Girls To Grow - Nurturing moms in their walk with God

Saturday Salutes ~ No-Fear Parenting, Disney World, and Peanut Butter Bars

August 11, 2018 by Tracey 3 Comments

We found this perfect picture spot while out shopping with my mom, sister, and my sister’s three children.

Happy Saturday!! I almost feel like I need to introduce myself here again since I’ve been away from the blog all week. I spent the first half of the week with my family in Virginia, and the last couple of days catching up on things around the house.

We have one more week before school starts for my girls…though in my mind, summer’s already over since both girls have a very busy week ahead.

I really do hope to get back to a regular posting schedule once we’re back into the school-year routine. In the meantime, here’s some encouragement from other bloggers.

A great read for all parents from Katie ~ Parenting in the Digital Age: Why You Have Nothing to Fear.

Lisa lists 5 Ways to Give Your Family Your Best.

A great read from Elizabeth for this time of year ~ Dear Daughter, There’s No “Right Way” To Do High School.

Caroline shares The One Secret I’ve Learned for a Successful Homeschool Day.

If you’ve ever taken your family to Disney World, you owe it to yourself to watch John Crist’s Instagram post here (there’s two parts; click on the small right arrow inside the picture to go to the second part after you’ve watched the first). His take on “the most magical place on earth” is fairly accurate!!

I had a big jar of peanut butter I wanted to use up, so I tried these 3 Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars. They were a tasty, mostly healthy snack – enough so that I made a second batch!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Choosing a Bible Verse to Pray for Your Child in the Coming School Year

August 3, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

So, I had a moment last night.

My husband and I were home alone. After we cleaned up the kitchen from supper, I felt drawn to our older daughter’s bedroom. I went in, sat down on the bed, and started praying for her.

My heart was overwhelmed with several things. First of all, my love for her. Secondly, the reality that just over a year from now, she’ll no longer be living in that room full-time. She won’t be in and out during the day, or returning every night to sleep in her bed. What’s ahead is the next right step, but it didn’t stop the tears from flowing.

I asked God to bless her, to draw her close to Him, to guide and protect her. Then I wrote her a letter, sharing my heart, and left it under her pillow for her to find when she got ready for bed.

All of that coincided with what I heard on the podcast Grit ‘n’ Grace Girls earlier in the day. Co-host Amy Carroll shared an idea she got from the book The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children. She said the author suggested choosing one Bible verse to pray for your children each year. Amy had taken that challenge for her sons, and shared the verses she had chosen.

While my children aren’t adults yet, they’re getting close! I really like this idea. And with the start of a new school year in a couple of weeks, I figured it would be a great time to initiate it. Even if your children are younger, this might be something you’d want to do, too.

What would you like to see developed in your child's life this school year? Pray about it, using God's Word.

For my 17-year-old, I chose Proverbs 3:5-6.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

She has so many decisions to make as she enters her senior year of high school. She needs direction. While I won’t pray these exact words every day, I thought it would be helpful to write out the general idea for my prayer.

Dear God,

Please help our daughter to trust in you with all her heart. Don’t let her lean on her own understanding, but help her to acknowledge you in all her ways. We know that if she does that, you have promised to direct her paths. Your Word assures us that the only way to true joy and happiness is in following your will. May we as her parents encourage her to trust you, and allow you to guide her steps.

For our 15-year-old, I chose Proverbs 4:23.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

She’ll be entering her sophomore year of high school. I think this is an age where it’s easy to get caught up in all the high school activity. Time goes into friendships, studying, homework, and extracurricular activities. It’s easy to let the spiritual side slide. Here’s my prayer for her.

Dear God,

Help our daughter keep her heart, and be diligent in protecting it. Give her wisdom and discernment to seek out good influences and run from bad ones. May she realize the importance of what she allows into her life and her mind. May her relationship with you grow and flourish this year.

I realize that I’ve written a lot about praying for our children on the blog! Here are five of my favorite posts on this topic from the past.

5 Prayers to Pray for Your Children Every Day

10 Prayers to Pray for Your Daughter

A Prayer for Wisdom in Parenting My Children

A Mom’s Prayer for Today

Praying God’s Blessings on My Family

Is there a Bible verse you’d like to pray for your children in the upcoming school year?

Saturday Salutes ~ and the Books I Read in July

July 28, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we spent several days in Chicago this past week. Here are some highlights of our trip.

