little cups of grace » stories of a family who has been brought near.

Eshet Chayil – Brave – Five Minute Friday

Friday, May 3, 2013 Posted in five minute friday, Posts by Chelsey

I’m finally writing another Five Minute Friday post. Lisa-Jo gives a prompt every week and we all just write for five minutes straight and then post it, real and raw. And if you ever want to participate, this is what you do:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

GO:

Dear Self -

Lift up your head, brave one, and look me in the eyes. Do not let yourself feel defeated.

You are a woman of valor, you are more precious than rubies.

I know you don’t believe it. All you can see is all the ways that you failed, all the ways you let your children down, all the ways you just don’t measure up to everyone else.

You are wrong.

Every day, your feet hit the ground and you do things that you cannot do.

You raise babies, and take care of a family. You love people. Days with toddlers alone is worth a medal. There are so many things in the balance, and you do your best to do them all with love and grace.

But above all of that, you seek the Lord in it all. And He is all you need. In Him, you can do all things. In Him you do those hard things. In Him, you do everything you cannot do.

You are brave. Each day full of tasks you cannot do and you fight hard to do them as best as you can, trying to keep your eyes on God the entire time. You fall down, you bleed, you cry and you keep getting up, you keep pressing on. You want to run but you keep fighting the good fight.

Mama, you are a warrior. And you can do all of these things through Him who gives you strength. You are doing it. And you are doing an amazing job.

Love, Me

STOP

Welcome to 2013 – A Brain Dump Post

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 Posted in Posts by Chelsey

Every kitchen and living room surface is covered with stuff right now. A laundry basket of tiny clean clothes overflows onto the floor and the dishwasher and the dish pan and one of the sinks are full of clean dishes waiting to be put away. My blog has sat here in its little online space, quiet. For months it has waited for me to write, and for months I have written many posts in my mind, never to flow through the fingers to the keys to the interwebs.

Lately I have had many posts come to mind but it doesn’t seem right to come back without playing catch-up, so I’m doing that now. My three children are in the care of a wonderful friend who has been taking them for full days about once a week for the past month. She even cooks me supper on those days. Isn’t she nice? She loves Jesus very much and serves so many people because of that love, and I am blessed to be a recipient, a true gift from the Lord.

When January came around I had every intention of blogging about my goals for the new year and updating you along the way as I took small steps toward it. It’s almost May and I’m still waiting to start on one of those goals! Life has been crazy, crazier than it usually is, and it’s usually pretty crazy.

Here is a bullet point look at what life has been like around here, starting with last fall:

- starting considering and wrestling with the idea of pulling Eva from private school and beginning to homeschool; researching options, praying and discussing

- in the summer two ministry opportunities came clear to us as possibilities, we began wrestling and praying over these two opportunities

- three kids. Enough said.

- in September my mom let me know that she and my stepdad Randy were having some marital struggles. Began ~~worrying~~ praying hard for them and dealing with my own emotional reactions to the news. They are working hard on things! Marriage is definitely a tough commitment!

- in November my dad called me to tell me that he had cancer. I can feel the emotions rising in me even as I type that, I can remember that very day so clearly. Lots of ~~worry~~ prayer there too. (He has now completed his radiation treatment and I think everything is under control for now).

- in December we decided that we would start homeschooling in January

- Peter would also begin taking 4 classes toward his Bachelor of Theology in January.

- God made it clear that we were being called specifically toward one of the two ministry opportunities, that being a church plant in NW Calgary (more to come on that later); we announced it to our church family here about a month or so ago.

- So since January, Peter has been working full time, taking four college classes and working on church planting… I have basically been single-momming it while figuring out how this whole homeschool thing works and dealing with a three year old who likes to fight (scream at) both his big sister and his little brother.

So anyway, yeah, you can see that I’ve been busy, drowning in it a bit, and that’s why I haven’t been posting. Isaac turned one, I haven’t posted any updates on him since 11 months I think, poor third child. Ezra turned 3, he didn’t even get a birthday party this year. He did get a train table though, happy birthday buddy! I think that he’s okay with that. The kids and I went to Saskatchewan for two weeks in February to be with my dad during some of his radiation treatments. We all caught a bad stomach bug while there and there was lots of vomit. Thankfully, my dad did not get sick (phew). It was awesome to come out and to spend time with him and to be able to cook for him a bit and just generally be there to be a part of this whole thing with him.

