Purposed Parent Connected Child Podcast Episode 099 - Choose to Find Blessings Each Day
Welcome to the Purposed Parent/Connected Child podcast – Episode 099 – Choose to Find Blessings Each Day
Thank you for sharing your day with me. I pray this podcast deepens your walk with Jesus and your children, and equips you to become a set-apart woman raising children to chase Christ over culture.
It feels so good to be speaking in the podcast microphone again. I apologize for being MIA the last few weeks. If you noticed that no podcast episodes were released recently, it’s because I was sick with a bronchial infection. My voice was gone for many days. I think it was a whisper that only one person in our family could hear for about 8 or 9 days, then my voice began returning slowly day by day.
Having no voice is strange. My husband and youngest daughter couldn’t hear most of what I said, so I used my phone to text or wrote notes on paper. Thankfully, my middle daughter has excellent hearing. Nothing gets by her, and she was able to translate when needed!
When you produce podcast episodes, yet God allows you to lose your voice, you pay attention. I can’t remember any other time in my several years of podcasting that I’ve lost my voice and been unable to put an episode out. I already had many written, but they weren’t recorded. Guess that’s something I’ll place attention on in the future - getting episodes recorded in advance.
As I was forced to rest and heal, I intentionally pondered God’s ways. If He was forcing me to be quiet, I could obey and trust. I could seek what blessings He was giving me (and my family) through this experience. I think everyone agrees, sickness is never fun. Because of this illness, I had to reschedule several appointments. Since we try to keep my youngest as healthy as possible with her health issues, we are always ultra clean and careful about what we do so that no one gets sick. When illness descends into our home, I have to stop and wonder what God is going to work through it.
It made me consider blessings that were headed our way, or ways I could still be a blessing to others. Blessings that couldn’t be delivered without me getting sick. Do you routinely look for blessings? I try to make it a habit. But this time while being forced to rest, it was different. Deeper. More intentional. At night, as I breathed heavily to force air in and out, or when I shivered from fever, I knew that I wasn’t going to recover quickly. It was then that I decided God was allowing this illness for a purpose. Although I may not see all the reasons He let me get sick, I could be intentional in identifying what I could see.
Early in my illness, I knew it was going to be a while until I recovered. I actually went eight days without showering, and I usually never miss a day! I felt God whispering to me to talk to my youngest daughter about me being sick. As you may know, each morning we start the day playing together. In fact, when she gets up in the morning, she eagerly comes into my presence with glee, ready to start a new storyline with her Lego characters. Afterwards, we have a Bible study together.
As I approached her about the fact that it might be several days before I could play again, she was disappointed, of course. But she understood. She could see and hear that I was sick. At first she asked me every day if I might be able to play the next day. After a few days of seeing me get worse instead of better, she resigned herself to the truth that this was going to be a longer healing than she wanted, but she would be okay waiting.
When I told her what God revealed to me about her, she was surprised, but her eyes lit with wonder at what God might show her. Here’s how our conversation went:
“This morning,” I said to her. “I was asking God to show me the blessings He wants me to see through being sick.”
“You did?” she asked.
“Yes. It’s so easy to be sad when we get sick, and normal to want to get over it fast, but I think I’m going to be down for a bit.” I revealed.
Her face looked sad as she listened.
“But I think God has something in store for us,” I said.
“He does?” she asked.
“Yes. Just this morning in my quiet time, I felt God told me to tell you something. He wants you look for the blessings He’ll show youwhile I’m sick.”
She looked a little surprised and slightly skeptical at this revelation.
“I think He wants you to find ways to rely on Him in the mornings instead of me,” I said.
She was surprised by my words, but I could tell my girl wasn’t a believer in my thoughts yet.
Each day I asked her if she had anything to share.
Her answer was no.
Until today. I had gotten up earlier than the girls, which is normal in our household, but I was only up a short time when I knew I needed to lay back down and take a nap. So when my youngest got out of bed and came downstairs, I was sleeping on a chaise in the great room.
As I slept off and on, I could hear her in the kitchen. To be honest, part of me wanted to make sure she was eating breakfast, but the biggest part of me just wanted to sleep. I let myself doze off again and the next time I awakened, I could hear little clicking sounds.
About five minutes later, when she could hear me coughing in the other room, my daughter came in. She asked me what side she could stand on. Yes, I try to cough one way, facing the wall, so that I don’t hack all over everyone.
She stood on my left side and showed me the medicine she had placed in her AM/PM pill box. We’ve recently been working together to ensure she knows what medicine she takes and can get it out herself if I’m not with her.
Her box holds enough pills for one week, and this was the day it was time to refill everything. When I had first gotten sick, I stood next to her while she did the work herself, but now, a week later I was still sick and sleeping when she needed to take morning medicine and the box was empty. So as I slept, she did her best to fill the tiny slots in the medicine holder, but she didn’t want to take medication until I was awake and we could check it together.
I was so joyful to see that all the slots were filled correctly. My girl was able to get every pill she takes and place them in the right position. I quizzed her on what each pill was and what it was for. She answered every question correctly.
