Category Archives: Quiet Times Podcast

Faith for the Fight

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Good morning, precious moms.

As I write this today (Tuesday, October 22, 2013) my palms are sweaty and my heart is racing—because I’m facing my own battle. Tomorrow, I will have surgery to address some major health issues, and one surgery includes a hysterectomy. I wrote about the initial diagnosis a few months ago. You can find that post here. Four doctors have all told me the same thing: this is the best course of action at this time. At some point, a decision has to be made. And we have prayerfully made it.

My husband and I took a few days off to be quiet together these past two days. We talked about our years of having children—and rejoiced over the gifts God has blessed us with. We marvel, frankly that my body has held up so well. 🙂 Jay says I’m held together by “duct tape and bailing wire.” I love that man. I held on tight to his hand as we walked and talked, but still, I battled fear of the unknown. Fear is a crippler. A thief. Fear is NOT from God.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Today, I find myself running to God’s Word again. As I pray, I am reminded of the struggles facing others around me, and of my own frailty. I say out loud: “God.Is.Faithful!” While satan would have us feel defeated and afraid, God would have us at peace.

^“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

My devotion today was recorded several weeks ago, in anticipation of my being “out of commission” for a while. As I listened to it today, tears ran down my face—because even before my surgery was scheduled, God was preparing my heart through Gideon’s story of struggle and faith. I especially loved God’s tender heart toward Gideon’s doubt and fear.

Are you struggling with a fearful situation like the story I’m reading about Gideon today? If you are, remember that nothing we encounter escapes God’s tender care. He never sleeps. The Bible says He even cares about the sparrow.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

Can you imagine? The God of the universe—cares about us! He is trustworthy. He is good. He is the ultimate healer.

Trust Him with me today, busy mom.

I do covet your prayers for the next few days. My surgery will be tomorrow (Oct 23) at 2:30 p.m. pacific.

—-Quiet Times for Busy Moms—- Faith for the Fight

I want to go back for a few minutes today to the book of Judges, chapter seven. I’m not going to read the whole thing to you, so if you’d like, you can read the story here, or you can open your Bible to Judges 7 and read the story of the battle that Gideon fights against the Midianites. As you read, you’ll discover that Gideon wins the battle with only 300 men.

This is my point: there is no battle so big that God is not able to fight it for us on our behalf. Gideon started with a bazillion men and God pared his army down to just 300 men and Gideon still won the battle! It’s as if God was saying, “I’m trustworthy!”

I love that God didn’t get angry at Gideon’s lack of faith, but He encouraged him by giving him access to the thoughts of his enemy. God is after your heart, busy mom–so you really can live the big assignments to Him. He’s trustworthy. He’s proven Himself, over and over again. At the end of the day, we either trust Him, or we don’t. We’re either like Gideon or we’re not.

Today, whatever circumstance you’re facing, whether it’s a financial difficulty or a struggling marriage or a struggle with a particular child or a big decision that you have to make, you can trust your decisions, your marriage, your finances, your children to the living God. He is trustworthy. He’s proven Himself before and He’ll do it again. You can trust Him.

In His Grasp,

Really? All I Want to Do is Sleep

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Hi Moms!

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Hi Moms! It’s Monday!

I’ve got a lot on my heart and mind this week that I’ll share soon, but today, I want to talk about something that comes up in my conversations with moms over and over again. Can you guess what it is?

I’ve been talking about the subject of marriage for many years and I want to touch on in today again for just a few minutes. I met a mom recently who was really struggling with her marriage relationship. It seemed that “too much water” had gone under the bridge—and she worried that she couldn’t find “That Girl” again. I get it.

Are you tired like this mom? I could so relate to her! I have gone through periods in my life that have absolutely defied my ability to catch up with my sleep, and it’s not just because I’m a busy homeschool mom! It’s motherhood in general! I don’t know about you, but having seven children turned me into a night owl for several years of my life. The children are only just beginning to sleep through the night (haha!) and it’s been twenty-two years!