Through it all, what has really kept me sane is the very truth that God is good, all the time. I truly believe that He is good, even when times are difficult, even if life doesn’t turn out the way I expect. I know deeply that He loves me. I always think about the story Jesus tells about the men building a house. He says how if we hear His words and obey them, we are like men building our houses on rock. When the storms come (not if but when), the house can stand strong. But if we hear His words and do not obey, we are like men building our house in the sand. When the storms come, there will be complete destruction. And I have totally felt that through all of this. I know deep in my heart that I wouldn’t be able to withstand all the emotional and physical stress that I have endured this past year if it wasn’t for Jesus. The pre-Jesus me would’ve definitely been destroyed by it long ago. But I keep my eyes focused on Him and I can stand. I have peace in my heart, and a great support system when I need it. He has been so good to our family and He will continue to be, even if life takes some unexpected turns.

Please keep praying for us!

And that’s all I’ve got for now (not even a picture with this post, how sad!), it’s time to go pick up my children. I hope to post a bit more regularly now that I’ve got all that off my chest!

by chelsey

3 comments

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April 28, 2013 - 9:52 pm Kait - Thanks for sharing your journey. I totally get it and am right there along side of you in the trenches. Prayers my friend!

April 29, 2013 - 7:09 am chelsey - Thanks, Kait! I'm so thankful for Instagram bringing us together to encourage one another!

May 14, 2013 - 11:49 pm Andie - We are so much alike, too bad we live so far away! I hit the pause button on my blog for awhile now too, not sure how long it will last, I hope to some day return to it. Thanks for being so transparent in this post, it's refreshing. We're figuring out and praying about homeschooling next year, I'll have a 2nd grader and Kindergardener....I'm a little overwhelmed at the thought of that, so we shall see what happens. :) Blessings and Hugs!

Desperate – Book Review

Monday, January 14, 2013 Posted in books, Posts by Chelsey

I have admired Sally Clarkson for a long time, having read both The Mission of Motherhood and The Ministry of Motherhood, as well as Educating the WholeHearted Child. I’ve been reading her blog for some time and just find her to be such an encouraging, inspiring, and generally lovely woman, someone I really look up to as a mother figure. Then enter Sarah Mae to the scene, who I discovered via {in}courage (I think). She runs the Allume conference, writes a blog and ebooks, and is also encouraging, inspiring, and generally lovely, someone I really look up to on a peer level. Well big surprise that these two get together with Sally as mentor and Sarah Mae as mentee, and don’t even try to tell me that the whole blogosphere of moms wasn’t (and still isn’t) totally coveting this relationship. Well, this book “Desperate – Hope for the mom Who Needs to Breath” was born out of Sarah Mae and Sally’s beautiful friendship and we get to have Sally as our mentor too as she helps out Sarah Mae go through all the tough motherhood things that we all are experiencing and feel so alone in.

Each chapter starts out with a letter from Sarah Mae spilling her inner-most guts to Sally about the difficult things of motherhood and a response from Sally with all her God-inspired and sage wisdom. From there, Sarah Mae and Sally take turns encouraging the rest of us by going deeper on the topic throughout the chapter. Desperate has 14 chapters divided into three sections: The Dream Life… Altered, Getting Real About Mama-hood, and The Redeeming. Together they discuss the ideal mother we create in our minds, needing people but living in a go-it-alone culture, formulas and how they don’t always work, sinfulness of both mother and child, depression, lack of training, sacrifice and selfishness, escaping, housework, figuring it all out new, the voices that influence us, intentional living, life as an art form, and being desperate, but not defeated.

I am so thankful for this book. I am thankful for Sarah Mae’s guts that she spilled out onto the pages, things that I have felt so many times but have been to ashamed to say out loud for fear of being judged. I am thankful for Sally’s faith in God that has brought her such wisdom and her heart for moms. I am a stronger mom because of this book, and you will be too. This book is not a manual, this book is communion among mothers young and old, this book truly is hope. If you’ve ever said “I just can’t be a mom today”, you need this book.

Get your sample chapter here.

Small group guide here.

Desperate website here.

Sally’s blog here.

Sarah Mae’s blog here.

