Heartbreak to Strength Blog

My hope was to start reading the book of Proverbs on the 1^st of the month and read one chapter a day with my kids. As you can see, I am a couple days late and we still have not started yet.  Extending grace to myself!

This year, my word is cultivate, and one thing I desire is to cultivate wisdom. Not earthly wisdom, not more facts or head knowledge. No, I want to cultivate spiritual wisdom.

I want us to cultivate wisdom from God.

As I journaled this morning, God brought this verse to my mind: “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7a

From my understanding, the Fear of the Lord is a holy reverence, being in awe of God! It is a respect and amazement that leads to worship and holy wonder.

I want us to live in this astonishment, in awe of the God of the Universe.

I believe this awe comes from spending time with God. Not just checking off time with Him on our to do list, but really connecting with Him.  Reading His Word, being still and listening for His voice.

Friend, I want to be the first to admit that this is not how my week has gone; I have been distracted saying I would get to my time with God next. But then “next” never happened.

Until today, I woke up with a goal to start off my day with this intentional time with God. Not start off with emails, social media, or even a morning shower. Instead, I would start off the day with my journal and Bible and oh what a difference it has already made.

I am once again in awe of God as I realize that the Creator of the Universe desires to spend time with me. Friend, the Creator wants to spend time with you too!

God wants to pour His truth, His Strength and His Wisdom into you!

Our part is to humbly come before Him. Surrender our next 24 hours and invite Him to guide us and pour His strength and wisdom into us!

Do you desire to cultivate wisdom from our Heavenly Father today? I pray that God will fill you with His truth and wisdom as you humbly surrender your time to Him.

As for me, I still hope to begin today reading Proverbs 1 with my kids and share with them all about the Fear of the Lord!

Love, Jodi

This Saturday, my oldest son turns 18 years old, so I wanted to share a guest post I wrote on parenting for my friend’s gratitude series.

Here is a sneak peek:

I will never forget the day I became a mom.  After weeks of bed rest, hours of labor, and an emergency c-section, I still remember how in love I felt when my eyes first locked with his.  Feelings of gratitude rushed over my body as I saw a healthy, baby boy.

I had no idea all the emotions that would flood my heart over the next eighteen years: feelings of inadequacy and the need to do it all right. Feelings of disappointment and exhaustion as well as joy, gratitude, and deep pride in who he was becoming.

Parenting is the most rewarding job and the hardest job all at the same time.

There are days when parenting is wonderful, and it is easy to be grateful for my sweet sons. But, if I am honest, there are also days when parenting is hard, and gratitude is far from my mind. Setting boundaries, following through on discipline, and teaching them responsibility can fall under the harder days.

I can still remember one of those hard days. To help calm my frustrations and slow down my reactions, I had walked downstairs to get some perspective and reflect over the last week.

It is easy as parents to only focus on the negative times with our kids. The times that they talked back with disrespect or said unloving words to their sibling.  But if we truly stop and reflect, there is so much to be grateful for. 

To read the rest of my post, click the Link to my Guest Post in the Gratitude Series

I also had the opportunity to be a guest on the Cost is Courage Podcast. I share what courage looks like for me as a mom of teenagers, a hands-on science teacher teaching during a pandemic, a woman who had leaned on God’s strength through a season of grief, and a podcast host who took a leap of faith.

One definition of courage is “strength in the face of pain or grief”, and I love how God has courage and strength paired together in the Bible. (Joshua 1:9, “Be Strong and Courageous.”) For me, courage is trusting God when life does not make sense.  It is leaning into God when our life circumstances are falling apart around us. Being courageous is modeling this for our kids. I share on the podcast how God gave me courage and His Strength to withstand my unexpected storms. 

Courage is also stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a leap of faith. Starting the Depth Podcast was my leap of faith and I cannot wait for you to hear more about this courageous step on the podcast.  Honestly, I hope you will be encouraged to take a courageous step to follow your God sized dream! 

I am so excited to be part of the “Conversation with Friends” Series on the @costiscouragepodcast. To listen, click the The Cost is Courage Podcast Link