Momma…Pause!

Momma… Pause!

Momma, pause in the present!

Momma, pause to pray…

Momma, pause to lift your burdens to the Lord…

Momma, pause to feel the warmth of the sunshine…

Momma, pause to hear the birds singing carefree…

Momma, pause to absorb a magnificent sunset…

Momma. pause to read God’s Love Letter to you…

Momma, pause to thank God for His love, mercy, and grace!

On Thursdays, a local thrift store offers a bag to fill with books we choose for only $2.00! Being a thrifter and a book nerd, I try to go browse the shelves when I can. This book by Dorothy Pentecost (a pastor’s wife) is old, was published by Moody Press, and its title appealed to my anxious heart. I’ve found it to be a very helpful read with an introduction by a medical doctor. As a Mid-Life Momma, the following words from my thrift-store book encouraged and challenged me.

“Live only in the airtight compartment of today. Don’t live yesterday, or even this morning or afternoon again. There are enough trials and burdens for today to take all of your strength, so don’t try carrying a double load. Live today! Look at the flowers today, walk in the sun today, say the kind things today, complete that task today. Leave yesterday and tomorrow in God‘s loving hands. Many people spend their hours worrying about what they have done in the past or fretting about what they will do in the future. They completely ruin the present by reliving the past or planning for the dim, unrealistic future. Instead, take all your thought and strength to make this a purposeful and workable present.” - from My Pursuit of Peace by Dorothy Harrison Pentecost | Moody Press, 1962.

My children are mostly grown. I knew in my mind that this time would come, yet I didn’t understand all the heart feelings, thoughts (and physical changes) that would accompany this season of life.

It has been said that hindsight is 20/20 vision. Looking back, I can get stuck in “I wish I had known this” or “ I wish I had done this better.” I can’t even keep up with the many new and fascinating items of baby equipment and even apparel inventions. Yes, I miss my children being little, yet I look forward to all God has ahead for their lives. One thing that remains the same is my love for my babies turned young adults. I haven’t rocked them in over a decade, but I do lift them up to the Lord in my prayers with the same arms.

I confess that some of my prayers stem from worrying about them and their futures - not just because I know I should pray. Worry is the opposite of trusting and is not conducive to a peaceful heart. I want very much to practice more pausing in the present —

• pausing before sunrise and after sunset

• pausing to trust God

• pausing to remember His goodness

• pausing to believe that He is presently in control of working all things together for our good and for His glory.

Whatever season you are in as a woman ~ mother or not, consider pausing in the present. The Lord is good. The Lord is with us. The Lord is for us.

“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” -Psalm 118:24 KJV

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” - Matthew 6:31-32 KJV

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” - 2 Peter 2:2 KJV

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