What do YOU want Him to do for you and your family?!?!

Mark 10:51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

For some reason this verse just came alive to me this morning. I'm sure that I've read it before and have probably even heard teachings on it, but today it was NEW!  I know for myself I often struggle with going before God confidently and even struggle with confidence when it comes to my parenting.  I have those questioning thoughts about whether or not I'm doing it right or am I missing something.  Often times that lack of confidence spills over even into decisions, prayers, and things I'm believing God for in regards to my children.  

When Jesus was walking (Mark 10) Bartimaeus was begging on the roadside. 


⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Bartimaeus took action!  He knew that his opportunity for deliverance was passing by him.  Sometimes when we are parenting we need to be wise enough and humble enough to cry out to Jesus.  He already knows how we are feeling, so why not run to Him FIRST.  Its easy to ask others (and not that there is anything wrong with Godly counsel), the people we can see but I encourage you to run with a quickness to the One who made your child. He knows best how you can or should be parenting them.  

The next thing about this story I love is that people rebuked him!!  There have been so many times that others have rebuked us for the size of our family, the diversity of our family, the timing of our family, and the things we have chosen to believe God to supply.  But Batimaeus didn't care!!  He shouted all the more. He was confident that Jesus had what he needed and no one was going to stop him from getting it!  

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus was recognized his faith and stopped.  Your faith will catch God's eye! When Jesus called him 'he jumped to his feet and went to him', sometimes I think I need to JUMP when Jesus tells me something.  I know I have, at times, looked at the things God has given me to do with a sort of dread or negative outlook on the work that will be involved. Our attitudes have so much to do with how much we are willing to receive from God.  He is willing and already has given us all things, but we'll only experience what we are willing to receive. 

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

Jesus sees this man standing before him, I can't imagine that Jesus couldn't tell he was blind. Yet, He still asked 'What do you want me to do for you?'. Why did He do that?  This is what God showed me, Jesus had to find out what this man was believing to receive.  Jesus already knew that He could heal the man's sight, but what if this man only wanted a meal, a job, or money.  I think this is where it is so important that we KNOW what we are believing God for, whether its changes in our children, finances, wisdom in an area, a new car or a used car, new friends, or healing.  And the great thing with God is we can be completely honest with Him and He is going to love us regardless.  Maybe you know someone who has received something that just blows your mind away.  It can be easy to think, 'I'll never be there. Their arm grew back and I still struggle believing God that my headache will do away'. I firmly believe that we can take the testimonies of God's goodness in other people's lives and get excited!!  If He did it for them, He can do it for you, just step out confidently and specifically and tell Him what you want.  Just start exercising that faith muscle. God will meet you right where you are, that I can promise.  I've started just believing God for things that might seem silly to others, but that make my life easier and He's totally been meeting me there. I want to be so full of Him that I can walk about to someone in a wheelchair and see them be completely healed, but I'm not there yet.  The best news of all is, although I may not 'be there yet' I am stretching to get there and am confident that the more I give God the more of Him I'll have in me to give to others. 

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Bartimaeus knew what he wanted.  He didn't go up to Jesus and say 'whatever your will is Lord'; no, he walked up to Him and said I want to see!  

⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Bartimaeus' faith is what opened the door for him to receive his blessing. This week as you are going through life, allow your faith to usher in your blessing.  If you are believing for a heart change in a child, stand believing for that specific thing.  I pray specifically for my children's hearts to be soft to the things of God and even toward my husband and I.  I ask God to show me what order to do things in throughout the day, especially when it comes to teaching the kids. The other day I was praying for God to show me how to rearrange my house so that things would flow better.  Do you know that not 2 hours later He gave me a plan?!?!  It was something I had NEVER ever thought of and we've been moving things all day and its really amazing how much better this layout works.  He is faithful.  Welcome Him in, trust Him with where you and your family are at, and specifically tell Him what you are believing for from Him.  Enjoy your week!!

<3 Faythe

Grace - for Moms and kids :)

His grace is sufficient for me.  And for you :) Have you ever felt like you are at the end of your rope or your have all the straw on your back that you can handle?!? I'm sure we've all been there a time or two, and probably more than that and more than we'd like to admit.

  I was faced with a situation this week that just took me off guard and I found myself leaning toward my own understanding and we all know that takes us places we don't really want to go. I had to remind myself that God is never surprised by the things that surprise us. Our family situations, the news, the world economy, and anything else you can think of, He already knows.  So remember this, that in our weakness He is made strong when we surrender to Him. Don't waste time beating your head up against a wall, seek Him.  All too often we seek God when we have run out of options, well this week a lets try and run to Him first. He is a good God and understands us better than anyone. 

  Also, know that the same grace that God gives us to get through situations is the same grace that we can extend to others.  Our children's are only with us for a short amount of time, lets not stress them out by not extending grace and placing unrealistic expectations on them.  Remember to teach progress NOT perfection.  I know in the midst of my day it can be way too easy to get frustrated by one of the kids not completing a task that was asked of them or not finishing their school work, or struggling with a behavior that I just want to stop. But His grace is sufficient for them too, and we as parents need to reach our children that perfection is not possible. We strive for the best that we can do at the time with what we know. Also, try to teach that we always want to be growing and maturing, but that perfection is not a part of real life, the sooner we teach our children that the faster and easier it will be for them to focus on growth. By teaching them to look for growth not perfect, we are helping them to be confident young people who are willing to try.  They can 'rest' in knowing that although they may not be perfect, they are moving forward giving God their best and they are trying.  There are so many adults in this life that haven't ever learned that.  They end up stuck places because they're fear of failing keeps them from trying. 

  He can handle us at all times and can calm us and comfort us like no one else.  

