Category: Homeschooling

With Your Sons and Daughters – Exodus 10-11 – 2025 Day 118

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 88, Exodus 10-11

When I was a teenager I was afraid of  babies. No joke. I didn’t know how to handle them and I worried that I’d hurt them or something. I wanted to adopt all my children so I could get them when they were say about 2 or 3 years old, already potty trained and talking.

Now as a mom of four – including one who was adopted as a 6-month-old – I see the incredible value of the training that happens even in those first two years. Even the youngest child is learning how the world works. They are learning that their parents love them and take care of them – or not. They are learning that they are not the center of the world – or they are. They are learning to be patient, obedient, and humble – or not.

I am certain that God has a plan and purpose in having babies be born helpless and needy. God could’ve designed new lives to begin already grown and wise, but He didn’t. God intentionally places children into families for the good of the children … and the parents.

So, it’s no surprise that Pharaoh doesn’t want the Hebrew children to go worship with their parents, and it’s no surprise that Moses insists that they must.

So Moses and Aaron
were brought back to Pharaoh.
And he said to them,
“Go, serve the LORD your God.
But which ones are to go?”

Moses said, “We will go with
our young and our old.
We will go with our
sons and daughters
and with our flocks and herds,
for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”

Exodus 10:8-9 ESV

Don’t underestimate the importance of taking your children to church, of leading them in worship at home, and of including them in your family holiday celebrations. Your toddlers and preschoolers are learning more than you may realize.

Heavenly Father, we pray that we would be faithful stewards of the children that You have entrusted to us. I pray that we would train them up in the way that they should go and that when they are old they will not depart from it. Help us as parents to have obedient hearts, obeying You rather than the world. Lord, You love children and You have placed them into families on purpose. Help us to include them in our family’s worship at home and at church. Help us not to underestimate what our children are learning and the eternal impact that these young ones can have for Your kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

My children reciting Psalm 139 from memory

Psalm 148:12-13 ESV — Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.

Deuteronomy 31:10-13 ESV — And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Proverbs 22:6 ESV — Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 ESV — And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Psalm 78:2-7 ESV — I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

All Creatures of our God and King – Getty

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Please, Lord, Send Someone Else! – Exodus 3-4 – 2025 Day 114

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 84, Exodus 3-4

Have you ever felt inadequate? Incapable? Inept? Have you ever felt like there was no way you could accomplish the task that has been set before you? Maybe you feel that way right now.

Maybe you can relate all too well to Moses’s words,

“Oh, my Lord,
please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:13 ESV

As a new homeschooling mom, I struggled for years with those kinds of feelings. “God, I can’t do this! It’s too hard! I don’t know what I’m doing! I’m going to ruin them! They’d be better off at school!”

So, every spring I’d make an appointment to go visit the local Christian school, and my husband and I would reconsider sending our kids there. But every spring we instead chose to recommit ourselves to the task that the Lord had given us to disciple our children at home.

This spring marks my 23rd and final year homeschooling. In 25 days, my youngest son will walk across the stage and receive his homeschool diploma. To God be the glory. The Lord has grown both my skills and my faith.  He remains faithful even when I am faithless, and His power is made perfect in my weakness. The Lord has given me and my family what we need to complete the tasks that He has entrusted to us.

But, friends, what if I had chosen to send my kids to school? What if I had complained and complained and complained and refused the task that the Lord had called me to? What then?

Well, here’s what I think — I think God would’ve sent someone else. Like God sent Aaron to help complete the job, God would’ve sent someone else to teach my children. My kids would’ve learned to read and write and spell under someone else’s instruction, and I would’ve missed the blessing of having discipled my kids hour after hour and day after day and year after year.

My children would’ve missed the blessings of figuring out how to get along with each other. My children would’ve missed the blessings of doing chores together and memorizing the Bible together and singing hymns off-key together. But they would’ve gotten through school somehow.

God would’ve made a way, because He is God and my children are His workmanship.

Listen, friends, if you don’t tell that person at the grocery store about Jesus, God will send someone else. If you don’t share the gospel with that lady sitting next to you at your son’s Little League baseball game, God will send someone else. If you don’t raise your children to trust in Christ, God will send someone else. I’m walking proof of that.

  • Jonah tried to run, but God sent a whale to change his mind.
  • Pharaoh tried to kill all the Hebrew baby boys, but Moses was spared.
  • Saul tried to wipe out the Christians, but God chose to open his eyes and open his mouth and make him His mouthpiece for the gospel.

God’s purposes will stand. No purpose of His can be thwarted. (Job 42:2) You aren’t that important. You aren’t that powerful. You can’t stand in God’s way.

But, friends, the joys and blessings that you’ll miss!!! Oh, to look back on the fullness of the last 23 years! To remember how the Lord carried us. To see how the Lord worked in me and through me, growing me and growing my kids! I would’ve missed it.

To see the people that you’ve discipled growing in their faith, there’s nothing like it. I don’t want to miss fulfilling God’s calling … and neither do you!

