Beth Moore Conference

I was so blessed to be able to attend the Beth Moore conference in Memphis with this special group of ladies...it was such and uplifting time! There was so much wonderful teaching, but two of the really key things I took away from the weekend I want to share.

First, she talked about forgiveness/healing and how often when we are hurt, we don't go to the pain, discomfort, trouble...of letting God fully heal the wound. When we allow this to happen, eventually little things that would normally not hurt us become a big deal. We become a "wounded person" and each little thing people do to us hurts us deeply. WOW! That is so true. We must allow God to fully heal each wound and really be honest with Him about how we feel and what really hurt us...and many times, we need to go to the person who hurt us and deal with it in a constructive, loving way. I think often the people who hurt us so deeply don't even realize what they said or did. Sometimes there is the situation where the person does realize but is unwilling to apologize...in that case you must deal with the hurt with God. He understands.

The second thing that really stuck with me is when she pointed out that God guards His love for us. He maintains a faithful and enthusiastic love for each of His children. He doesn't allow our sin and disobedience to affect His love, however it does affect how He blesses us. She really made this practical for me as a wife and mother as well. We must guard our love for our families. When our children disobey, we must be careful to guard our love toward them. It is easy to become angry with them and it affect how we love them. This is not the example our Heavenly Father sets for us. When they disobey we should remove our blessing from them, but not our love. For example, when my children disobey, they may lose certain privileges, toys or activities. She gave a specific example of a Christian mother whose college age daughter was moving in with her boyfriend. The mother ended up taking the car and furniture she had bought for her daughter back, but her love remained unchanged. Tough love! So I really am trying to teach my children that obedience leads to blessings but disobedience causes the blessings to be removed...however, my love for them remains unchanged. I pray that they will be conscious of this principle as they grow in their relationship with God and that it will help them better understand His unchanging love.