My seventh child is now almost three years old and we’re just starting to come out of that but for a long time, nights were the only time when the house was quiet. It’s funny, as the kids get older they’ve switched a little bit! The teenagers want to stay up late and the little ones want to get up early (because they go to bed early) and what mom finds out is that there is no time for her on EITHER end of the day! Right?

I’ve ended up getting up earlier to get ahead of the children—but if my husband or teens need my attention at night, well, you see where I’m going. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 24 years! For a long time, nights were the time when I looked forward to unwinding and regrouping for the next day. I blamed it on the kids. 🙂

I wrote the first book that I published and have done much of my writing in the early hours of the day (as in midnight), and in fact, I wrote about this very thing in my first book, “The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Romance.” This book, by the way, is not just for homeschoolers. It’s for every mom who’s trying to balance the many demands on her time in a way that builds her family up.

Here’s an excerpt from that book on the importance of nurturing your marriage through seasons of extreme tiredness. See if you can relate. Keep in mind, I wrote this before I had a houseful of teens and middle schoolers and a toddler. 🙂

“At our house, nighttime is the only time of day when our house is quiet and I feel like I can think straight. I like to blame it on the kids. In fact, it’s late as I write this. The strangest things happen to me when the house is quiet. I can start to feel like my old self again. It’s the time I like to prepare for the next day, write a proverbial “to do” list or maybe read a book. (Or, get on Facebook. Just trying to keep it real.)

However, there have been many times in the evening when I have just sat down to relax and I hear the familiar sound of footsteps coming down the hall. “Are you coming to bed?” The question made me bristle. I have to admit, I have occasionally thought to myself, “Sure I am! After you’re asleep!”

In fact, when all our children were babies this was a real struggle for me. Marriage can be very stressful when babies are little. If you’re a nursing mom and your baby is four months old or younger, you have my unwavering understanding. But don’t take your eyes off of what’s most important. One of satan’s most effective weapons against marriage is simple: to create a separateness between a husband and wife—and He’ll do it however he can.

Sex and intimacy in marriage is one area in which he can create a chasm between a husband and wife, whether it’s poor scheduling or poor prioritizing, anytime I notice that we are at odds with each other, if I step back and look at the big picture of our life, I will usually find that we are not spending enough time with each other. If you’re too tired for sex, it’s time to make some changes. Affection and intimacy seem to come more easily (as I’ve told many busy moms before) when I have priorities in line and I save the best part of me for my husband. As a matter of fact, I usually say, “Why don’t we do this more often?”

That’s just how forgetful I can be.

Don’t let your lack of energy or sleep come between you and your husband for long stretches of time. Engage in conversation. Let him know how you feel—and find out how he’s feeling too. Communicate. Prefer one another. It’s worth it.

Wisdom and the Hard Work of Parenting

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Have you noticed how hard parenting can be?

I’ve been talking with my husband lately about how difficult parenting can be. I said to him the other day, “You know, you’d think that after twenty three years of parenting we would have this down!” We both just stared blankly at each other—you know, the kind of staring you do when you’re spent and don’t have anything left to say… that kind.

Having children and actually doing the tough job of parenting them can really push you. I’ve noticed that as our children have gotten older, we’ve needed to rely more and more and more on God and His wisdom as we parent our children. There’s a funny thing about children: they may come from the same set of parents, but they are NEVER the same, are they?

We have seven children, and they are nothing like each other. They don’t have the same personalities, they don’t look the same, they don’t struggle with the same things, and we often marvel to each other that two parents can have seven children that could be so different! Because of this, we need unique guidance from the Lord for them.

I want to read to you today from James 1. I hope you’ll get out your highlighters or your pencils and pens and write in the margins of your Bible and at the very least, write today’s date. There’s something about looking back in your Bible and remembering when God taught you something new or spoke to you in a new way.

This verse is a great verse for moms especially. Listen to what James had to say about wisdom:

If any of you lacks wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking, but when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world. They are unstable in everything they do.”

