Select Page
Praise God!

Praise God!

by | Apr 4, 2022 | One Blessed Momma

Worthy of praise is Christ my redeemer. Worthy of glory honor and power.

This month as so many people are thinking of our Redeemer and his resurrection, we will focus on “if anything is worthy of praise.” and what/who is more deserving of praise than our God. I have been thinking this over a lot over the last couple of months.

Back in February, I was blessed to attend Challenge Youth Conference with my 18-year-old son. This is a great conference for the youth, my sons have enjoyed it and left inspired each year they’ve attended. Pigeon Forge, TN hosts thousands of Christian teens each February. The first night of the conference, the topic was intricacies of God’s creation. This helped kick-off my “anything worthy of praise” thinking.

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

What is worthy of praise?

I also spent time with a couple of lovely ladies who were also along on the youth trip and asked them what came to their minds with the phrase “anything worthy of praise”. Both ladies referred to God’s creation. From the beauty of the mountains our cabin was situated in, to the intricacy of our eyeballs.  

One of these friends introduced me to John Clayton and his Dandy Designs. For those who are unfamiliar with John Clayton, he is a scientist who was an atheist. However, his study of science and the intricacies of the things he was studying, lead him to God.

His Dandy designs are shared on the website as well as five volumes of books which compile the short articles on the website. He also has a quarterly publication called “Does God Exist?“

These resources are fun to look into and I have got lost in the rabbit hole of reading the short articles. 

Dive into scripture with me

If you search “praise” in the Bible, there is no shortage of the word. The Bible is full of praise for our God. It has been uplifting to create the scripture list for this month! Praise God! I pray you will take the time to read the scriptures and find encouragement as well. You can download the scriptures below.

And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening,

2 Chronicles 23:30

If anything is worthy of praise, our God is. 1 Chronicles 23 tells us that is was the duty of the sons of Levi to stand and thank and praise God. EVERY morning and evening. How much time do I spend thanking and praising God? I can tell you I don’t stand to do this each morning and evening.

I have found that the mornings we start our day listening to praise music there is less fighting and bickering among my children, all day long. I love listening to acapella music. I have found a couple of things I like to pull up on youtube either on my phone or our smart TV. We can listen while we eat breakfast and get ready for the day. The Acapella company and A Capella Hymns. 

I found the video below as I sat down to write this blog and have listened to it a few times as I focus on praising our God. Take a few minutes and listen or listen to all 17 minutes and praise your God.

 

Teach the Children

1. Journal & Discuss

2. Sing Praises

3. Make a praise/gratitude list, Praise God!

4. Read Dandy designs

practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9

Thank you for joining me on this journey as we worked through the “things” in Philippians 4:8. I know I have been encouraged through the scriptures and my hope and prayer are that you have too. If you missed any months, go back and do them or just jump in. Time in scripture is NEVER wasted! May God’s blessings be evident to you as you praise HIM this month.

September - True

October - Honorable

November - Just

December - Pure

January - Lovely

February - Commendable

March - Excellence

April - Worthy of Praise

Download your free printable

If there is any excellence Philippians 4:8-9 scripture list
.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family. She's a recovering perfectionist who is far from perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

If there is any excellence

If there is any excellence

by | Mar 7, 2022 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

I’m so glad you’re back, or even here for the first time. We’ve been focusing on one word from Philippians 4:8 each month since September of 2021. We only have one month left. Is there a scripture or topic that is weighing on your mind? If you have something you’d like to see us focus on, email Melinda at [email protected].

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

I’m gonna be honest, this month’s focus is incredibly difficult for me. Hence the reason it is posting so late. I am a perfectionist, and struggle to see anything as excellent.  I am currently trying to re-program my own brain and my parenting so that I can help my children see there is more to life than being perfect.

Because I am a perfectionist, I don’t see excellence in many places. I better really pay attention to this month’s scripture readings!  

What is “excellence”?

Excellence is the quality of being outstanding or really good. 

EXCELLENCE: distinction; high quality; superiority; brilliance; greatness; merit; caliber; eminence; preeminence; supremacy; peerlessness; transcendence; value; worth; skill; talent; genius; virtuosity; accomplishment; expertness; mastery; prowess

Do you struggle to find excellence in your world? I have been working on not having such high standards for me or my children or my husband. As a mom we tend to see ourselves in our children, sometimes this is fun, and sometimes we realize we need to address some things in ourselves so that we can help our kids. 

