Friends,

This is just a quick note to let you know that starting today, I’ll be taking a break from blogging here at A Life in Need of Change.

Swinging…

Nothing’s wrong, I’m just tired. I’ve spent the last year of my life writing book after book and working hard behind the scenes to make them a success. I love this work, but it’s very taxing on me and my family. I haven’t been able to find a groove in my scheduling where it doesn’t feel like I’m working all the time (though of course, I’m not), and when the computer is closed and I’m with my husband and children all I can think about is my ever-growing to-do list.

I just need a break.

I have a prayer box upstairs that hasn’t been opened since our miscarriage. There’s a card on the very top that says, “Baby McGlothlin” and I just haven’t been able to open it. But I need to. I have to. My heart needs to deeply reconnect with God in prayer and I feel Him calling me to open the box and let Him walk me through picking up the cards again.

I’ve also had very little time (OK, none) for my IRL relationships lately. And they’re suffering. They mean the world to me and I want to be able to take time to invest in them again without worrying how far behind I’m getting when I take the time away.

So this time away means the following things for this treasured community:

1. No more posts here until the beginning of March.
2. Limited time on Facebook and Twitter…especially Twitter. The more great headlines I see, the more I feel I need to read. I want to re-focus my heart on the Word of God for a while instead of trying to keep up with everything else.
3. I will still be working behind the scenes at the MOB Society. But I’m asking specific people to come alongside me and ease the burden there a little too.
4. I will NOT take ad spots for the month of February. If I’m not posting, I can’t bring traffic to the people who invest here, so we’ll pick back up with that again in March too.

That’s it really. I want to loosen up as many of my ties as I possibly can for the next few weeks, and focus on prayer and quiet and my family. I’ve done a great job of training myself to function under stress. And I want that to end.

Thank you for understanding, and I’ll see you in March!

 

“And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it these men testify against you?’ But Jesus remained silent.” ~Matthew 26:62-63

Someone said something kind of ugly about my eBook the other day and it hurt my feelings.

Actually, to be more accurate, reading it kind of sucked the breath right out of me.  And I wondered, “why?”  Why would someone take the time to say something negative about my book in a way that the whole world could see.  It wasn’t something negative about the content or heart of my book, just a cruel statement I’m guessing was deliberately meant to take my breath away.

I immediately went to Twitter and started typing but I knew I couldn’t publish my first response.  I deleted and tried again.  And deleted and tried again.  And again and again and again.  I did end up tweeting something about what had just happened…but the actual words that went out to the general public were nothing like those first ones I really wanted to tweet.

Why?

Because I had a realization…a Holy Spirit moment of restraint.  Consider this:

As Christian bloggers, we are held to a different standard than those who don’t share our faith.  Freedom of speech, brutal honesty in the name of #JustSaying, and feeling the need to share our opinions about everything just do not apply to the Christian blogger, no matter what our niche.

We are ambassadors for Christ.  So perhaps it would help to take a look at how Jesus responded when he was mocked, spit on, and hurt just for the sake of hurting.

“And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it these men testify against you?’ But Jesus remained silent.” ~Matthew 26:62-63

Friends, as Christian bloggers, the most important thing we can do is represent Christ and His Word well.  When we’re feeling the desperate need to share “our side of the story” let’s ask ourselves why.  Is it because we want to avenge ourselves?  Is it because we want the other party to feel the same pain we are and hold them publicly accountable for their sin?  Kingdom blogging demands something different.

“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” ~Exodus 14:13-14

I beg you Christian friends in the blogging community.  Apply the Word of God and it’s instructions for life to your blog.  Shake off the feeling of freedom that blogging brings.  Freedom to say what you want, how you want.  Freedom to hurt others and criticize them publicly instead of following the guidelines of Matthew 18.  Freedom to say whatever is on your mind at the moment without first submitting it to the lens of Scripture.

Freedom to sin?

Today’s techno world makes it very easy to be accountable to a large number of co-laborers who share your vision and heart.  But it also makes it easy to feel like you have the right and the perfect place to shout out your opinions because you have a “right” to your own feelings.

We don’t.  We’ve been bought.  Paid for.  Loved with an everlasting love and set upon a rock.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” ~Philippians 2:1-11

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Are you a boy mom?

Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most is designed to help you in the pursuit of reaching for the hearts of your sons and raising godly men.  In it you can find scripture prayers by category such as anger, fear, joy, love, purity, humility, integrity, and more. Throughout its pages you’ll find stories from the Word to encourage you in raising these precious men to be mighty warriors for Christ. From the book:

“Parenting my sons is my greatest joy and my greatest challenge.  I love them to the ends of the earth and back, but honestly, sometimes they suck the life out of me.  I get so discouraged when it seems that even my best efforts to reach their hearts miss the mark.  I have all the right books (and I’ve actually read them!  Some several times!), and each day I target the hearts of my boys, aiming high and taking my best shot.  But so many days I fall short, or my aim is off, or I’m just too weary to pull the bow back far enough for the arrow to have the strength to pierce the heart.  I go to bed those nights exhausted physically and emotionally.  But in my weakness, He is strong… Perhaps the best place for a weary mom to be is physically and emotionally exhausted…on her knees.”

It has been called “An inexpensive book of immeasurable value” (via Teri Lynne Underwood).  At just $5.97, I’m praying that moms of any means can get their own copy.

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