So, friends, let me encourage you: don’t be like Moses, complaining that you can’t do it and begging God to send someone else. Rather, cling to the words of Mordecai to Esther,

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

Ephesians 2:10 ESV — For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Isaiah 14:27 ESV — For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Daniel 4:35 ESV — all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Proverbs 19:21 ESV — Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Heavenly Father,

What a blessing it is to know my life has purpose! What a blessing it is to be Your child and to serve you! What a blessing it is to be Your workmanship and to know that You have prepared good works for me to do, and that I can walk in them by Your Spirit at work in me.

I pray that I will be faithful to accomplish each of the tasks that You have given me to do. I pray that my eyes will be fixed on You, the One who is able to do far more abundantly than I could ever ask or imagine! You are the God of the impossible.

Help me not to trust in my own strength or my own abilities, but to trust in You who is able to do all things. It is in the mighty name of Jesus Christ that I pray, Amen.

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Psalm 84 I’m Home – Shane and Shane
Better is One Day – Matt Redman

Well done, Good and Faithful Servant – Matthew 25 – 2025 Day 109

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 78, Matthew 25

The Lord blessed our family with four children over a span of eleven and a half years. I was a busy homeschooling mom trying my best to manage a very busy household. One way that I did this was with “chore charts” assigning various chores to each child in our household.

My oldest daughter was responsible for so many tasks around the home, from cooking and cleaning to helping with her younger siblings. My youngest son had much smaller jobs like feeding the dog or putting away the silverware.

Did I assign them the same jobs? Certainly not. Was it unjust? Absolutely not. They had different skill levels, so they were given correspondingly different jobs.

Yet, yhey were equally praised for a job well done and equally reprimanded for a job poorly done, regardless of whether they were supposed to clean the entire bathroom or merely empty the trash can.

Likewise, our perfectly wise Lord gives each of His children a different quantity of talents, but they are eligible for equal praise. To the ones who invested their talents well, whether apportioned two or five, the Lord says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:20, 22) The one who invested well his five talents did not receive greater praise, nor did the one who invested well his two talents receive lesser praise.

The Lord is angry with the worthless servant, not because he only had one talent, but because he did not invest his one talent well. The one who received only one talent chose to hide it in the ground, saying that he knew that the master was a hard man, “reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed,” (Matthew 25:24) Surely this man doesn’t truly know the character of his Master, for if he did he would never utter such words.

Good servants know their Master, that He is good and generous to give His servants talents with which to serve Him.

When I was an atheist, I lived my life serving no one but me. I recognized no Master of my destiny except me.

Now, as a follower of Jesus Christ, it is a  gift to serve my Lord and to know that I was created on purpose for a purpose. It is good news to be God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

What talents has the Lord entrusted to you?

Has He blessed you with children, a house, a skill, a passion, a testimony … all of the above?

How can you put them to good use for your master?

Heavenly Father, You are a good Father who delights in giving good gifts to Your children, and You are a good Master in giving us, Your servants, fruitful tasks to accomplish. It is a joy for our lives to have meaning and purpose. It is a joy to serve you here on earth, and it is a joy to look forward to that day we will enter into Your kingdom and hear the words we long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the Name of our Gracious Master Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

Seeing yourself as a steward of your time, talents, treasures, and testimony

Come to Jesus and He will Give you Rest – Matthew 11 – 2025 Day 96

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 64, Matthew 11

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:28-29 ESV

I often find myself laboring in my own strength. I often feel heavy laden. I often feel tired and worn out and exhausted and in need of rest. How about you?

Yet, if I were sitting across the table from you and said, “I’m so tired. I really need some rest.” And your answer to me was, “Oh, sister, I hear you! I’ve got an idea. How about you take my yoke upon your shoulders? That will make your life easier.”

After laughing aloud 😂 (and thinking you must have taken lessons from Job’s friends in giving bad advice), I hope I’d remember Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ,” and then I might give you a very sincere “thank you” and proceed to ask you for some help with a variety of household tasks, like say cooking dinner or vacuuming. It certainly is a blessing to have friends to plow alongside, to labor in the field with. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two for a reason. We need friends to help us along this road of life. But, unfortunately, none of you can truly relieve my burden, for you have your own burdens to bear.

  • Only Jesus can carry my yoke for me.
  • Only Jesus can give rest to my soul.
  • Only Jesus can make my burden truly light.

Here I am, Lord. I’ve come. Thank You for the invitation. I need you. I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet. I cast all my cares upon You. I know that all my striving is for nothing. I trust You. You are the only place my soul can find rest. Your yoke is easy, and Your burden is light because You are the Almighty God, the Ruler of the universe, who sees me and knows me by name. My soul finds rest in You and You alone. Amen.

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Come Unto Jesus – Laura Story
I Cast All my Cares – Psalty

“Were You There?” Studying Creation Science – Job 38-39 – 2025 Day 83

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Job 38-39; Psalm 51

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.”

Job 38:1-4 ESV

“Were you there?” is a question that young earth creation scientist Ken Ham encourages people to ask when discussing the theory of evolution. The reality is that no man has witnessed the evolution of molecules to man, because it didn’t happen.

