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From His heart... The Beloved Daughter writes...
The Good Father
Biased
I’m biased about this, but I’ll say this anyway.
I have an amazing father.
Even when he is wrong, he is right.
His mistakes are beautiful because they paint a picture of perfect imperfection.
His life reads like a book on failing well and succeeding graciously.
Principled, forthright, persevering and persistent- his defining qualities.
If ever one could choose a father, I’d choose him ten times over.
Indomitable
Knocked down time and time again, he gets up, dusts himself and keep doing what it takes to fight and win.
Father's Day
I don’t need Father’s Day to pause to celebrate him, he is woven in my DNA.
Biology and logic assure me that I’m doubly blessed and highly favoured.
Out of this world
If a man can be all these things, how much more my Heavenly Father. He made the mould for all others to follow.
Flawless and perfect, God calls me His own.
He chose me, adopted me and infused His Spirit in me, so I’m never lost to Him.
His love is boundless, incomparable, inexplicable.
My identity, purpose and value defined by Him.
What He says about me echoes far into the future, never to be revoked.
I am the Beloved Daughter, safe and secure.
The Cracked Pot
A water-bearer in India had two large pots, both hung on the ends of a pole, which he carried across his neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot always arrived half full.
The poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water-bearer one day by the stream: ‘I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologise to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts.’
The bearer said to the pot, ‘Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’
Thankfully, God uses cracked pots! You do not need to be perfect for God to use you. We want our lives to count for something.
Some people are cracked pots and through their brokenness others are watered, bloom and blossom. The thing is though, we don’t get to decided whether we are cracked pots or not, and we don’t choose what sort of cracks emerge in our lives.
It’s hard to think that these fault lines are allowed to remain so others can drink from it. The hurt and pain that bring us to a place of prayer and desperation may cause us to seek healing and restoration, but could it be that we are actually made whole and full through the multiplicity and increase made possible through our brokenness?
Healing, restoration and wholeness may look different from what we envision it to be. Expectations and mindsets may be distractions from the true healing going on in and through us. What seems half empty, may actually be half full in the knowledge that The Potter (God) will always fill us up and never let us run dry or empty.
Nobody is one dimensional. In some areas of my life I am the unbroken pot, but in others, I am a cracked pot. In any case, you won’t find perfection in me, but I’m hopeful that in The Potter’s hands, there’s a purpose to my life. I believe the same is true for us all.
Empathetic Parenting
Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
I was a kid once, and I choose to make the effort to empathize with my kids, but I know that being a child in 2023 is not the same as childhood in the 80s and 90s.
That said the dangers and threats are no different - the same evils manifest in different ways.
I’m grateful for the grace, mercy, and full coverage of protection that comes from being Kingdom Citizens. What’s that? I hear you ask… it’s the actual term for people who believe Jesus is the Son of God, was born, lived, died, and resurrected. It's the term for those who believe and live knowing that it is only through Jesus we have access to eternal life - here on earth and afterward.
Some believe in witches and wizards, others embrace the galaxy and the universe, and its “powers”. Some are open to fate but I have numerous lived experiences of Jesus to legitimately stand as a living witness and testify that He is legit and real.
The empathetic parenting part…
I’m raising kids in what is self-described as a secular society but I see such openness to witchcraft and the demonic and I’m baffled - this isn’t secular, it’s highly spiritual.
I feel for my kids growing up with such confusion and opposition. Righteousness is opposed and godliness is quizzical at best, ignored and ridiculed at worst - the very core of who they are is challenged.
Empathetic parenting is sitting with them in what they are experiencing, looking at life through their eyes, and learning what it means to be pre-teen Kingdom Citizens in 2023.
My instinct is to rise up, get up in arms and fight for them.. but I’m learning to resist my inclinations, pause, listen, and watch… godly parenting requires grace, patience and divine intervention.
My kids are not guinea pigs, the trial and error approach of the 80s and 90s is incompatible with their needs. I feel challenged by the access to the Genius Holy Spirit as as a Kingdom Citizens - to leave parenting to change and guess work. Why should I? Am I too busy to pray, fast and wait for guidance and instruction. My mother labored - spiritually, physically and metaphorically speaking - for me, why shouldn't I for my kids?
So … instead of coming down heavy like a tone of bricks and presuming to have all the answers, or worse - flapping about in distress running from pillar to post seeking help in all the wrong places - empathetic parenting leads to spiritually intelligent prayers I.e spirit led prayers- precise and bespoke per child.
It’s knowing when, what, and how to pray for each child.
It’s being patient enough to hear, to listen to what’s required for our household.
It’s having the humility to ask for help, counsel and prayers …
As parents (no matter how old we are) we’ll always be God’s kids… Empathetic Parenting is reflecting on how God is parenting us… and extending (with Wisdom and Discernment ) the same approach to the kids entrusted to us.
Empathetic parenting is knowing we’ve been entrusted to raise our kids and it’s by His grace we get to do so.
Letting Go is Good For The Soul
Surrender
What does it mean to “surrender all”, in practice not just in words or by singing cool lyrics to a song?
What does surrender feel like behind closed doors when I’m alone and no one but Father is watching and listening?
When the lights are out but the wheels of my mind are churning... ?
What does does it mean to surrender all ?
Those hopes and dreams that form my personal agenda… I let go… 💨
Those relationships and the expectations I have from them… I let go 💨
Imaginations, arguments, defenses… I let go
Plans, A,B, C and D, gone… 🎈 🎈 🎈
Deep breaths… in…. Hold for 3 seconds… and let it all out. Let go
Suspicions… doubts… pack them in a 🧳 and let go 💨
Thoughts… ideas, imaginations, assumptions (😒) round them up like P.O.Ws 👩🏽🏭 lock 🔒 them up and throw away the key 🔑… let go 💨
Tomorrow… the day after… and everything yet to come… let go… 🦗🦗
SURRENDER
Be still… 😶🤫 listen👂…
SURRENDER Do you hear a heart beat… ? Listen for His heart beat… follow the beat of His heart… let it guide you. Let it lead you.
