Have you ever thought to yourself “I don’t understand my child!”? Me too! We have four children and I often marvel at how different they each are. My husband and I will often look at each other after one of our kids does something and comment “Where did that come from?” One afternoon, I had this thought about my daughter Analiah. God used this time to teach me about how He made Analiah and also taught me how to see myself.

Do you feel like you are in the middle of a war? Do you feel like an army is surrounding you and you can’t catch a break? King David felt that same way. In today’s verse, we are jumping right into David’s life and getting a taste of what he experienced. We also see how he came out of it. God used this verse and an experience with Analiah to teach me three things. When life feels out of control, I need to reach up, push through and repeat.

Your kids are watching you. They are taking their cues in life from you whether you want them to or not. That can be terrifying for me sometimes since I mess up time and time again. But, thankfully God’s grace is sufficient. The other day at the park I was surprised at how our oldest daughter responded.

If someone asked you "What's In Your Heart?" what would your response be? One of our main goals as parents is to help our kids hide God's word in their heart. One of the ways we foster this is by doing family devotions each evening. Jonathan or I will pick out a Bible story. After we read the story, we ask our kids to each share something they learned from the story. The responses vary from silly to serious. It depends on the story and the mood of our kids. I often wonder if our kids are really listening. Is the truth of God’s word sinking deep into their hearts? One morning on our beach vacation last month, God answered that question for me.

Have you ever played the blame game? You know the one where someone else is at fault and you don’t have any responsibility. It makes you feel better for the moment but soon you realize it is not fully the person’s fault. You have some part in it. The other day I was at Aldi and observed a Mom with her young son. Honestly, I was very frustrated with her. But, then the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, “Haven’t you done the same thing?” Here is the story…

God spoke to Joshua before the victory of Jericho even happened. And Joshua took God at His word. Why? Because Joshua trusted God Even Before. It seemed impossible to everyone else but not Joshua. What is something you are facing right now that seems impossible? Is it a sickness or a broken relationship? Do you have an injury that is just not healing? Or maybe it is a mindset or a pattern that is so ingrained in you that you can’t possibly see how you can change. You may feel like the walls are so thick and high that you can’t imagine them coming down.

What does your prayer life look like? Do you take time daily to pray? Maybe you pray throughout the day. Do you look forward to your time talking to God? Over the years my prayer life has changed. As I take more and more time to pray, I have learned time and time again of the importance of talking to my Daddy.

Do you like to play hide and seek? Maybe you always try to find the best place so no one could find you. The challenge to be the last one found was one I loved. I would work hard to find the perfect spot. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But you can bet I always tried. Psalm 119:11 which is our key verse for today reads “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” As I read this, I am reminded of my hide and seek days as a kid. This verse challenges me. Do I see it as a challenge to hide God’s word in my heart? How do I think creatively and do all that I can to hide God’s word in my heart? When I hide God’s word in my heart, I win every single time. In what ways do I win in life? The three ways that I win when I hide God’s word in my heart are conviction, comfort and challenge.

After lunch the other day, I decided it was time to take my seven helium star balloons down off my chair. They were starting to look droopy. I started by cutting off the ribbon attached to the chair. Next, I cut the bottom of each balloon fully expecting the balloons to drop to the ground but that was not the case. There was enough helium left in them to get to the ceiling. As I tried to catch each one and flatten it out, I missed two of them.

What are your goals for today? How about this week or maybe even this year? There are so many things I want to accomplish in life. As I thought about my long list this morning, I had to check myself. Too often I get so wrapped up in what I want to do that I forget the ultimate goal in life. I need to keep my eyes on THE goal. I need to be in the position to reach out for Jesus every day, throughout the day. How do we do this? It’s really all about our focus.