Category Archives: Quiet Times Podcast

A Wise Mom Multiplies Her Efforts

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Did you know that mothers expand their work by multiplication and not just addition?

Proverbs has a lot to say about the training of children. In Proverbs 22:6 we read,

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

This is not a formula or a guarantee for flawless children, rather it is a principal that children keep good habits they learn when they are young.  Every mother’s goal should be to train her children to replace her—and that starts when the children are young.  Start with training your children to help you at home.

A mother’s effectiveness depends on multiplying her efforts around the house.

Recently, I’ve had conversations with new moms who are struggling to get their kids to work around the house. Simple things like chores become battles for control, and Mom’s frustration shows at the end of the day when she decides to do the chore herself.  Hey, I get it! Sometimes it’s easier to clean the kitchen by myself than to train a child to do it while they grumble and complain, or even worse – grumble and complain while doing the chore wrong and then having to be told to do it again. That’s happened just a few times around my house. 😉

It does take a lot of effort on your part, but there is value in training your children to work. There is value in teaching your children how to do the things around the house.  They help now and can do things on their own when they leave your house.

One time, I heard someone say that a mom who has her children working around the house is a lazy mom.  I would like to suggest that nothing could be further from the truth! That person had clearly never trained a child to work around the house because it is so much easier to do it yourself, right?  Most of you who have tried to teach children to work know exactly what I’m talking about!

Don’t be afraid be afraid to teach  your children to work.

Today, sit down with your children and let them know exactly what is expected of them. Children who know what is expected of them have an easier time accomplishing things that are needed to be accomplished, and they feel secure in those expectations. It’s hard to work for someone when you don’t know what is expected of you!

A wise mom multiplies her efforts through training and teaching her children.  Communicate with your children and train them up, Busy Mom. That’s your job.

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Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages

Mending Relationships

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Do you have a relationship that needs mending?

Sometimes we have fights in our house. I hate to break it to you guys, but my home is not always calm and peaceful (shocking, I know!). There have been many times when we have needed to mend relationships in our home.

I want to take us to James 4 today. The first part of James 4 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but you don’t get it? You kill and covet but cannot have what you want, you quarrel and fight, you do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

It’s interesting to me that the more I get to know the Lord, over and over again God says the same things throughout Scripture. He says, trust me, talk to me, put down your flesh, and dwell and live in the spirit.

If we continue to read in chapter 4:6, we read, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” God opposes the proud, and gives grace to the humble.

If you are in the process of needing to mend a relationship in your life today, be willing to seek forgiveness for your own actions. As parents, we need to be humble and not lording our position over our children. Humility opens a child’s heart. When I can go to my child and say, “You know what, I’m sorry, I could have done that better,” it’s amazing the response I will get, as opposed to saying, “You need to apologize to me.”

Several years ago, I had an instance with one of my daughters- a hardness of heart- and I was having a hard time getting through.  I asked the Lord to give me a specific grace for this particular child, and I felt like the Lord was telling me, “Tell her that you need her grace for you. Ask her to pray for you.”   I went into her room and I was tucking her in bed for the evening and we said our prayers together,  I said to her, “You know what sweetheart? Mom is struggling with these things…” I could almost see her heart begin to soften as I told her some things in my own life (like pride and fear) that I was struggling with. It was almost as if my willingness to expose a tender part of my heart made her hear tender towards me.

So if you have the opportunity to, seek forgiveness from your children if you need to. Children want to forgive their parents. Wait for the Lord to speak to your child and then wait for your child to respond to you verbally.

Try it out. See if it does work. God says that forgiveness clears the conscious. Take the time to mend your relationship with your children.

Keepin’ it real, Moms!

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Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages

A Spiritual Battle

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Have you been watching the news lately?  So many things bring uncertainty into our lives, don’t they?  I’m doing a fair amount of sitting around right now, as I recover slowly from the emotional and physical journey of a hysterectomy.  As I watched tonight, I saw a mom interviewed about the fear she struggles with over possibly losing her healthcare and not being able to provide for her children.  So many things up in the air. It’s easy for us to become afraid, isn’t it?

Well, just in time, we’re still talking about Esther today, but in relationship to the verses we find in Ephesians 6. If you have your Bible, open it to Ephesians 6 and get out your highlighter and pen, because you’re going to want to highlight this passage.