I have a 6-year-old who doesn’t want to finish anything that isn’t exactly perfect or what he expected it to be. Picture isn’t quite right, trash it. Words are spelled wrong, don’t use the eraser trash it. I am a perfectionist who has gone from trying to make everything perfect, to just not trying. It is one of the hardest aspects of myself to face and admit it’s there.

I have ignored it until I see it in the 6-year-old and a little in some of the others, but it is becoming very evident to me that I have to face this. I must face my own not-perfect perfectionism to help my son work through his. 

As I read through the scriptures I have pulled this month I am reminded that ONLY God is perfect. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. In fact, he knew we wouldn’t be and he sent his son to bridge the gap. 

But [God] said to me, “my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Thank you, Lord, for covering us with your perfect power and excellence. Please help any mommas out there who are like me to STOP looking for perfect excellence in themselves, their spouses, their children and others. Thank you for the excellent plan you have for us. 

I am trying to find ways to take the time and energy to acknowledge the efforts my children and husband put into various efforts. 

More importantly, I am making an effort to praise God for his perfect excellence and the ways he is always there for me no matter how far short I fall of excellence. There is a new list of 31 verses to help us define and focus on excellence this month. Please join me in reading and writing them down. As always, we would love to hear what impact this plan has on your life. Download the plan below.

practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9

Teaching ourselves to focus on what is truly excellent, God, is a worthy goal. Not only a worthy goal but it comes with a promise from our God, the God of peace will be with us if we focus on these things.

Come back in April for “worthy of praise”.

September - True

October - Honorable

November - Just

December - Pure

January - Lovely

February - Commendable

March - Excellence

April - Worthy of Praise

Download your free printable

If there is any excellence Philippians 4:8-9 scripture list
.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family. She's a recovering perfectionist who is far from perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

Whatever is Commendable

Whatever is Commendable

by | Feb 7, 2022 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

What is “Commendable”?

As I have been looking at the definition for commendable over the last couple of weeks, the thought of yeah, but… keeps coming up. Commendable is praiseworthy, but what is praiseworthy? Commendable is admirable, but what is admirable?

As I picked verses for this month, I chose ones with the word commendable or commended, or commmend, but I hope you will read the context and find what it is that was commendable. What did the people do that deserved commendation?

commendable: admirable, praiseworthy, laudable, estimable, meritorious, creditable, exemplary, exceptional, noteworthy, notable, honorable, worthy, deserving, respectable, sterling, fine
As we read through this month’s scripture plan, we will see many examples of people commended by God.

“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

What is commendable to God? Proverbs 12:8 tells us that insight and sound judgement are commendable. Hebrews 11:1 is one of my favorite scriptures. Because of this month’s scripture plan, I kept reading.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

 

Keep reading Hebrews 11, it gives many examples of people commended to God by their faith. I know seeing these other people’s faith condensed in one chapter always encourages me!

Are you sharing your faith with your children? How are you teaching your children to develop their own faith? Do you share with your children when you are relying on God to take care of something and then how he provides for you?

Think back over the last couple of weeks, months, or years. (Depending on your children’s ages and what they’ll remember.) What has happened in your life that they have seen and has come from God. What healing, what provision has he given to you that you can share how the God you place your faith in has worked in your life?

This doesn’t have to be a sit down conversation. In fact, I find it is generally a better conversation if we are driving, or going for a walk, or playing something and you plant these little seeds of faith in their day-to-day life.

Can we commend God?

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭145:4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I believe we must! By sharing God’s works in the Bible as well as how he’s working in our lives, we commend him. Are you telling your children, your friends how great your God is? Singing songs is an easy way to break into a topic with our children.

“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are his the valleys are his. The stars are his handiwork too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do, for YOU!”

Another song we sing frequently with our kids is from VeggieTales, “God is bigger than the boogie man, bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV, God is bigger than the boogie man and he’s watching out for you and me.”

It leads to deeper conversations about what they are fearing and whether or not they can trust God to handle it. Spoiler alert: God can handle it all 🙂

Sharing with others

When we need a reminder of how commendable our God is or encouragement to share with adults, I like “How great thou art”.

