Category: Grandma

Our Past Experiences Impact Our Present Reactions – 1 Samuel 11 – 2025 Day 301

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 89, 1 Samuel 11.

Once again I was reminded of the story of the Levite and his concubine which took place in Gibeah (Saul’s hometown) in Judges 19-21, particularly Judges 19:29 ESV, “And when [the Levite] entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.” Along with Judges 21:14 ESV, “And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead….”

Saul is a Benjaminite from the city of Gibeah. He would have known these stories. In fact, his family would have been directly touched by these events recorded in Judges.

Now notice the connections in 1 Samuel 11. Nahash the Ammonite is attacking the people of Jabesh-Gilead — Was Saul’s mother from there? His aunt? His best friend’s mom?

Saul took the yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them to all the other tribes in Israel — Just like what the Levite had done with his concubine’s body. It had worked last time to get the people involved, and it worked this time for Saul.

Our family’s traditions, the stories we grow up hearing, the attitudes of people around us, they impact our lives. How I react to my husband, my children, and the cashier at Walmart is shaped by my upbringing. The takeaway for me in this is twofold. One, as a mom, I want to consider the impact I’m having on my children. How am I shaping them by how I behave and what experiences I invite into my children’s lives? Two, as a grown person, how are my actions today being shaped not by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God but by my past. How am I following my passions, instincts, and impulses rather than the Lord?

Heavenly Father, I love You. All Your ways are right. All You do is good. Father, I want to follow You all the days of my life. I want to be conformed into Your image. Make me more like You. I pray that all my actions would be led by Your Holy Spirit who dwells in me and Your Inspired Word which is a lamp to my feet. Give me wisdom as a mother to recognize how my attitudes and actions, what I let into my children’s lives, what I put in front of their faces, will shape their lives in the future. Help me to live for Your glory. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

A Prayer from Hannah’s Prayer – 1 Samuel 2 – 2025 Day 295

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 83, 1 Samuel 2.

Let’s pray and worship the Lord together with Hannah and believers around the world.

My heart rejoices in You, Lord. You have  raised me up from the ash heap and set my feet on the solid rock of salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

I rejoice in You, my God, for there is none holy like You. There is none besides You, Father. Indeed, there is no rock like our God.

Keep me humble, Father. Let me not become arrogant or proud. Help me to remember that You are a righteous judge, knowing and seeing all things, both visible and invisible. Help me to see the log in my own eye. Keep me on my knees in humility before Your throne of grace.

Increase my faith, Lord. You break the bows of the mighty, and You give strength to the weak. You make the full hungry and the hungry full. You give children to the barren, and You take children from those who have many. The number of every man’s days are held in Your hand.

You have given Your only Son, Jesus Christ, that we may be forgiven and redeemed and receive the gift of eternal life with You. Make us ambassadors for Your kingdom, sharing the good news to all four corners of the earth and making disciples of all the nations.

You, Father, are the giver of every good gift, of children and wealth and power and wisdom. Help us to be good stewards of these gifts. Make us instruments of Your peace, blessing the needy with all that You have blessed us, our time, talents, treasures, and testimonies.

The whole world is in Your hands, Father. We pray for the leaders of our nation and the nations around the world. Guide them. Grant them wisdom. Give them strength. Humble and exalt in Your perfect wisdom and timing, and help us to trust and worship You no matter the cost.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we pray. Amen.

Instruments of Your Peace

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

Ruth and the Proverbs 31 Woman – Ruth 3-4 – 2025 Day 292

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 80, Ruth 3-4

My husband sent me this picture from his John MacArthur study Bible, saying that John MacArthur compares Ruth to the virtuous wife in Proverbs 31.

Ruth Baker, in her January 2, 2019 blog post at GoThereFor.com digs further into this idea. Read it here.

