A Lot About Us

A Lot About Us

About Me

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We are the Caldwells. Justin, Nicole, our little guys, Grayson, Baylor, and Rowan, and our angel daughters, Faith and Avery.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

ENCOURAGMENT

I can't really tell you when I met my friend J for this first time. We were introduced by one of my dearest friends, B. B and I have been friends since college. She is one of those people that I know God carefully knit into my life. Without her, I am not sure who I would be today. Just as carefully as God knit B into my life, he also carefully orchestrated my introduction to many of B's friends and family members. Many of them have become a very valuable part of my walk through this life. These women and men encourage me and point me to the Lord, which is something very precious and often hard to find in this world.

J is one of those people. As a mother of eight, wife, believer, and friend she is often building up other women and encouraging them. Her friendship is so precious to me. Titus is one of my top favorite books of the Bible. One of my favorite things about Titus is the instruction it gives for the women of the church. I specifically have Titus 2:3-5 underlined.

3 "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored."

J lives out this scripture and she has encouraged me on more occasions than I can count by doing what God has instructed in Titus. She is not older than me, but you don't have to be older in age to live out this verse the way J does.

Yesterday I was having a rough one. Actually the last couple of weeks have been challenging. We have been hit with the stomach virus and this time mommy was not excluded. This week my younger two were on Spring break from the morning program they attend so that I can work part-time. Lots of family and friends dove in to help, but it still made for a complicated week logistically. Yesterday I was unable to work due to childcare complications and decided to spend the day at home getting the house cleaned up from two weeks of a great deal of neglect. My kids were crazy! There was lots of whining, lots of clinginess, and it seemed like every time I started to make a little headway on a task someone would need something. I was praying through it all for patience, kindness, and understanding to prevail since it was taking me 4 house JUST TO GET THE KITCHEN CLEANED UP!!!

I sat down for a break and decided to catch up on some blog reading. God is so good. Just before I sat down, He prompted J's heart to finish a post that I feel like she was led to write just for me. I read it and I was encouraged. It built me up. It reminded me I was not alone and most importantly it reminded me that I am able.

With her permission I will share the link to her post here, I am sure someone reading needs to hear her words just like I did.

http://www.themakingofmom.blogspot.com/2014/04/you-are-able-you-are-enough.html

For some reason I could not get the link to work, so just cut and paste.