This is it!
It’s September 1st and time for a challenge!
I am excited to think about all that God can do when His people focus on bringing glory to Him…which is the purpose we were created!
The main goal I have with these 2 challenges is to give people opportunity to push themselves to look more like Jesus…but in a small period of time.
I have always had a hard time with the whole reading-through-the-Bible-in-a-year challenge. But when I came across the read-through-the-Bible-in-90-days, I felt like I could handle that!
It was a lot more reading, but in a shorter time.
Short term goals help me stay focused and not lose heart half way through!
So here we go. I will be posting 5 days worth of challenges at a time, and will have both challenge listed here.
For both challenges, I would suggest getting a notebook that is designated for this because there will be some things you need to write down and then go back and look at!
As you do different challenges, post them on instagram (if you have it!) and use the hashtags so we can find each other!
I am so excited to see what God is going to do!
I’m starting with the joyful mama challenge, so if you are doing the We won’t be outsmarted challenge, just skip down to that section.
30 Days to a Joyful Mama
Being a mom is hard work. No doubt.
Whether your kids are babies, teenagers, both and everything in between. There is just so much physical and emotional energy that goes into being a mom!
It can be easy to feel like your joy is being sucked right out of you and out the door!
That is not what God wants for you, and you don’t have to continue that way!
Jesus died on the cross and BOUGHT that joy for us!! That means we own it. We possess it.
And the enemy is going to try and steal it, but he has no right to it and we just wont’ allow that!
Psalms 16:11 says that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy!
We are going to start working today to make sure we keep what Jesus already paid for!
It will be one small step at a time, and they are steps you can handle!
Start out right now by praying and asking God to give you the strength you need to obey him and then let’s get ready to work!
Day 1. Make a plan and write it down.
I have found that if I don’t make a conscious effort to think about what changes I need to make and actually write them down, I tend to forget about them.
I’m sure none of you have that problem, but I know I do!
This is the first day of the challenge, and you have to really dig deep.
Ask God to show you what areas of your life you need to change.
Do you need to be a better time-manager?
Do you need to go to bed earlier so you can get up earlier?
Do you need to be more consistently reading your Bible?
Do you need to stop cursing?
Do you need to stop whining/yelling at your kids?
Do you need to be more loving?
Whatever your biggest one or two “things” are, write them down.
Like. Right now. Write them down. Don’t get overwhelmed looking at it.
Just know that we are going to be honest with ourselves as moms to see our weaknesses and to be willing to change to be better for our kids, for our families and for our God!
That’s it. Your “plan” is that you are going to start working on whatever you just wrote down. We will get to this in the days ahead, but for now…being honest with yourself with what you need to change, and writing it down is where you start!
Day 2. Find accountability
We are better together. We just are.
If I decide I am going to start eating healthier, or start exercising, or whatever it is…and I don’t tell anyone about my decisions?
Chances are I am going to quit halfway through.
When I have someone texting, calling, reminding me of what I decided, I can do just about anything.
I am pretty competitive. So even if it’s who-can-memorize-the-most-verses, I feel like I could kill it!
I have a (sinful) tendency to get into the mode of the independent, strong woman who donesn’t need anybody!
I have been hurt by people, I have been let down by people, and I can start thinking that it’s just better if I am alone and do everything myself.
Honestly? That is pretty prideful on my part. And I can’t allow the enemy to trick me into thinking that this is true.
Find someone you can pray with. Find someone you can talk to and be honest with. You are not the ONLY good person left in the world!
My prayer is that we can even use this challenge to start a community that does more than just claims to be Christian!
We are sisters. Find each other. Pray for each other. Keep each other accountable.
It needs to be at least one person. So if you honestly can’t think of anyone who can help push you on this challenge, write down some names of potential people. Start praying that God will send you someone you can talk to and trust!
Day 3. Find 1 verse that you need for yourself. Write it down. Read it out loud 25 times.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 talks about the importance of putting the commands of God in YOUR heart first and then teaching it to our kids!
