Sally Clarkson's Blog, page 58

Tea Time Tuesday: Delighting in Life

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Welcome to my corner of the world for this Tea Time Tuesday. I get excited all week thinking of things I want to share with you. Recently, a friend said, “I like it that your refueling ideas are natural to life—a cup of tea, a candle, music, things I can actually do right where I am! No expensive massage required or nail job.”

Today, you get a glimpse of my very first early morning tea time in my little sitting room—my very own little parlor. Every flat or home in our old suburb of Oxford has a different interior and plan for the home. In many cases, the interior, in the past over 100 years since this area was built up, has been repainted, walls knocked down, stairs carpeted or not, original windows (which makes it oh so cold) or new windows which preserves the much appreciated heat. I love seeing inside the walls of friends’ homes because it is so varied and diverse.

However, I live in a fairy house (you’ll just have to wait for another day for that story or find it on other podcasts.) Imagine that I had actually been praying I would some day live in this house when I passed it every day walking to Sarah’s to take care of Lilian as an infant—and then through a series of events, was granted my deep desire. Little did I know that I would have my very own room where I could dream, write, ponder, drink gallons of tea and coffee, share secrets with friends. And Clay has his own room just opposite mine—in other words, our bedrooms are upstairs but there are 2 small sitting rooms on the main floor—and both have fireplaces—also unheard of.

This is a view of my morning—a place that brought me great delight—someone—a fairy that I never see—keeps plants and flowers in the window boxes all year long—as you can see. I have an assortment of tiny white fairy lights in different places in my house through the year because I love them. The candles I order by the 2 dozen from Amazon (must be in a glass so the house doesn’t burn down because of me), and the tea cup was purchased in a set from my local charity shop (think Good Will). So, I was simply creating my own place of great delight.

Delight has been my ponder in several areas the past week.

The definition of delight is: Delight: A high degree of gratification or pleasure: Joy

The day I arrived in Oxford, my phone buzzed. Sarah, my daughter, was calling me from her cottage south of here. As I answered on my end, Lilian, my three year old granddaughter, yelled, “I want to talk to Queenie! Mama, let me have the phone!” She proceeded to smile from ear to ear, munched on her toast and announced, “I can’t wait to see you. When will you come? How is your leg?” (Sarah said she had been praying for me every day!”

She took pleasure in me, smiled at me, gave me all her little girl love—she delighted in me and it filled my heart with joy. This is a picture of what God desires from us—our delight in Him. I will talk about this more on my podcast today. Here is some of what you can expect:

The verse for today:

The Lord makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Psalm 37: 23-24

Music for today with Joel Clarkson—It’s time for Christmas and advent preparation, friends.

Book for today: Tea With Jane Austen—recipes from her stories

Also, The Lifegiving Table—making potato soup for an easy dinner

Tea with Jane Austen: Recipes inspired by her novels and letters By Vogler, Pen Buy on Amazon The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time By Clarkson, Sally Buy on Amazon

Many times, I have heard women say, “Sally Clarkson is so idealistic. You can tell she is not in the trenches.” I do try to balance some of what I say—ideals and reality. I would like to speak to that a bit today—in light of delight. As I struggle around Oxford, dropping my crutches, going slower than everyone else, waking minimum 3-4 times a night from some pain of sleeping the wrong way or turning on my soar muscles, I have a choice—a practice of choices to make. I dearly want to be a blessing to my precious children. I want to take the seasons with grace. (it is part of what I wrote about in Help, I’m Drowning) Listen to the podcast for more on this subject of reality and ideals.And choosing delight.

Quote of the week: Our student collects ideas, philosophy, facts, and stories. These synthesize and become foundations of their own mental library of the world.”
― Sally Clarkson, Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child's Heart to the Beauty of Learning

My friends, I do hope you are enjoying these Tuesdays. Let me know what you think. Sending lots of love to you precious ones and praying for you as always. Sally

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Thanksgiving: A Time For Family Traditions! (Plus Our Recipes!)

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Holiday meals are the places I love to use the china from grandmothers, that I have inherited or bought as thrift stores along the way. The glasses do not all match and a couple of the plates are chipped. I always use chargers because is spares me from so many stains on my table cloth. But mostly, it looks festive and marks the day as one to celebrate as family. Always candles and music—and the same foliage I have used for the past couple of decades.

