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22
Jan
2020

You Were Bought With A Price

When my parents were kids, they used to go to the Dime Store or they also had a Five and Dime Store. With the increase in the cost of living, the Dime Store is now Dollar General or The Dollar Tree. Now if you have been in Dollar General, you know that not everything in there is $1.  However, you know that the quality of things that you find in Dollar General is not the same quality you would find if you went to Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, or William Sonoma. The quality and the cost are different at these stores.

Cost vs. Quality

We tend to equate cost with quality. If something is expensive, the general consensus is the quality is also very good.

So a piece of cookware bought at Dollar General and a piece of cookware bought at William Sonoma will not have the same cost. We would tend to value the cookware from William Sonoma higher than the cookware bought at Dollar General.

Let’s transition this.

What kind of value do you or any of us for that matter place on another human being and on ourselves?

Do we think of the cost? Or do we only value a human being if they have something valuable to offer?

What does Scripture have to say?

“For you were bought with a price…” (I Cor. 6:20).

What was that price you were bought with?

Christ laid down His life for us. He gave up His life so that we can have eternal life.

Christians that are struggling with who they are, say they have no self-worth, and they have no self-esteem, are forgetting the most important thing. Christ paid for you with His life.

“You were bought with a price.”

When we sit around and mope because we feel no one likes us, do we remember “we were bought with a price?”

When we feel sorry for ourselves because there have been other people who told us we were worthless, do we remember “we were bought with a price?”

When we feel valueless and see nothing good in ourselves, do we remember “we were bought with a price?”

Thoughts vs. Action

Too many Christians get so caught up in what others THINK of them, they forget what God has DONE for them. Wouldn’t you rather have someone show you how much they love you rather than just tell you they love you?

As we continue this series of blogs I am writing about our identity, we must remember the most important of lessons. “We were bought with a price.”

So on the day when no one will sit with you at lunch, remember you are so valuable dear Christian that “you were bought with a price.”

Or maybe it’s when others make fun of you for something, remember that you are made in God’s image and “you were bought with a price.”

Too often the world sucks us into thinking that we are only valuable if the right people like us, we wear the right clothes, drive the right car, live in the right house, have the right friends…Who actually defines what is right?

When the end of our days draws near, the friends we had in high school will be a distant memory. Unfortunately, we let those school friends impact our thinking about who we are. I have.

Rather, when the end of our days draws near, we should be focused on the God who loved us so much He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins. Why not start living this every day, right now?

“YOU WERE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE…”

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
15
Jan
2020

A Year in Review, and A year Yet to be Seen

It is the beginning of a new year and with that so many of us start with new goals or a new resolve. This will be the year… We have tried to change things in our lives and we always start off with the best intentions, but then something happens. We get sick, or extra work from our jobs sets us back, our kids get sick, or we wake up one morning and are so tired from the days before we just don’t have any motivation.

This is the exact moment when the rubber meets the road.

This is when we determine what kind of person we are going to be.

So what are you going to do?

Call it quits on those goals you had at the beginning of the year and determine that it’s just not doable? Label yourself a failure and figure they were stupid goals anyway.

Last year, I wrote a list of goals that I thought were very doable. As I went back through my goals and the things I accomplished, I realized a very important truth that we all have heard many times:

“If you aim for nothing, you hit it every time.”

I realized that the goals that I had set for last year helped me to accomplish some things that I would have never done if I had not set any goals. I may not have been successful at every one of my goals, but in every one of my goals, I MADE PROGRESS.

Isn’t that what you are hoping for? Don’t you want to say at the end of the year, I made progress? Maybe not as much progress as I had set out to accomplish, but I did make progress.

One of my goals was to read 10 pages of a book every day. That would have given me a total of 3650 pages. I was short and only read 3289, but if I had not set this goal I would not have read 3289 pages.

Another one of my goals was to work on my daughter’s crosstich every day for 30 minutes. Again, I did not work on it every day, but I did work on it as you can see from the picture I took last year to the picture I took this year.

I have these things as goals for this year again, and I am excited to see how much I will accomplish.

I set the goal of reading 10 pages per day, because I want to become a certified Biblical Counselor. In order to do this, I needed to read 1,000 pages from a list of books given to me by those who will certify me. I worked last year at many of the requirements to become a certified Biblical counselor. I have one more thing to accomplish and that is to start counseling people under the direction of my supervisor.