Heavenly Father, help me to be a virtuous woman, to take good care of my husband and children, and to work diligently day after day. May I do my husband good and not harm all the days of my life. May the teaching of kindness be on my tongue. May I open my mouth with wisdom. May I remember that charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but that a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and redeemer, I pray. Amen.

Proverbs 31:30 song

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

As For Me and My House – Joshua 24 – 2025 Day 236

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 24, Joshua 24

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” …

“Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”

He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”

Joshua 24:14-15; 22-24 ESV

Heavenly Father, What foreign gods am I serving? Where is my heart not inclined toward You? Where am I still limping between the world and the Lord rather than fully surrendering all to You? Show me where I’m falling short, Lord. I don’t want to be blind to my own iniquity. I want to love You more, that I might serve You better, for You are worthy and good. I pray that my whole family will be surrendered to Your will and live for Your glory. In the Name of Jesus Christ who died in my place I pray. Amen.

Click HERE to watch or listen to today’s podcast.

Teach What is Good Podcast Episode 33 “As for Me and My House”
As for Me and My House – Keith & Kristyn Getty, Cochren & Co, Live from “Sing”
As for Me and My Home – Brandon Lake

All God’s Words for All God’s People – Joshua 8 – 2025 Day 223

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 11, Joshua 8

Joshua read every word to all the people, and so should we. (Joshua 8:35)

We need the Old Testament as well as the New. We need all the words, those that Moses wrote and those that Jesus spoke, those that David sang and those that Isaiah prophesied, those that Peter spoke simply and that Paul penned eloquently. We need them all.

Men as well as women, children as well as adults, those who grew up with the scriptures and those who are unfamiliar with them, everyone needs God’s Word.

I understand that there is value in making our children’s ministries age appropriate. Children benefit greatly from making crafts and dancing around while singing songs about Joshua and Jericho. But children also need to study the Word as God’s inspired, true, trustworthy Word – not some fairy tale on par with “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The Bible is more than a series of inspirational stories to teach our kids to be good and kind and helpful, not to lie or cheat or steal. The Bible is the bread of life, even for children.

Additionally, children have an incredible ability to memorize the Word. Would you rather your children memorize “Hop on Pop” and “The Cat in the Hat” or the 23rd Psalm and the Sermon on the Mount?

And let’s not forget that children have been created by God to receive with simple faith the words of their teachers and parents. Children absorb truth (and lies) like thirsty sponges. Would you rather train your children to believe in tooth fairies and boogie monsters or the Holy Trinity and the miracles of Christ?

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Proverbs 30:5 ESV

Proverbs 30:5 is a great verse for you, your husband, your children, your neighbor, and every person the Lord God created, to hide in their hearts.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word, that we might know You, what pleasing You and what displeases You. I pray that You will use me as an agent of Your glory and grace, guide me by Your Spirit, and shod my feet with the shoes of the gospel of peace. Help me to have childlike faith myself and to share the good news faithfully with all those whom You place in my path today, whether man, woman, or child, whether lifelong Christ-lover or lifelong Christ-hater. Give me the desire and the power to I love my neighbor as myself. In the Name of Jesus Christ who came to seek and save the lost we pray, Amen.

CHECK OUT TODAY’S VIDEO PODCAST ON YOUTUBE.

“The Ten Commandments Song with Hand Motions” – FormerAtheist58
“As for Me and my Home” – Brandon Lake
Reciting Psalm 139 (NIV) from memory

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

A Prayer for my Children – Deuteronomy 33-34 – 2025 Day 216

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 4, Deuteronomy 33-34

Almost eighteen years ago, my youngest son was born. He is the “son of my old age” 😂 and the source of great joy in my life. Watching him grow to a man before my very eyes has truly been a treasure. Reading Deuteronomy 33-34, I was reminded that Moses never knew these twelve sons of Israel. They’d all passed into eternity before Moses had even been born – as had Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob themselves – yet God remained faithful to His promises for their offspring.

“…This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,
‘I will give it to your offspring’…”

Deuteronomy 34:4 ESV

I want to take this page today to offer up a prayer for my children and to the offspring that the Lord will give me through each of them.

