I’m thrilled to officially share with you my “40 Days with the Savior”. Each week during March I’ll be sharing an excerpt from this forty days’ devotional with daily scripture and personal insight on character traits of Jesus Christ. It’s on sale this week for only $1.99 (ebook) with print available March 6th for $9.99
Thanks to our blog tour participants (including I Am A Reader, Not a Writer, and Peace from Pieces) and their lovely posts and reviews, particularly this one from The Self-Taught Cook:
“Anyone looking for a new devotional and looking to be more like Jesus will enjoy this book. Normally, I delete review copies from my e-reader (it only holds so much, you know), but I will be keeping this one to read again and again. If your goal is to be a kinder and happier person, buy a copy for yourself, and buy a second copy to share with a friend.”
And from the lovely ladies at Books Complete Me Unlimited:
“I loved reading this. Anyone who is Christian (doesn’t matter the actual faith) will find this book enlightening.”
To read more from the blog tour, click here.
Thank you, ladies. Enjoy this week’s excerpt!
Best,
Connie
HE GAVE UP PERSONAL COMFORTS
Matthew 6:28, 31, 34
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
As a mother, I feel that I give up personal comforts on a daily basis. And I’m not always that happy about it. Just when I sit down to rest, someone needs a ride. Or when I believe the laundry is finally done, my sons bring their previously hidden and overflowing baskets to the laundry room. Even in typing these devotionals on the Savior, I continually make the goal to rise early to complete them, and without fail, my baby keeps me up all night.
And I am not alone. One of my friends, a mother of nine, said she had finished all she needed to do one evening and was finally squeezing in a much-needed soak in the tub. At an opportune moment, she ran the warm water in the bath and added her favorite but rarely used lavender salts. However, her children needed eleventh-hour help with their schoolwork, and so, with one last longing look, she drained the tub.
These seem like small things, but they don’t feel that small. And though it’s nothing compared to what the Savior gave, I believe most of us feel the frustration of these lesser sacrifices even more than we do the larger ones. Most of us, I think, make the obvious sacrifices willingly. One year we planned to take our children to Disneyland but heard about a needy family in the neighborhood. When we approached our children about using the vacation money to help the family, without hesitation, they said, “Sure.” I think most children would respond similarly.
The harder sacrifices, then, are those needling interruptions, relentless demands, and continual last-minute saves. And yet the very constancy of this opposition creates an opportunity for us to develop softness, humility, and patience. With those traits, the Savior can work with our spirits, changing our hearts and minds for the better.
Daily frustrations of life do provide a purpose. And as we give up watching our favorite TV show to read to a child, or miss an exercise class to visit a struggling friend, we actually gain more spiritual comfort than we had expected.
What personal comforts can I give up today to love someone else more immediately and fully
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*To purchase “40 Days with the Savior” click here:
*Audition: If you’re up for a Motherhood Moment, audition with a 2-3 minute live reading/experience about motherhood for “Listen to Your Mother” show to be held on May 9th celebrating motherhood. Individual shows will perform live in about 24 cities throughout the USA. The organizers anticipate about 300 people to attend. For more details email listentoyourmotherutah@gmail.com.