Holidays also means I’ve enjoyed gathering women in my home for meals, retreats, Bible studies, planning sessions, and multiple let’s-just-share-a-cuppa afternoons. Years ago, some of those special friends began helping out in various ways with our ministry—creating pdfs for me to share here, organizing blog posts, setting up tables at conferences, and eventually coming up with the idea for our membership site, Life with Sally as well as helping my books come to life. They are amazing and the site we have created together is phenomenal. I get letters all the time from women who say they are pleasantly shocked and surprised the amount of wonderful ideas, recipes, book reviews, musician stories, recipes, Bible studies and so much more on our site. It would take you a very long time to find it all there is so much.

While my close friends—my team—love working together, we all believe in celebrating our own friendship and so alongside the work we always find time to share our joys and struggles, failures and successes. Friendships are a gift, and faithful friends are few and far between.

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays I so enjoy because it’s all about gratitude in the context of relationships! It is always a treat when I can gather my ministry team for a chat, and today we’re sharing a conversation about Thanksgiving traditions from our own homes. Here are a few of the recipes we mention in our conversation—I hope you enjoy it!

Though my recipe is easy, I will share it because even today in Oxford, my children said, “Mama, why are your eggs the best?”

I always make cinnamon rolls early with coffee or tea before we watch the Macy Day Parade. But with them, I serve “Sally’s Scrambled Ham and Cheese Eggs

*6 Eggs Beaten well (we do one and a half egg for each person eating—just add a bit more eggs, ham, cheese and sour cream if you are serving more.)

*chunks of Ham cut into small pieces—your preference as to how much. I used abut 3/4 a cup today.

*2/3 cup of grated white strong cheddar cheese

*2-3 tablespoons of sour cream

*several pats of butter.

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the ham pieces to brown just a bit. Add eggs and stir constantly—(the secret to soft, not over done eggs is to keep stirring so they can cook slowly.) When they are the right consistency for your preference, remove from stove. Add the cheese and sour cream. Stir evenly through all the eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve. Easy and tastes special.

Jenny’s Quick Ambrosia

2 cans mandarin oranges

2 pineapple chunks

1 jar maraschino cherries

1 bag mini marshmallows

1 container sour cream

Dump all ingredients into a bowl, stir, and serve to your very happy children and friends!

Gretchen’s Homemade Egg Noodles

3 Egg yolks
1 Whole Egg
1 tsp. Salt
2 c. Flour
3 Tbsp. Cold Water

Beat egg yolks and whole egg until very light. Beat in cold water and salt. Stir in flour and work in with hands. Divide dough into 3 parts. Roll out each piece as thin as possible (paper-thin) on light floured board or counter top. Use plenty of flour when rolling out. Let dry until dough is like chamois skin. Roll up dough as for jelly roll. With a sharp knife cut into strips of desired width (1/8" for
fine noodles.) Shake out the strips and allow to dry before using or storing

Misty’s Crockpot Mashed Potatoes

8 medium potatoes

1 cp sour cream

8 oz chive and onion cream cheese

4 Tb butter

1/4 cup chives

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 minced garlic cloves

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion

2 slices crumbled bacon

paprika

Boil potatoes 10 minutes or until tender. Beat cream cheese and sour cream in crockpot until smooth. Beat in potatoes, adding milk as needed. Add other ingredients through onion. Dot w butter, sprinkle with paprika. Place in refrigerator. To serve, heat 3-4 hours on low. Sprinkle with bacon before serving.

Seek to Be Influenced by Those Who Are Excellent

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Several years ago, as my son, Joel, was considering where he should go to school for training in composing and music, an older friend suggested, "Put yourself into the best school in which you can get accepted. Place yourself in the presence of the very best musicians, those who will always pull you upward in excellence, and you will find yourself becoming a more excellent musician."

His advice was absolutely perfect for Joel. There was only one school in the United States he wanted to attend, and studying there opened doors in many areas because his training was so excellent. He is now scoring and orchestrating music for PBS, for music that is being played all over the world, as well as movie scores and choral projects. Those who have influenced his education were some of the best in their field.

Similarly, when Joy attended a national competition for acting, singing, and performance, she did well and received lots of affirmation. However, a wise judge said, "Joy, you are currently a big fish in a little pond. If you desire to become really excellent in your field, you need to move to a city where others much more excellent than you will challenge you and bring up the standard of performance which you have found acceptable. Training to excellence and accountability are always the keys to growing in your skill and talent."

