Laced With Grace

Raising teens today is a huge challenge. I can already tell there are bobbing heads out there, agreeing with that statement. With regards to my own struggling teen, I’ve come in contact with so many other moms out there, dealing with some pretty heavy-duty issues with their teenagers.

In just the last week, I spoke with a friend who’s daughter is battling anxiety issues, just like my own sweet girl. How do we ride these choppy waters and navigate our teens into a place of functioning and thriving adulthood?

I will honestly confess I don’t have any fix all cure or THE ANSWER to solve any situation. Through the ongoing issues of cancer recovery, stress, depression, ongoing health issues, and anxiety that my own daughter has gone and is going through, I’ve found some comfort is four simple areas:

1. You’re not responsible. This was a hard one for me to finally come to grips with. I didn’t cause my daughter’s cancer. There’s nothing I could have done to prevent it or ongoing health issues and anxiety that she’s now going through. I can’t fix it, nor should I hold myself responsible for the outcome. I do what I can for my daughter, then have to leave the rest in God’s hands and TRUST Him for the outcome.

2. Live in the moment. When we first got my daughter’s cancer diagnosis, this lesson hit hard and fast. Life became consumed with doctor appointments, surgery and treatments. I will tell you, I’m so grateful for that because that was just the beginning of what my daughter face. That lesson is what keeps my sane some days because I don’t let the bad moments define all the others. There are precious moments of love and closeness in every day. Grab and appreciate them. They are the inspiration and fuel to keep going some days.

3. Learn to listen. Again, a big lesson for me, especially since I’ve always considered myself a good listener. I am, but when I’m in mommy mode, I want to fix things. I finally learned that a lot of the time, our teens just want us to listen and really HEAR them. This takes practice but it’s vital. Our teens don’t want us to “fix” them. A lot of the time they will come to the right place, but they need us to hear them out. As adults, many of us know we sometimes need to say what we’re struggling with out loud to make sense of it all. Our teenagers need that too. There will be times that we will need to say something, get directly involved, or take action, but most of the time, they just want to know you care and listening is a huge way to show it.

4. Pray like crazy and don’t stop. I confess it’s a challenge, especially when my heart is breaking to see her sadness and frustration that she can’t be “normal.” I have prayed the heavens around this kid over and over again, and I won’t stop until she walks into the healing and future God has told me is hers. And yes, it’s hard when you see them take a couple steps forward and then fall back three steps. Will it ever change? Will this person I’ve worked so hard to raise into adulthood walk into that role with confidence and strength?

Pray, pray, pray. God is faithful. I cling to this truth, because He’s proven it to me time after time. My challenge is not to let my impatience get in the way. Again, trusting God is vital here. He knows our kids. He knows our mother’s heart for them. He’s their Father, Brother, Friend, and hopefully Savior. God can take care of whatever is going on. It may not turn out the way we imagined, but I can guarantee you that it will be the best possible outcome and result for our teenager.

Like I said, I have no clear-cut answers to raising a teenager with issues—to raising any teenager. I only know that we have a mighty weapon in prayer and that God is faithful. Walking the road of parent is the most difficult yet rewarding journey I’ve ever walked. And I have the gray hairs to show for it!

I know one day my daughter will walk into her future with the strength of God to guide her. The struggles of her past will be part of the foundation God has built to equip her for whatever place of service He is designing for her right now. And I’ll be right there, praying for her still, and praising God for the outcome.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

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“Through You, we push back our enemies; through Your name we trample our foes.” Psalm 44:5

Life brings hardships, trials, disappointments, times of sorrow and suffering, “ENEMIES” that come against us. When I first read Psalms (especially ones of David on the run from his enemies) early in my spiritual walk, I would kind of smile and think, “I’m so glad I don’t have any ‘enemies.’ I’m such a sweet person, everyone likes me. I can’t think of one person who is my enemy.”

Naive, huh?

What God soon revealed to me is that I DO have an enemy….an enemy like no other.

…..not a jealous friend who whispers rumors behind my back.

…..not an unfriendly neighbor who stirs up trouble in the neighborhood.

…..not a rival at work.

…..not a childhood friend holding a grudge against a long-forgotten mistake.

Nope.

This enemy is beyond my worst nightmares.

As Jesus said in John 10:10, the thief comes “ONLY to steal, to kill, and to destroy.”

