Peter Paul Rubens
“There will always be giants in our land.
There will always be circumstances, people and matters of life that could potentially threaten to overwhelm us.
There will always be circumstances, people and matters of life that could potentially threaten to overwhelm us.
Perhaps the icy cold fingers of fear squeezing out all of the hope in one’s heart for what might happen
to a child, a job, a marriage, a life;
the darkness of depression hanging heavily as a cloud over all the moments of a day;
exhaustion and weariness dragging the body stumbling through foggy moments of day;
illness that threatens to overwhelm life;
a marriage that bruises and wounds deep where no one else sees;
bitterness or blame that steals each moment of thought into death and hate;
loneliness so palpable and sad, the obscurity of being unknown in life’s burdens and ignored and uncared for;
All and more might be the Giant’s names, and yet,
The grace and beauty of a mother, deciding to stand up to the threats of the giant,
to attack her would-be foe, with weapons of heaven’s design,
This warrior mama, who understands civilizing her home, can make her giant story one of a memory of the power of God.
When she understand the import of the civilizing of our lands, our homes, our families,
these the foundations of a future adult generation that will exercise moral courage and fortitude.
and exhibit strength in places of leadership,
she understand that our children are watching us as we exhibit courage, so that some day, they will know how to be courageous.
And so, we mamas exhibit strength instead of fear, so that some day they will be strong.
We have to make the choice to believe in God, and in His ability to provide for us…
When we do, we will be freed to celebrate His goodness in front of our little audience who are learning how to live by faith in our presence…
It is natural to whine and complain or to be selfish and unloving,
It is natural to react to giants in all of their bigness and to withdraw in crumbling cowardess.
But it is supernatural to praise and be thankful and to choose to express love and faith,
and one foot in front of the other faithfulness that is a choice.
To look our giant in the face and say, “You come to me with sword and spear, so to speak,
But I come to you, my giant, in the name of the Lord of hosts and He will
protect me, provide for me and be with me
and all of His host of angels is on my side,”
this is the choice to be courageous, beyond our feelings.
Even when feelings don’t agree, one can choose to live in obedience to what is known about His character being true-
supernaturally, walking in the power of His Holy Spirit…
saying with all one’s heart, by faith and the conviction of planting a flag of belief, “He is good. He is faithful and true and He will save me, in His time–and all things will work together for good and I will see it when I am with Him looking at it from His eyeview.”
So today, look for joy. Seek out beauty.
Look the giant in the eye and claim the victory that is there for the asking,
Model to your children what it means to live in celebration of God’s marvelous life.
Look for the miracles that might otherwise go unnoticed each day.
Model to your children what it means to live in celebration of God’s marvelous life.
Look for the miracles that might otherwise go unnoticed each day.
And this will be your story–one of beauty, a legacy in the memories of your little ones, the heroic moments, burned lovingly, skillfully, poignantly
in the pathways of your children’s hearts and minds, to be emulated in the future moments of their own lives.”
So where is our victory over our future? It lays deep inside the potential of what each home can become,
when giants are brought to size, and righteousness and redemption of each precious moment prevails.
~ Sally Clarkson (Partially excerpted from The Mom Walk, the rest new thoughts.)
!["There will always be giants in our land.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
There will always be things that could potentially threaten to overwhelm us.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
We have to make the choice to believe in God, and in His ability to provide for us...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
When we do, we will be freed to celebrate His goodness...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
It is natural to whine and complain or to be selfish and unloving,<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
but it is supernatural to praise and be thankful and to choose to express love and faith.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
Even when my feelings don't agree, I can choose to live supernaturally...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
So today, look for joy. Seek out beauty.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
Model to your children what it means to live in celebration of God's marvelous life.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
Look for the miracles that go unnoticed each day."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
~ @[242157951372:274:Sally Clarkson] (The Mom Walk)](https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/643961_10151322909816514_1652292729_n.jpg)
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And today, another encouragement for Joy from Dancing with My Father…..
I might be a stay at home mom … but I work hard.Sometimes, too hard. Oh, not at cooking and cleaning necessarily–those things I work at, and most of the time my work … well, it works. If I clean something, it’s clean … at least for a few minutes. And if I cook a meal, we’ll all be full … at least until someone remembers I bought cookie dough ice cream at the grocery store.
It’s the other kind of work that can wear me down, overwhelm me, make me want to hide under covers some mornings. The really tough work: the soul shaping, question-answering, discipling kind of work that has so much at riding on how well I do it. Or so I think…
Please join us for the rest of the post today from Misty Krasawski at MomHeart online, where we are wrapping up our final week of studying Dancing With My Father!
I love this whole post Sally…
So often the kiddos are watching to see what my response will be when the “giants” surface. Do I really trust that God is in control?
And likewise…they watch to see what my response will be when they share their “miracles”.
Cavan is constantly bringing me treasures and creatures and with each interaction, I have the opportunity to bolster his awe of God’s creation or smoosh it as insignificant.
Thank you for the reminder…
So true! My 20 somethings still do this and want me to see their products of life–and I still have to stop and look into their eyes and listen and really hear and then respond with life. Thanks for giving me something to post!
wow. thank you for sharing this. i read it with tears rolling down my face. just minutes before i opened my computer to check out your post for today, i finished crying out to God to replace my fears with trust/peace/joy again. so many fears plague me…something awful happening to one of my sweet kids, or my husband, etc etc. this lack of trust stems from some things in my past that really shook my faith. i know that God is still good, but i want to KNOW that He is good..like that unwavering burning in my heart i used to have, not just head knoweledge. i want to leave a legacy of faith and courage to my young ones. thank you for this encouragment..it was beyond timely and so perfect!
Dear Sally,
Thank you for this wonderful post. I have been blessed by many of your words and several of your books. Thank you.
Today this was such an amazing encouragement and helped to grow an idea for me to share in my little space on the web. To take delight in the great works of the Lord in my life ~ to capture them, delight in them, ponder them and praise the Lord for them. Thank you for encouraging me to fight my giants in this way. He provides and protects and I will praise Him along with the company of the upright.
Thank you for mentoring.
This is SO encouraging!!! I just want to literally make a standard, (with my family’s emblem of some sort on it) and run out with it!!! I just love this post so much! THANK YOU! Printing it off for future reference and to pray through the points you brought up, Sally!
This was so totally profound I wanted to shout “YES” and do a fist pump! I love it and I want that to be me!!