We serve a truly great God and should be at no shortage of things to commend him to others. Unfortunately, I allow myself to get bogged down in the day-to-day trials and struggles and forget the big picture sometimes. The scriptures for this month should help with that! here’s a song to help as well.

Come back in February for “whatever is commendable”.

September - True

October - Honorable

November - Just

December - Pure

January - Lovely

February - Commendable

March - Excellence

April - Worthy of Praise

Download your free printable

Whatever is lovely Philippians 4:8-9 scripture list

.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family. She's a recovering perfectionist who is far from perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

How to feel blessed when you’re hanging on by your fingernails

How to feel blessed when you’re hanging on by your fingernails

by | Jan 24, 2022 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

A mom of 4 I was with this weekend told me she was hanging on by her fingernails. Anyone else feel that way?

It got me thinking about the “why” behind the blog. When this idea first started mulling around in my head, it was because I was a new mom for the 4th time and barely hanging on. I wanted something that reminded me of the blessings in motherhood and I wanted to encourage other mothers as well.

“Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord, The fruit of the womb a reward.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭127:3 AMP

So much of life is driven by our subjective perspectives. Whatever you focus on is what seems biggest. So if you’re focused on the dirty diapers, the fits, the back-talking, the arguing, the never-ending messes, it’s going to feel more like you have energy sucking leeches than precious gifts.

See the blessings

One of my most basic ideas of seeing my children as the gifts they are is to make myself stop and watch them, soak in the blessing. Sometimes it’s the smile they give you. Or the sloppy wet kiss. Maybe it’s the way they treat their sibling. Or watching your spouse with them. Write it down if you need to. Say it out loud. Thank God for the gifts (children) he’s given you. Take the time to spend with your children. The dishes, dust, and dirt will always be there. But the years with our children at home won’t be. As a momma of children from 20-4 I can tell you, the days are long but the years are short.

I find myself wishing days away, but then I look at my child who made me mom and in less than a month he’ll be 18. HOW??? Then I look at my “littles” and realize my baby is 4. Some days 14 years seems like a long time to still have children at home; other days it doesn’t seem nearly long enough. (Especially the days my 4-year-old tells me who she’s going to marry when she grows up, but that’s a topic for another day.)

4-year-old picking flowers for her wedding.

She can’t grow up fast enough and I can’t slow her down.

Please share with us in the comments below, or tag us on Instagram @one.blessedmomma or Facebook @oneblessedmommacom what blessings have you seen from your kids? Let’s help encourage each other!

Embrace the crazies

No, I don’t mean your kids (but yes, embrace them 🙂). When you have this picture-perfect moment in mind, the perfect day at the park, the way your kids will sit down and play well together, a nice quiet meal, etc it generally doesn’t work that way. Embrace the season you’re in right now. Check your expectations.

If you have a two-year-old there’s probably going to be a mess at dinner time. If you have more than one child they probably are going to have at least one disagreement while playing. If you’re anything like me, you forgot to check the weather before heading to the park, and the rain may find you. So get a dog to clean up after the 2-yr-old 😉, help your children learn how to work through disagreements so you don’t have to play referee, and teach your kids to dance in the rain (or check the weather).
Friday night I wanted a date with my husband. I had been at home all week with not only our children but two more as well. The prior weekend we had 30 people in our home. I just wanted time with the guy I married and decided to do this parenting thing with.

He felt like he needed to work. I needed to pick some things up at a store. One of my kids wanted to go shopping with money that’s burning a hole in his pocket, so I asked him if he wanted to go on a date with me. I just wanted a quiet evening! But 3 other kids caught wind of this outing and decided they needed to go too. Dad decided the work could wait and went with us.

So we called it family date night. It wasn’t at all what I was wanting, but once I let go of that and embraced this time with 4 of my kids and my husband it was a fun evening!

Our Anniversary date with 5 kids.

Love on the gifts

A couple of months ago I had someone text me a list of things about me that were lovely. I have to admit I have pulled it back up more than a few times. There is also an idea floating around internet land about putting a sticky note on your kids’ door every day in February with something new you love about them.

You are probably better than me at loving those you love. I find the idea of telling people what I love and appreciate about them daunting. It’s a skill I need to develop. Maybe the person you love doesn’t need words of affirmation.

