My goodness life has been FULL! I’ve been very busy these days simply tending to my priorities. Lil Miss 2 is approaching her 5-month mark and we are just now beginning to gain a solid schedule. Being born a little early, our peanut struggled with feeding and growth for the first 3 months. Many tears and prayers were shed by this mama during that demanding time! Then, at around the 13-14 week mark, she began to steadily gain weight and show signs of a beginning patterned schedule. I cannot tell you how relieved I was to pull out the next size of clothing for her! I’ve been thinking a lot about my priorities and what place I want to give to certain things in my life. It seems like it changes from season to season, depending on whether or not I have babies in the home or the types of ministry I am involved in. But on my heart lately: pursuing fruitfulness in the home.
Because we didn’t have much of a schedule those first 3 1/2 months, I really struggled with my own lack of productivity and lack of relationship with my other family members. Caring for little miss 2 was an around the clock affair because of her needs. It felt like, every day, I was just surviving moment to moment with no plan whatsoever. If you know my personality at all, you know that this generally drives me crazy. I praise God that I did as much prep and cleaning as possible before she was born because it truly served as a blessing in our home this time around!
Now that we are having some improvement here and there with scheduling, I’m looking back to the words God gave me concerning 2018 and I’m setting my heart to refocus on what He showed me. One of the things He laid on my spirit was that I was to embrace a season of ‘home’ again. Of course, I’ve already been doing that in some ways because I literally haven’t had a choice due to the baby havign the needs she had, but I was sensing the Lord was calling me to a deeper commitment, a greater intention towards it.
Pursuing Fruitfulness in the Home
What’s really interesting to me is that this really is a theme in my life. Embracing the home life, wifehood, parenting, homeschooling, homemaking… becoming a fruitful vine within our home. Being fruitful in this vocation is so much more than having children, keeping a tidy house and running an efficient schedule, and though I know this, it’s so easy to fall into basic maintenance over it all. But pursuing fruitfulness takes much more effort, not just in the physical, but with the mind and with my heart.
Cultivating relationships, being mindful over what comes in and what goes forth from our home and family, teaching and training the young souls we’ve been entrusted with, nourishing my relationship with my husband, creating an atmosphere in our home that glorifies the Lord, being a witness for the Lord to our neighbors and vessels for hospitality, and so much more… our home ministries really do have the potential to be a force for His Kingdom in our communities, not just for our immediate family. I say all of this because, though I have been attempting to walk out this calling for over 20 years, there is always room to grow and become more fruitful in it.
The Interesting Way God Helped
When the baby was about 2 1/2 months old, I was starting to break down from exhaustion, lack of spiritual connection and overwhelm. There simply wasn’t enough of me to go around and the house was starting to look pretty rough. I couldn’t keep up with the basics let alone thinking about being fruitful. I remember standing in the shower with my head against the wall and just crying because I was so tired and I didn’t know if I could face another night of nursing every hour and getting no sleep. My husband and I hadn’t had a full conversation since her birth, the other kids needed me, I had no idea what was for dinner and I was out of clean clothes. I couldn’t remember the last time I studied His word for more than 5 minutes. I cried out to the Lord to help me, I didn’t know exactly what I needed, but I just knew that I needed my heavenly Father to step in and show me how to manage in the midst of this hard season.
A few days later, I noticed the baby looked sleepy. So I changed her diaper, fed her and placed her in her stroller. I don’t know why, but I went to the kitchen, turned on the stove fan and began rocking her back and forth in her stroller. As I did, she calmed and I felt led to begin praying. As I prayed about the things that popped into my mind, I was amazed at how the Lord ministered to me. I mean, He totally gave me scriptures I desperately needed and met me where I was. Before I knew it, the baby was asleep (trust me when I tell you that that was a miracle!) and I had a new hope that things would begin to turn around. I didn’t want to forget what He had ministered to me, so I quickly jotted them down on some paper and put them up on my fridge with magnets.
The next day, I noticed the baby looked sleepy again and I did the same thing as I had before- change diaper, feed, stroller. I prayed, she slept, God spoke. Wow! He was meeting me where I was at! My fridge is covered in scriptures and words and prayers right now, all because the Lord answered my plea for time with Him and to help me fulfill my calling in this season.
That’s where it began, with prayer and a naptime for our lil one. Since then, other areas are beginning to improve as well. Every day, when I am in my kitchen, I am in awe of the ‘wall of hope’ displayed on my fridge. I know in my heart that only God could have designed it. Scriptures were chosen just for me, for this season. I love that when I am preparing a meal, or cleaning up or making my coffee, that all it takes is a quick glance at the refrigerator and everything is brought back into focus for me. Reminders to keep believing, keep praying, keep at the work He has called me to.
Pursuing fruitfulness always begins with our relationship with God friend. There is no other way to go about it because any other way will fall short. I want to encourage you today to ask the Lord to help you carve out that time with Him and to keep His Word before your eyes somehow. For me, right now, it is by placing His Word on my fridge and praying while rocking my baby. For you, it might be another wall in your home or a notebook. However you choose to keep His Word before you, I can promise you one thing: It will be fruitful to do so.
Biblical Womanhood Printables
Here are a couple printables I made for myself this past week. I laminated them and have them alongside the others on the fridge as my core focus scriptures for pursuing fruitfulness in the home. During my prayer time, I read these aloud to myself and pray them over my life and home and family. It’s amazing how a simple practice like this makes such a big difference!
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