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As women we keep ourselves constantly busy. We go from one project to the next, run to this meeting and that, clean the house, do the laundry, and, maybe, cook all our meals. And often, when there's nothing obvious to do, we create something. We talk about a day off, about taking time for a little R&R, but we hardly ever get around to doing it. Because, sometimes, we're scared to not look busy to everybody around us. We're afraid we will be marked down as "lazy" in the minds of our friend, family or coworkers.  We have set this impossible standard for ourselves to keep everything in our life perfect. We forget that real life, true life, is so much more than what our house looks like, how many projects we have going or any other standard we like to measure ourselves with. Because, what if, in all our busyness, we are missing the voice of Jesus? What if we are missing His calling on our lives? I recently started reading through Mark and God caught my attention in the very first chapter, with a short passage that I have become so used to hearing that I no long heard what it was saying. As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him. "At once they left their nets {work} and followed Him." What if Jesus is calling us away from our work, away to spend time with Him, and we don't even hear Him, because we are so "busy"? Or we do hear, but we don't follow up with instant obedience? If anybody had anything to loose by instant, impulsive obedience, it was Peter. He was not just walking away from what other people might think of him, he was leaving his entire livelihood behind him. Boats docked, nets lying idle. He didn't know when or if he would pick them up again. Life as he knew it was over, the decision made in a split second!  If we are busy, exhausted and overwhelmed, could it be because we are not instantly obeying the voice of Jesus? Obedience is a form of worship in the life of a Christ follower. If we can refresh our soul and spirit by instantly leaving our work when Jesus calls and just spend some time worshiping in His presence, then why do we wait? It is time for us to leave our busyness behind, time to make the decision to let our lives be changed forever by our own instant obedience to the call of Jesus. And really, when He calls us aside to spend some time with Him, He is not asking much at all! He gives us so much more in return. When we choose to worship Him with our obedience, Jesus fills our cups, full and overflowing with His own life giving water! So what are we waiting on? It's time to leave the nets of busyness that ensnare us so easily and be ready to instantly answer HIS call to seek Him out in the moment. It's time to be impulsive and answer His call without a second thought!  If you liked this post you might also like these:
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One of my favorite Easter memories is making Easter Resurrection Cookies. I am so glad Dad and Mom started this tradition with us. It is such a good way to "bring the Easter story home" to little - and not so little - minds. Mom would usually direct the mixing while Dad read the corresponding Bible passages. We're excited to start this tradition with our kids this year!  To make the cookies you will need
Put the pecans in the zip lock bag and have your children take turns beating them with a wooden spoon while you read John 19:1-3. Explain how Jesus was arrested and beaten by soldiers. When Jesus was on the cross he was thirsty, but was only given vinegar to drink. Have each of you children dip their fingers in the vinegar and taste it while you read John 19:28-30. Put the vinegar in the mixing bowl. Eggs represent life. Jesus gave his life so we can have eternal life. Read John 10:10-11 and add the egg whites to the vinegar. Salt represents the bitterness of our sin and the tears of Jesus's followers when He was crucified. Let each of your children taste the salt before you add it to the bowl. Read Luke 23:27. The sweet part of the story is that Jesus died for our sins so we can have eternal LIFE with Him! Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 and add the sugar. Beat the egg whites on high until peaks form, about 12-15 minutes. Just like the beaten egg whites are pure white, our hearts are white in the sight of God because Jesus has cleansed us from sin. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3. Fold the pecans in by hand. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Each mound represents the rocky tomb were Jesus was buried. Read Matthew 27:57-60. Put the cookies in the oven and turn it off. Seal the oven door with tape, just like the tomb was sealed. We used to put so much tape on we had to cut it open. But one small piece of tape for each person works just as good. :) Read Matthew 27:65-66. Now go to bed! It is sad to leave the cookies in the oven all night - Jesus' followers were so sad when he was killed! Read John 16:20 & 22. In the morning open the oven and give everyone a cookie. When they take a bite and see that they are hollow inside talk about the empty tomb. The friends of Jesus were amazed to discover Jesus is alive!! Read Matthew 28:1-9.  Share the cookies with friends and have your children share their meaning with kids if they are old enough. Jesus is alive!!!  If you liked this post you might also like these:
Our family started the adoption process 14 months ago. We are still waiting for our baby to join our family. We have put in our names for a baby 5 times in the last 3 months, only to have the birth Mom choose another family. The last time we had only a week from when we requested our profile to be shown to the birth Mother to the time the baby was scheduled to be born, so the kids and I did some shopping, just in case. We bought diapers, teeny tiny socks, a soft elephant rattle and a diaper bag. We looked at different bottles and I made a colorful hat to bring "baby sister" home in.  The day after we were shopping we got the text "she chose a different family" And we're back to looking at a wait that could stretch from 1 week to 2 years or maybe even beyond. And I worry. I worry about our 3 year old's little heart. Although she doesn't technically know we're adopting, she's been planning {planning, not asking!