These two stories have propelled my children to seek to be influenced by people more excellent than themselves and because of this, their growth has been amazing. These stories are a picture of training--the process of bringing a person to an agreed standard of proficiency by practice and instruction.

Children will become excellent in character because of being instructed in what is true, excellent, right, lovely, pure, and then in becoming proficient in practicing these virtues in their lives.

A mother's glory is to be able to so imprint the soul of her children, that they become strong morally, emotionally, spiritually, and in the practical physical skills of life. Yet, training must be intentional, with very specific goals in mind.

Jesus desires that we send our children into the world as lights in the darkness, and as salt--the savory spice of life to those longing for truth, for life to make sense, for forgiveness and redemption. Yet, as we look at the landscape of culture, it seems that Christians have been somewhat powerless to influence it much. Many believers are passive and think their job is just to get by without engaging in "corrupt" issues of life--to withdraw from culture. But Jesus says, "I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." He wants there to be such light, beauty, faith, confidence in our children, as we have prepared them to be warriors for His kingdom, that they go into life, ready to make an impact for His kingdom, ready to stay strong, instead of being rendered powerless or ineffectual because of lack of training.

We Choose to be Gracious: Our 24 Family Ways #20

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WAY # 20: We choose to be gracious, even when we do not feel like it! 

Memory Verse:

"Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:1-2

Deep-throated shouting, the shrill screams of a woman, dust flying, and crowds running to see the spectacle left the terrified woman fearing for her life. The group of irate Pharisees drove before them a woman caught in adultery, and were attempting to test Jesus to see just how liberal He was--to see if He would defy the law and extend His hand of grace to a woman waiting to be killed by the stoning the law required.

Perhaps this woman was poor and had stooped to make money the wrong way. Perhaps she was abused, or deeply wounded and lonely. Maybe she was just selfish and caught in lust. But, amidst the crowd of screaming, jeering people, she must have felt terror, shame, fear, and grief all at once.

Jesus, the God who had formed her, looked into her eyes, saw her heart, knew all of her days and acts, and knew her deep need for forgiveness. I imagine Him giving His hand to her to pull her off the ground after everyone had left, helping her brush the dust off of her garment. And then, He extended a gentle but authoritative voice of graciousness.

"Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either." John 8: 10-11

Jesus, the perfect one, who "while we were yet sinners, died for us." Jesus, who, "although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God to be grasped." Jesus, "while being reviled, did not revile in return, but kept trusting Himself to God."

When Jesus looks into the eyes of my heart, He invites me in--to know His love, His wisdom, His truth, His admonition, His correction. Always, He is gentle and meek, as that is His way. Being in His presence does not make me want to sin more; quite the opposite. His example of dignifying me and all of His children by seeking us out, redeeming us, being gentle and long-suffering with us, causes me to want to be more righteous, more sacrificial, more generous, more of a servant. His life transforms me. But His entire life was one of gracious behavior.

How many people are in our lives who have felt the sting of condemnation, criticism, and abuse—and we might be the only ones who show them the gentle, gracious, humble love of God?

When we teach our children to be gracious, we are teaching them:

*Not to judge but to see themselves as those who extend the supernatural forgiveness of God

*Accepting the awkward parts of your loved ones personality or immaturity by giving gestures of love

*Not to think about themselves but others

*To have self-control over their emotions--to choose to be gracious as a part of the values that inform their behavior

*How to face the world as Jesus did--not as a legalistic Pharisee, but as the servant King

When someone is thoughtful or honoring of me, it ministers to me greatly. In a world of cynicism, quick judgement on social media, and a world of back-biting and gossip, the graciousness of God which honors a person because God has honored them, is transforming and will draw others to Christ.

And so, we treat our children with respect, serve them in humility, and choose to use honorable words with them as well as our husbands and friends, because when they learn this attribute of God, they will become those who win the souls of others who are so longing for someone to validate their worth.

This is something we practice and grow in. If you are like me, you blow it and lose your patience. But God Himself, humble, bowing His knee in the dirty ground, asks us to do as He did. The more I practice and ponder this attribute of His behavior, the more amazed I am that He would ever forgive me--but in knowing His gentle, dignified and generous honoring of His very own children, I have come to love Him more and appreciate my salvation more deeply because I understand each day how much I do not deserve it.

May God give each of us the strength today to behave in a gracious way, so that the world may see what Jesus is like through us every day.

Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide By Clarkson, Clay

Tea Time Tuesdays, What Do You Think?