Enjoy your week and lean on Him MORE SOONER. Remember that your little ones are watching show you handle situations, teach them now to RUN to God with them first.  <3

The desires of YOUR heart!

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4

God goodness is just amazing. I want to share something that God did for me this week. Please know that in my sharing this my goal is to bring all the glory to God. He is no respecter of persons and what He does for me He is more than able and willing to do for another. That being said, I am so excited to share this story.

As many of you know, we breed Golden Retrievers as a source of income for me since I'm a mostly stay at home mom. We have to keep the puppies till they are 8 weeks due to our state laws here and by the end of those 8 weeks, I'm telling you, I'm done with poop.  I have 2 children who still need helping wiping, a baby in diapers, and 9 puppies who not only poop but like to run through their poop! I really enjoy having the puppies and the kids love it, but it is lots of work. 

I was feeling a little discouraged because the income generated from this litter that just went home was not being stretched as much as I had planned. We just have some pretty large needs and even with all the puppies sold we still had some things we needed to take care of. I had to remind myself that the puppies were not my source, God and God alone is and He doesn't need the puppies! 

I still want to be the best steward of what God brings into our home. So, I had a plan for all the puppy income. It was all laid out and planned before we even had the puppies all sold.  God showed us when we started this business that it was a means for us not only to make money but to bless others. And again, I'm sharing this not for our own glory but so that the sowing and reaping makes sense. So there have been several times that God has shown us a family or a family has called us who have a need or desire for a puppy, but due to finances are not able to purchase a puppy.  This litter we had a family who had been on our waiting list for serval months and had planned to purchase a puppy from us. The week before we were suppose to have them come out and select their puppy they contacted us to let us know that they just couldn't go through with the purchase. The Dad had been disabled for years and the financial toll it was taking on the family was just a lot.  And even though they had saved up the money for the puppy they knew there would be additional costs and were having a hard time justifying the purchase.

Have you ever had one of those moments that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what you are suppose to do? Well, after reading her email I knew that we needed to give her a puppy. My brain didn't like that thought, not that I didn't want to bless her, I just knew that my own family had needs. So I decided to call Ryan and tell him about the situation and what the lady had said to me.  I never told him what God had told me.  He is a very no nonsense kinda guy and I figured he would just say 'ok, just go to the next person on the waiting list'. Well he didn't the minute I told him he said, 'we need to give them the puppy'. 

And at that point I had to make a decision was I going to trust God and obey or do what made sense to my mind. It wasn't just a choice in obedience but also in attitude. I could happily give the puppy trusting that God never asks something of us for us to lose out, He always asks us to give so that He can bless us more.

So, we contacted the family and told them that we'd like to just give them a puppy if that was ok and also we wanted them to have first pick (always give God you're best, not your leftovers). They were completely blown away and were just so thankful. 

Well, we got to known them a little through the past few weeks and they live about 2 hours from us, but because of the puppy we've exchanged lots of email and texts and such. Well it's been my heart's desire to have family picture on the beach, but again it's just an extra thing and often times not something that is high on the priority list due to the cost. Well this lady is starting a photography business and said as a thank you she'd like to take our pictures!!! How cool is God, and the most amazing thing is that was only the beginning. 

We get to meet so many nice and amazing families through this business, it's really a blessing. We met this sweet couple who were just so excited about their new puppy. We actually only even received their phone call because of a flat tire. We were trying to get to church one Sunday and we went to leave and the van had a flat tire. So, Ryan ended  up staying home waiting for AAA and ended up taking a phone call (at a time we normally wouldn't even be home) from this couple. Even getting the phone call was just God working out a bad situation for our good.  They came out and picked their puppy and were just so kind to us and thankful. They picked their puppy and paid full price for it. A couple of days after the deposits were in on all the puppies God showed Ry and I that there was a family that we needed to bless. My flesh's first response was 'how?'. We were already cutting into our profit and we really did have some needs. During this time we found out that our 15 passenger van needed to be replaced, keep in mind we literally had $0 saved toward that. 

But again, we were given an opportunity to sow, and we took it. This time knowing and expecting that God knows what He is doing and He is more than able to figure out what we need. 

Well fast forward a couple weeks and its time for all the puppies to go home. Well that really sweet couple I told you about was coming for their little man. They had requested to come late one night when they got off of work. So, it was the end of the day for me and I was feeling a little tired; the puppies hadn't been sleeping the baby was teething and I was still dealing with lots of poop. So they come in and we were filling out all the paperwork and taking pictures and the lady says that she's going to run out to the car and out the stuff down then come back for the puppy. Well she comes back with a gift bag. Now this isn't completely unusual, sometimes our customers will bring a gift for the puppies parents some bones or a toy. It always blesses us so much. Well, they leave and I open the gift and there were some toys for Mercy and Samson and another package; I pulled the other package out and it was an IPad!!!

I've been wanting one for some time, but again not so much so that I wanted to spend $499 on it. This couple bought me an IPad to thank me for taking care of their puppy! God is so faithful. He cares so much about the desires of our hearts, He just wants us to trust Him. Sometimes that trust takes us out of our comfort zone, sometimes it requires more from us than we THINK we have to give. But He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 

My encouragement to you this week is to trust Him at a new level. He is just waiting for you to open up to Him ALL that you have, ALL that you want, and ALL that you don't have. Dream big this week take the limits off of Him. 

I can't tell you how blessed I was by the IPad. I think it blessed me so much cause it wasn't even a need it was just a want. He loves us so much He wants to bless us. I have confidence that He is going to take care of our need for a new van. If He took time to take care of a 'want' like an IPad how much more will He take care of the things we really need? Be excited and expecting His goodness to follow you this week.

Best part, my kids got to see that God cares about everything that they do!! Big or small.

<3 Faythe 

  

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