maker has gifted you with a level of discernment designed to help you distinguish and determine strategies that lead to solutions. The burden that you carry to see breakthrough in every place is not a curse meant to overwhelm you. It is a gift to press you into intercession, and lift you up into your seat of spiritual authority.

Today, step out of the boat. Move forward on purpose. Delight in what you cannot fully control, and enjoy the sweet, sweet moments that you will miss if you choose to take it all on alone.

Make your cup of coffee.

Snuggle and hold your baby close.

You are not lazy when you choose to REST.

You do not fail when you PAUSE to pray.

REST at the feet of Jesus, and do not worry about the gentle running feet that seemingly interrupt…

Here is where your attention should be, and must remain, even as you build what has been placed in your hands. Continue to build by faith…and please don’t try to do it alone.

Very warmly,

From the Wife, the Mother, a Daughter, Who is Building Beside YOU.