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Won’t you join me for a cup of tea?

“A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

In two days, I will risk the impossible and climb into a bird like machine, fly over the ocean and land in a mysterious place filled with Kings and Queens, thousands of miles of walking trails, tales spun by some of the finest writers throughout history, and of course tea. I will be landing in London, driving to Oxford where my fairy house, a special cozy home provided by the Lord, is waiting for me.

On Saturdays, I have been leaving a chronicle of my week in photos. I wondered if it might be fun to have you join me with a cuppa something wonderful and warm, (tea, chai, coffee, cider) and sit for just a few minutes over calm, comfort, friendship and encouragement. I may try this unless I just decide I can’t do it because I am caught in a wild forest somewhere in England. Let me know what you think.

In these times, I hope to be sharing what I am eating, reading, doing, thinking and some of my favorite Bible passages I have been reading.

This week, in my podcast, I will share a book, some thoughts I have been thinking, one of my favorite treats awaiting me, some scripture and life.

*Book: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

*Scripture about Listening to God, Watching His ways, Studying His Word—Proverbs 8:34; and more

*Love and accept all people as much as possible—it is what Christ did. (I once was lost, but now I see).

*Sour Dough Bread—good for you and your gut

This week, give it your all, engage in what matters, make choices that are in the direction of truth, excellence and health.

Like as now—read this book. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

―Charles Dickens,A Tale of Two Cities

Let me know what you think.

Books Referenced in this Podcast: FOR MORE

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

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Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Loving Your Imperfect Children & Others Who Need It

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But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

~Romans 5:8

It is such a gift to know we are loved.

One day, I was playing with Darcy Dog and throwing her the ball, scratching her back relentlessly, feeding her. As I was pondering her, I realized that she made messes, chewed up things around our home, had accidents on the carpet, barked at deer and woke us up at nights. Yet, no matter what she did, I accepted her limitations. We never expected her to behave to perfection. We love her ridiculously. As I was playing with her, it was as though God inspired a thought. “That is how I feel about you. I absolutely love you through and through and find pleasure in you because you are mine. Even when you mess up, make demands, need my constant attention—I love you as you are, every day, all they time.

The first time I really came to understand that God loved me with no demands, no expectations, no wrinkled brow over disappointed eyes, it was such a relief. I remember the great sense of relief and gratitude that overwhelmed me after so many years of striving and feeling like I could never measure up to anyone’s standards—not even my own. Finding that I was completely known and completely accepted by God won my heart completely and set my intention to serve Him forever.

As mamas, we must view our children as God views us—we love them because they are our very own. Many of us find that our children were not as we expected. We love them, but as mamas, we see different personalities, iimmature behavior, inability at times to sleep and all sorts of issues that tax us. And sometimes it is just the noise, the personality differences that rub us raw. Like us, they are messy.

But we know that all of our children, need a foundation of unconditional love as we do, no matter the issues. A child who knows he is loved will have a foundation that allows for growth as well as movement, as he doesn’t have to spend energy or time on striving for acceptance. Love settles the heart, offering warmth and light that encourages giftings and talents to grow strong and straight. Of course, our children know they have flaws and imperfections, that they stumble and choose unwisely at times. It’s in those times our love is most needed, as their own disappointment as well as flares of accusation from the enemy may tempt them to give up or sink into self-judgment. A mama who reaches out in love when a child expects condemnation will not only combat that tendency, but paint a powerful picture of the good shepherd’s always-reaching love in her child’s heart. That goes for older “children,” too!

Of course, we will probably have to make progress in admitting and accepting our own imperfections as well as God’s forgiveness of our personal sin if we are to offer this sort of unconditional love to our children. We can only pass on what we have learned for ourselves, and so we must dedicate ourselves to growing closer to the Lord and coming to know His love. It is the work of a lifetime—the best sort of work anyone could ever pursue.

I hope you will enjoy and be encouraged by today’s conversation with Misty Krasawski as we discuss loving our own imperfect children!

Sometimes the Favorite is the One Who's Most Broken

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. 

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you

and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy 

because great is your reward in heaven. "

-Luke 6:20-23

It always blows me away that our God has such a compassionate, loving heart. He counts each of our tears, keeps a record of our heartaches, knows our battles, and cares deeply for all of our hurts. Not only does God love those who face trials, but He favors them.

