May 2015 - Sharing Redemption's Stories

Secret Wonders {Plus Grace & Truth}

May 29, 2024 By Rebekah 7

Why do we need to pray about something more than once? Have you ever wondered about this? I know I have - lots of times. And sometimes I feel funny asking it “out loud” because I wonder if my faith isn’t strong enough, or if everyone else knows the answer so I should already know. As I read through Winter’s post, “Secret Wonders“, from last week’s Grace and Truth linkup I found myself going through the question with her, understanding her thought process, and realizing that I wasn’t alone in my wondering.

I’d encourage you to take a few minutes and read Winter’s thoughts about persistence and conversation with God. I think her answer provides a beautiful picture of the relationship God longs to have with us! Thank you, Winter, for sharing your heart!

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Filed Under: Grace and Truth

Book List for Tween Boys

May 27, 2024 By Rebekah 2

Have you ever tried to find new reading material for your tween boy(s)? It can be difficult to know what is safe, what’s appropriate, what holds their interest, and what is family-friendly.

I am a mom to two boys and then a girl, so I’m currently navigating the waters of appropriate books with my boys, one of whom is a tween, the other in his mid-teen years. Between reading levels, interests and what we deem appropriate, finding a good book for them to read is often a struggle for us. I’m going to share a book list for tween boys, gathered from a post on social media. It’s certainly not comprehensive, and those of us with boys at this age and stage would gladly welcome your help by adding some of your favorites in the comments, please!

Please know that I have heard of some of these books (but not all!)
and while most look good from a quick glance at reviews and descriptions,
please, please check the books ahead of time
to be sure they fit with your family’s criteria.

I’m sharing the full list over at Arabah Joy’s blog. Please come join us!

Filed Under: parenting

You Have to Tell Him

May 26, 2024 By Rebekah 3

I hear you’ve been having those same feelings again - the fear, the insecurities, the frustration. Me, too. And does your husband walk around with what seems like very little regard for your feelings? Mine, too. I think he should be expressing more care and concern a lot of the time - after all, we’re married and he knows my feelings.

I had a situation recently that served as a great reminder for me.

Come close: Just because you’re married does not mean he knows your feelings. He may know of them, but he may not realize they are ongoing. You have to tell him how you’re feeling - you have to share those fears, insecurities and frustrations with him.

I was struggling with my own fears and insecurities recently. I had shared them with my husband, and because they were ongoing, at least from my perspective, I figured that he still knew and understood my feelings. I presumed that his lack of acknowledgement of them meant a disinterest in dealing with them.

So along with my fear and insecurity, I let my frustration and anger toward him grow for a little while.

One Saturday night, I went to bed a little later than usual. Ever so gently, my husband asked what was wrong. I started by saying nothing was wrong - I was just tired. He didn’t buy it.

And that’s when I told him….

Figuring that I’d bottled it and battled it for long enough, I shared my feelings with him. All the fears, the insecurities, the frustrations.

I expected that he would acknowledge my feelings in the moment and share kind words to help me feel better. He offered those, plentifully. But more than that, the longer we talked, the more he shared his perspective of my feelings. He took ownership of this particular issue, from the biblical head of household position.

I was comforted by his kindness – his words, his validation of my feelings, his acknowledgement of my fear and frustration. More than that, though, because I had communicated, the door had opened for him to step into the his role of protecting my heart. He took the opportunity to put his hand on my heart and let me know that this was something I did not have to worry about. As the head of our home, it was his situation to deal with from here on out, he said.

I remember asking several times – “I don’t have to worry about this?”

He gently answered, “No, this is mine to handle.”

See, it wasn’t that he didn’t care about my feelings, or that he’d written them off. He honestly didn’t know they were ongoing and so he hadn’t addressed them. It took my opening up to him to allow him to provide the peace, the security and the leadership that I needed.

If our husbands can provide that for us, how much more does our Heavenly Father desire to provide peace, care and protection for us?

He knows our feelings, of course he does. After all, He created us.

But He desires us to come to Him, to share with Him, to communicate our heart with Him.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

Dear friend, can I encourage you to try this? When you are feeling frustrated, share your heart with your husband, and with your Heavenly Father. Yes, those fears, insecurities and frustrations are real, but so is the peace, the love and the comfort you can feel.

This post originally appeared on Christian Wife University.

original photo source

Filed Under: marriage

Preparing to Bounce {Before You Can Bounce Back}

May 24, 2024 By Rebekah 2

If your life is at all “normal”, you’ve likely bounced back from something, and you’ll probably bounce back from something again - heartache, frustration, sickness, loss. I’ve been kicking around some thoughts about “how to bounce back” for the past few days, for those times when you’ve been down or have been sidelined for whatever reason. I was coming up with some ideas for reclaiming life, for starting small and not getting overwhelmed. And then a completely different thought hit me and sent my mind turning in other directions…
You have to bounce before you can bounce back. So here are a few thoughts on preparing to bounce.

We talk about bouncing back, so let’s take a look at the first bounce - the one that causes the pain from which you’ll have to bounce back.