Book trailer right down here:

A word from Sally just for you right here:

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

by chelsey

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Beyond Ordinary – Book Review

Monday, January 14, 2013 Posted in books, Posts by Chelsey

Guys, just go buy “Beyond Ordinary” already. I was looking forward to getting this book to review from Tyndale and was even more excited when I read the foreword by Pete Wilson, but what really grabbed me was Justin and Trisha’s he-said-she-said style of sharing their story. It totally felt like I was sitting down for coffee with them and they were pouring their hearts out honestly about themselves, good and bad. We get the whole story, from how they met, fell in love and their less-than-fairy-tale marriage which eventually involves an affair. But that is not where the story ends. Justin and Trisha left ministry, took a four year journey through the pain and grief and ended up restoring their marriage through the grace of God! I have experienced a couple of divorces in my life and am now watching another marriage within my immediately family struggle to survive. It has been so important to me from my engagement to make my marriage last and to do whatever it takes to keep our relationship strong, as it is for most couples, but this book has really challenged me about being honest with myself and being honest with my husband so that I can be fully known by him, thus resulting in a marriage that is beyond ordinary. This book is about being honest and being intentional and really digs beneath the surface of what your marriage may look like on the outside. I appreciate Justin and Trisha’s honesty and vulnerability so much and I know that their new ministry, Refine Us, is going to help so many people. I definitely recommend this book to all couples, no matter where you are in your marriage — I think we all want a marriage that is beyond ordinary.

Get a .pdf excerpt.

Check out the trailer here:

BeyondOrdinary from RefineUs Ministries on Vimeo.

by chelsey

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January 15, 2013 - 2:55 pm Justin Davis - Chelsey, thank you so much for your kind review and your investment in our book. Thanks for helping us share the message with your audience. We really appreciate you and the kind words you have to say about the book. Praying it continues to be a resource for you.

A Week in Photos – Weeks 48, 49, 50, 51, & 52 – Project 365

Monday, December 31, 2012 Posted in 365 Project, Posts by Chelsey

Wow! Okay, I got really behind in posting my pictures from my 365 project which I am happy to say is now complete! I actually finally made it through a whole 365, and it really wasn’t that hard! I know that the fact that it was an iPhone 365 made it way easier on me, because I always have my iPhone on me but don’t always feel like lugging my dSLR around. I am going to make a little book of all of my instagrams from this project, and we will be able to look back and see what the kids were up to (and how much they grew!) this past year. I am now into year 2 of the 365, because it’s just part of my every day life now. Posting them regularly obviously isn’t, but that’s not the point is it? So, without further adieu, here are the last five weeks of 2012, in pictures.

November 26, 2012 – Isaac turned 11 months old!

November 27, 2012 – Brothers sharing cheerios.

November 28, 2012 – Ezra caught head-banging to “We’re Going to the Zoo” by Sharon, Lois and Bram.

November 29, 2012 – Setting up the Christmas tree!

November 30, 2012 – Watching “Elf” for the first time this holiday season.

December 1, 2012 – Snuggling with Nana!

December 2, 2012 – goodnight beebee.

December 3, 2012 – Drain Tornado Hunter.

December 4, 2012 – This little guy was throwing up between 7-8am and then had a nap. Afterward, he was pretty much himself but still had a bit of a temperature.

December 5, 2012 – Nap time. I slept between these two for a bit. Ezra woke up at 3am this morning. For. The. Day.

December 6, 2012 – Isaac just loves the guitar.

December 7, 2012 – Cuddling on the couch, playing computer. I love that Ezra’s foot is up.

December 8, 2012 – Ezra surprising me with a kiss while we took goofy photos together.

December 9, 2012 – Isaac “helping” with diapers.

December 10, 2012 – Tuckered out after Christmas shopping.

December 11, 2012 – “My feet are wronkled!”

December 12, 2012 – Isaac and his new (to him) toy.

December 13, 2012 – Painting a sugar cookie (with all of his concentration).

December 14, 2012 – Reading some Bob Books to herself before school.

December 15, 2012 – We went sledding with our small group. Isaac was so amazed by everything that I could barely get a smile out of him.

December 16&17, 2012 – On Sunday we made salt dough ornaments and on Monday we painted them.