“My goodness,” I exclaimed! “You did an amazing job!” Big smiles passed between us. “A tiny piece of me is sad that you you’re growing up and able to do this yourself,” I told her honestly. “But the biggestpart of me is joyful that you are able to do this all by yourself. You’ve grown up and you’re so smart,” I complimented.
After rewarding me with another huge, dimpled smile, my girl said,” Well, I didn’t do it by myself, I asked God to help me.”
My heart seemed to swell in my chest. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that I was sick and she was able to lean on God to move forward in skills and faith that morning. Best of all was the fact that shecompleted the task by relying on God to lead her…and she recognized that this was one way He blessed - her by me being sick. This was a revelation we had been waiting to see.
Over the almost two weeks I’ve been sick, SO many blessings have been discovered. It makes me proclaim - God is good. All the time. Just as we learn in 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Or James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
The goodness God has shown these last couple of weeks has been intimate, personal, just as God is to each of us. But His gifts have been designed that there’s no way we can say they weren’t from Him.
I’m not one-hundred percent healed yet, but so close to it! Because I had to go out for an appointment two days ago, it left me more tired yesterday, and I didn’t feel well. I felt like I was starting to slide backwards again. I was tired, had a headache, and just felt like I wanted to be cranky.
In my spirit, I could feel the Holy Spirit guarding me – actually protecting my mind. As soon as those thoughts pressed on me, His peace covered me and allowed me to know I didn’t truly desire crankiness. He empowered me to stay calm and feel His presence and healing at work within me. I’m so thankful for His loving presence through this illness and in every moment.
He does the very same for you.
Are you looking for His blessings this day? While it might be easier to find them when you’re sick and able to concentrate even more deeply on the Father, ask Him to expose what He has for you each day. When you’re sick, or on the run. When you’re busy and when you’re not. When you’re joyful and when you’re sad.
Ask Him to make you a blessing to others. Then praise Him when both happen. Because they will. You may not always have the privilege of seeing or hearing what God has done, but that makes His answered prayers all the sweeter when He does expose His mighty hand for you to see.
Then proclaim His blessings to others. Remind them that God does the very same for them. He desires for us to be blessed by Him and to proclaim His goodness. Then remember to bless others, because He calls for us to be a blessing, too.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the personal ways You reach us. Thank you that You alone are good. You set the standard, the definition. Lord, we need Your presence in our life. We need You more than the air we breathe, the water we drink when we are parched, or the slumber we desperately seek at night. You are everything that sustains and carries us. Help us to seek You more deeply and walk with You more closely. May our heart never pull away from You. Not even when we are forced to be in bed, when we don’t receive the promotion we deserve, when we have troubling times with spouse or children, when we feel alone or misunderstood. In every trial that life brings may they bring us closer to You because we desire Your presence and trust Your Word. Help us to be brighter lights for You after the hardest times and remain growing in You in the easier times. In the very precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Raising children is challenging. No one has all the answers because each child is unique as are parenting styles and family dynamics. By connecting with and knowing your children as you maintain purposed growth in Christ, you will be better prepared for any situation you face.
That’s why you hear me share about the Set-Apart Collective in this podcast. I work with professionals who care about making Jesus known to their children. Are you a high-achieving woman who loves Jesus, but is so busy with the rush of work and daily life that you feel like you’re being drained like the water in your bathtub? Do you yearn to get closer to Jesus and show Him to your kids so you will create a love that will last into eternity? The desire is there, but your days spiral out of control before you even think about opening your Bible.
Do you ever stop to think that you are the first Jesus your child will see? Let me remind you there is hope. There is a way you can be equipped to raise kids who chase Christ over culture. If you want a connected relationship with Christ and your children that leads them to your side and His feet, instead of them seeking validation from peers, I have an 8-step program to move you from frustrated to fulfilled. I will show you how to reflect Jesus in a way that attracts your family to a connected relationship that lasts into eternity.
Remember, godly parenting is rooted in relationship with Christ and the mindset you carry. If you don’t want peers and culture to be the main influence over your child, if you desire to parent to “prepare” your child for eternity with Christ, not repair your relationship with them, the Set-Apart Collective will arm you with a Christ-centered Motherhood Mindset Model™, and create a Purposed Parenting Plan™.
You’ll also deepen your identity in Christ so you can mentor the way for your children to do the same. You will be a purposed mother with an intentional mind and heart set on Christ and your family and you will have the tools to raise set apart kids as you parent the heart, not simply the behavior.
Does this sound like a lifeline to help you be that set-apart mom God has entrusted you to be? Visit terrihitt.com/coaching and click the link for a free, no obligation conversation call with me. This is a strategic call where I will hear your biggest struggle and show you how to turn it into a blessing that will bring you closer to Christ and your children. It’s time for believing mothers to be purposed in preparing their children for a lifetime pursuit of Christ. Time is short. Make yours matter for eternity.
One last thing to remember - if you’re not purposed in knowing Jesus and showing Him to the next generation, the world will likely sway your children away from Christ. I pray that what you hear on this podcast enables you to stop being a good mom and focus on being a godly parent. Until next week, keep looking Up while focusing on new ways to parent with eternal purpose and connection with your children and Christ.