You have to bounce before you can bounce back. Click To Tweet

Jesus was honest with his disciples in John 16, as He was preparing to leave them and return to the Father.

In the world you will have tribulation.
John 16:33b

For our purposes, He’s saying that in this world, we’re going to have pain. We’re going to hit hard.
We’re going to bounce.

But that’s just one small part of the verse. Look how Jesus surrounds that portion of the verse with hope:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

He surrounds the problems, the pain we’ll have in the world, with peace and salvation.

If we were to summarize the thoughts in this verse, it might read something like this:

Jesus wants us to have peace in Him.
There will be trouble.
He has already overcome the world.

Or, to put it in even simpler terms:

Peace.
Trouble.
Salvation.

This verse reminds me that we aren’t walking through life blinded to the fact that we’re going to have trouble. Therefore, (and I struggle with this) we shouldn’t be blindsided by troubles that come. (Don’t get me wrong - we don’t know when trouble will hit, but we shouldn’t be surprised that it happens, or blame God that it has happened.)

Who, from the Bible, do you think of when you think of “bouncing back”?

Noah - bounced back from the scorn of the world and was saved because of his faith to build the ark
Isaac - bounced back from near death at his father’s hand - a life redeemed by God
Hosea - bounced back from the adultery committed by his wife
Gomer - Hosea’s wife - bounced back from adultery to be loved by Hosea as Christ loves His people
Saul - bounced back from being blinded by God and later imprisoned as Paul (and much more!) to become a great man of God

There are many others - open your Bible to just about any passage and you’ll find a story of someone enduring trouble.

And this week I was reading about Joseph (Genesis 37-50):

Favored.
Hated.
Plotted against.
Abandoned.
Sold.
Enslaved.
Trapped.
Imprisoned.
For years.
Interpreted.
Ruled.

There are so many other things that happened in Joseph’s life. This is just a quick turn-of-the-pages as it relates to his life.

Look at all the negative things that happened in his life. If ever there was someone who wondered if he’d bounce back, it would be Joseph.

Here’s a man who endured hit after hit - bounce after bounce - yet the Bible doesn’t record much in the way of Joseph begging for mercy. When he is imprisoned, he asks the others to mention him to Pharaoh.

He continued to trust God, no matter his situation, and God’s favor was upon him. He was placed in charge of Potiphar’s house, he was given charge in the prison, and he eventually came to be second in command.

Now I’m sure that Joseph didn’t just go along quietly with all the trouble he endured. Let’s face it - if family gathered, plotted against us and sought to do us harm, we wouldn’t just go along quietly with what they did. No doubt we’d cry out for mercy, and I’m sure that was true in Joseph’s case as well.

But the bigger story is God’s power of redemption despite all the troubles that Joseph endured.

Joseph took some hard hits.

But all of those things - every hit he took, every time he bounced hard - were what propelled him to the position God planned for him. By becoming second in command, he was able to provide for the safety of his family - the same family who abandoned and sold him originally - when famine hit the land.

Talk about raining mercy and grace on someone’s head…

Joseph’s brothers started the long chain of awful events that happened in Joseph’s life.

And then for Joseph to be the one who provided for their physical needs during famine, for salvation for the family - the mercy and grace of God!

Joseph accepted the evils that came his way, fully trusting God for a way out.

And God provided.

We can learn about handling the hard times from Joseph’s story.

God doesn’t always provide a way out, but He certainly is faithful in walking us through the tough situations we face.

The hard circumstances in our lives are propelling us to what God has for us. The troubles may hurt, they may cause extreme pain in our lives, but the story of Joseph reminds us that God will be faithful in those hurts.

God is going to provide a way to bounce back, but you’re going to have to bounce first. The troubles are going to come. But, we can remember the super-simple summary of John 16:33 - peace, trouble, salvation.

We can live in peace, despite troubles, because we know God has made a way of salvation.

original photo source

Sharing at Grace & Truth

Filed Under: having faith in God, Redemption

Solo Performance {Grace & Truth linkup}

May 22, 2024 By Rebekah 3

I was so moved by Karen’s post this week - maybe because I felt like she was standing in a corner of my home, simply observing some of the real-life moments. Sometimes I feel like my own life is a solo performance, feeling particularly detached and in my own world as a mom. Life can be messy, harried, disheveled.

Karen shares as a mom who has obviously been there, time and again. But what got me - what really got me - is this:

“When I believe I’m supposed to be enough for my kids,
then I’m forgetting they were created to need what I can’t provide.

When I think it’s up to me to keep my kids’ lives together,
then I’m forgetting Who did the knitting in my womb.

When I’m focused on my inabilities or limitations as a mother,
then I won’t see how my kids’ Heavenly Father is at work in their lives.”

Oh, the truth in those three sentences…. God can reach right past us, the tired moms and dads, and work in our kids’ lives and turn a messy solo performance into a masterful solo performance of grace and mercy!

Thank you, Karen, for these words - for peace and hope in the midst of chaos, for reminding us that we can listen, we can harmonize - or not - but the music will continue when our Heavenly Father is at work!

You can find Karen on Facebook and Twitter.

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