Another of my goals for this year is to actually become a certified Biblical counselor. I am excited to see where God will direct my steps in relation to this.

However, if I did not have goals, I would not have been able to accomplish any of this.

There are things that I have been doing for years that I don’t need to write down as goals. These things have become habits. They would not have become habits if I had not consistently made them a part of my life. I was determined to have these things be habits in my life.

So the purpose of goals is to accomplish some things, but it is also to develop habits.

 

My encouragement to you is to set goals. Make them doable goals. Remind yourself of these goals as often as you need reminding so you don’t forget. I wrote my goals down in my calendar this year. This way I can go over them and keep them fresh in my mind so I can accomplish them. On the days, you are tired and don’t feel like accomplishing your goals, keep the future in mind. You will happy you put aside the feelings of failure or apathy and took on the feeling of accomplishment through determination.

Be determined. Be motivated. Accomplish your goals every day. When you miss a day, don’t let that be what stops you from keeping on. Resolve to stay committed.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
11
Dec
2019

Jesus paid the price. Will you believe what He says about you?

 

As we continue to look at our identity and who we are, we must look at a foundational principle. This foundation will not make us feel good about ourselves and there may be some who deny this fact about themselves, but it is true.

We are all sinners.

I know this fact does not make anyone feel better about themselves, but it is better to face the truth and know the truth rather than to live in a lie. So the truth is: we are all sinners. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23).

Another important truth is that tere is a wage that must be paid for this sin.

When someone commits a crime, they must pay for it by going to trial and going to jail. So as sinners there is a payment that must be made. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23).

The beauty of this verse is that there is a wage that must be paid, but Jesus paid that wage for us. “But God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8). God loved the human race that He created so much, that He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin.

As I write this, I realize how much I take this for granted. I realize how much I don’t appreciate what God has done for me. Who am I to deserve what God has done for me? That is the amazing thing about God’s love for me…for us…we don’t deserve it.

Consider for a moment Osama bin Laden. He is a hardened terrorist who committed/coordinated many horrendous acts of murder around the world. What if rather than being killed in his compound, he was brought in to trial and found guilty of death or life in prison. At his sentencing of all these horrendous acts, someone stepped up and said that they would take his place. Who would do such a thing? He is one of the most notorious criminals of all time.

That is what Jesus did. He took my place.

Consider for a moment when Jesus was on the cross and the criminal next to Him asked, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42). Jesus answered him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). As Jesus was dying, He was dying for this man’s sins. Jesus also was so selfless that he forgave this man at this moment. At the worst moment, Jesus was not thinking about Himself He was thinking about others. This is not the only example.

From the cross, Jesus made sure Mary was taken care of after His death as well. (John 19:25-27). As Jesus hung on the cross dying for our sins, He cared for the temporal and physical needs of His Mother.

Jesus loves each of us so much.

If Jesus loves us this much, we should want to get our identity from who Jesus says we are not who the world says we are. Yet, too often the world slowly and meticulously changes our thoughts and we begin to believe lies about ourselves rather than the truth about who God says we are.

Why do people believe these lies?

They don’t think they are good enough to be loved by God. The truth of the matter is none of us are good. We are all condemned and all deserve to die the worst death possible. We all deserve to be separated from God forever, but God sent His only Son into the world to redeem the world.

Our identity does not come from who or what the world says we are. Our identity comes from who God says we are.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
04
Dec
2019

It’s Not About What Others Say

I was in Sam’s renewing my membership and the cashier asked me for my identification. I handed her my driver’s license and that was what she needed to see that I was who I said I was. When we go to the airport and are screened by the TSA agent before going through the x-ray machine, they require our Identification and our boarding pass. They look at the picture on the id and they look at the individual to make sure they look the same. When I was at Sam’s or when any of us are at the airport, no one that is checking our identification looks to the person standing next to us to see if they corroborate with who we are. They also don’t look at who we are standing with to see if we are who we say we are. The TSA agent passes us on because our identification matches who we look like.

In life, though, how many of us get our identification from the wrong thing? We want a certain person or group of people to like us, because they are the cool kids, so we change our identity to match what they will like. We want those cool kids to see us as cool so we will be accepted and liked. We look at them as the TSA agents and want them to pass us through into coolness so we change our identities into something more hip and cool. It’s not who we really are, but we are hoping no one will notice and maybe as time goes by and our fake identity may become our new real identity.

Have you ever tried to be fake? First of all, it’s exhausting, and second of all someone is going to see through the fake to the real and then you’re in worse shape than you were before.

