I haven’t shared much about my family on here yet. I usually try to keep the focus on what I am learning in the Word. However, what I am learning and how I am growing have everything to do with my family this week.

My husband is a campus pastor at a church in AR. I am very involved and want to be. I love that I get to be a part of what God is doing here. That means that my kiddos are at the church a lot. We minister to people in our home at lot. We talk about church A LOT.

We want to be pastors for the long haul but, more importantly, we want our family and marriage to remain healthy in the process. The past few weeks have let us know that we are going to have to do some things differently. We are going to have to schedule in margin, slow down, and relax.

Joyce Meyer says, “New level, new devil.” That means the closer we get to Jesus and the closer we get to our purpose, the more the enemy fights us. He throws insecurities, division, lies, temptation, etc. at us. Anything that will distract us or harm our souls so that we don’t make it to the finish line.

We got to get away for about 36 hours this week. It was short, but so sweet. I saw my husband take a deep breath and smile. Our kids played hard and stayed up late. We just got to be a family. This might sound absolutely crazy, but we missed each other and it’s like we got to be reintroduced.

This is my little fish Hadlee (8). She was fearless and loved being in the water!

This is my mermaid Landree (3). She was very afraid of the water which is why she is safely buried under the sand!

And this is my handsome sweetheart with his extremely ugly, made-with- love cake for his birthday. He turns 34 next week.

My sweet friend told me recently that the Lord has been speaking to her about giving and receiving. She said, “Yes, it’s better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35b) but you can’t give anything away if you haven’t received it first.” We can’t even love each other truly unless we first receive love from Christ (1 John 4:19). It’s simple: when we spend a lot of energy taking care of others without filling ourselves back up, we get empty. I can’t give  joy away or encourage people to rest in God’s goodness, if I haven’t been experiencing that for myself.

I believe in taking a weekly Sabbath (read more about that here) but I also think that we have to intentionally get away. I don’t mean that we should run away from troubles or our responsibility. I have known people who run – anytime things get hard, they abandon ship. That’s not what I am saying. But I do think that we need to schedule time away so that we come back refreshed and with clear vision.

If you are reading this feeling frustrated about how to afford to get away, just know that Jesus can provide what you need (and some of your wants to :)). The little overnight trip we took this week was free. This year we get to take our kids on a big, special, secret trip because I called in and won our hotel stay on the radio. My little one has been praying for 2 YEARS for Jesus to help her get to this place. So precious! And they also gave me a another hotel stay that hubby and I will go on alone.

Just ask Him for what you need and then be patient as He provides it.

“This is the reason I urge you to boldly believe for whatever you ask for in prayer—believe that you have received it and it will be yours,” (Mark 11:24 TPT).

“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 13:13-14 NLT).

This whole post is just to encourage you to take care of yourself and your family. Yes, do good to those around you, give sacrificially, and serve your church, but start at home.

Love you!

Tif