The purpose of The Internet Café is to unite women of faith, regardless of our stage in life, our roles as women, our hair color, our political party, or the church we attend. We believe that one of the best ways to do this is to encourage each other in faith, by our spoken and written words accompanied by a short study each day to challenge and motivate you.
Most of our devotions are written by regular monthly contributors but we do accept submissions...
A Woman Inspired was a vision birthed in the heart of a small group of online friends whose mission was to minister to women online. It all started with the successful venture of a home education online conference and it just took off from there. The first A Woman Inspired Conference, Get Revived 09′, was held on April 6-9 and we had a record breaking number of women registered and even more set free from bondage and inspired to live the life Christ died to give to us.
The ladies at A Woman Inspired know that you want to simplify life so we've created this FREE toolbar just for you!
First of all, the search is powered by Google so you know that you get the best of the best and no personal information is required to install it. It is also virus free, spyware free, easy to install, easy to use, disables pop-ups, enables privacy,it won't slow your computer down and best of all it puts the best of the web (for all of God's girls) into one central location! You can't beat that!
Features include...
Our mandate is given in Exodus 18:20. God wants us to teach our children His principles, His thoughts on family, His plan for our future. Those are His mandates that must be taught at home. Every parent is a teacher. This is not a just a homeschooling conference but also a parenting conference. Please join us for this fun, informative, and encouraging conference from the convenience of your own home!
We are thrilled to welcome our Guest Barista today, Christie Blackwood!
A couple days ago my husband and I were each changing a diaper (I would like to take this time to praise my husband as he has still changed more diapers then me up to this point - to all the single ladies...make "will change a diaper" a prerequisite...:). I had just finished explaining to our dear nine month old that if he would just stop struggling and cooperate, things would go a lot faster and smoother and he could be off crawling and chewing on the nearest object in the blink of an eye. Then I heard my husband in the next room also explaining the merit of being "still" while being diapered, to our two year old.
The same kind of thing happened today. My oldest had just finished a "feesee" (freezie) and was covered in purple juice. He wanted to keep playing but I saw the wisdom in getting him cleaned up before he stained his clothes and everything else in reach. It would have been over in probably 4 seconds had he just been still but the power struggle that ensued made the whole process quite longer and more unpleasant. A minute later, all cleaned up, he huffs on his way back to his important toddler schedule of playing with sticks and chasing the dog.
I found myself smiling at my likeness in my child...not physical looks (he looks just like his dad) but in the way he struggles with the things that are good for him and makes the process longer and sometimes, more unpleasant, than necessary.
Don't I do the same thing with my Father?
I fight against trusting Him fully because I'm afraid of what it might mean - what it might take away. I fight against giving up a grudge because it would mean that, in my eyes, justice wasn't done. I fight against giving that extra money because I see all the things I need it for myself.
The Israelites did this too. They fought against the way God wanted to set them free from Egypt ("You're taking us to the desert?!"). They fought against the way He provided for them ("Manna again?!"). They fought against who God gave them as a leader ("Aaron, you lead us!"). They fought against entering their freedom ("The giants are too big for us!"). I read that the trip from Egypt to Canaan actually only takes 3-4 days. Taking into account the number of people and the animals that were with them, it probably would have taken a little longer but I wonder if the forty years of wandering in the desert would have been cut a lot shorter had they not stopped struggling with God, trusted Him and let Him lead?
I can't see the future or the reasons behind a lot of what God does but one thing I do know, is that He tells me not to lean on my own understanding (stop trying to figure it all out) but to trust in Him with my whole heart (Prov.3:4-5). I pray that as I grow in Him, I stop the struggle and let Him do what He wants to do in my life.I don't want to be left with purple juice on my face..;)
In Him,
Christie
Christie Blackwood is married to the husband of her dreams and is a fairly new stay-at-home mom of two precious young boys. She loves to read, spend time with my family, take photos and enjoy the outdoors. She is continually inspired by Isaiah 50:4 that shows her that God desires to teach something new each day when we listen for Him.
www.awakeandlisten.blogspot.com
Awesome, bless you.
Just wonderful!!!!
I wish I were more patient with God! Thank you for this beautiful reminder. Bravo for your husband!
Thanks for that - I don't want to be left with purple juice on my face either!
Wow! I could have written this myself! What an eye opening post! Thanks for sharing!