In this age of confusion over our identities, where do we look to gain who we are supposed to be? How do we not get confused or lost or even disillusioned? The real question is what is the source of our truth?

Our days in school as an elementary, Jr. High, High School, and college student so often impact our self- image or our identity. We get made fun of for our hair or our clothes or that idiosyncrasy we have. We get called stupid or goody too shoes or ugly. So many kids in school are poor and can barely afford clothes to wear to school so other kids make fun of them for this. So often as a young child our identity is stamped into our hearts and minds by all the circumstances of life.

Too often, the unkindness of others molds us into who we think we are. Rather than looking at our identification for who we really are, we look around at who everyone else says we are. The hurtful remarks of others damage our hearts and some have never recovered. They will forever see themselves as ugly or weird or stupid, and they will forever be trying to change that image of themselves.

Here is a truth that we all need to cling to and live by: God made each and every one of us unique and different. I used to tell our daughters all the time, “if you were all the same, I wouldn’t need 2 of you-we have 3 daughters.” God made us all different and unique for a reason.

If we are putting a puzzle together and every piece is cut the same with the same part of the picture on it, how well would the puzzle go together? If we were all fingers, who would pump the blood to us so we could get the oxygen we need.

The Bible is the only source of truth. So many other things change, but the Bible does not change. Who we are needs to be based on who God says we are, not on who everyone in the world says we are. The world and its opinions change, but God never changes. (Heb. 13:8). Look at clothing styles, hair styles, car styles, home décor…it all changes to what is the latest style.

God never changes! What He says about who you are will never change as long as you are His child.

When we board the plane, we feel safe that only those people on the plane are the ones who should be on the plane. There is also a feeling of safety and security when we see ourselves through the lens of Scripture and who God says we are.

You are who God says you are!

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
28
Nov
2019

Thanksgiving 2019

All is quiet this Thanksgiving morning. The fire is crackling in the fireplace. Upstairs a newlywed couple sleeps and two exhausted college students. My husband is still sleeping in our bedroom. I just received word yesterday that my sweet Future Leader Dog Millie has moved on to the final stage of training at Leader Dogs for the Blind, and if she passes this one she will be matched with a blind person. My heart is full of Thanksgiving.

The truth is, though, I am not always thankful. Do you ever catch yourself grumbling and complaining about anything and everything? I have been convicted this last week about how much I complain. The opposite of complaining and being ungrateful is contentment and thankfulness. Everything in life does not have to be perfect in order to be thankful. Actually, our life should be more about our attitude toward life than what actually happens.

As I have been reflecting on this concept and my ungrateful heart attitude, I have been trying to notice the things that come out of my mouth more. I have been thanking God for the things that previously I was grumbling about.

Honestly, I have nothing to ungrateful for. I have a house full of my favorite people. Good news about my favorite dog. A job that offers a lot of flexibility. A wonderful husband who takes such good care of me. A reliable car. Today, we have internet that works again. Most importantly, I have a God who loves me and sent His only Son to redeem me, pay for my sins by dying on the cross for me, and He still loves me with my ungrateful heart.

As I was taking care of one of my patients yesterday with these thoughts present on my heart and mind, I tried to help her to see the other side of her coin. Yes, she had some things to be ungrateful for, but I tried to help her see that she had something to be thankful for. As we worked together and she would start to complain, I would redirect her thoughts to something to be thankful for. By the time I left her, she had a smile for me that was genuine and sincere. Life is funny that way isn’t it?

Our attitudes can be contagious.

We all have something we can grumble and complain about. When we do it puts us in a category of very ugly people according to Scripture. “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, UNGRATEFUL, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying it power. Avoid such people.”  (II Tim. 3:2-5).

God told us through the pen of Timothy to avoid such people.

It’s easy on Thanksgiving to think of all the things we are thankful for, but Thanksgiving should be something we should do every day. Every day, there are many things to be thankful for.

I am thankful that all of our children wanted to come home and spend Thanksgiving with their parents. What a blessing that is to my heart. Most of all, I am thankful for a God who loves me all the time every day. Even on the days when I am ungrateful.

Happy Thanksgiving! From my precious family to yours!

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 4 comments
20
Nov
2019

The Truth about Our Identity

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion these days on an individual’s identity. According to Merriam Webster, identity is “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual.” We could call this a vague and even secular definition to our identity.

