Manna For Moms

Devotions for Moms Like You!

December 2015

A Prayer for Moms at Year’s End

Megan Breedlove No Comments

A Prayer for Moms at Year's End

Father God,

The year is almost over,
This year that You granted me
To enjoy and rejoice over my precious children,
To nurture and serve them,
To love them with a love that comes from You,
To pour out my life for them
As You poured out Yours for me.

Sometimes, I served with humility and selflessness.
Thank You, God, for Your grace
That enabled me to love my children well.
May any crumb of goodness they see in me
Remind them of the feast of love that You offer them.

Other times, I served not them, but myself.
Thank You, God, for Your forgiveness
And for my children’s forgiveness.
May any wound I have caused them not make them bitter,
But instead, lead them to rejoice in Your perfect healing.

There were moments this year that were beyond precious,
When I cuddled a sleeping child or held a small hand or talked heart-to-heart.
Then there were the joyous times,
When we watched a sunset together, or rode a roller coaster, or ate ice cream cones
And let the ice cream melt all over our faces and hands.
I thank you for all these matchless memories,
And I ask You to engrave them in my heart and in my children’s hearts
Forever.

There were also moments this year that were filled with sadness or grief.
Although I never would have asked for those circumstances,
I thank You for the indescribable beauty of Your comfort.
I thank You for these memories that were precious
In a completely different way,
And I ask You to engrave the feel of Your arms around them on my children’s hearts
Forever.

Engrave in them and in me the soul-deep knowledge
That You were with us through every failure and every success,
Every heartbreaking moment and every breathtakingly beautiful one.

You were in every step we took.

You were in every season and month and week and day and minute.

You were in every beat of our hearts
And in every breath.

You were above all,
And through all,
And in all.

You were, and are, Emanuel.

God with us.

Amen.

Getting on God’s Nerves: The Surprising Reason Why We Do

Megan Breedlove No Comments

Toy messI don’t know exactly how many nerves I have. But I do know when my kids are on my last one.

Usually, when they get on my nerves, it’s because they are bickering, tattling on each other for things that don’t really matter, or leaving behind some mess that they should have picked up because I’ve told them a thousand times to pick up after themselves, and why am I the only one who can SEE these messes, anyway?

Sometimes, I’m sorry to say, they get on my nerves not because of anything they’ve done, really, but because I’m tired or stressed, and they ask for the wrong thing at the wrong time. Or they fail to grasp something I think they should already know, and I’m so. out. of. patience.

Turns out God’s children get on His nerves, too. They try His patience.

Wait, what? Isn’t God infinitely patient?

Of course He is. He always maintains perfect control, even when we try Him.

Yes, you and I can get on His nerves.

But it may not be for the reason you would think.

It’s not because we and God just don’t click, because we make too many mistakes, or because He’s tired of dealing with us. (None of these things is true, by the way!) Nor is it because we ask Him for too much.

Actually, it’s because sometimes we ask Him for too little.

There was a time long ago when Ahaz was king over Judah. God told Ahaz to ask Him for a sign to confirm what was going to happen.

“Ask Me for any sign,” God said. “Anything you want. Nothing is too big.”

“Nope,” Ahaz said. “I’m not going to test You.”

Then Isaiah the prophet steps in. “Hey!” he said. “Isn’t it enough that you already get on mankind’s nerves? Are you going to try God’s patience too???”

Notice that what Ahaz was getting rebuked for was not for worshiping a foreign god or committing murder or adultery. Ahaz was rebuked because God offered him everything, and he asked for nothing.

God offered him the opportunity of a lifetime, and he got all what he probably thought was properly humble and refused the opportunity.

God tells us over and over in Scripture that He wants to pour out spiritual blessings upon us. Maybe sometimes He even has some material blessings in mind.

But we don’t ask.

“Do what is right,” God says, “and see if I won’t pour out so many blessings upon you that you won’t be able to hold them all!” (See Malachi 3:10.)

“But I’m afraid to ask for big things,” we say. “I might make God mad. Or I might get rejected.”

So we ask too small. And in so doing, we try the patience of the God Who longs to shower us with blessings.

We ask for everyone to get along at Christmas, for improved finances, or for our cold to go away quickly.

It’s right and good to ask for all these things. But what about the truly big things? Things like transformation of our character, or the ability to hear and recognize God’s voice, or the opportunity and courage to bear bold witness for Christ?

Or intimacy with God? The ability to trust Him more? The willingness to serve without earthly reward?

As C.S. Lewis said, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Ask big. Make God’s heart glad.

Malachi 3:10—Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” (NIV)

Isaiah 7:10-13—Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?” (NIV)

How to De-Stress Your Christmas Season

Megan Breedlove No Comments

Lots of lightsPresents to buy and wrap. Parties to dress for and attend. Baking to be done. Family time to be planned. Travel arrangements to be made. Special services or concerts to attend. Not to mention fulfilling our regular responsibilities—going to work, attending (or teaching) school, preparing meals, cleaning the house, and chauffeuring the kids to a thousand different places.

We adopt perfection as our standard and spend December trying to achieve it. And in the process, we stress out not only ourselves, but everyone around us.

Martha would agree with us. Not Martha Stewart (and even she doesn’t always get everything right), but Martha of Bethany. The one who had a sister named Mary and a brother named Lazarus.

Jesus and His disciples had come to Martha’s house to visit and have dinner. And Martha was going nuts in the kitchen trying to make everything come together just right. To make matters worse, her younger sister Mary wasn’t helping. She was sitting around fellowshipping, while Martha was doing all the work.