It has to start with us! When we get a hold of the commands that God is giving US and focus on preparing our own hearts before the Lord, it will overflow into how we are as mama’s!
Find one verse that goes along with what you wrote down on day 1. Whatever your “thing” is.
Find a verse that will help encourage you. Write it down on a 3×5 card, or in your notebook, or just anywhere.
Read it out loud.
25 times.
And really think about the words. Meditate on them all day today.
God’s Word is alive and powerful. You can not read it and meditate on it without it changing you!
Day 4. Find 1 verse that you need for your kids. Write it down. Read it out loud 25 times.
Now that you have spent some time yesterday thinking about a verse for yourself, find a verse that you want to pray over your kids.
You can select one passage to pray over all your kids (if you have more than 1) or you can find different verses for each child with whatever you think they need the most strength on!
I love to pray Colossians 1:9-11 over all 3 of my boys. But there are so many great passages to pray over our kids.
If you aren’t finding anything that’s really sticking out to you, go to the person you selected as your accountability partner from day 2 and ask for help! Remember? We are better together!
Write down the verse and read it out loud 25 times. Use the verse as a prayer for your child specifically.
For example in Colossians 1, a prayer for AJ would look like this…
God, As AJ goes to school today, Please help him knowledge of your will for his life, and give him spiritual wisdom and understanding. Help him to walk worthy of you and to please you in everything he does. Give him the power to be fruitful in every good work. Help him to increase in his knowledge of you! Give him strength that can only come from you according to your glorious power! Give him patience, and long suffering and fill him with joy today! Amen.
Hold on to the verse you choose, because you will be praying it over your kids a lot this month!
Expect to see changes. That’s what God’s Word does! It changes not only us, but changes our children!
Make sure that before you start praying this, you make sure that there is nothing between you and God that needs to be resolved. He tells us in Psalms that if we have sin in our heart, he will not hear us.
Let’s make sure there is nothing hindering our prayers!
Day 5. Eat something fattening and drink something sweet.
This is the best day so far, right?! Listen. I just do what the Bible says.
And in Nehemiah, in the context of the joy of the Lord, he tells the people to “eat the fat, and drink the sweet…the joy of the Lord is your strength”!
We gotta do what God says to do, people!
Go get yourself a donut and coffee with caramel flavoring.
Ok, that’s what I would want. But whatever is good to you. Eat it. Enjoy your day.
Enjoy your life. Be thankful for what you have and celebrate with some good food!
Continue doing day 3 and day 4 today as well.
Hiding God’s word in your heart is going to give you the strength you need to keep going with this!
That’s it for the first 5 days, mamas!
You can do it!
Keep working!
We won’t be outsmarted
Ok. If you were at our Surge conference this year, you heard me talk about the fact that we have an enemy who is trying to outsmart us.
He’s a bully. He wants to destroy us, and he just doesn’t even care how he does it.
I’m competitive and I hate the thought of anyone outsmarting me!
So this challenge is for you, if you are like me!
I want to live my life to the full. And what I mean by that is full of joy, peace, love and FUN!
The enemy is tricky about getting us to live in a bad place spiritually without us even knowing it.
But not this girl. Nuh Uh.
Naaaat happening.
So for the next 30 days, we are going to spend some time on ourselves.
Making sure that we aren’t being outsmarted, and that we are living the life God wants us to live!
They are simple challenges, but are going to take some effort.
Are you ready?
Here we go!
Day 1: Make a plan and write it down.
I have found that if I don’t make a conscious effort to think about what changes I need to make and actually write them down, I tend to forget about them.
I’m sure none of you have that problem, but I know I do!
This is the first day of the challenge, and you have to really dig deep.
Ask God to show you what areas of your life you need to change.
Do you need to be a better time-manager?
Do you need to go to bed earlier so you can get up earlier?
Do you need to be more consistently reading your Bible?
Do you need to stop cursing?
Do you need to be more loving?
Whatever your biggest one or two “things” are, write them down.
Like. Right now. Write them down. Don’t get overwhelmed looking at it.