December 18, 2012 – My friend Kelli and I made our own versions of Elf on the Shelf — angels! This is our angel Selah, who arrived this morning. Eva was so excited about her and here she is re-reading the story of Jesus’ birth from a kid’s bible. When daddy came down she retold the whole story to him too and talked about Selah for a long time!

December 19, 2012 – making cupcakes for Eva’s school party.

December 20, 2012 – Eva’s school Christmas concert. Obviously you can’t really see her in the picture but she’s in the middle. She was so animated and enthusiastic during all the singing and actions. We were so proud of her! Just a couple of years ago we could barely get her on stage at our church, and if we did, she would just have a big scowl on her face and not participate.

December 21, 2012 – Singing Christmas carols in the gym before school starts.

December 22, 2012 – Surprise! We left a day early and drove to Regina to surprise our family there. It made our day Friday such a scramble as we squeezed two days of packing and cleaning into one, but it was worth it!

December 23, 2012 – Dancing with cousins.

December 24, 2012 – Reading “The Nativity Story” on Christmas Eve before bed.

December 25, 2012 – Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Jesus and to Eva (6)! Happy Birthday to Jesus first, Eva would say, because he’s most important. The second picture is of all the Roberts cousins together having Christmas supper.

December 26, 2012 – Happy 1st Birthday to Isaac! Wow, that was a fast year.

December 27, 2012 – Ezra cuddling with Grandpa and cousin Mateo.

December 28, 2012 – stopped in to see Grandma P (and the Wade family) on the way to see my dad.

December 29, 2012 – Eva and Ezra with two of their Fowler cousins, feeding fish with Grandpa.

December 30, 2012 – I painted Eva and Avry’s nails. It was so awesome to get to spend so much time with these kiddos on this trip!

December 31, 2012 – We closed off the year at my mom’s and had a delicious New Year’s Eve supper! Thank you, God, for everything in 2012. Happy New Year!

by chelsey

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A Year with G.K. Chesterton – Book Review

Sunday, December 9, 2012 Posted in books, Posts by Chelsey

I’ve been reading so many modern Christian books, or post-modern or whatever era we are in these days, and I recently have had a craving to read some classics like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Augustine, etc., so when I discovered “A Year with G.K. Chesterton” by Kevin Belmonte I was ready to dive right in.

This book contains a 100-200 word piece from G.K. Chesterton as well as an excerpt from another Chesterton publication for each day of the year. I felt like this was a great introduction for me to a classic author, and I look forward to incorporating this book with my daily readings. Instead of a full steak, each daily reading is a bite-sized piece of philosophical meat for the reader to chew on for the rest of the day. Each daily reading really gave me something to turn over and over in my mind, but not more than I can handle at this point in my life with three little ones running around and little time for philosophizing.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

by chelsey

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Isaac is 11 months old!

Sunday, December 9, 2012 Posted in Posts by Chelsey

Dear Isaac – You are a man on the move. A few days after I posted your 10 month letter I saw you out of the corner of my eye take two “crawls” on your hands and knees. Since then, you’ve been doing it more and more and you are even a little stompy when you do it. It’s pretty cute. You sit on your knees a lot now, which is so cute (especially from behind). Another cute thing you do it put an item in your mouth, like a block, and then just keep it there like a soother and play with other toys. That one makes me laugh. I have to get a picture of it before you outgrow it.

You’re not really standing on your own yet. You’ll stand if we prop you up and you are holding onto something, but you still can’t be trusted there. I’m okay with that. I know you’ll get there and the longer you are my “baby”, the better for my poor mama heart. You have been getting really goofy lately, really playful, and making all sorts of squeaks and squeals that are so fun.

Your hair curls after your bath (I keep wondering if it will curl like Eva’s did but I’m not sure it will). You love the bath too, especially now that you are more mobile. You have been getting quite adventurous in there, splashing around and trying to pull up on the ledge of the tub.

You haven’t done a whole lot of changing since last month, but I still can’t believe that the next time I write you a letter it will be for your birthday. I think this has to be the fastest year of my entire life. I’m so glad I got to spend it with you, you are amazing and I love you!

Love, Mama.

by chelsey

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Receiving God’s Love – Guest Post

Sunday, December 9, 2012 Posted in guest post

Friends, today I have a guest post for you by best-selling author and Bible life coach, Sheri Rose Shepard.