According to Dr. Gary Chapman, there are 5 love languages. He has a quiz you can take to find out what yours is, a quiz for teens, and a quiz you can take for your child. Use this quiz to guide you in loving your kiddos so they understand what you’re saying.

Loved children are happier children. Just like when we feel loved we are happier people. Happier children are easier to get along with and easier to see as blessings 🙂 it’s a win-win.

How do you keep hanging on when you’re only hanging on by fingernails? Have you gone from surviving to thriving? What helped you?

I am one blessed momma!

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family. She's a recovering perfectionist who is far from perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

Whatever is lovely

Whatever is lovely

by | Jan 3, 2022 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

What is “lovely”?

I have been pondering “lovely” since last month in preparation for this blog. When I think of lovely I typically think of flowers and beautiful women. The Bible also references these two things, but not just those two things. (Read Song of Solomon for more about lovely women.) But over the last month I have been able to see beauty even in the winter landscape, which typically I only see when there is fresh snow on the gound. 

lovely: exquisitely beautiful, pretty, appealing, gorgeous, pleasing, splendid, magnificent, very pleasant or enjoyable, delightful, wonderful, marvelous, superb, heavenly, divine, amazing, glorious

As I sit down to write this today, after a month of pondering lovely things, I am reminded how important it is to think on whatever is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise. Our thoughts are so powerful!

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

If we don’t take our thoughts captive they can run away with us. I sat here trying to start this blog, ecouraging you all to think on lovely things and I got irritated. We have two puppies who are crated at night. They were let out this morning, one pooped in my living room, and I got frustrated, irritated as no one else was around and I had to take care of these puppies that other people wanted in my house. So I got up and let them outside and then stared them down out the window to make sure they didn’t run off. I wasn’t going outside in the windy cold morning. I stood there and stewed.

I didn’t ask for these dogs.
I didn’t let them out of the crate.
Why didn’t things get taken care of over the weekend, now they pooped on those things.
I have “important” things to do!
I don’t have time for this.
Now, my house smells like dog poo. YUCK!

So I let the dogs back in after they pooed outside, then I stomped around cleaning up the poo in the living room and went to the bathroom to wash my hands. That’s when I got hit with how ridiculous I was being. I wasn’t focused on anything positive, nothing lovely. I made myself stop, and not only wash my hands but wash the yucky thoughts out of my mind too.

How can we focus on what is lovely?

Just as I am sure we all preach to our children, what goes in comes out. We must watch what we put into our minds! What are you watching on social media? What are you watching on TV?

Something I heard a few years ago that really resonated with me:

If someone bumps into you while you are carrying a hot cup of tea, what spills out?

If you are walking along with a cup of coffee and someone bumps into you, what spills out?

When life bumps you, what spills out? Whatever you are filling your cup with, spills out when life bumps you.   

Fill your cup

A great way to fill your cup is to follow the instructions we receive in Philippians 4:8, think on these things. We can listen to these things through online sermons. Listen to or read the Bible.

I have once again pulled a verse a day for the month of January. You can view or print the calendar below.

How do you keep your mind on lovely things? What are your favorite lovely things to think on?

Teach the Children

1. Journal & Discuss

2. Take pictures of “lovely” things

1. Journal and discuss

My kids and I will be journaling and discussing these verses, at least Monday-Friday. I like for them to practice their reading and writing with scriptures. Alternatively, you could pick one verse per week and help your kids memorize that one scripture.

2. Lovely through the eyes of your child

Challenge your children to find lovely things to take pictures of. Sometimes viewing the world through the lens of a child can be eye-opening. If you have older children they may have phones already. I have found inexpensive digital cameras on facebook marketplace ($5-$10 each). You may choose to turn around and sell them when you are done making them free 🙂

Then make a collage of their lovely things. Depending on their age, you could also challenge them to pair their lovely things with scripture. 

Come back in February for “whatever is commendable”.

September - True

October - Honorable

November - Just

December - Pure

January - Lovely

February - Commendable

March - Excellence

April - Worthy of Praise

Download your free printable

Whatever is lovely Philippians 4:8-9 scripture list

.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family. She's a recovering perfectionist who is far from perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family