Riding the Sky Wheel at Navy Pier

In the mirror maze at the Museum of Science and Industry

Taking a break from riding bikes along Lake Michigan

Sky Deck at the top of Willis (Sears) Tower

View of Chicago from the Sky Deck

And now on to a few posts I enjoyed reading this week.

Kristen shares How to Walk Through Our Circumstances.

Shaunti says This Is What Inadequacy Feels Like to Your Man.

I don’t have sons, but I thought Lori’s 12 Dating Red Flags to Share with Your Dating-Age Son would be very helpful if I did.

As for July reading…I just read one non-fiction book this month, Why I Didn’t Rebel by Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach. She basically dispels the myth that all teens “have to” rebel, and shares what she believes her parents did right as they raised her. There were some good insights here.

Then I fell down a fiction rabbit hole this month!!

So let’s start with the three Donna Parker books I read back then. We found these at an antique store, and I remembered them from my childhood, though I’m not sure which particular ones I read. Our girls and I all read A Spring to Remember, Donna Parker in Hollywood, and Mystery at Arawak.

Becoming the Talbot Sisters by Rachel Linden was not in the genre of book I usually read, but I enjoyed it. It’s the story of two sisters who’ve grown apart, but are brought back together through some difficult life circumstances. I enjoyed seeing how the sisters matured throughout the book and grew in their different relationships.

The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron is one of the best fiction books I’ve read in a long time. It’s a split-time romance, which means it has a story line in the present, as well as in the past. Each part was exceptionally well-told, and I was almost sad when it was over!

Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson was written in a similar style as the one above, though I enjoyed the modern-day portion of this story more so than the historical part.

Finally, I decided to give The Butterfly and the Violin, also by Kristy Cambron, a try since I’d enjoyed her other book so much. It was another excellent story, and very poignant – it had me in tears a couple of times!

Let me know if you’ve read any good books lately. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

5 Lessons I Learned from a 10-Hour Travel Delay

July 27, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

So remember last week’s post, the one about trusting God to orchestrate our days?

That published on Friday morning. The same Friday morning that we headed to the airport for a 7:40am flight to Chicago, where our family planned to spend a four-day weekend for our summer vacation.

We checked in with plenty of time to eat breakfast before we boarded the plane. We got settled in our seats, and all appeared to be well.

Until they deplaned us. There apparently was a leak in the cockpit, which, since it was raining, could lead to instruments in the control panel shorting out. Not good.

The captain gave periodic updates as we waited in the gate area, saying they’d found the leak, but were having difficulty sealing it. Then they weren’t able to maintain pressure in the cabin, another important concept when you’re tens of thousands of feet up in the air!

They finally canceled our flight just before noon, and we were able to get tickets for a 3:30pm flight. We left the airport to get lunch…and just as we got back to the parking garage, the “bad” news started coming in. The new flight was now delayed due to thunderstorms between us and Chicago. So back into the airport we went…and continued to be delayed.

We finally boarded the plane around 6:00pm. And yes, my husband noted the irony of the post I’d written, and the way our day unfolded. It was NOT how we would have orchestrated it…but what a great chance to live out the truth of what I’d written.

And, as always, there are lessons to be learned.

Here’s five of them.

This trip didn't start out as planned, but it gave me the chance to live out what I'd written.

1. God is in control. I am not.

How many situations do we face every day that we can’t control? Another person’s reaction, the weather, the traffic, how quickly the checkout line moves…the list goes on and on.

Every one of these situations is a chance to recognize God’s sovereignty, and to submit to whatever He has willed for us in that moment.

2. There is always, always, always something for which to be thankful.

Here’s a short list from last Friday.

~They deplaned us quickly on learning there was a problem with the aircraft. There was no sitting on the plane for a long period of time.
~We all kept fairly good attitudes throughout the long day.
~We were traveling with teenagers, not toddlers. Trying to entertain little ones for all those hours would have been a struggle!
~Our girls showed us the Game Pigeon app, which let the four of us play Crazy 8s together on our phones while we waited.
~We were upgraded on our afternoon flight, so had more spacious seats, and free Direct TV for the flight.

3. Don’t take your frustrations out on other people, especially those who, like you, have no control over the situation.

One passenger in particular was venting his frustration over the delay to the gate agent. My husband remarked to me, “Does anyone think the pilot or these airline employees got up this morning hoping that this flight would be canceled?” No way. They were as eager as we were for everything to go as scheduled. But it didn’t. And there was nothing they could do to get that plane in the air any faster than what they were already doing.