Heavenly Father, Being a mother is a high calling and privilege. It is an honor to carry a child in the womb, to birth a helpless little baby, and to bring it up day after day in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. I have often fallen short, so I ask You to cover my shortcomings with Your grace and wisdom.

Bless my children. Bless the spouses that You have provided (and will provide) for them. Bless the children that they will bear, along with their children’s children, the children I may never see with my own eyes or hold in my arms, but who will walk in the legacy that my husband and I are leaving behind.

Father, I don’t ask for physical or financial blessings. Rather, I ask You for spiritual blessings – the blessings of faith, wisdom, righteousness, peace, and joy – founded on their trust in You. I ask for deep and abiding relationships between the mothers and their children, the fathers and their children, and especially between the husband and his wife, because these relationships point to You – Your faithfulness, Your kindness, Your integrity.

I pray that my family line will be full of servant-leaders, humble men and women willing to sacrifice their own comfort for the good of others and for the glory of Your Name. May the light of Christ shine out of them, that others will be drawn to You through their life and testimony.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Perfect Example and Perfect Savior, I pray. Amen.

Find us Faithful – Gaither, Steve Green
Great is Thy Faithfulness / My Redeemer is Faithful and True – Getty, Steven Curtis Chapman

A Prayer for My Children and Grandchildren – from the book of Philippians – 2025 Day 189

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8; Philippians 1-4

As our children grow and even start families of their own, our role as prayer warrior grows, too!

Do you have children? Grandchildren? Make it your ambition and joy to pray for them.

Heavenly Father, I lift my family before You. Bless them with Your grace and peace.  Make us partners in sharing the gospel. Begin – and complete – Your good work in them. May their love abound more and more day by day, with all knowledge and discernment, that they may know what is excellent and true, and so be found pure and blameless when Christ returns. I pray that they will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of Your name.

I pray that they will have confidence and boldness to share the truth of the gospel without fear. May the manner of their lives be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether we are together or apart, help us to stand firm in one spirit, having one mind, that we might strive mightily and fearlessly side by side, spreading the good news of salvation by faith wherever we go.

I pray that each member of my family would be humble in heart and mind, free from selfish ambition or conceit, looking out not only for their own interests, but also for the interests of others, counting others more significant than themselves. Make them into the image of Christ who humbled Himself from the beginning to the end of His life.

May they do all things without grumbling or complaining, children of God without blemish, shining brightly in the midst of a dark, twisted world, holding fast to the Word of Life.

I pray that they would rejoice in the Lord in all things, forgetting the things that lie in their past, and pressing on toward Jesus Christ, their greatest treasure and prize. Keep their lives from anxiety, worry, and fear. May they be filled with gratitude, praying always and about everything, that Your perfect peace will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

I pray that their lives would be kept free from idolatry, that their minds would be fixed on eternal matters and that they would remember that their citizenship is in heaven. Help them to be discerning and to think about what they’re thinking about. Teach them that great secret of contentment, so that they can be joyful in plenty or in want, for they trust that they can do whatever You’ve called them to do through Jesus Christ who gives them strength. Supply their every physical and spiritual need according to Your immeasurable riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Finally, Father, I pray that I might be a godly example for them, that they might put into practice what they have learned and heard and seen in my own life. Make my life a fragrant offering, a living sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to You. You are worthy.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and our Lord, I pray. Amen.

Philippians Chapter 1 – IC The Garden
Philippians 4 – Celebrate God – Project of Love

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

Everyone Whose Heart Stirs Them – Exodus 35 – 2025 Day 136

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in Two Years: Psalm 106, Exodus 35

“All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD.”

Exodus 35:29 ESV

God had called Bezalel and Oholiab by name, giving them special skills and abilities to craft the beautiful tabernacle for the worship of the Lord, yet God also had a purpose for the entire congregation. Every man and every woman in the whole nation, everyone whose heart stirred them, everyone whose spirit moved them, were invited to contribute to the creation of the tabernacle.