As a Christian, our identity must be viewed differently. According to Sam Allberry, “As a Christian, one of the key things for me is realizing that identity as Christians is not something that we discover in ourselves, nor is it something we create. It’s something we receive and are given by the only person who can know our actual identity, which is the God who made us. So my identity as a Christian comes from the fact that I’ve been created by God and redeemed by him through the saving work of Jesus.”

If only we could get this message out to the world and they would understand it and apply it to themselves. Too often people are searching for who they are. They are looking inside themselves to figure out who they are. This thinking is skewed by our sinful nature for who we are is not determined by what is inside of us, but by what God says about who we are.

It is so easy to be swayed by our feelings. They can be rascally creatures. They change and sometimes are not based on reason, but rather on misconstrued “facts.” The Bible speaks to this in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Our hearts can so easily deceive us, and with deception comes an instability. The antonym or opposite of deceit is truth or honesty.

If our hearts are full of untruth or deceit, than we must have something that we can turn to that is full of truth. That is God and His Word. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). In other words, Jesus never changes. While Jesus was on the earth, He said “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17). As Christians, we are set apart by truth, and the best place actually the only place to find truth is in the Bible.

When an individual looks to themselves to find truth, they will get deceit. When an individual looks to God’s Word for truth, they will get truth.

Our world seems to be spiraling out of control in regards to our identity as humans and where this identity comes from. This stems from a lack of knowledge and confusion on where their identity comes from. It also comes from a disregard for God and His Word.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (I Cor. 14:33). Since God does not author confusion, we know that this comes from the enemy. When a person is confused about who they are, it is the work of the enemy, Satan, not the work of God.

As parents, it is extremely important to give our children and any other children we may be working with a firm foundation of who they are according to God and His Word. We will explore these topics in future blogs. It is important to establish a basis of truth with our children. The enemy will attack them. He will seek to destroy them in whatever way possible. It always starts very small and in a very insignificant way, so as parents we must be on guard to protect our children and their hearts.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
13
Nov
2019

Image Bearers

As a parent, it seems that there were and still are times that the weight of being a parent and all of its responsibilities are very heavy. At times, the breadth of all our daughters needed to learn seemed almost overwhelming and there did not seem to be enough time with them under our roof for me to teach them all they needed to learn. I don’t know if there is any parent that ever feels like they taught their children everything they could have. There are so many ways that we can teach them, but it is most usually through our words and our actions that we teach them the most.

More is caught than taught

This phrase has been around for a long time, and is so true when we watch other people’s children. I have seen insecure moms produce insecure children. When we listen to how the mom talks, and then we listen to how the children talk-it sounds the same.  The mom who is always putting herself down produces a child that is always putting herself down. The same could be said for the dad who always talks about cars and sports. What is talked about by the parents is often what the children spend a lot of their time talking about. What the parents value, the children also value.

It is important as a parent to help our children have a proper view of themselves. Who they are? Where do they get their identity? How should this identity affect who they are and how should this affect their lives?

The Image of God

It is important to start out by understanding and teaching our children that we are all made in the image of God.

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him,                            male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27).

In order to teach them about being made in the image of God, we must first teach them about who God is. We see God in Genesis 1 as creative. God created the world out of nothing. Every molecule that ever was and is was created by God. The intricacies of the planets, the stars, and the sun all shout the creativity of God. The cycle of weather, the change of seasons, and gravity all point to the creativity and the matchless intellect of our God. The workings of human bodies have not yet been fully grasped by our human intellect and yet God made all of this out of nothing. There was nothing to model His creation after, He created it out of nothing. (ex nihilo).

But God did have a model for mankind, and that was Himself. God made mankind in “His image.” Since God is creative, we as human beings are also creative. A dog cannot paint a picture as magnificently as Leonardo da Vinci. Nor can a monkey understand how electricity works and make the light bulb like Thomas Edison. Mankind is creative and intellectual. We can learn. We can love. We can reason.

We get these magnificent qualities because we are made in the image of God.

Who are we?

As parents it is important that we appreciate who we are: made in God’s image. We are made with creativity, language, intellect, reason, ability to love, and the ability to learn. As parents, we must teach our children the value of being made in God’s image. Not only must we appreciate this value, we must understand that with this value of being God’s image bearers, we have an unmistakable identity.