4. Laughter is good medicine.

If you’ve never visited the Charleston airport, let’s just say that it’s small. Not a lot to entertain yourself with if you’re stuck there for awhile.

However, on one of our strolls through the terminal, our 15-year-old and I walked through a store looking at what they had for sale. She grabbed a joke book from the shelf, and began reading jokes aloud. Admittedly, we’d been up since around 4:30am, so were a bit on the tired side and easily entertained. Regardless, the jokes made us laugh, and left us a little bit happier.

5. It’s okay to just trust that God knows best, without having to know or understand the reason why.

I can’t tell you what purpose God had in delaying our travel plans by ten hours. As far as we know, there was no life-changing impact on people around us. I can’t say that we avoided some major catastrophe.

The bottom line is that hanging out at the Charleston airport is just what God had for us that day. So my best option was to make the choice to trust His plan, and move on to the next thing.

All of this being said, maybe I should be more careful what I post about the next time we plan to leave town!!

Asking God to Orchestrate Our Days

July 20, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

When our girls began their summer break, I was a little concerned about how the weeks would unfold.

Of course, each summer is different. With my kids now 17 and 15, I wasn’t quite sure how things would play out. It’s not like you plan outings to the park, the playground, or head to the library for story time. A stop for an ice cream cone (while still welcome, believe me!) isn’t quite the highlight that it used to be.

Then there’s the fine line to walk between allowing them relaxation after a busy school year and pure laziness. (Our 17-year-old has a job, which helps with that balance!) And while it’s nice to hang out with mom some of the time, they also want to spend time with friends. Between camps, piano lessons, and random cheer practices, there are a lot more moving parts than there were when they were 7 and 5.

When I filled out my monthly prayer list for June, my request was that God would “orchestrate” our days.

I’m not sure where I came up with that word. It’s not a natural part of my vocabulary. I don’t even know that I could have told you at the beginning of last month exactly what I meant by it.

But over halfway through our summer, I can honestly say that I feel like that’s what God has done. And when I checked out the dictionary definition of the word, it fit perfectly. It says that orchestrate means to “arrange or direct the elements (of a situation) to produce a desired effect…”

From Vacation Bible School being scheduled while my oldest daughter was gone to camp for two weeks (keeping my mind and body busy!) to her work schedule to the family times and outings with friends, I believe God is arranging our summer.

Am I trusting God to arrange and harmonize all areas of my life?

So if I can trust God to do that for our summer, can’t I trust Him to do it all the time? I thought about areas of my life that need to be orchestrated, and here are a few I came up with.

Time.

“But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand…” ~Psalm 31:14-15

God is not going to give me more to do than the time I have to do it. Therefore, I want to ask for His help to arrange my time. I need to scrutinize my day and see where I’m wasting time (here’s looking at you, Instagram!) Then I can ask God to help me prioritize my tasks so that I use my time wisely.

Circumstances.

“A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.” ~Proverbs 16:9

I’ve always loved hearing stories from people about how God coordinated their circumstances so that something good and unusual happened. Unbelievers would call it fate or luck, but how blessed we are when we recognize how God worked behind the scenes in our lives to accomplish His will.

Relationships.

God brings people across our path. He will orchestrate better friendships for us than we could ever do for ourselves. We still have to do our part by being friendly and reaching out. Yet God can add to our lives people to minister to us, as well as people we can encourage. He can do the same for our kids.

Spiritual Growth.

God knows what we need to grow. The trials, the mountain tops, the struggles…they’re all tailor-made for us individually.

Remember Paul’s thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12? God used that to show Paul that God’s grace was sufficient, to reveal His power through Paul’s weakness. So God works in our lives to teach us about ourselves and about Him.

So if we look back at our dictionary definition, what is the desired effect of this orchestration? That we learn to trust God with every part of our life, and to glorify Him. If that’s the goal, He knows better than we do how to accomplish it.

Which brings us to one of my all time favorite passages.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” ~Proverbs 3:5-6

I pray that God will not only orchestrate the remaining weeks of our summer, but that each of us will allow Him to orchestrate our lives.

Saturday Salutes ~ When Kids Disappoint Us and Choosing Joy

July 14, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

Nancy tells us 5 Things Moms Need to Do When Kids Disappoint Us.

