Heavenly Mothers Sing -Day 8

"Come before his presence with singing." Psalm 100:2b

I have had many days when I was so discouraged or weary that singing to Jesus was the last thing on my mind. All I really wanted to do was crawl under my covers and ignore the chaos around me.

During some of my most difficult days as a mother I did have one realization. Worship is warfare (2 Chronicles 20:21 is a good example). When we are discouraged, the worst thing that we can do is silence our mouths and go into our heads. 

Often, when we are having a hard day, the stuff going on in our heads is a big, fat pack of lies. When we open up our mouths and sing to Jesus, we start to tell the truth, and it is very hard to sing to Jesus and keep listening to lies at the same time.

Some days the only song I could muster up to sing was this one; "Ho, Ho, Ho, Hosanna, Ha, Ha, Hallelujah, He, He, He, He saved me and I've got the joy of the Lord."

It is a bit of a silly song but since we know that a merry heart is like medicine, even faking laughter through a silly song can get you started in the right direction.

Children thrive when their parents are joyful, they can relax and learn when they don't have to worry about what emotions their parents are dealing with. God loves you and is working things out for your good, so for the sake of your children, and for the sake of your own joy, open your mouth and start singing and declaring the truth of how good God.

Worshipping God and enjoying his presence is the closest we get to heaven on earth. As we keep worship music playing in our home and join with our children in lifting up our voices to our Savior, we give them the opportunity to experience the sweet presence of God as well.

What is your favorite worship music?
This is a current favorite of mine.

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Daily Worship-The Best Part of Homeschooling

When my children were all young, our daily Bible time consisted of simple devotionals such as Leading Little Ones to God, memory verse work and simple Sunday School songs mixed in with some classic hymns. 

A few years ago, we found the devotional Long Story Short which was just what we needed. I had been so oblivious to what the Gospel really was, I was placing way too much emphasis on good behavior, and way too little on the finished work of Christ on the cross. Long Story Short was all about the redemptive work of Christ, and it came at a time when we desperately needed hope that our behavior wasn't what got us saved, but that it was what Jesus had done for us that brings salvation.

Fast forward a couple years. We had tried and failed to produce good children by focusing solely on good behavior, and so most of my children who are old enough to remember the intense years when we hit the brick wall of failed human goodness, are very, very thankful for a God who saves, despite our failures. This has brought some big changes to our daily worship time. 

Our morning Bible time still has some memory work, and some coloring pages and simple Bible stories for the little ones, but now the bulk of the time involves pouring our hearts out in worship to our amazing Lord. We are a musically developing family, so we might stream a Bethel Redding worship service to get passionate worship dropped into our living room on a Monday morning, or it might be my teen boys on their guitars or cajon leading us in some songs which they have been working on. 

                                          

Whether it is Jeremy Riddle at Bethel leading our worship, or my boys on their guitars, we are thankful. I still love the hymns, and we still occasionally sing the B-I-B-L-E for the sake of the younger children, but to see my teens seek God because they have tasted and seen how good He is, is the most amazing gift this momma could imagine. 

I have blown it as a mom in a million different ways, but God has been only good, and the joy of worshipping Him with my children is just one of the millions of ways He has shown just how merciful He is.