Our Identity

Oftentimes on Facebook, my oldest daughter gets mistakenly tagged as me. When she has done a fun activity with her friends and they post pictures, Facebook will inadvertently tag me in the photo rather than her. There must be enough similarities in our face structure for Facebook to think that I am her. She has also been asked, “Are you Danna’s daughter?” by someone she does not know. We look that much alike.

So it is with us as humans. We are made in the image of God. No matter how many people want to claim to be atheist or believe that God has nothing to do with their lives, they cannot get away from the fact that they are made in the image of God and His image is stamped all over them.

Do we embrace this identity of being image bearers of our God? Do we take pride in being image bearers? Do our children value this fact and understand the impact it needs to make on their lives? Do we as parents value this fact and understand the impact it needs to make on our lives?

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
30
Oct
2019

Where are your eyes?

As a Mom, there are so many different places we need to keep focused. We watch our children grow through different stages, and as they do they need us to focus on different things. We must keep our eyes on a myriad of things. As babies, we make sure they get enough sleep, enough to eat, stay healthy, stay warm or cool, get enough stimulation but not too much.

Then they start moving. First, they are rolling over, then scooting, then crawling, and then very proudly walking. It was so nice in those early days of motherhood to set the baby down and know that when we looked back at them, they were still in the same spot. Once they start moving, we gain eyes in the back of our heads. If we did not, there would sure be many more accidents. Those eyes in the back of our heads are certainly a unique and necessary feature for every mom.

I believe another very important place for us as moms to keep our eyes is on the Lord. II Chronicles 20 talks about Jehoshaphat’s prayer to the Lord when he was threatened by more than one nation coming against him and the children of Israel. There was an invasion of more than one enemy coming against Israel and Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (II Chron. 20:12).

I don’t know about you, but I have been at this place in my life more than once. I did not know what to do.

It seems there are only 2 choices. Have our eyes on the Lord or not.

In the midst of the crises, in the mist of the storm, in the midst of the peace after the storm; where are our eyes?

Think about our children. We watch them and vigilantly keep track of them to make sure they are safe and taken care of. When they learn to crawl and walk, it is hard work for them. They try, they fall, they try, and then they crawl and then they walk.

Do we keep our eyes on them? Do we stop the learning process or just make sure they don’t tumble down a flight of stairs? We don’t stop watching them, and they don’t stop trying.

What do those sweet children of ours do when they fall and they hurt themselves? They have their eyes on us. They know that we are there and will comfort them even through the pain of the scratched knee.

When Jehoshaphat as the leader of this country did not know what to do, “his eyes (and those of the people) were on the Lord.”

We must teach our children that through the good days and through the days of crises, we must keep our eyes on the Lord. He has not taken His eyes off us. Why do we take our eyes off the Lord in the midst of the crises? Do we really think that we can solve the crises better than the Creator of the World?

I don’t know where you are or what situation you are in.  You may feel as if all the enemies of the world are pointing their swords toward you, and you don’t know what to do. Do what Jehoshaphat did, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (II Chron. 20:12)

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 1 comment
16
Oct
2019

A nurse and a president walk into a building…

I was wearing my scrubs. I had been out around town visiting my home health patients, but I needed to do some research for one of my real estate clients. I parked my car in downtown Grand Rapids and walked inside the building. I rode the elevator to the 8th floor. When I got off, the receptionist saw me walk off the elevator and walk towards the door. She buzzed me in. I told her the purpose of my visit. She told me to wait right there after turning her computers off. Then she walked through another set of doors that needed a special entry code. As I waited, I began to feel small. I felt at that moment like a very small fish in a very big pond. Have you felt that way?

After I was told, “we’ll have someone call you.”  I walked out musing to myself about the bigness of the world, the smallness of myself, and the awesomeness of my God. Sometimes it takes experiences of getting out of the world we are in and into a different world to feel humbled. I felt humbled.

God in His sovereignty, though, decided that the president of that company and the nurse that walked into that building in her scrubs had the same value. We are both made in God’s image and we both serve a purpose in the amazing tapestry of the world that we live in. We both have the same value in God’s eyes.

I think sometimes, we view our value through the eyes of someone else, through what the world values, or through the eyes of someone or something we hold in high esteem. The problem with gaining our value through these things is they change and we change. If our value is garnered by what we look like, we age or we gain weight, or we injure ourselves and acquire a scar in the most obvious of places. What happens to our value then?

