The Power of Words

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good,and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.Genesis 1: 3-5

God spoke the entire creation into existence. His very first act in His Word is to CALL out light. What power! In fact the entire bible is filled with his words. His mind. We devour his Word as truth to live by. We recognize the power in His Word. As believers we understand the power of God's Word, but do we understand the power of our own words? If God has given us access to the same power as Christ then how could we not believe the power of our words? The Bible speaks over and over again of people casting out demons, healing, and bringing forgiveness with words. I read over and over again in the bible at how people were so careful to choose their words. So many of the words I read are spoken to bring hope, life, healing, and love. There are also many words that are used to bring hate, slander, death, and destruction. Oh the power of words.

Do you ever notice how in our culture today we have throw words around like we would a piece a trash? So many of the words spoken aren't really what we mean. We aren't always considerate of others with the words we speak. Maybe we aren't thinking at all when words slip out of our mouth. When a friend has a need we say "oh I'll pray for you." But how often do we really take the time to pray for them? Or maybe we say "let's get together soon" but never take the time to actually get together. We tell someone "good job" but in our heads we don't believe it. And even worse we say way to much out loud that should actually stay in our head, "She's fat. He's not fast enough. I am so much better than she is. That kid is so mean. Did you see what they did? This cashier is so slow. This server must not want a tip." Oh, I've said those things. I'm not perfect. I'm preaching to myself here. Sometimes the words spoken truly are meant to cause pain to someone else. Maybe it's the though that if I bring someone else pain it will give me a second to not focus on my own pain. It's ridiculous. If from the very beginning of time words have had power why would me or anyone else feel that they no longer have the same? Words will either bring life or destroy. It's one or the other. There are no neutral words. In our house we often say, "you words can either be roses or thorns". Either way they have power. 

If I were more intentional and thoughtful with my words I would always say "I love you" to the people that matter to me. I would tell my husband how much I admire him and how thankful I am to walk this journey by his side. I would tell Wrestler that his smile lights up a room. I would tell Resolver that he makes me laugh till my belly hurts with his constant entertainment. I would tell Brave-One that he melts my heart every morning when he says "I love you, Mom" as he runs to the bus. I would tell Joy that she makes me want to be a mom every moment of every day. These are the things I want to say but don't always. Some days I choose to get frustrated that they don't do their contributions, things are a mess around the house, that no one helps me make dinner, complain that I have to change another diaper. I am sad to say that this is more realistic. My words have power. They are either building up or tearing down. And you know what? I'm thankful for their power. I'm thankful that God has given me power in words that I can change any moment with my words. I am thankful for the life, hope, and love they can bring. May I choose to bring life more with my words. 

11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.1 Thessalonians 5:11

The "mom" life

It was always very important to me when I became a mother to be able to stay at home with my kiddos. I have been very blessed that my dream has been a reality from the moment our children first stepped into our doors. My husband has always been faithful to use the talents God has given him to provide for our family. I am forever grateful to his love for our family that allows me to stay home.

Being home with my kiddos has given me freedom to make lunches, long snuggles on the couch, many hours of lego building, chess at 6am, park outings with friends, and even dinner from scratch (on most nights). Although sometimes I just need some adult interaction and don't want to hear the word "mom" one more time, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hate doing laundry or dusting. I don't mind grocery shopping or even cooking. I do wish that there was a meal planning fairy that would find delicious and healthy things for me to cook for my family. There is always noise in our house from children laughing, siblings fighting, music playing, or someone yelling "MOM HE TOUCHED MY STUFF". Yeah, always something. A little disclaimer to anyone new to my writing, I will not pretend that my family is perfect or we have it all together. I will not paint this rosy picture of our beautiful and abundant life. Quite the contrary. We are a beautiful mess who takes everyday as it comes.

Before 6am everyone is awake. Teacher has already been up for a few hours getting ready for his day. I'm not the morning person the mother in me desires to be. It just doesn't happen. Pregnancy has once again kicked my coffee habit so I rely on my Peppermint essential oil to get me going in the mornings. Wrestler and Resolver catch the bus to the local high school by 7am and Teacher heads to school himself. Thus leaving only Brave-One, Joy and myself till Brave-One catches his bus at 8am. That hour when there is only 3 is a jammed packed hour. Brave-One adores his little sister to pieces and loves to read with her in her play house or build blocks on the living room floor. It still warms my heart to watch them enjoy each other because for so long Brave-One was our youngest and because of our long road of building trust we feared that having a biological baby would take us back so many steps. In God's great faithfulness to our family the opposite has occurred. Brave-One loves little Joy with everything inside him. He has learned to be a caring, loving, and protective big brother. It's beautiful!

Once 8am rolls around Joy kisses her brother good-bye and stares at him through the window until his bus can no longer be seen. Now for some girl time! The rest of the day is filled with naps, diaper changes, laundry, emails, phone calls, tea parties, bubble blowing, book reading, and lots of dancing. It's always been a thing with my little ones at home to dance. I remember years ago when Brave-One was still home with me. We used to slow dance every morning after his brothers went to school. He was so excited when he got to "dip" me and loved to spin or dance cheek to cheek. I can't wait to share all those same moments with Joy and eventually Boo#2.

Around 3 in the afternoon the crazy hours start as everyone begins arriving home from school, homework begins, friends come over, dinner gets started, and someone still has to make sure to keep an eye on Joy. Teacher is always home by dinner. Sitting down for dinner as a family is very important to us. That is one of my favorite memories from my childhood was dinners together around the table. Although we are still learning how to have conversations around the table we continue to try. After dinner baths, reading, and snuggles with the little ones before bed. Older ones continue with homework before they too turn in for the night.

I'll be honest and let you know I am not one of those moms who tries to get an entire's day worth of stuff done after my kids go to bed. I love and NEED my sleep. By 10pm I am out like a light. If it isn't accomplished by then it wasn't that important anyways. Tomorrow we will try again.

The Beginning

Starting something new is scary and exciting. Actually, did you know that your body does the same thing whether it is excited or scared? Your heart races, palms get sweaty, body gets jittery, lump in your throat, and maybe even a little light headed from being overwhelmed with emotion. The difference between scared and excited is our choice. We make the choice whether to be excited or scared. For this new beginning, I'm going to choose excited.

Let me introduce myself, I'm Audra. I am a 30 something mom to 4 beautiful blessings. My husband, Teacher, is currently a middle school science teacher. Our children range in ages from 17 to 1. Our oldest 3 joined our family through adoption almost 5 years ago: Wrestler, Resolver, and Brave-One. Our youngest, Joy, arrived after 7 years of God choosing to close my womb. Each child is a blessing that makes me smile and makes me cry. Although, I am choosing not to use their names I will share with you their character. Many stories about each of them to come.

Writing will be my way of connecting you with my family and our newest journey. We are expecting another little miracle, #5, sometime in February. This journey is very different from all the others. This little miracle will be arriving at home. Teacher and I try to do things as naturally as possible in our house and teach our children to make wise choices. After much prayer and counsel we believe it to be in all our best interest to do a home birth with our coming little one. We are not finding out the gender. Mostly, we are going as old-school as possible with this one. Thrilled, anxious, nervous, elated, and "what the heck are we doing" are only a few of the emotions that run through our thoughts daily. I look forward to sharing with you are road of becoming a family of 7.

Over the past few months God has been growing a vision in my heart to empower moms. I long to pour into you what God is daily pouring into me. This road is not meant to be walked alone or in silence. My desire is that as I share my journey, both the struggles and the joys, that you will be empowered to live life abundantly and dangerously surrendered to our Maker.