praise Archives - The Mom Initiative

A Thanksgiving Proclamation

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thess. 5:18 NKJV Do we fail God’s will of giving thanks, in every situation? Remember the Grumbly Bunch in the wilderness? “God, why did you bring us out here? To die? In this wilderness? Where are we going? There’s no food. No water. And we hate this manna!” Uh-oh! According to the original Hebrew, Numbers 11:1 (Masoretic Text) tells us the people were evil for complaining and made God’s anger glow. Therefore, He “sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed …

3 Reasons to Thank God When You Don’t Feel Blessed

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” For over 150 years, Americans – and people around the world – have thanked God for His many blessings on Thanksgiving. What if you don’t feel blessed? What if you’re in the midst of some trial or difficulty or heartache right now? Can you still join in the Thanksgiving celebration with joy or will you just be going through the motions? The writer of Psalm 118 knew trouble. His life had …

I’m Taking the 30 Day PTW Challenge! How about you?

Message 10-25 (Donald Shott) from Journey Church on Vimeo This past Sunday, I made my way to church, sat down to listen and was quickly aware of how much my prayer life needed to change. The Lord convicted me, and my hubby inspired me! If you’re like me, sometimes your prayers begin and end with yourself. Your needs, your wants, your desires… even good ones. Even the kind where you are praying for a lost loved one whom you have been praying for for years. And the kind of prayers when you are praying for the healing of a friend, the needs …

How Can I Give Thanks?

No, this isn’t a Thanksgiving post. And yes, this is a thanksgiving post! Some time ago, I did an exercise in brevity as a prompt from a writers’ group. Using only six words, one of mine went like this… Got troubles? Got heartaches? Get God! On the same day as the prompt, one of my devotional books used the Scripture Philippians 4:6 for its basis, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (NKJV) Do we really think about and obey this verse? With all the stress …

God in the Strife and Struggle l Lori Wildenberg

Exhaustion. Part of the parenting experience. Little ones challenge us physically and emotionally and bigger kids physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Neither path is…smooth. But God is faithful in the strife and struggle. Even though there are times it doesn’t feel like this, he has perfectly chosen and equipped you and me to be our child’s parent. Even though there are times it doesn’t feel like this, He has perfectly chosen & equipped us to be our child’s parent Click To Tweet Many parents of tweens, teens, and young adults are perplexed by the issues their kids are facing or by …

A Mother’s Song of Praise

I’ve always loved the prayer Mary prayed after she visited her cousin Elizabeth and revealed the secret that would change the world, she was carrying in her womb the Son of God, the Messiah, the one who would save us from our sins. When I read Luke 1:46-56 I imagine Mary in such a humbled state yet not able to contain her excitement and fear for her future as the mother of the promised one. I can see her dancing as she sings, kneeling as she prays and lifting her hands towards Heaven in worship. I just cannot imagine …

A Mother’s Heart…Heart Murmurs

Heart murmurs… * are extra heart sounds caused by turbulent blood flow, sufficient enough to produce an audible noise, ranging from very faint to very loud. * are due to functions and activities of life or of living matter (physiologic conditions) outside the heart. * are a treatable and preventable condition. If not serious, medication will improve the condition. If more serious, surgery may be in order. But what if it is spiritual rather than physical? What then are those heart sounds, from faint to loud, due to conditions outside the heart? Israel had this heart problem. What was it? …

When Thanksgiving Gets Stuck in Your Throat

Not everyone will have had a happy Thanksgiving…especially this year. Many are out of work, have issues relating to health, children, or family. Some are facing the holiday season for the first time as they mourn the loss of a loved one or as a divorcee. So, what happens to their thanksgiving and praise when their peace disintegrates into chaos? As I go through trial after trial, circumstance after circumstance, what happens to my praise and thanksgiving? What happens when my day is darkened with a multitude of problems? Do I still sing to Him anyway? You bet! When my …