God is telling us that He wants us to have faith in Him when we ask Him for things. So mom, when you need faith for that child of yours who is faithless, or you need wisdom for a decision that has been weighing you down, ask the Lord. He wants you to come before Him with great faith and trust in Him, because He is trustworthy. If you’re struggling today, take your struggle to the Lord. Tell Him that you need to have more faith. Ask Him for the wisdom that you need for that child or that teenager, or that ten-year old that’s making you crazy. Ask the Lord to show you exactly what that child needs. Ask him for that specific situation.

The Lord wants to give it to you. He says that if you need wisdom, ask Him, and He’ll give it to you.

He’s good like that.

Step Out in Faith—Let Go of Fear

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We’re going to continue today in Judges chapter six. I’m going to go ahead and skip towards the end of the chapter.

I’d really love to hear what you’re learning about your walk with the Lord as we go along. Something I have learned over the years when in comes to Bible study is that our children, starting in about 3rd grade, are very capeable and studying the Bible right along with us. I want to encourage you to give your children a journal and allow them to write what they see God doing in their own lives and what God is teaching them. It’s amazing how the Lord will speak to your children—so don’t be afraid to dig into the Bible with your kids. 🙂

So let’s pick up our study of Gideon today:

³⁶Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— ³⁷look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” ³⁸And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” ⁴⁰That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Now, many Bible scholars will criticize Gideon for putting out a fleece, and you might hear people say, “It’s not right to test God or ask for signs when we’re trying to make a big decision,” but I tend to see it a little differently. I think it’s amazing to watch God’s response to Gideon—and I find it hard to criticize him for his lack of faith… because God didn’t criticize him.

Keep in mind that Gideon had been living in a time of idolatry and he didn’t know very much about the living God. Just hours before, a terrified Gideon had been hiding in a winepress, and it was a huge step of faith for him to follow God in this way—just considering obedience to God was testing what he had seen all around him!

Here’s what’s amazing though: God trusted Gideon enough to listen to his questioning and to take him seriously. God was patient. He did not get angry because Gideon wanted a “fleece.” So what do we mean when we say that Gideon “put out a fleece?” Basically, Gideon was asking for a miracle, a sign from God.

It is sometimes difficult to know what the will of God is.

If you’re struggling to know the will of God in your own life, here are a couple of “tests” that my my husband and I have used over the years to help us discern God’s will.

The basis for all the decisions that make, the guidance for all the decisions we make should be found in the Bible. God is never going to ask you to do anything that is contrary to His Word. If the decision we’re trying to make does not conflict with God’s Word, we move on to the next step which is to decide to obey God’s voice, regardless of the cost.
We begin to pray about the decision more intensely, realizing that sometimes, God will ask us to do difficult things and it will require sacrifice on our our part.

More often than not, following God requires that we step out in faith, and that we let go of fear. I love the story of Gideon, because God used Him in such a miraculous way, and we’ll see that again next week as we move into chapter 7.

As you begin to walk more closely with God and to read your Bible more, be listening for that “still, small voice,” because God wants to talk to you. We serve a God who wants to have a personal relationship with you. The more time you spend Him, the more you will see how closely He desires to walk with you.

Walk with God, busy mom! Listen for Him. Dig into His Word—get to know Him better.

Leave the Big Assignments to Him {Part 2}

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I’m in the book of Judges again today. So pick up your Bible and open it up to Judges 6. Yesterday, we talked about the fact that God was asking Gideon to lead an army. Gideon was sure a a few things; first, he wasn’t even sure it was God who was asking him to take on this huge task, and then, he wasn’t sure if he could do it! Can you relate?

Does that remind you of anyone else we’ve heard about in the Bible? Many of the Bible’s main characters, not the least of which might be Moses…

The Bible is so rich with examples of people just.like.us. It’s interesting to follow the story of Gideon and to see how he responds to the Lord, so let’s go back to verse 16 in Judges chapter 6:

¹⁶The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

¹⁷Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.¹⁸Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

¹⁹Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah^[a] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

²⁰The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²²When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

²³But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

²⁴So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

It’s wonderful to notice that God did not lose patience with Gideon. Even though Gideon doubted Him, even though he did not obey the first time, God understood his heart, and He did not lose patience with Gideon. God has something that He wants us to do.