Brooks says I’m Unhappy with God’s Plan, But I Choose Joy.

Donna lists 5 Ways to Remember to Pray for Someone This Week.

Dave’s got good advice in Make Sure to Look Up.

If you’re looking for quality children’s books, check out The Good and the Beautiful Library. They are reprinting some old classics, many of which sound like interesting stories.

And the recipe of the week is this Broccoli Bacon Salad…which may or may not get made in my house, since I’m the only one here who eats broccoli. I’m thinking it would be a nice, simple lunch for me, though!

In honor of a friend who visited Prince Edward Island this week…

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Pour Out That Complaint, Show Him Your Trouble

July 12, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

Certain sins trip us up so easily. Or maybe it’s just me…

Someone in our home (who is not my husband, lol!) has a tendency to complain. Actually, there’s more than one of us that get caught up in griping and groaning.

I love the dictionary definition of complain, which says it means to “express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event.”

Oh, how easy it is to be dissatisfied or annoyed! Those feelings can come from how another person acts, a situation that doesn’t go our way, or just random circumstances that we really don’t want to have to deal with in the moment.

We know from the Bible story of the children of Israel in the wilderness what God thinks about complaining. Numbers 11:1 says, “And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD…”

Often our complaints are about daily irritations. We’ve talked before about choosing gratitude instead of complaining, because you can’t do both of those at the same time!

Like David, let's take our troubles to the Lord, rather than complain to other people.

But sometimes, our “complaint” might be more along the lines of a personal hurt. Sure, it could be physical pain. It may also be an emotional struggle, like grief or regret.

I think that was the case with David in Psalm 142. As I read those seven verses, I’d say part of his complaint may have been loneliness. He also appears to be discouraged about people who are persecuting him. So how did he handle it?

“I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.” ~Psalm 142:1-3a

Where David succeeded is where I often fail. I want to share my “complaint” with my husband, my family, my friends – or, realistically, with whomever will listen.

Yet in most cases, they likely can’t do anything to solve my problem. While they may care about me, they can’t provide me with peace or contentment.

Instead, I need to choose David’s solution. Whatever my current complaint or trouble, I need to deal with it by taking it directly to God.

Don’t you love the words David uses as he describes “pouring out” his complaint before the Lord? Let’s admit that sometimes we’re so full of our grievance that it just spills out of us. What a relief to empty ourselves of it, and allow it to flow over to a God who can handle it.

David also “shews” God his trouble. Yes, we can describe to Him every detail that is bothering us. After all, He already knows all about it. (And by the way, while my husband is a patient listener, I doubt he would have a problem with me taking these things to God instead of to him!)

Comfort comes as we realize that God knows our path. He is aware of exactly what is taking place in our lives. Not only that, He knows the end from the beginning. Perhaps God is just waiting for us to lay it at His feet.

Can we share a trouble with a loved one and ask them to pray for us? Absolutely! But let’s also remember to take each “complaint” to God. Trust Him to replace our “overwhelmed” spirit with His peace. And then we can join David at the end of the Psalm, praising God’s name.

Related posts:

Yes, It Really Is for Your Own Good

Not “Why Me?” But “Why Not Me?”

10 Key Lessons the Israelites Can Teach Us About the Christian Life

Saturday Salutes ~ Growing Faith, Hard Work for Kids, and Farmhouse Character

July 7, 2018 by Tracey 4 Comments

On July 4th, we took our daughters on a carriage tour of downtown Charleston. It had been years since my husband and I did one of these tours, and it was the girls’ first time seeing the city this way. Thankfully it was an overcast, cooler morning than usual for Charleston in July, and the Lord held off the rain until after we were back in the car!

Sarah gives us 6 Ways Small Prayers Grow Big Faith.

Kristen lists 15 Ways to Teach Kids How to Work Hard.

Cori shares Tips for Happy Travel with Kids.

Lauren has 18 Ways to Add Farmhouse Character to a Builder Grade House.

I made Rachael Ray’s Paillard “Pizzette” with Summer Pesto, Tomatoes, and Arugula for supper on Monday night. It sounds fancy, but it was easy to make, and oh, so good!! [Two notes: I didn’t use mint in the pesto, since I don’t care for that flavor. Also, I didn’t top the chicken with the arugula, just the tomatoes.]

