Manna For Moms

Devotions for Moms Like You!

June 2016

When You’re Tempted to Get Good Things in a Bad Way

Megan Breedlove 0Comment
OpenClipartVectors / Pixabay

I should have known, when Timmy was playing quietly in his room for too long, that something was amiss.

I realized it when I entered his room and saw large, looping swirls all across his carpet—in yellow marker.

“Timmy?” I sighed. “Did you draw on your floor with this yellow marker?”

“Uh…uh….” Timmy ducked his head.

“Pretty much?” I prompted, and Timmy nodded.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

“Because I wanted a pretty floor,” he said.

Well…that makes sense. Who doesn’t want a pretty floor? It’s a legitimate desire.

But Timmy tried to fulfill his legitimate desire by illegitimate means.

Did he know they were illegitimate means? You bet he did. We’ve had the don’t-draw-on-your-floor-with-markers conversation several times before. Yet he chose to disobey me simply because he wanted what he wanted and didn’t care whether or not he had to disobey me to get it.

Good thing you and I never try to get good things by illegitimate means, isn’t it? Oh, wait…we do.

We try to gain our husband’s agreement by nagging him.

We try to gain material goods or fun experiences by putting them on a credit card because we really can’t afford them any other way.

We try to gain emotional peace by denying reality or refusing to face it.

Is it wrong for us to desire our husband’s agreement, or material goods/vacations, or emotional peace? Of course not. But it is wrong for us to go about getting those things in any way that doesn’t please God.

Jesus knew that, of course. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he offered Him good things: food, a way to convince people to believe in Him, and authority over everything. Was it wrong for Jesus to desire those things? Of course not. He had a human body, so naturally, He desired food. (I can’t go for 40 seconds without eating, but He went 40 days.) He was the Son of God, so He is entitled to all authority, and it’s good and right for Him to desire that people should believe in Him.

But Jesus didn’t succumb to Satan’s temptations because He was unwilling to gain any good thing by illegitimate means.

What about you? What about me? Are some things so important to us that we’re willing to do illegitimate things in order to get them?

Before you say No way!, consider these questions: Do you ever try to gain peace in your household by yelling at your children? (Guilty here.) Do you ever try to gain people’s approval or admiration by boasting—or maybe just by “letting them know” about your accomplishments? (Um, guilty here.) Do you ever try to “encourage” your husband to change by being critical? (No comment. I’m going to plead the Fifth.)

When doing something bad in order to get something good doesn’t bother us—or when it does bother us, but we push those guilty feelings away and refuse to think about them—we are most certainly not being like Jesus. We’re not pleasing God. And ultimately, we’re not even pleasing ourselves.

You see, the reason God has told us not to do certain things in order to get what we want is because He knows not only that they aren’t right, but that the more we do them, the more they damage both us and others.

What are you willing to commit in order to get what you want?

We need to throw ourselves on God’s mercy if we’re willing to commit anything less than holiness.

Matthew 4:4—Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (NIV)

3 Fun (and Free!) Ways to Bond with Your Child This Summer

Megan Breedlove 0Comment
Buecherwurm_65 / Pixabay

Here in Texas, summer is one long stretch of heat that begins in May and lasts through September. Basically, the four seasons of our year, in order, are Summer, Not-Quite-Summer-Anymore, Sort-of Winter, and Almost-Summer-Again.

But whether you live in a place where summer is one extended reminder of why hell would not be a pleasant place to spend eternity, or in a place where summer confines itself neatly to three months out of the year and lets each of the other seasons have its fair share of months too, you—like me—are probably looking for fun things to do with your child this summer.

I would like to offer you three suggestions of great things you can do that will not only be fun, but also bond you and your child closer together, and ALSO be great opportunities for helping your child connect with God. (It’s like fun with a bonus.) And, as the title suggests, you can do these things no matter how much money you have, because they’re all free.