The Bible says that while man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart. So as you go about your day today and you think of all things that you have to do, remember that God is looking at your heart. He’s not asking you to be perfect, or to follow Him perfectly, and tomorrow we’ll see yet another opportunity that Gideon has to follow the Lord and another example that he chooses to ask the Lord for a sign. Join me tomorrow as we continue in Judges chapter six.

Leave the Big Assignments to Him {part one}

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Hi moms! I’m going to try something a little different this week, and encourage you to do a little bit of reading on your own. I’d like to take you through the story of Gideon for the next couple of days—it’s a story of faith that will encourage and inspire you.

Take a look at this passage: Judges chapter six. I’ll read a little bit for you on the podcast, but I’d like to encourage you to read the chapter on your own if you get the opportunity. It’s interesting to note that in the beginning of Judges chapter six, we see that again, the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord. Again.

I love to read the Old Testament to our children because there’s so much that the kids can learn from watching how the Israelites followed God and didn’t follow God, and what the consequences were for. Because really, the players have changed, but God hasn’t changed. His Word and His law is still the same.

So, here we find that the Israelites are in trouble again. Have you ever felt that way? (I have!)

¹¹The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.¹²When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

¹³“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

¹⁶The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

¹⁷Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

I can’t believe how Gideon argues with the Lord! It’s fascinating to see God’s patience with us, and love for in this situation, isn’t it? It’s also interesting to note that God sent a messenger to Gideon and yet Gideon believed that he needed proof of God’s call on his life in order to lead Israel. He said, “My family is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least!”

You see, Gideon recognized his own weakness, but God uses ordinary people whose hearts are to serve and obey Him.

If your heart is to serve and obey the Lord, He will use you! He has a plan for you and a purpose for your life, just like He had for Gideon. Tomorrow, we’re going to keep talking about Gideon, so take a moment, open your Bible, and read Judges, chapter six.

A Friendship That Lasts

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HeidiLove - Page 001

Proverbs 17:17
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Have you ever struggled with loneliness or maintaining friendships? Over the years, I have noticed how sensitive I can be (and I wrote about this recently). I wrote specifically about the dangers of social media, because thanks to the Internet, we can see things that we were never able to see before: that party that we didn’t get invited to, the women’s ministry team that went out for lunch and I saw pictures of it but never received an offer to join in.

As women, it’s easy to take those things and internalize them. I’ve noticed too, that women in mid-life often struggle with relationships. As the children grow, the demands on our time change. As the family grows, the dynamics change. The demands on my time are so much greater now than they were when all of our children were little. I have five young children at home and my oldest children are in their early twenties. The older ones are going through their own sort of growing pains, spreading their wings—and they need me in a different way than the little ones do—all this means that at the end of the day, I’m very tired—and I have less time now for things outside my immediate family than I once did.

Have you been there too?

I’m so glad for friends that understand seasons of life.

As the years pass, I find that the friendships I cherish the most are with those women that I can run and visit with at the drop of a hat. A dear friend of mine who I may or may not hear from for months at a time will give me me a call just to say, “Hey! I was just praying for you! Tell me how you’re doing.” Those friendships last.

They last because we choose to believe the best about each other, rather than the worst. We believe the best for each other, too. If you’re struggling with a friendship today, I want to encourage you to ask the Lord to give you His eyes for your friend.

As many of you know, I have a mantra. It is “No Drama, Mama!” I really believe that the Lord would have us extend grace to each other. If you have a friend who is not “hitting the mark” in your relationship today, ask the Lord to give you His perspective. As Him to give you grace for your friend for that moment and then see what He’ll do.

True friendships are worth it. They’re worth investing in and they will survive the tough seasons of life.

A friend loves at all times,
heidi

Heidi St. John

Speaking the Truth in Love

Category Archives: Quiet Times Podcast

Faith for the Fight

Really? All I Want to Do is Sleep

Wisdom and the Hard Work of Parenting

Step Out in Faith—Let Go of Fear

Leave the Big Assignments to Him {Part 2}

Leave the Big Assignments to Him {part one}

A Friendship That Lasts