So Martha stormed out to the living room. “Jesus!” she said (I’m going to paraphrase here). “Don’t You care that Mary is making me do all the work? Tell her to stop being lazy and help me!”

In response, Jesus said something that for a long time, I didn’t understand. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Wait, what? Doesn’t Jesus care when some people are slacking, leaving others to have to do all the work?

Of course He cares. He never approves of laziness or of shirking one’s responsibilities. Here’s what I think He meant by what He said (allow me to paraphrase again): “Martha, you’re focusing on yourself. That’s why you’re so stressed out. Mary has chosen to focus on Me, and an encounter with Me is of eternal value.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Martha, preparing food is not important,” or, “If you were better at this, you wouldn’t be so stressed.” He was pointing out the fact that her focus was all wrong. If Martha had been doing her work with a focus on Jesus instead of on herself—in other words, if she had been offering her work as worship—then she would have encountered Jesus as surely as Mary did.

This Christmas season, if you find yourself getting stressed, trying slowing down for just a moment and taking a deep breath. Is your focus on Jesus? Are you offering your efforts as worship?

You have a choice. You can either focus on yourself and become frustrated at all the things you have to do, or you can turn your heart toward Jesus and encounter Him in the midst of the hustle and bustle.

You see, Christmas is not about folding napkins in the shape of a swan, or finding that perfect gift.

Christmas is about encountering Jesus.

May we never get so caught up in the trappings of the season that we miss out on intimacy with the One whose birth we celebrate.

Luke 10:41-42—”Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (NIV)

5 Ways to Help Your Children Remember Jesus This Christmas Season

Megan Breedlove No Comments

Baby JesusI still vividly remember a moment one Christmas season when I was in college. Finals were over, and I had returned home for Christmas break. My mom, my sister, and I had gone to the mall to do some Christmas shopping.

We separated from each other so that each of us could do some shopping without the others seeing. We agreed to meet at the fountain at a certain time.

I arrived at the fountain early. As I sat there, waiting for my family and watching shoppers go by, I realized something.

Christmas didn’t feel as exciting as it used to when I was younger. The glow, the emotional high, just wasn’t the same as all those years when I had looked forward to Christmas morning with the anticipation of a child.

It was fun, but…it wasn’t the same.

In that moment of disappointment, a thought came into my head with startling clarity: If that’s all there is to Christmas for me, I’m in trouble.

I want Christmas to mean far more than the anticipation of what I’m going to get, what parties I’m going to attend, or (now that I’m a mom) what looks I hope to see on my children’s faces when they open their gifts from me.

I want Christmas to be about Jesus, not about me.

There’s nothing wrong with looking forward to gifts, or with Christmas music, or parties, or the excitement of this time of year. All those things are good, and should be enjoyed.

But there’s more to Christmas than that.

I’m going to share with you five ways I’ve thought of to help my children remember Jesus this Christmas season and all the seasons following. So that when they look back on their Christmases in my home, they will remember not only the wonderful, heart-warming things like putting up the Christmas decorations together (we call it “putting up Christmas”) and doing Advent activities that I’ve developed for us, but also that we really celebrated Jesus and made Him our focal point of it all.

I hope some of them will work for your family, too.

  1. Make sure you remember Him—and let your children see and hear you do so. Let them hear you talking about Jesus, not just about finding a parking spot at the mall or your frustrations about having to host Christmas dinner again this year.
  1. Ask your children to think through some of the trappings of Christmas—music, parties, presents, etc. Let them answer the question, What would Jesus think of that? You might also ask them to consider why we give each other presents when it’s not our birthday.
  1. Discuss with your children what your family can do to make sure others know that even though Jesus wasn’t welcome at the inn, He’s welcome at your house (hint: there’s no one right answer). Then try to put some of those things into practice.
  1. Do some Advent activities that point to Jesus. Make sheep (we make ours out of plastic bags, crumpled up newspaper or wrapping paper, tape, paper towel or toilet paper rolls, a paper plate, and a marker), and then go “abide in the fields by night” (we go to our front yard). Talk about what the shepherds might have been feeling. Talk about what the angel said. Ask your children how they think the shepherds felt (and why they felt that way!) upon hearing the news. Or give each child a piece of paper with pictures of various Christmas-related items on it (candy cane, wreath, star). Make sure there is a picture of baby Jesus in the manger. Ask your children to go on a “Mall Treasure Hunt” and cross the pictures off their paper when they find the items. Point out how easy it is to find everything except baby Jesus. Have a good discussion about why baby Jesus isn’t at the mall. Or think of other activities that would be meaningful to your family.
  1. Discuss, as a family, who the people were who were near and dear to Jesus’ heart (widows, orphans, the poor, etc.). Talk about Matthew 25:40 (“Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me”). Choose a way to minister to at least one of those people. Or, along similar lines, ask your kids what they think Jesus would like for His birthday. Point out that one present He would like would be for your family to bless others. Talk about how your children (even the youngest) can minister to others. Have each child choose a person to minister to. This can be something as simple as making a card for someone, giving a hug to someone who is lonely, or even showing kindness to a brother or sister. Or it can be something more complicated—whatever works for your family.

Whatever you choose to do, do it in the name of Jesus and for His pleasure. Your children will probably not remember every gift you got them this Christmas. But they will remember the memories you made as you loved, served, and celebrated Jesus together.

That’s what Christmas is all about.

That’s Who Christmas is all about.

Luke 2:12— And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. (KJV)

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