Think how powerful it would be if we spoke the truth about how God feels about us at least as often as we silently said negative things about ourselves or replayed in our minds all the hurtful things that have been said about us. The truth is, we are not what others say about us, and if the men we love speak hurtful words to us that make us feel unworthy, we don’t need to repeat them any longer. Instead we can learn to rest in God’s unchanging love for us.

Even if no one has ever said anything kind to you, your Prince Jesus longs for you to breathe in the tender love, compassion, and kindness He feels for you. If you’re ready to have Jesus, the lover of your soul, become reality to you, I invite you to do the following . . .

Breathe In His Love . . .

For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4)

You know that feeling of exhilaration that sticks with you after you’ve spent time with a guy you know you’re falling in love with? As you part, you take a deep breath and feel waves of delight washing over you. Or you know the joy that wells up inside when your man unexpectedly says something so sweet that you feel treasured? You replay those words over and over in your mind because doing so gives you a lift.

Breathe His truth in; allow the words of your true prince Jesus to echo in your heart and soul.

After you consider God’s words to you—”I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3)—whisper toward heaven, “I love You, Lord.”

Sing about His Love . . .

Each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. (Psalm 42:8)

When I was learning to let myself receive God’s love, I would actually sing love songs to Him. Though they had been written for a woman to sing to a man here on earth, I began to understand that if I would crave God’s love first, He would meet my needs. Only then would I be able to give and receive love.

Today I love worship songs that sing of God’s love for us. I blare them throughout my house in the mornings so Satan will not be able to whisper lies to me any longer. Consider doing the same.

Write Love Letters to Him in a Journal . . .

Connect your heart to heaven by writing love letters to your Lord. It is amazing what happens to your heart as you begin to express your love in writing to the only One who will never walk away from or reject you. Hang on to this treasure of truth: how you feel about yourself will never change God’s love for you.

Let Us Pray . . .

Dear God,
I confess I do not feel worthy of your love. It is hard for me to believe that You even love me. Help me, Lord, to look to You for my worth. Forgive me for not allowing myself to receive Your love. Forgive me for looking to others to make me feel like I have value when You are the only one who can validate me and love me the way I long to be loved. From this day forward, I choose to let You love me so I can love others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD. (Psalm 104:33-34)

-Sheri

For more teaching from the Your Heart’s Desire book and Bible study, visit www.biblelifecoaching.com.

Watch the trailer:

by chelsey

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Chase – DVD Based Study – Review

Sunday, December 9, 2012 Posted in books, Posts by Chelsey

I’ve already reviewed the DVD-based study, “Stuck“, and the book, “Anything“, by Jennie Allen and since I was so encouraged and changed and inspired by those two, I definitely was looking forward to receiving her new DVD-based women’s study “Chase“. Friends, I was not disappointed.

I just love Jennie. She is so transparent about her faults and the things she struggles with in this life and she puts herself out there to hopefully encourage other people by her own journey. Jennie is so relatable, she shares with you as a trusted friend, and I admire that about her.

In “Chase“, Jennie takes us into the life of David: “a man after God’s own heart”. She discusses topics of identity, courage, obedience, belief, repentance, surrender and being chased down. As I mentioned, this is a DVD-based study, which comes with the 8-lesson DVD, a beautiful study guide, conversation cards to help take the conversation deeper quickly, and a leader guide. All of these are beautifully crafted and pleasing to the eye, and the information contained inside is a great for the heart. One of the things that really stood out to me while browsing the leader’s guide was that the first thing that Jennie encourages you to do as you prepare yourself to lead a group is to “pray. Pray like the world is ending, pray like this is the last chance for people to know Him, pray like your lives and futures depend on it, pray like the future of souls in heaven is at stake… pray like you need God.” This is the kind of Christian Jennie is. She is sold-out, passionate, 100%-relying-on-God kind of Christian and it totally comes through in her studies and her book.

Jennie is the kind of real person who, after spending time with her (through her book and studies, and I’m sure even more so if you were face to face) you don’t want to keep living your life in the same way you have been, you want more of God. So if you are tired of chasing after the wind and want to seriously get to God’s heart, I definitely recommend this study. But you have to bring your heart and be prepared to get wrecked and become a new creation.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”