It is easy for us to misunderstand the idea of God favoring any of us. We all wish to be His favorite and hope that He understands us, but often we shrink back as though he is somehow put off by our inability to be perfect. As a mother, you have probably at one point or another had your children ask which child is your "favorite." Of course, we don't have a favorite child. We love all of our children so very deeply, and our love for each of them is unique, as no two children will be the same.

However, think back to a time when one of your children was really sick. Possibly battling a bad cold, the flu, a stomach virus, or maybe something even more severe. When you have a sick child in your home, where is the majority of your attention placed? Who are your eyes glued to? Where is your heart's love and concern? Our immediate attention favors the child in need. This doesn't mean that we have a favorite child, and it does not diminish our love for the other sweet ones in the home. It simply means that we must focus in on the broken child.

God is the same toward us.

When you are struggling financially and don't know how your family will make it through, God is favoring you, because you need his special attention and care. When you are hungry (physically, emotionally, or spiritually), God is waiting to bless you, because as a good Father, He wants to meet your needs and care for you. When you are weeping, God is weeping with you and He is anticipating the day when you will laugh again. When your heart is broken, God's eyes are focusing in on you.

Don't become overwhelmed and consumed by fear in the midst of your difficulty, but remember that God is favoring His broken children.

And understand, He will never, ever forget you, no matter what. As Isaiah tells us:

Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.

~Isaiah 49:15-16

God favors you, because you are His, and His heart is towards His own.

God favors us and cares for us, even when we fail, because it is the sick who need a physician, and so He will always be deeply concerned about our welfare. Today, He has His eye on you, and if you are broken, He is there to care for His child who is ailing. His eye is on His child in need. Look to Him to care for you as a mother cares for her own. He will never forget you.

We Choose to be Patient: Our 24 Family Ways #19

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Way #19:WE CHOOSE TO BE PATIENT, EVEN WHEN WE FEEL LIKE GETTING OUR OWN WAY.

Memory Verse: "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who captures a city." ~Proverbs 16:32

Gnarly branches twist and turn all around the trunk of the mysterious ancient tree that whispered to us of ancient, untold stories. It held in its branches the mystique of the generations it had witnessed, now hidden from our sight.  As it stood in a cattle tank and was naturally well-watered, it knew intimately the lives of those who had lived all these years in the 75-year-old farm house standing nearby. Majestic in the hidden brush of some property our family owns right in the middle of Texas, it was a hiking destination on many evening walks. Most of the trees on our 200 acres are small scrub oak, but this was the grand daddy of all the trees! When the kids and Clay and I first discovered it for ourselves, we could not believe how amazingly large it was. With our whole family holding hands around the tree, we could not even totally enclose its circumference.

If only this tree could talk! It has grown and given shade to many people through the years. Yet even this gigantic tree started out as a little sprig, with all the potential of becoming large, old, and grand hidden within its very inception. It took a very, very long time for that potential to become actual. This tree grew through storms, drought, tornadoes, and lightning. It has a story to tell now, since it has lasted longer than all of the other trees that began when it did.

As I have been reflecting on my life, I see that God has taken all of the years and made them fruitful and productive. Most days, I could not see the growth. Yet God was building a legacy through our family, our children, our ministry, and our writing and speaking--each day lived and invested one day at a time, as we prayerfully hoped that our faithfulness mattered.

There were seemingly desolate times of illness, loneliness, financial issues, emotional hurts, and separation from others that broke our hearts. And yet, God kept saying daily in our quiet times,

"Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." Psalm 27: 14

There just don’t seem to be any verses that say, "Give up now--this is the time." or, "Don't be patient with those immature, irrational people in your life--you deserve to quit since life is hard!"

Quite the contrary--verse after verse tells us to wait, hope, work, be steadfast, and cultivate faithfulness--to just wait and be patient and we will see God work.

God, by allowing us to wait, is building faith, leadership, spiritual muscle, and maturity into our lives.

Patience is learned moment by moment in irritating circumstances.

It is learned through seasons--(terrible twos, tricky teens, hormonal middle age, old age senility). Teaching your child little by little to be patient, to control His spirit, to exercise self-control, is training your child to learn to wait on God.

Contemporary culture gives us permission to compromise at every point--marriage, commitments, ideals, friendship. We want instant gratification; we are the generation of "I want it now." Yet, God's will is to build the character of Christ in us and His way is to teach us to wait--to rule over our emotions, and to be still and know that He is God.