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

4 Bible Verses to Hold on to as We Parent Teenagers

July 2, 2018 by Tracey 8 Comments

I’m writing fewer and fewer parenting posts these days. Which is interesting, considering that each day that passes gives me more experience as a parent. But it also reveals how little I know when it comes to raising these children that God has given us.

I used to think I knew a lot about being a mother. In the early years, most decisions were clear-cut. It’s fairly straightforward to discipline my child when she’s directly disobeying me, lying, or being mean to her sister.

Yet the older they get, the more that changes. I see parenting as less and less formulaic. Our approach depends more on the personality of that child, as well as their maturity level, and their history of making (or not making) wise decisions.

It’s become less and less about parenting through authority, and a lot more about exercising influence. Each year that passes has us releasing a little more control to them to make their own decisions.

All that to say that more than ever, I need guidance from God’s Word. The four Bible verses below are a foundation I know I need to return to again and again when I’m unsure of what to do. They apply no matter what stage of parenting we’re in, but have certainly become even more treasured as my girls get older.

When I'm struggling as a parent, these verses remind me that God has the answers I need.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” ~James 1:5

I need this verse every. single. day. I took part of this verse and made it the pass code for my smart phone. That way, every time I put it in, I’ll remember to pray for wisdom!

This verse is a promise. I simply have to recognize that I lack wisdom (not a problem!) Then I ask in faith, believing that God will give me wisdom, and He will. My husband and I have both experienced times when we were dealing with one of our daughters, and God gave us insight in that moment that we hadn’t had before!

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” ~Hebrews 4:16

When it comes to parenting situations, I don’t always feel like I’m coming boldly…it’s more like crawling up to God’s throne begging for help! But that’s the place we need to be if we want to find the grace we need to get us through the hard days.

This also reminds me of the daily grace God provides to us, even when we sin yet again. In that same way, I need to extend grace to my daughter when she messes up…and she will. I don’t live perfectly, so why do I expect her to do so? While our children’s actions will produce consequences, it’s not wise to hold them over their heads or continually bring them up. We deal with it, we move on, and give grace.

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~Romans 8:38-39

Paul was persuaded that nothing could separate him from God’s love. The same is true of me, and of my children. No matter how they’re acting today (that’s driving me crazy) or the poor decision they made that I’m having to deal with, God still loves them.

And when, as parents, we lose our temper or miss an opportunity to invest in our children, God’s love for us is still there. It’s constant and comforting.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” ~Jeremiah 29:11

There may be a day when we experience disappointed hopes and dreams. Our children’s lives may not be playing out in the way we’d hoped. Our relationship with them may look different from what we’d mapped out in our minds when our children were little.

But God thinks about our children. He has thoughts about them, and plans for their future. Each part of their story can be used for His glory…as can ours.

How thankful I am for God’s Word that gives us hope and comfort for every situation we face!

Saturday Salutes ~ and the Best Book I Read in June

June 30, 2018 by Tracey 3 Comments

While it was quiet here on the blog this week, it wasn’t in real life.

Since my husband and older daughter were both gone for the week, I planned a few fun days with our younger daughter. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, but it will be nice to have everyone back under one roof again tonight! Looking forward to hearing all about our older daughter’s two weeks at camp when she gets home this afternoon.

Here’s a few good posts I found this past week.

Sarah Mae reminds us that God Delights in Our Pleasure.

Ayanna tells us Why All Kids Need Chores.

Whitney says “I Took My First Taste of the Empty Nest, and It’s Bittersweet.”

This Bandana Wreath is so cute, and I think even my craft-challenged self could make it!

And since I seem to be in the habit of sharing a recipe, this week’s choice is Amazing Cream Cheese Pound Cake. I want to make this soon, but I’m afraid of how much of it I’d eat all by myself!

I didn’t keep track of my fiction reading this month, but I did find time to make it through a number of books. Our library offers Hoopla, a digital media service, which allows me to borrow five books per month on my Kindle free of charge.

I did want to mention the nonfiction book I read this month. What’s It Like to Be Married to Me? by Linda Dillow was an excellent book on marriage! The author shared ten “dangerous” questions to ask yourself about what it’s like to be married to you. She shared numerous examples from women she’s counseled throughout her career. There’s also a brief Bible study at the end of the book.

I have a new post about 80% finished, so hopefully it will go up Monday or Tuesday. Have a wonderful weekend!