If you're a young wife like me, there's a chance that you're having a similar reaction to what I had. You love your husband, have a good marriage, and yet, you realize in this moment that you are not praying for him enough. Well-intended? Absolutely. Prayers before he leaves for work or has something coming up that he asks prayer for? You're on the job. But consistent, just-because, strategic prayer for specific areas of his life and heart? Well....we need some improvements here.
You’ve prayed. You’ve praised. You’ve sown seeds. You’ve kept the faith. You’ve stood on the promises in the Word. You know that God is able to answer your request, but you haven’t seen your harvest yet. I want to encourage you today that you have not been denied. Your prayer has not gone unheard and lost in the masses of prayers that go up before the Lord. It’s just a matter of time.
Hello, beautiful ladies! I hope your Monday is going great so far. I wanted to let you know that I just completed a new guest blog post at Kathy's Prayer Life Lessons and would love for you to check it out and let me know what you think! In the post, I give insight on the two most important questions we can ask God in prayer. I'm really excited about this post and I know that it will bless you. Interest to know what the questions are? Go take a look here!
Thank you for stopping by and be on the look out for some fresh new post here at BeautyMarkedMom!
Emonne Markland Leave YOUR Beauty Mark
This morning, I was getting my husband a breakfast burrito and smoothie from the grocery store and at the checkout I realized that I didn't have my debit card in my hand or pocket. I searched frantically as the 5 million people in line behind me that were probably in a rush to get to work on time waited patiently for this young mom to find her money to pay for her order. I couldn't find the card anywhere so I hurried and just payed with cash. After getting my order, I sat off to the side and continued to search for the card. Still, nothing. I went back to the line that I ordered from and asked if the clerk had found my card by chance. The lady behind me in line said that someone in the bakery department found a card and was asking everyone if it was theirs and was headed to customer service to drop it off. I thanked the lady & zoomed to the customer service desk. While I waited to be helped, another woman was coming to clock in for work and stopped to talk to Grace, my 7 month old daughter, and me. We got to talking about kids and she began to share with me the importance of praying for your children. She told me that she is standing in faith for her adult children that are away from the Lord right now, but that she knows they will come back into relationship with Him. I shared with her that my mom just wrote a book on prayer and handed her a business card to get more information on the book. She seemed very excited, and we said goodbye, shook hands and exchanged smiles. She said that God sent us her way this morning & that she really needed a smile. She told me that her name is Patty & that she works in the floral department and would love for me to visit her sometime. I assured her that I would as I walked away with a smile, thankful that what seemed to be an inconvenience and set back of my time was really a set up for me to be a blessing and blessed in return! I dropped off my husband's breakfast & smoothie, went back to the store for another burrito (they just looked too good to pass up!) and then headed home on my usual route. As I approached the stop light near my home, my heart sank as I saw a number of emergency lights flickering in the distance. When I got closer, I saw that two cars had crashed and two others had gone into the ditch and it didn't look good at all. Fire trucks were everywhere, one of which I captured quickly on my phone as you can see above. As I drove past the scene and headed home, I realized that my inconvenience was even more than a blessing, it was a means of protection. My baby girl & I could have very well been involved in that accident as we were headed home today. Thank you, Jesus, for your hand at work in my life, keeping my daughter and me safe from hurt, harm and danger. Thank you for intervening in my day, even though I thought I was being held up by losing my card. I know that it wasn't just a coincidence. I also thank you for protecting and caring for those that were in the accident. Be with them and give them peace. Allow them to see your hand in the midst of this situation. And bless Patti, Lord. May her children come to know You in a real and powerful way this week. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.
Today, allow God to arrange (and rearrange) your schedule. He may be setting you up for a blessing, and protecting you from harm.
Emonne Markland Leave YOUR Beauty Mark
As a new mom, I have found myself learning countless life lessons every day. Periodically, I will be posting my experiences as a mother and sharing the lessons that I am learning along my journey of motherhood. Thank you in advance for reading my post today and I hope that it encourages you and blesses you in a special way.
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned now that I am a mom, it can be summed up in these two sentences:
Stretching doesn’t end just because the pregnancy is over and the baby has been born. True stretching, of the whole person: spirit, mind and body, begins in the hours, days, weeks and months to follow the delivery.