Imagine that- ONLY to do harm to me. He comes to steal a dream, steal my confidence in who I am in Christ, to steal my joy…. He comes to kill relationships, to kill my body with disease…. He comes to destroy marriages, destroy my faith, destroy my witness, destroy my reputation, to destroy God’s reputation….

Sometimes, I can be confused to think my “enemy” is a person in my life. But Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “our struggle is not against FLESH AND BLOOD, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” When the enemy uses people in my life to do his dirty work, I must remember that my battle is a spiritual battle!

It is spiritual when I am wrestling the “enemies” in my head- frustration, doubt, loneliness, fear, worry….

How do I fight a SPIRITUAL BATTLE????

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2Corinthians 10:3

We battle the enemy with spiritual weapons. We speak the Name of Jesus over our situation and straight to the enemy.

“Through You, we push back our enemies; through Your name we trample our foes.” Psalm 44:5

When the battle comes, speak His Name.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Father God, thank You that You fight the battles for me. All I need to do is keep my eyes on You, speaking out the Name above all names, Jesus Christ. Thank You that He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world. Thank You that You have already won the battle, Jesus, and that “it is finished.” You have accomplished all that I need and Satan is a defeated foe. Remind me in the midst of my battles, to call upon Your name. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Pushing with you, dear sister,

Tracy

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)

Many of you have been faithful followers and prayer warriors following my family’s “Journey of Change” these past few years since I have been blogging. From May 2008 to present we have journeyed from losing our 1800 sq. ft. home in Phoenix, Arizona; downsizing to an 800 sq. ft. apartment; followed the leading of the Lord for my husband to resign the church he ministered for 12 years and resign a full time teaching position to move across country to Pennsylvania to live closer to my family after being away for 33 years; Jim received a teaching and administrative position at a Christian school for a 1/3 of his income in Arizona (no benefits, i.e. health insurance, etc.); and Jim and I living in a 36 ft. 5th wheel travel trailer for the last 18 months.

God hears and answers prayers!

Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! Psalm 66:16-20 (NIV)

Since July of 2009 Jim has been assisting a struggling church in the Schuylkill Haven area (about 14 miles north of where we currently live). A few months ago Jim and I received peace from the Lord that Higher Ground Worship Center was where the Lord wanted us to call our church home. Since this was where the Lord desires us to worship, we felt we needed to live closer to the church so we could enjoy the fellowship of the dear people of Higher Ground. We began to pray for the Lord to open doors for us to move into an affordable rental or even by some miracle purchase a home. We also know – and greatly appreciate your prayers as well these past 18 months for the Lord to provide“more permanent” and healthier living arrangements for Jim and me.

God is the God of miracles!

Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, Psalm 105:5 (NKJV)

Through your greatly appreciated prayers these past 18 months for the Lord to provide “more permanent” and healthier living arrangements for Jim and I, the Lord God – Jehovah Jireh miraculously provided a 1977 single wide, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 934 sq. ft. refurbished mobile home for us to purchase and we will be moving this week! After living in a travel trailer for 18 months it will seem like a mansion!

Continued Prayers

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (NIV)

We still need your prayers for the following:
• Weather and safety while moving– we have about a foot of snow on the ground already and this coming Tues. and Wed. the forecast is for more snow and temps in the low 20’s on Friday thru the weekend!
• Need furniture – living room furniture, lamps, etc.
• Need a handicap ramp to enter the home.
• And this is the biggie – we need to sell our 5th wheel.
• Down the road – storage shed, air conditioner unit, patio furniture, and funds to make some improvements.
• Health needs – for my continual chronic health needs and Jim’s health; also that he will not “over do it” concerning heavy lifting because of his degenerative disc disease in his back

Thank you again for all your prayers.

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy Philippians 1:3, 4 (NLT)

Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I come to You with a grateful heart knowing that You have promised to provide all our needs. I thank You for hearing and answering our prayers according to Your perfect will. If there is someone reading this devotion and struggling in their day to day life wondering if God will provide their need, I ask that You would give them peace and reassurance that You are their provider. I ask Lord that You continue to bless those reading this devotion. Thank You Lord for each prayer warrior that has so faithfully prayed for my family. Thank You Lord for being our Provider. In Jesus precious name, amen.