Do you have some blue, purple, or scarlet yarn? How about some rams’ skins or goats’ skins, goats’ hair or fine linen? God needs you.

Do you have anything made of bronze, silver, or gold? How about some stones, spices, or oils? God needs you.

They didn’t have to have
any particular skills.
They just needed to have
willing hearts.

What do you have to offer Him? A house? A job? An education? A child? A marriage? These are all gifts from Him, and He can use them all. Are you willing?

Heavenly Father, every hour of every day is a gift from You. My life is a gift, but so is my stuff. Every piece of furniture, every article of clothing. Every room in my house. Every child around my table. My husband sitting next to me. I offer them back to You. Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Stir my heart. Move my spirit. For Your glory and praise. Amen.

My Worth is Not in What I Own –
Keith and Kristyn Getty
Take my Life and Let it Be – Norton Hall

Life is Short – Job 20 – 2025 Day 70

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 20, Psalm 38

Do you not know this from of old,
since man was placed on earth, that the exulting of the wicked
is short,
and the joy of the godless
but for a moment?
Though his height mount up
to the heavens,
and his head reach to the clouds, he will perish forever
like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

Job 20:4-7 ESV

Heavenly Father, remind me how fleeting the treasures and pleasures of this world are! They’re all going to burn up. I can’t take them with me.

But you remain. Your word remains. The treasures stored up in heaven, the work done for you, for your kingdom, for your name and glory, they will remain. Teach me to number my days that I may have a heart of wisdom.

In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

Take My Life and Let it Be

Being Fruitful and Multiplying – 2025 Day 34 (Genesis 8:1-9:17)

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 3, Genesis 8:1-9:17

“And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.'” – Genesis 9:1

Despite God’s recognition that the “intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” God commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. In fact, God repeated this command a second time. (Genesis 8:21, 9:1, 7)

Note that this command was directed at the men in the family, not the women. Women can’t have babies on their own. We need willing husbands in order to bear children. Both husbands and wives should be willing vessels for the blessings that the Lord wants to send to us.

Sisters, let’s not be like fools who think, say, or live like there is no God. Rather, let us receive with open hands, homes, and wombs the children that the Lord desires for us. As Christians, we should recognize the incredible gift that every child is, whether by adoption or conception.

We must also be fruitful and multiply the kingdom of God by training up our children in the way they should go. As mothers, we can be powerful disciple-makers, bringing our children to the throne of God morning, noon, and night. Don’t underestimate the incredible impact of a wise, humble, praying mother.

As my years of child bearing have ended, and this new season of grandmothering has begun, I pray that I will continue living a fruitful, multiplying life – encouraging and serving my children as parents, teaching my grandchildren the ways of the Lord, and making disciples in my everyday life.

How can you lead a fruitful, multiplying life? I’d love to hear your comments.

Let’s pray together.

Heavenly Father,

You are a good Father who loves to give good gifts to Your children. Thank you for the precious gift it is to be a mother.

I pray that you would bless each of my children with children in Your perfect timing.

For those who are single, I pray that they will use this time to glorify You with their minds and lives, making the most of these days.

For those who are married and anxiously praying for a child, I pray that You will help them to wait well. I ask You, Lord, to give them children – by conception or adoption – fill their homes with the next generation of disciples of Christ.

For those who are married and in the thick of motherhood, I pray they will learn to cast all their cares on You, fully trusting that You care for them. I pray that You would make them fruitful and multiply and to receive each gift that you have ordained for them. I pray their husbands would desire the gift of children and be faithful servant leaders.

For those empty nesters and grandmothers, I pray they will use their time well, living reverent lives, teaching and serving well the younger women. Make them prayer warriors and arm-lifters and godly examples for those who are following in their footsteps.

In the wonderful name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Click here for more information on reading through the Bible in Two Years.