Life with Sally

The older I am the more I see my inadequacies, selfishness, and propensity to behave in an immature way. It has led me to have more mercy, compassion, and patience with others, especially my children.

Learning to be righteous is a heart issue, not a rules-memorized issue. We cannot force righteousness on our children by legalism and harshness. This only makes them want to hide from us. But instead, we nurture and cultivate a love for goodness by cultivating it in our home each day.

Delight has been my ponder in several areas the past week. The definition of delight is: a high degree of gratification or pleasure -- joy

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays I so enjoy because it's all about gratitude in the context of relationships! It is always a treat when I can gather my ministry team for a chat, and today we're sharing a conversation about Thanksgiving traditions from our own homes.

We treat our children with respect, serve them in humility, choose to use honorable words to our husbands, to friends, because when they learn this attribute of God, they will become those who win the souls of others who are so longing for someone to validate their worth.

I wondered if it might be fun to have you join me with a cuppa something wonderful and warm, (tea, chai, coffee, cider) and sit for just a few minutes over calm, comfort, friendship and encouragement.

Love settles the heart, offering warmth and light that encourages giftings and talents to grow strong and straight.

Patience leads to all sorts of strength — spiritual, mental, physical, skill acquisition, musical accomplishment, athletic strength, academic prowess, financial security — so many blessings come through learning to be patient.

Too often, we compare ourselves to others we think have it more together. But the truth is we are all broken in some way, but family can be the healing place—the place where we see God's grace grow and flourish.

What if each of us determined to leave light to everyone we came across, to our children, to our friends and husband? But to do that, we must be in an intimate relationship to the true source of light, Christ.

Whether in the setting of marriage, friendship, family, with colleagues, or as parents, peacemaking—the act of choosing to reach out in the work of restoration—comes from a heart that worships God.

Today, sweet mama, you are building a gift of love for yourself that will bless you your whole life. Cherish this season with your precious ones and watch it grow into something beautiful.

When we have tribulation of any kind, Jesus admonishes us to "take courage." Have courage, change your attitude from hurt to brave, from overwhelmed to "I can move through this with God's grace."

What you feed your mind determines what thoughts will direct your life. Today, my wonderful team and I are reviewing some of the books I have written and how they have transformed our lives.

Today on my podcast, Joy and I speak of other brilliant and outstanding women throughout history who have made a difference in their world, their time in history.

No one becomes excellent of character automatically from lectures, but rather from practicing skills, responsibilities, and chores together with contented spirits. Wisdom and skill require time, instruction and practice — modeling combined with gentle and patient instruction.

God created us for companionship with real people. We were born for community, love, help, encouragement, and the blessing and intimacy that comes from close friendship with others.

To dream wildly and find that some dreams really do come true is to taste the goodness that began us and the grace that aids us and the kindness that draws us on toward the healing of all things.

Giving your child a self-image of perceiving that God wants to use them in their world, will shape their work and service the rest of their lives. Giving them practice to serve each other will build strong relationships between siblings when they grow up.

So many times, we are stopped by fear of failure, or criticism, or just lack of a work ethic. But even as God is excellent, so we who are made to be like Him and to exhibit His light into a dark world, must determine to engage in the possibilities.

Building our children into godly human beings is also so much messier and costlier than we ever expected, as well as taking longer than we anticipated. But the end result will be so worthwhile.

What is accomplished in the little moments that require waiting or acting in patience is where the real legacy of relationships and passing on truth takes place.

Today, Sarah shares with me some of her "survival techniques" that have kept her going in the midst of an incredibly challenging, exhausting season. I hope you will be made to feel you aren't alone as we share our struggles, and encouraged that you, too, can bring beauty into ordinary days.

Since I was a young woman, I have been captivated by the concept of mentoring through loving, close relationships. Where did I learn all about it? From pondering the life of Christ. His way of reaching the world was by developing personal relationships, serving, and teaching the truths that came straight from the heart of God.

As I look back on the years of my life, it was not perfection that was needed, but an authentic faith, a humility, a choice to trust when the feelings weren't there.