Patience leads to all sorts of strength--spiritual, mental, physical, skill acquisition, musical accomplishment, athletic strength, academic prowess, financial security—so many blessings come through learning to be patient. In the end, the man of medium skill and talent who perseveres is of much greater long term value than the talented, skillful person who quits and gives up.

So as we approach this important way, we must look for all sorts of ways to underline the importance of patience. As you instruct your children in this important virtue, you must be patient, too, as it takes them time to learn this character strength!

In what areas do you find it most difficult to be patient?

I am not naturally patient. I wasted many precious seasons of my life wishing them away, someone thinking the next season would be easier. God taught me slowly. Now, I seek more to pace myself and to see each miracle each day. It is still not easy as I am a "fast-paced" person, but I just wish I had not wasted so much time trying to hurry things that needed time to grow, and just enjoyed the process more.

God is with you, God is building you and your children, and God will be faithful when you wait on Him. Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide By Clarkson, Clay

There Are No Perfect Families!

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My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

1 John 2:1

It’s been such an interesting week around here! While my healing continues and I’m still using two crutches to move from place to place most of the time, I welcomed a troop of people to my home for an upcoming book project I can’t wait to share with you (but must keep under wraps for now!) There was decorating and wardrobe-choosing and feasting, and in between takes and snatches of sleep, Misty Krasawski and I squeezed in recordings of some of our discussions regarding topics dear to both our hearts.

She said to me at one point, “You know, years ago I was searching the scriptures to see who I might look to as a model of a perfect family. I searched the Old Testament … nothing. Then I checked the new, and not even Jesus’ family was perfect—his own siblings didn’t believe in Him! There really are no perfect families, which makes sense since there are no perfect people!”

Even more interesting was that God did not include a picture of a perfect family in scripture because He did not hold us to this standard. He says, “I am mindful that you are but dust.” Yet, family is the gift He designed for us so that we would have a people to belong to, a place to find comfort, love and stability. Family is the place the story is told of legacy and heritage.

We all feel pressure to measure up to vague ideals of perfection, and this happens in family life, too. Too often, we compare ourselves to others we think have it more together. But the truth is we are all broken in some way, but family can be the healing place—the place where we see God’s grace grow and flourish. And in giving grace to our children, they will always find a haven of acceptance because they will learn that when they fail or show their flaws as we have done, they will receive compassion, sympathy, forgiveness and a way forward. I hope our conversation today helps you feel better about your own gloriously flawed family, too!

Books Referenced in this Podcast: More Resources: Life with Sally Membership FOR MORE

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Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

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Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

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Becoming a Source of Light in a Dark World

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When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8: 12

Searching for images of light is a sort of life commitment of mine. Last week, I was sitting in my living room and looked out the window and saw the light of the sun reflecting on all of the trees, the leaves, the whole yard as it turned on fire.

We are living in dark times. Many people I talk to say they feel fearful of the future, feel the weight of discord amongst friends, have deep emotional responses to what they read on the news.

What if each of us determined to leave light to everyone we came across, to our children, to our friends and husband. But to do that, we must be in an intimate relationship to the true source of light, Christ.

Are there negative things that creep into my life? Discouragement, exhaustion, feelings of inadequacy or even blame and a critical attitude creep in from time to time. But, because it was my commitment to grow in light places and messages, I have grown to see the darkness when it wants to creep in and I close the door, do not let it in and seek to move my heart and thoughts to the beautiful power or energy of the light of Christ. He said, “The people who were walking in darkness have seen a great light.”

The disciples who followed hard after Christ came mostly from the cross section of common people. Oppressed by the constant cruelty and rule of the Roman soldiers, mostly poor because of the high taxes that were exacted from them each year; oppressed by the legalism and demands of the Pharisee led faith system. In short, they were “sheep without a shepherd.”

Imagine the fire that was lit in their hearts when Jesus brought them onto a mountain top with him, seeking to deeply encourage his closest companions and friends. He looked them in the eye and said, “You are the light of the world.” His words elevated their sense of worth. Do you speak words that elevate your children’s sense of worth—they are the light, the goodness, the beauty that God has chosen to bring to this world at this time.

These words must have struck them profoundly. Us? We are common. We do not matter in the scheme of things. We are just common—but Jesus’s words lifted them in importance, in purpose—you, you followers of mine—you are the ones who bring the light of God’s love and truth and beauty into the reality of the lives of others who long to have comfort, forgiveness, help, truth.

Join me today as we pursue this theme in my podcast.