Can’t beat fun summer activities that strengthen your relationship with your child and your child’s relationship with God, and don’t cost a thing, can you? Great! Here are some ideas:

1. Go to the beach! Don’t worry; we’re not necessarily talking an actual beach, although those are great, too. This activity is primarily designed for moms and children who don’t have a great beach nearby (like us). How can you go to the beach when you don’t actually have one anywhere close? You make your own.

Before you start worrying about how you would ever vacuum up all that sand, let me assure you that there’s no actual sand involved. You simply spread beach towels in the living room. You get in your swimming suits, put on sunscreen, and lie on your beach towels wearing sunglasses. Periodically, you go to the kitchen to get refreshments—ice cream, soda, hot dogs, etc.

What about the water? Couple things you can do on this one. You can fill up the bathtub with cool water. You can place a small wading pool (if you already have one) in the living room and fill it with water.

This activity obviously works best with younger kids. But think about it: you get all the advantages of the beach without any of the hassles; you get to wear your swimsuit without worrying about appearing in it in front of other people; and you get to bond with your child!

You can use this activity to talk with your child about the majesty of God’s creation. Talk about many of the Bible stories that involve water or oceans. Talk about the verse that says, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19, NIV).

2. Go to a baseball game! And you don’t even have to pay for tickets or find parking. Why? Because you’re going to watch the game in your very own front or backyard. Set up some camp chairs or lawn chairs, haul your laptop, portable electronic device, or even your TV outside, and watch the game.

You and your child/ren can take turns walking up and down the “aisles” and offering everyone hotdogs, popcorn, or a cold drink. (Be sure you holler, “Hoooooooooootdooooooogs!”)

Make tickets to the game, and have one child be the ticket taker before you sit down. Bring your purse with you so that one child can be the security agent and examine your purse for unauthorized items (you may want to clear any private items out of your purse first).

If you want to get really creative, invite some friends to watch the game with you. Let everyone bring something (this still counts as free, because you’d have to eat anyway). This activity can work well with baseball fans of all ages. Your kids might like doing this even if they aren’t particularly baseball fans; they will probably find novelty and enjoyment in watching “TV” in the front yard.

A baseball game is a great opportunity to talk with your child about rules. Talk about why rules are necessary in a baseball game and what would happen if the players didn’t follow the rules. Point out that just as rules are necessary in baseball, so they are necessary in life—not to stop people from having fun, but to help them have more fun.

3. Go camping! Again, there’s absolutely no cost—and no special equipment needed. This one works best if you have a fenced-in backyard. Grab sleeping bags (or blankets, or a tarp) and pillows, and sleep in the backyard. If you have camping gear, go ahead and use it—but it’s not necessary. Your kids will do just fine with sleeping in their backyard with very simple gear.

Build a “campfire,” if you want to! You can either build an actual fire (though be sure to practice fire safety), or you can lay a fire and then just not light it. You can sit around it ad tell stories or jokes, or sing camping songs (or any songs, really). If someone in your family plays the guitar, have him or her do so.

Talk about how the first announcement of Jesus’ birth came to shepherds who were abiding in the fields, just as you are abiding in your backyard. Ask your child what he/she thinks it was like for the shepherds back then. Talk about what it would be like to be sitting around having a campout, and then all of a sudden to see an angel in the sky with a wonderful message from God.

***

Hopefully, you will find one or more of these activities fun and helpful for your family. If not, that’s fine—just make up one of your own. The main thing is not which activities you to do bond with your children and teach them about God, but that you do such activities.

Have a great summer!

Deuteronomy 6:7—You shall teach [the ways of the Lord] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (ESV)

How Parenting is Like a Roller Coaster, and How God Can Help You Through It

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

(Guest post dictated by Kenny Breedlove, age 11.)

KennyHey, Mom, I have an idea for your devotional. You could write about how parenting is like a roller coaster. It has ups and downs, and it sometimes has fast and slow moments. Like it’s fast when kids grow up too fast. It’s slow when you have a hard time being a parent. Down is when kids are being bad and you have to punish them. Ups is when you first get your kids, and bonding with your kids and having fun moments with them. Sometimes, you can be scared on a roller coaster, and you can be scared at moments in your parenting life. Like you might be scared or worried when you’re looking for part-time jobs to raise money for your kids. And you’re scared when it’s your first time parenting and you don’t know what to do, or finding the right babysitter when you’re gone and it’s just your kids.