In Ephesians 6:10 we read,

“Finally be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand.

Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, with your feet fitted with readiness that comes with the gospel of peace; in addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one; take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Solomon once said that there is “nothing new under the sun.”    How true that is!  Just like the time of Esther, the battle that we are fighting now is a spiritual battle. There has always been good and evil.  There have always been wicked men in this world.  God uses even the the difficult things.  He is always at work.  Esther understood this.

Esther had the wisdom to see that the battle she was fighting needed spiritual weapons. In the same way we encounter things in our daily lives- whether it’s with our husbands, our marriage, our children, strife in our churches, frustrations in our friendships or struggles with our health, we need to recognize who the enemy really is.

The Bible says we do not struggle against flesh and blood, we are engaged in a spiritual battle. There really is wickedness in this world, so we need to be looking at the world with spiritual eyes. We cannot fight this spiritual battle using a carnal weapons like manipulation or unkind words. We need to be using the weapons of prayer and application of the Word of God. Those are the weapons we use to engage in spiritual warfare! We read in Ephesians 6 that we are to put on the belt of truth and buckle it around our waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and fit our feet with the gospel of peace. God is telling us over and over again that the battle we fight is a spiritual battle.

Are you ready to fight a spiritual battle? Do you spend the time you need to spend putting on your armor? Gear up Busy Mom.  Gear up for a spiritual battle.  Put on the full armor of God!

Gird up,
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Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages

For Such a Time as This

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Have you ever struggled with fear?

Esther enters the Bible and enters history during the reign of King Ahasuerus, when the Persian Empire was at its peak. Esther’s challenge was to serve God in challenging circumstances. Now, Esther – as well as all the other women who were being considered to be King’s wife – knew that Ahasuerus was a fearful man and he had a lot of power. Esther had a lot of reason to be full of fear!

But the Bible mentions two different types of fear: the first type is beneficial, and is to be encouraged, and that is the fear of God. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The second type of fear is detrimental and it is the kind that we need to overcome: it is the fear of man. The first type of fear brings with it blessings and benefits, and is the beginning of wisdom and leads us to understanding.  

In Psalm 111:10 we read that wisdom and our faith in the Lord leads us to understanding. The Bible says in Proverbs that only fools despise wisdom and discipline. And the fear of the Lord leads to light, rest, peace, and contentment in Proverbs 19:23. Proverbs 14:27 says it is the fountain of life and it provides security and a place of safety for us. We can see how fearing God can be encouraged, but fearing man is not beneficial at all. This is the spirit of fear that is mentioned in 2 Timothy 1:7 where we read “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.” A spirit of fearfulness and timidity does not come from God. If you’re wrestling with the fear of man today, ask the Lord to take it from you. And as we learn more about Esther this week, you will discover as you give your fears over to the Lord, He will replace those fears with faith.

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Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages

A Torn Jacket and the Heart of a Child

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Words are powerful.

There’s a Proverb that says, “A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child.”  A poem first published in “The Bible Friend” speaks about the great influence that a mother has in the lives of her children:

A Piece of Plastic Clay

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded at my will.

I came again when days were past;
The bit of clay was hard at last,
The form I gave it still it bore,
But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art
A young child’s soft and yielding heart.

I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon;
That early impress still he wore,
And I could change it never more.

(Author Unknown)

This reminds me of the many opportunities we have as mothers to influence our children and the importance of the words we say to them.  Listen to what the apostle Paul had to say about the power of words:

2 Corinthians 13:10
 This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

Our words will do one of two things: they will build up, or they will tear down. As mothers, we must remember that every word we say to our children makes an impression on them. As you talk to your children today, ask the Lord to give you His heart and His words.  His words are so much better than ours, aren’t they?

I don’t know about you, but it seems like I get a lot of opportunities to apologize to my kids.  Every day, in fact! Sometimes, I get the chance several times each day.  One time comes to mind immediately.  It was a time when I was unkind to my daughter in front of her guests.  A few minutes after I lost my cool with her, I went back to my bedroom and sensed the Lord saying, “You better go down and fix that!”