} on a baby sister for over a year now. I didn't have the choice to not take her shopping for baby stuff last week, so her little hopes were probably soaring that baby sister is coming soon. I worry that the age gap between our youngest and our baby will be much longer than we planned or wanted. Waiting is simply not my strong point. At all. In fact, I'm afraid that's an understatement. I have bought into the idea of "instant everything" that is so prevalent in the world today. Some days I even feel like God owes instant gratification to our "noble" dream of adoption. {as if!} But today God has given me peace. He has been working in my heart for several weeks now and the pieces are finally starting to come together in my mind. I have been planning to have a giant decal made to put on the wall above our baby's crib with a very special Bible verse. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5 When I was thinking about it today it hit me: All my worrying, all my impatient waiting, all my antsy thinking cannot change anything. Not a thing! That verse is not simply a sweet saying to put on a nursery wall. It is the truth. Our baby is already chosen, set apart for our family! All we really need to do is worship while we wait for God's perfect plan to unfold. That thought sounds so cliche that I kind of rejected it the last while, even while God has been putting worship on my heart as a very high priority. But God showed me today in the midst of worry and impatience about our adoption, plus exhaustion and extra work that true peace and rest are to be found in simply worshiping HIM.  So today, let's choose worship. I don't know what circumstances you're facing that might be causing an uncomfortable wait, but I think we all have one, to some point. Maybe you're waiting to get married, waiting for your due date or simply waiting for Spring! Whatever it is, pick worship as your companion and ally. Listen to worship music, listen to a Bible recording, sing a song, play an instrument, read the Psalms or write down parts of your favorite worship song or praise chapter somewhere that you can see it. Or maybe even splurge and buy that inspirational print or printable on Etsy that you've had your eye on. Do what it takes, in a way that encourages your heart and choose to worship today. And can I just say this? Choose deep worship. Choose worship songs that get to the heart of the matter and portray a strong choice to praise God, no matter what. Not just songs that can become mindless repetitions, but songs that reach deep into your soul and bring out a spirit of true heart worship. You know? What are your favorite ways to worship?  This is the first part in a mini-series on choosing worship. Stay tuned for the next post! :) If you liked this post you might like these:
I have wanted to create a war room ever since we watched the movie. But I really didn't know where to start. What verses did they use? How can a Mom spend any amount of time locked away in a closet? And where am I supposed to put my clothes anyway? ​
It has taken me a long time to just sit down and tackle all those questions and come up with a solution that works for me. Now that I've done it, I wish I would've started a long time ago.
I decided what I need is a portable war room. One that I can take anywhere and be inspired by anytime. Here is what I used:
I took my dear old Bible that I have had since 3rd grade and started paging through it. Every verse that ever spoke to me is underlined so it was easy to find inspiration quickly! I found prayers in the epistles, verses of praise, verses of victory, verses on battle and verses of worship and copied a bunch of them down in my journal
Some of verses that I used:
Page of Praise -Isaiah 64:8 -Isaiah 61:10&11 -Psalm 135:13 -1 Chronicles 16:34 -Psalm 86:11-13 -Psalm 72:17-19 Page of Praise & Victory -Colossians 1:9-11 & 12-14 {I wrote these down separately - one as a prayer and one as worship} -Isaiah 54:17 -Psalm 30:1 -Psalm 20:6&7 Page of Praise & Seeking God's Heart -Ephesians 1:16-19 -Ephesians 1:21&22 -Jeremiah 33:2&3 Isaiah 55:1-3 Page of Praise & Waiting -Psalm 71:14-16 -Psalm 8:1,3,4&9 -1 Corinthians 1:9 -Psalm 62:5-8 -Psalm 63:3-5 Prayer for Guidance -Psalm 25 I used a mix of translations - mostly KJV {slightly reworded in my own words} and The Open Bible. I especially loved the Open Bible translation for the Old Testament passages. I also reworded some of them. For example, Ephesians 1:21&22 I wrote down like this: Jesus, You are far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or the world to come. And God has put all things under Your authority for our benefit!
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With the passages that were originally Paul's prayers for the churches he was writing to, I wrote down in a way that I can pray them for myself or my husband, children and friends.
"Lord, may I {he/she} be filled with the knowledge of Your will with all the wisdom of spiritual understanding. May I {he/she} always walk worth of You, Lord..." {Colossians 1} I encourage you to search the Bible, pray for God's leading and direction, and write down the verses in a way that you can pray them to God! Then you will have a portable war room that will work anywhere and anytime! You can use it at your kitchen table, in your bedroom, by the couch, your workspace or on the floor as you watch your kids! Or you can simply leave it open on your kitchen counter so you can pray while you wash your dishes, cook for your family, etc. You can travel with it, write down specific prayer requests to help you remember them and any inspiration you got from your Bible study. 
Some things that I am working on to make my prayer time more effective:
The Names of God Verse Mapping How To Use Your Bible To Grow In Your Prayer Life ​6 Truths You Need To Know About Your War Room 10 Powerful Verses For Your War Room ​ ​So, that's how my war room is working right now. Have you created a war room? What have you found to work for you? I'd love to hear about it! <3 God bless you as you battle onward for Jesus! 
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Would you like to add some bold, brave battle prayers for your kids to your War Room? Get them here!
This post contains affiliate links. Walls of Home is an affiliate of Amazon . com. Learn more here.
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I am on a journey to know Jesus better, and be the wife, mommy and friend that God created me to be, all within the walls of my own little home. <3
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