God sometimes plans crazy lives similar to roller coasters, or sometimes just smooth, normal lives like a running river. And if you’re ever scared or afraid, you can look up to Him, and He will help you with your parenting. After all, He planned the life, and He knows everything.

God can also help you know how to teach your kids to worship Him when they’re older, if you don’t know how. Also, if you have a crazy life similar to a roller coaster, God can help you go through it all calm and smooth.

Sometimes, roller coasters go all the way upside down, like your life suddenly changes once you figure out you’re pregnant and you become a parent. Your life is upside down, and you’ve got more to take care of, more to worry about, and a kid or kids to care for.

Sometimes, you have to buy tickets for a roller coaster to get on and have fun, as you would have to buy equipment and things your babies would like for them to have fun.

Sometimes, you have to wait in line to even get the tickets for a roller coaster, like you sometimes have to wait in line to get tickets for your kids’ favorite puppet show or favorite movie.

Almost always, you have to get tickets for a roller coaster and decide how many people get on and who gets to get on. Like in parenting, to get kids, you would have to find a husband, get married, afford to host a baby shower, and afford the bills of a hospital to produce the babies. If you’re a woman, that is.

So moms and future moms out there, if you are having trouble parenting, you can either read this a couple more times, or look up to God, and maybe He’ll have some answers for you. Good luck with your life.

The Ultimate Reason We Hide from God

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

Timmy hidingThe seven of us had just arrived home from a trip to Houston. Of course, we all had plenty of stuff to unpack and put away. I headed to my bedroom to take care of the things in my suitcase, but the door was, strangely, locked.

So I picked the lock with a toothpick we keep wedged into the upper doorjamb for that very purpose, only to find Timmy nestled into our mound of pillows, headfirst.

‘Timmy?” I asked. ‘Why are you hiding in my pillows?”

Timmy shot me a sideways glance. “Because I thought you were Daddy.”

“Why were you hiding from Daddy?”

“Because he would want me to unpack,” Timmy said.

It’s not like Timmy was well-hidden. But at least he had the strategy right: if you don’t want someone to find you, you hide.

It’s the same strategy Adam and Eve used when they wanted to hide from God, as well as the same strategy that we, their descendants, have been using ever since. When we don’t want to take the chance of coming face to face with God, we hide from Him.

Maybe we hide because we’ve done something wrong and don’t want to get in trouble. We think if we can avoid thinking about God, much less actually talking to Him, then we can avoid whatever consequences might be coming.

Maybe it’s because we don’t want to feel guilty about something we’ve done. If we can ignore God steadfastly enough, we won’t have to feel the burden of guilt which is justly ours.

Those two reasons for hiding are pretty common. But the third reason is perhaps the most common of all: We hide because we don’t want to have to come to terms with God’s authority over us and our lives. We want to do what we want to do, and if we encounter God, we might have to let Him be in charge. So we do our best not to encounter Him.

No matter which one of these fits our circumstances, it’s not the ultimate reason we attempt to hide from God. When it comes right down to it, we hide because we’re afraid.

We’re afraid of God.

Not that we probably realize it. We probably think we’re just afraid of the consequences of our actions, afraid of our emotions, or afraid of losing control.

But ultimately, we’re afraid of Him.

If we truly believed that when God allows us to face consequences, it’s for our good, we wouldn’t be afraid to face Him when we’ve done something wrong.

If we truly believed that God would walk with us through any emotion we face and bring us out stronger on the other side, we wouldn’t be afraid to face our guilt.

If we truly believed that with God in control, our lives would be much better, we wouldn’t be afraid to let Him make the decisions.

It all comes down to what we believe about God.

What does your fear level say that you believe about Him?

1 John 4:18—There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (NIV)

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