If we value who we are based on the world’s standard of value, we will always measure up inadequate and always be striving for something that is unobtainable. If my value was based on how I felt in that office (which I must admit I did feel a bit out of place and a bit inadequate), then my value would always be changing. When I walked outside, I thanked the Lord that my value is based on something far greater than anything transient. My value is based on what Christ did for me on the cross, and when God the Father looks at me He sees the righteousness of Christ. How much more valuable could I feel?

If we gain our value based on who talks to us, or who invites us to their party, or invites us to eat lunch with them during school; then our value will be changing. If we are always living with the fear of missing out (FOMO), are we not basing our value on what others think of us rather than what God thinks of us.

A number of years ago, we were driving as a family on vacation at Christmas and as a good homeschool mom, I did not want to waste that valuable car time. I went to the library and got the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (Dale Carnegie) on CD so we could listen to it while we drove. That book had some very practical suggestions. There are 6 that I have really tried to put into practice that are very biblical.

  1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
  2. Smile
  3. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
  4. Be a good listener. …
  5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
  6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Ever since I listened to that series, I have worked on implementing these principles.  What has become more important to me is not what others think of me, but how can I make others feel genuinely loved and cared for. I love to notice people’s names on their name badges at the store and call them by name.

I have found that more often when I “Do unto others as I would have them do unto me” (Luke 6:31), I don’t usually think about myself and whether I am missing out on something or feel inferior in my surroundings. I am so busy trying to notice things about others that I don’t think to notice anything about myself. Don’t you love how God knows that about us? That when we sincerely seek to love others better than ourselves, we actually feel better about ourselves. When we realize that the world and life is not actually all about us, we are happier people. It sure does seem backwards, but God being the Creator of the world knew exactly how valuable it was to “deny ourselves.” (Mt. 16:24).

Go ahead and put these verses into practical use. Smile at someone at the store, call them by name, and tell them to have a nice day. It will certainly put a smile on your face too.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 3 comments
02
Oct
2019

A Few Months in Review

It’s been a few months since I have written and posted anything. It’s been a busy summer and now we are already into fall. Our oldest daughter graduated from Cedarville University, married her sweetheart, and moved out of our home and into an apartment with her husband. She started her first adult job, and calls often for a mom listening ear and even a little bit of “life lessons from Mom.” I love every minute of those times with her.

Our second daughter started her senior year at Cedarville University after working a full summer of landscaping. We enjoyed competing in a triathlon together this summer and encouraging each other to strive to go just a little bit faster and stay faithful in training. She doesn’t call quite as often as her older sister, but when she does there are always many stories to relate and much to keep up on. Our last conversation lasted 1.5 hours. It is a good thing I didn’t have anything pressing to do at that time. I learned that lesson from my mom and dad. Whenever I call, my parents always have time for me. I have always appreciated that about my parents, so I have tried to make that happen when my girls call. It does not always happen, but I try to put aside what I think might be important and make them the most important thing at that time.

Our third daughter started her sophomore year at Cedarville University. She spent the summer working for her dad (and my husband:)) at a hunting company and also taking a summer class. I enjoyed being able to sit by the pool with her this summer while she worked on her class, and I worked on a myriad of projects. Once our girls have gotten older, it has been my goal to orient my schedule so I could be home as much as possible when they were home. I wanted to always be available in case they needed to talk about something. Plus, now that they are gone more than they are home, I wanted to be able to be with them as much as possible. I enjoyed cooking their favorite foods for them, and adapting things to fit new found allergies that surfaced this summer.

I have been busy working as a nurse and a realtor. I have also been working towards becoming a certified Biblical counselor (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors-ACBC formerly NANC). This process has taken a lot of spare time, but I am excited to have submitted the requirements for step one. Once all my exams have been graded and I pass, I will do 50 hours of observed counseling. I have wanted to be a counselor for over 20 years, and now God has placed this before me at this time in my life. I am excited to see the path this will take.

Another important part of my life for the last year has been my Future Leader Dog puppy, Millie. On August 23, she went back to Leader Dogs for her formal training. Our house has been quiet without her, but there is a lot less hair and slobber that I have to clean up. I eagerly await any updates about her progress.

This has been my life for the last few months. I am excited to start writing and blogging again. I have missed writing the lessons God has been teaching me, but have been focusing my writing time on answering questions for my counseling exams.

I am excited to spend time with my girls this week as we go to Cedarville University for parent’s weekend and homecoming. I think next year will be my 30 year reunion. Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since my own days at Cedarville. God is so good to me.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments