girltalk Blog
What do our mothering fears have in common? They are all in our imagination.
Our fertile minds generate countless scenarios whereby one calamity or another befalls our children: What if my son rebels when he hits the teenage years? What if my daughter doesn’t want to be my friend when she grows up? What if my son gets in a car accident? What if my daughter is diagnosed with leukemia?
After thirty-four years of mothering, I’ve discovered that most of the bad things I imagined never actually came true. But there have been other trials—ones I never anticipated.
That’s why Elisabeth Elliot’s wise advice has been invaluable to me in fighting fear: “There is no grace for your imagination.”
God does not sprinkle grace over every path my fear takes. He does not rush in with support and encouragement for every doomsday scenario I can imagine.
No, instead He warns me to stay off those paths: “Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil” (Ps. 37:8).
There is no grace for our imagination. That’s why our fearful imaginings produce bad fruit: anxiety, lack of joy, futile attempts to control.
There is no grace for our imagination. But God does promise sufficient, abundant grace for every real moment of our lives. That’s why the Proverbs 31 woman can “laugh at the future in contrast with being worried or fearful about it” (ESV Study Bible note on Pr. 31:25)
There is no grace for our imagination. But there will be grace for our mothering future—the moment it arrives.
2:52 p.m. 7 Wins in a row. Go Cougars!
52home
“Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds.” James 1:2
“Life is full of hidden rocks, sudden violent winds of circumstances lying in wait for the believer. Every single one of them is embraced in James’ word it. There is no trial, no great calamity or small pressure, no overwhelming sorrow or small rub of life outside that plan of God, whereby it is a stepping stone to glory. And it is for this reason that our settled conviction must be to appraise it as all joy, not because it is joyful in itself (for ‘all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant’ [Heb. 12:11] when it is in full flood), but because ‘later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness’ (Heb. 12:11). In James’ words, it is the only way forward to become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Alec Motyer
11:10 a.m. More Frogs
52home
So many of you asked for the Tomato Basil Soup from Janelle’s 52home picture the other day, so here it is. Enjoy!
La Madeleine’s Tomato Basil Soup
4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
12 fresh basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick (1/4 lb) of sweet unsalted butter
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Simmer tomatoes in saucepan for 30 minutes. Puree, with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender or food processor. Return to saucepan and add cream, butter, salt and pepper while stirring over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.
My favorite camera handbags...
Ketti Handbags
12:14 p.m.
52home
3:34 p.m. Tomato Basil Soup
52home
for moms of little ones: pastor’s wife Jani Ortlund shares some timely thoughts
for moms of boys: an insightful article on teaching boys to love to read (and to love all the right things) HT: Al Mohler
for moms of girls (and their teenage daughters): Thabiti Anyabwile links to a great little story about high school girls pursuing modesty.
September 24, 2010 5:53 p.m.
52home
Page 164 of 356 pages ‹ First < 162 163 164 165 166 > Last ›