Just know that we are going to be honest with ourselves to see our weaknesses and to be willing to change to be better for ourselves, for our families and for our God!
That’s it. Your “plan” is that you are going to start working on whatever you just wrote down.
We will get to this in the days ahead, but for now…being honest with yourself with what you need to change, and writing it down is where you start!
Day 2: Find accountability
We are better together. We just are.
If I decide I am going to start eating healthier, or start exercising, or whatever it is…and I don’t tell anyone about my decisions?
Chances are I am going to quit halfway through.
When I have someone texting, calling, reminding me of what I decided, I can do just about anything.
I feel like if I know someone is going to call me out, I will do anything in my power to stay consistent!
I have a (sinful) tendency to get into the mode of the independent, strong woman who doesn’t need anybody!
I have been hurt by people, I have been let down by people, and I can start thinking that it’s just better if I am alone and do everything myself.
Honestly? That is pretty prideful on my part. And I can’t allow the enemy to trick me into thinking that this is true.
Find someone you can pray with. Find someone you can talk to and be honest with.
You are not the ONLY good person left in the world!
My prayer is that we can even use this challenge to start a community that does more than just claims to be Christian!
We are brothers and sisters. Find each other. Pray for each other. Keep each other accountable.
It needs to be at least one person. So if you honestly can’t think of anyone who can help push you on this challenge, write down some names of potential people. Start praying that God will send you someone you can talk to and trust!
Day 3: Find one verse that you need for yourself. Write it down. Read it out loud 25 times.
Think of God’s Word as our weapon of defense. We need it. We can’t live without it!
Find one verse that goes along with what you wrote down on day 1. Whatever your “thing” is.
Find a verse that will help encourage you. Write it down on a 3×5 card, or in your notebook, or just anywhere.
Read it out loud.
25 times.
And really think about the words. Meditate on them all day today.
God’s Word is alive and powerful. You can not read it and meditate on it without it changing you!
Day 4: Pray for those in authority over you
As we start this week of challenges, it’s important to start with the basics. All of us have people in positions of authority over us.
These people may be: your parents, your pastor, your boss, your teachers, your president.
See, here’s what I’ve found. Praying for people in authority over me puts me in a better position to take instruction from them.
If I am either not even thinking about it at all, or maybe even thinking negatively about them, and then I see them do something that I don’t like? My response is going to be completely different then if I was taking time to pray for them.
Remember…every response we have is important to God.
I have to check myself with every word, every thought, every attitude to make sure I’m not being outsmarted! We will get into this a little deeper later in the challenge. But for now.
Pray for those people. And pray scripture over them.
It’s easy to pray that God will do with them what I want him to do.
It’s better to pray God’s Word over them. Then I know it’s in His will. (and 1 Timothy commands us to!)
An example would be to pray Proverbs 3:5-7 over them!
God, please help for ___________ to trust in you with all his heart. Help him not to lean on his own understandings, but to acknowledge you in everything he does. Help him not to be wise in his own eyes, but to fear you and to depart from any evil that might be in his life. Amen.
Do this? And it will change you. Believe me. We remove the pride from ourselves and our own lives, and focus on being humble before God!
Day 5. Eat something fattening and drink something sweet.
This is the best day so far, right?! Listen. I just do what the Bible says.
And in Nehemiah, in the context of the joy of the Lord, he tells the people to “eat the fat, and drink the sweet…the joy of the Lord is your strength”!
We gotta do what God says to do, people!
Go get yourself a donut and coffee with caramel flavoring.
Ok, that’s what I would want. But whatever is good to you. Eat it. Enjoy your day.
Enjoy your life. Be thankful for what you have and celebrate with some good food!
I believe that God wants us to enjoy life!! So stop feeling stressed right now, and just enjoy your day!
Tomorrow has enough worries of its own! Enjoy the now.
Continue doing day 3 and day 4 today as well.
Hiding God’s word in your heart is going to give you the strength you need to keep going with this!
That’s it for the first 5 days, peeps!
You can do it!
Keep working!
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