As a first time mom, I could not wait to feel my baby move for the first time during my pregnancy. I can remember telling my mom that every nudge, kick and stretch would bring me the utmost joy and happiness. My mom, however, being the sweet and honest person that she is, told me that it would be pleasant in the beginning but may become very uncomfortable as the baby grew and had less room to move around in my womb. Sure enough, those little flutters that I found so sweet turned into karate chops, kicks and punches. What in the world is she doing in there? I asked myself. Is this normal? I feel like I have the karate kid in training in my belly! My OBGYN kindly assured me that everything was fine and normal and that I had nothing to worry about.
During the final days and weeks of my pregnancy, contrary to what I’d been told, the kicks and punches got even more strong and even painful at times! I was so ready to have my baby. Well, on April 25th at 3:47am, after hours of home labor and hospital labor, I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. And as you know, especially if you are a mom, giving birth to my daughter required major stretching. Let me repeat, major stretching.
In the hours, weeks and now months to follow my daughter’s birth, my whole person, spirit, mind and body, has been stretched. My body has stretched as it has slowly but surely gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight. My mind has stretched as I continue to learn all that my baby needs and develop wisdom on how to be the wife and mother that my family needs. My spirit has grown as my inner strength and dependence on God has increased and enlarged in this new season of life.
The word of God says in Isaiah 54:2, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.”
If you are reading this post today and can relate to what I am saying, I want to encourage you to know that all of the discomfort and stretching that you’ve been experiencing lately is being used to build you into the woman, wife and mother that God has created you to be. He is stretching you in order to make room for you to handle the next level of victory and destiny that is coming to past in your life.
This week, join me in praying the prayer of Jabez, a prayer for God to enlarge your capacity for the days to come. Also, as you go about your day this week, ask God to open your eyes to the needs of those around you so that you can leave your beauty mark on someone’s life by being a blessing to them in a time of need. Have a powerful week and feel free to come back & share what God is doing in your life!
Emonne Markland: Leave YOUR Beauty Mark!
The Prayer of Jabez:
“And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying “Oh, that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted what he requested.” (1 Chronicles 4:10 ESV)
Last night, I was captivated by the 9/11 documentaries that flooded the TV stations. Stories of sorrow, heroism, bravery and hope played over and over again. The images of that horrific day pierced my heart to the core. Like many other Americans, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of the attacks. On September 11th, 2001, I was a freshman in high school sitting in my first period class when an announcement was made over the PA system from our principal stating that something bad happened in New York City. When that class concluded, I went to my next period and watched the TV with my teacher and classmates in disbelief. The images of people running through the streets of New York City covered in white ash seemed like something out of a movie. Watching an airplane go through the second building and seeing both buildings fall to the ground was utterly unimaginable. What began as a normal school day turned into a day of mourning and desperation, and an attempt to have class as usual was completely out of the question as we all tried to wrap our minds around what was happening.
How can people be so evil? Why did this horrible event happen to so many good people? What is going on in the world? These were all of the questions that ran through my mind all throughout the rest of my school day as I longed to be at home with my family that I love so dear. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally finished out my school day and watched more coverage of the attack at home with my parents and brother. I believe that these questions, and many others like them, have gone through all of our minds in the wake of the terrorist attack on 9/11, and only God truly knows the answers.
If you are reading this today, there’s a great chance that you or someone you know was directly affected by this horrible act of terrorism. If you personally lost a friend or loved one on 9/11, I cannot begin to imagine how you feel and I am so sorry for your loss. The thought of losing a loved one in such an evil way is inconceivable to me. It’s been said that time heals all wounds, but I don’t believe that to be true. Even though it has been 10 years since 9/11, I’m sure that the hurt still remains in many hearts. Although there are many things that I don’t know or understand about this tragedy, I do know this without a shadow of a doubt: that there is hope in Jesus Christ and that God specializes in bringing good things out of hopeless situations. In Isaiah 61, the Word of God tells us that Jesus came to “console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3-4 NKJV)
As we take time today to reflect on the events of 9/11, I believe that we must make a conscious effort to see the beauty in the ashes. To remember all of the brave fireman, policeman and every day Americans that risked their lives for their fellow Americans as they exemplified the greatest commandment in loving their neighbor as themselves. May we be thankful for the lives that were spared and rejoice in the great stories of triumph and the will to survive in the face of death. May we give to God our questions, concerns, sorrow, mourning and ashes from this tragic event and receive joy, beauty and praise instead.
God Bless America.
Emonne Markland: Leave YOUR Beauty Mark
1 Peter 3:3-4