I went downstairs, opened her bedroom door and in front of all her friends I said, “You know sweetheart, I am so sorry that I said that to you. That was wrong.  Will you please forgive me?”  Kids are so forgiving.  She forgave me, also in front of her friends.  It turned out that my bad behavior turned into a good lesson for everyone about the power of asking for forgiveness and making things right.

Our children need to hear us say we’re sorry when we blow it.  So if you’ve got some mending to do today, go ahead and start mending!  Build your child up.  Let them see you say you’re sorry.  You don’t get this time of parenting back again. Make it count.

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Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages

More Than Making Babies

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Hi moms!

You may have seen my Tuesday post that shed just a little light on the physical battle I’m facing—so the next few podcasts were recorded ahead-of-time.  In fact, I’m hospital right now, and my sweet husband is helping me write this Friday’s post.  My surgery went well, and now I’m trying to get on the road to recovery.  (aka: I’m on drugs.)  🙂

It’s been a rough day—painful for sure but also humbling.  Nothing like needing help just to go the bathroom!  I’m so glad Jay has seen me at my worst. Why?  Because it strengthens us when we walk through deep water together.

The longer I’m married, the more I appreciate the many sacrifices my husband has made for me.  I want so much to bless him!  God designed marriage to be an amazing union between a husband and wife.  In our culture, we’ve lost much of the appreciation and wonder that God gives to the marriage relationship.  Have you ever thought about how much God loves us?  Marriage is a wonderful place to see God’s love for people.

Sex between married people is one example of God’s care for His creation.

Certainly it was within God’s creative ability to make procreation a dull, necessary part of making sure the human race continued.

Genesis 2:24 says “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

Did you know that God has given us the ability to enjoy sex for the sake of enjoyment alone? The world seems to have stolen this from the Christian community and so we either hear about it being an awful, wicked thing or we hear about it being something that has absolutely no boundaries on it at all.

But did anyone ever tell you that sex is only for making babies? I hope you realize how far from God’s heart that is. God’s heart is that you enjoy sex with your husband. His design is infinitely more wonderful and loving toward us than we could ever comprehend. I love the imagery, of scripture: the Bible says that the two will become one flesh, ONE FLESH. The language itself suggests intensity, infusion, and pleasure. It also shows that God’s heart in uniting a husband and wife was meant to be this way, on purpose. God wants us to be one flesh.

For this reason, a man shall leave his parents, and they will have babies? Is that what God said? No, He said they will leave their parents and cleave to their spouse and become one flesh.

Sex is about so much more than making babies. I truly believe that God meant for sex to provide us with a respite from the stresses of this world. And a healthy, intimate relationship serves to strengthen the bonds between a husband and wife. Sex gives physical pleasure, and release, and wonder of wonders the most amazing thing we can think of happens through sex: NEW LIFE is created! Every time I think about this amazing gift, I’m speechless.

Be speechless—enjoy married life!
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Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages

Mining God’s Word for Truth

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Have you ever wondered how capable your children are at recognizing the truths of God’s Word? The truth is, your children can take in the length and depth of the Gospel. The God News of Jesus Christ.

In Deuteronomy 6, verses 5 through 9 we read, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts, impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, and when you lie down. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates”.

The truth is, you cannot make your children love the bible. But you can acquaint them with it. You can ground them in the knowledge of God’s Word.

I want to encourage you today, before you pick up a single thing to study with your children, pick up the Word of God. Honor the study of God’s Word above every other subject in your home. All other books take second place to what God has written in His Word for your children and for you.

It’s interesting to note that even though there are many things that change around us, God never changes. His truth’s never change. I have always been amazed to see writings from others who have gone on before me – including my grandparents. They recognized what God was doing around them. Nearly 80 years ago, the issues they were dealing with are the same type of things that are playing out today. We want our children to stand firm in the culture that they are living in. Honor the reading of God’s Word. You can mine God’s Word for truth with your children. While we can’t make our children love the bible, we can offer them a cool drink of water from God’s Word. We can make the study of God’s Word appealing to them.

This is one of the reasons we began writing the Firmly Planted Bible Study materials. We recognized the need to study God’s Word with our kids and we recognized the preciousness of scripture.

Impress God’s Word upon the heart of your child today.

Heidi St John Firmly Planted Family Devotional For All Ages