Several years ago, I had the privilege of serving in Youth Ministry. I am used to caring for those who are 12 and above. They can walk on their own. They communicate with actual words. They feed and dress themselves. So being a mom of todddlers has been quite difficult for me. Case in point: when I told my close girlfriends I was pregnant, one of them said: “Tracy? With a baby?” Yes, she knows me well…
The truth is, to take me further in my faith, God did not call me back into Seminary. He did not allow me to continue working on the Youth Ministry staff at my church. God knew it was time for me to put the lecture notes and microphone down. He knew that it was time for me to pick up the “Butt Paste” and baby bottle instead. What I needed next to help me mature spiritually was a 5 lb 9 oz little boy, and a 5 lb 4 oz little girl.
Three years ago, God made me a mom.
My little family!
A One Degree Moment
We just arrived home from visiting my family. While we had a wonderful time, we had to travel 14 hours in the car to get there. That is 14 hours each way. Needless to say, traveling with small children can become pretty stressful. My precious babies did the best they could. Who wouldn’t get a little fussy after having every inch of their body harnessed down for 28 hours?
I will admit, there were times on this trip where I longed for them to be older, so we could play games or tell jokes, or share stories. Unfortunately, there were times on this trip where I longed for me to act older too. As the miles wore on, I learned that I am not as patient of a person as I had once thought.
Despite my lack of patience, the Holy Spirit met with me that day on the highway. He used several worship songs to encourage my heart. (a few tunes by Michael Buble also lifted my spirits, but I digress…) By the grace of God, our family survived the car ride and arrived home safely.
Music is a powerful thing
While unpacking, I am continuing to reflect on the power of music, and how God uses it to minister to my weary soul. As I was folding the umpteenth load of laundry yesterday, the Spirit also reminded me of the following verse:
“The LORD your God is with you,
the Migthy Warrior who saves.
He will take delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
~Zephaniah 3:17 NIV, emphasis mine
The book of Zephaniah is about doom and gloom, restoration, and rejoicing. God will judge the nations. He also shows mercy to His children. During the chaos of that car ride, I needed His mercy. Despite the deafening level of screams coming from the back seat, and my lack of warm fuzzies towards my babies, God was most definitely displaying His mercy towards me.
In fact, I believe I heard Him singing…
As I sat feeling convicted in my carseat, I prayed for forgiveness. Immediately, I felt God’s mercy fall upon me. This trip reminded me that though I became impatient with my children, God remains patient with me. He takes delight in this broken mommy and He chooses to sing over me anyways.
His grace leaves me speechless. Now may I show this same grace towards my own children. They don’t deserve my sighs or snippy sentiments. They deserve their mother’s song of love and affirmation. May I continually be singing one over them…
nothing is more beautiful than a daughter at rest in her daddy’s presence
God’s song over YOU
God is singing a song over you. Wouldn’t you give anything to hear His voice? I pray that if you are weary from the journey of your present season, your ears will hear His song over you today.
Songs such as:
- Track 1: Nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39)
- Track 2: Fearfully made and His forever (Psalm 139:14, John 10:27-28)
- Track 3: Forgiven and engraved on His hands (1 John 1:9, Isaiah 49:15-16)
- Track 4: Do not fear, He has overcome the world (John 16:33)
The tracks above are composed of His beautiful words sung over you throughout the pages of Scripture. I pray that you will read and recieve them today. I pray that His love will quiet you no matter what part of life you are traveling through.
how does he sleep like this?
Be encouraged and have a blessed week fellow traveler!
Wow! So very blessed by the insights that our precious Lord has given you through your time on the road trip! Beautiful precious children, our Lord knew that by His Grace you and your husband would be the parents that He is calling you to be! As you continue to seek out His Heart and remain in His presence, He is working in you and through you! Once again, I am so very blessed to see and read and take your words to heart! Have a wonderful day! Love you and your family!
Thank you Terri for stopping by and for encouraging me! May you hear His song over you this week my friend. Blessings to you!
Good Evening Tracy girl!
I am receiving His perfect rest tonight. He is the best singer isn’t He! Thank you for sharing with us sister. You’re a blessing! ~ Amy
Hey sweet Amy! I so glad you are resting in God’s PERFECT peace tonight. It is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it? After reading your AMAZING blog, I am guessing that His song playing over you is one of TRIUMPH! Thank you for commenting fellow traveler 🙂
Omygosh, you are brave traveling with little ones. I know being a Mom is very hard, and as a parent of a child with autism, I hear you when you referred yourself as a broken Mommy. You are so blessed to have heard the Holy Spirit speak to you through music. I hope your Mother’s Day is blessed!
Hi Susan! I think some of my friends have called me crazy more than brave :). But with airfare prices these days, we had to road trip it instead. It was quite a character building experience! Yes, I do believe you understand the brokeness that I mentioned. Bless you fellow mommy. Have you blogged about your journey yet? If so, please leave me the link. I would love to read more about your journey. Praying for God to pour out His strength and wisdom upon you as you raise your precious child. I hope your Mother’s Day is blessed too my friend. God is singing over you Susan, may you hear Him loud and clear today…He is with you!
Tracy, I so needed this!!!!! Thank you! Glad y’all had a safe trip. I hope I get to see you soon!
Hi Wendy! Thank you so much for joining me today and for leaving your encouraging comment. Praising God for safety and sanity as well. I know you all have a road trip coming up soon. Remember to crank up the music-praying that it will encourage you as well fellow mommy. Blessings!
Ironic. God called me to quit my job a year ago almost to the day and be a stay at home mommy. Since then I have not rested in it. I did quit my job, but soon found out that financially we couldn’t afford that luxury. So instead of focusing on being a mom, I frantically fretted and frayed over how we’d pay the bills. I quite seriously began worrying before our financial woes even truly hit. It took me an entire year to figure out that being a stay at home mom in God’s eyes is not spending all of my time working on a budget that can’t be magically fixed by hoping the numbers will change. It just dawned on me a few days ago that I need to let it all go and let God worry about Jared’s job and finally take the time to invest in Tavin like I was supposed to have done a year ago. Sad but true…
Hi Tristine: Thank you for sharing your heart and your journey with us today. God is so patient with us as we continue to learn what is truly important in each of our circumstances/lives. Thanking the Spirit for what He has revealed to you and praying that He will help you to “let go” completely! I also pray that your time with Tavin will be sweet and fruitful. The enemy may be playing a song of condemnation over you today, but I pray your heart and ears will tune him out and turn up God’s song instead. Be encouraged my friend, today is a new day and God is singing!