What is your heart saying?
Did you know that it’s from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks? So what’s your heart saying?
For a long time I left my heart unguarded and exposed to toxins and pollutants which filled me with so much bile leaving a trail of many broken relationships. My heart was reacting to life around me and my words were as damaging for me as they were for others. It got to a point where I had enough.
The downward spiral of burnt bridges and broken fellowship had to stop.
The tailspin of self sabotage and loneliness had me feeling and grappling for help.
And Help found me.
Do you believe in spirits?
Interestingly the existence of spirits is not based on whether we believe they exist or not. Even more interesting is that we are all spiritual beings. It’s not a choice, it just is. We are formed of body, soul and spirit. It stands to reason that it takes faith to connect our spirit to The Spirit of God. Life can and will get too much without Him. His very purpose is to help us discover and mature in our spiritual identity through which comes the power and authority to excel in life and beyond.
No longer reacting
So The Helper caught me before I crashed. He broke my fall and started the cleansing and healing ❤️🩹 process my heart needed to stop reacting. With every bit of gunk He pulls out of my heart He replaces with something new and true. It’s an ongoing process and the longer I remain with The Helper the less toxic my heart is.
Heart Response
I find that I’m no longer reacting, I’m responding to life and my circumstances. It’s taken great love and sacrifice to save me from me and spare others from who I would have become. I’m open to being infused with this incredibly powerful and explosive love that could redeem and transform me. So I can trust The Helper to lead me into all truth and it’s from that secret place of pause and reflection that I hear my heart’s response.
First Impressions
Whoever shows up and speaks first makes the first impression. I’m learning to seek The Helper out because He’s always present. Acknowledging His presence is awe inspiring and impressive. I choose to give Him the first and best response of my heart - this is worship. I choose to celebrate and honor who He represents - God Almighty (Yahweh) and His Son - Yeshua. It’s what they respond to, a heart response - in spirit and in truth.
True to myself
There’s freedom in giving a heart response. It doesn’t have to live up to anyone’s standards, it’s a true, sincere expression of my heart. It’s unique to me. And that’s what makes it acceptable. It’s sincerity makes it meaningful and because it’s true, it’s purposeful.
Nothing else
There are days when I feel stuck, my heart just won’t budge, it feels hardened and unyielding. It’s at times like this I seek inspiration. Hearing the response from other hearts - literature, poetry, songs inspired by The Helper softens my heart and floods it with truths that untangle my tongue and flow in streams of words giving nothing else but an honest expression of my heart - engaging spirit to Spirit.
What matters
Onlookers, bystanders, spectators here today gone tomorrow, my heart response is for The Three. What matters is that I’m entwined with them and they’re pleased with me. Others may be blessed by my heart response like I may be blessed by theirs, but the focus of my heart remains The Three.
Listen to your heart ♥️
What’s it saying? How guarded is your heart, has it been shaped by hurt, pain, betrayal, disappointment. Is it full of suspicion, scepticism , doubt, worry, anxiety and fear? Are you reacting to life from these feelings rather than responding from a place of hope, truth, confidence, power and authority? In the privacy of your heart, ask for help. I believe The Helper will come.
““The eyes of your spirit allow revelation-light to enter into your being. If your heart is unclouded, the light floods in!” Jesus of Nazareth, first-century Jewish preacher and prophet known as The Son of God. Quoted by Matthew 6:22 TPT
In Times of War
Finding peace even in the midst of chaos
Fear and anxiety sucks the oxygen out of lungs and holds hearts in a death grip.
Everything that isn't polarised, disintegrates
Everyone is forced to take sides…or be victimised
Bravado, conscription, a call to arms, a jostling for power…
So much noise very little communication…everyone is speaking, no one is listening…
Explosions… bloodshed, carnage, destruction… so many casualties
Who’s winning?
Who’s loosing… ?
So much lost, nothing gained..
But in the middle of this there is one who is on all our sides yet doesn't take sides.
He is The One with a plan within the plan…
He knows, hearts are too heavy, eyes blind and ears dumb to perceive His presence and acknowledge His power….
But He’s there… In times of war… The One with the master plan.
For those who know and love Him, He’s always there,
He’s their war bunker, their shelter, their escape plan…
For those who trust Him there's an confidence in knowing that they have already won.
For those who love Him, there's a boldness to stare fear in the face and pluck it’s eyes out and pull it’s guts out
These ones are told of giants wielding sophisticated weapons, instead of running they are grounded and astute because what they see are mere dwarfs playing with toys. They stand and fight.
For them in times of war there is...
PEACE... STILLNESS... CALMNESS... CONFIDENCE….
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“God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea...
When the nations are in uproar with their tottering kingdoms, God simply raises his voice, and the earth begins to disintegrate before him. Here he comes! The Commander! The mighty Lord of Angel Armies is on our side! The God of Jacob fights for us! Pause in his presence.
Everyone look! Come and see the breathtaking wonders of our God. For he brings both ruin and revival. He’s the one who makes conflicts end throughout the earth, breaking and burning every weapon of war.
Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth.
Here he stands! The Commander! The mighty Lord of Angel Armies is on our side! The God of Jacob fights for us! Pause in his presence”
Psalms 46:1-2, 4-11 TPT
Anyone that has ever been paralysed by fear, may appreciate the hope and opportunity in these words.