Yet, no man witnessed God creating the earth, sun, moon, and stars. I wasn’t there and neither were you. But there was someone who was there: God. And God has given us an account of the events of creation in the Holy Scriptures.

God’s Word is true and trustworthy. I hope you will put your faith in God and in every word that He has preserved for us. Take some time to study the science behind the creationist worldview. The Christian young earth creationist worldview is scientifically reasonable and defendable. Studying it will strengthen your faith and help you to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you!

For those of you who are parents, please invest the efforts necessary to teach your children about creation science. Young minds are impressionable. They will either be shaped by a godless culture or a god-centered one. If you’re afraid to indoctrinate your children into the Christian faith, just know that the world is busy indoctrinating them for you. I know. I was there.

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, You were there when the foundations of the earth were laid by the power of Your Word. You were there when the sea burst forth for the first time. You were there when the sun, moon, and stars were hung in the vast space of our universe. Before the beginning of time, You were there.

Thank You, Father, for preserving Your Word for all of these years, so that we could know You. Thank You for speaking to Job and for speaking to us. You know all things, and by Your will they have come into being.  Help us to trust You in all things – in the daily stresses of life and in training up our children in the way they should go.

In the powerful name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Suggested Creation Science Resources:

Creatures that Defy Evolution video – This is just the first video of a series.

It Couldn’t Just Happen book – Aimed at ages 10-14, but I found it so profitable for me, too.

Answers in Genesis – A website full of great creation information.

Creation – This link is especially for Answers in Genesis’ Creation specific info.

Jonathan Park Audio Dramas – My kids grew up on these!

Creation Museum – A great place to visit and learn in person! Our family went over ten years ago – I think it’s time to go again!

Noah’s Ark Replica – This is located near the creation museum. It wasn’t built yet when we went to the creation museum. Like I said, we need to go again!

Creation Website in Chinese – For all my Chinese speaking friends!

The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel – For me as an atheist, faith in an invisible God was harder than faith in Jesus as God’s Son. The Case for Faith was instrumental in growing my faith. I also love More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, but it isn’t so focused on creation.

Ken Ham – Bill Nye Debate – Sometimes how you speak is almost as important as what you say. The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but patient and kind. Pay attention not only to what is spoken, but how. The ultimate goal isn’t to win the debate. The ultimate goal is to win the soul and ultimately this is in God’s hands. Trust Him.

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Creation Sings – Stuart Townend

Your Life is Not Your Own. Thoughts from the Life of Joseph – 2025 Day 57 (Genesis 49-50)

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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 25, Genesis 49-50

His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”

Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:18-21 ESV

Joseph understood that his life was not his own. He recognized that his life was too be lived in service to his fellow man and his God. Whether refusing the advanced of his boss’s wife, interpreting dreams, obeying his father, or providing for the needs of the Egyptians or the brothers who has sold him into slavery, his life was lived as an offering back to God. Can we say the same?

Is your body “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God”? (Romans 12:2 ESV)

Do you see your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have received from God, such that “you are not your own,” … that you will live to “glorify God in your body”? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)

If your answer is “no,” let me make two simple, but not simple, suggestions:

  1. You can’t live what you don’t believe. If you don’t believe God’s Word … if you don’t believe that Jesus is the perfect, sinless God-man, the spotless Lamb who died for your sins and was raised to life again … if you don’t believe that God is good and all-knowing and all-powerful over all things, then you won’t be able to trust God enough to surrender your life to Him. Start there. Start by simply reading His Word each day, while asking Him to help you in your unbelief.
  2. You can’t give what you don’t have. If you don’t belong to God, if you’re not filled with His Holy Spirit, then you simply don’t have the power to live for Him. Surrender your life now to God. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn away from your sins and follow Him with an obedient spirit. Ask Him to change you from the inside out and fill you with His Spirit.

Please pray with me.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for coming after me while I was lost in my own sins. Thank You for giving us the book of Genesis, that we can know how the world began, but also that we can know the true stories of ordinary men and women like Abraham and Sarah and Joseph who possessed extraordinary faith.

Help us to trust You more, to believe that nothing is too hard for You, that You have good plans for us and that You have a purpose for our lives. Make us pure and holy vessels of Your Spirit. Make us living offerings for Your glory. We love You. We trust You. Help us to love You more and trust You more, for You are worthy.

In the name of Jesus Christ who is our Savior and our Lord we pray. Amen.

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“I am Not my Own”
Keith + Kristen Getty, Skye Peterson

Three Brothers and a Prayer for our Children – 2025 Day 35 (Genesis 9:18-10:33)

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 4, Genesis 9:18-10:32

“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.”

– Genesis 9:22-23 ESV

Earlier this week we read about two brothers: Cain and Abel. Today we read about three brothers: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, from whom every man and woman alive today are descended.

Three sons born of the same mom and dad. Three sons of righteous Noah. Three sons who saw the world destroyed in a cataclysmic flood. Three sons who survived in an ark built by their faithful father who heard from God and obeyed.

Yet, one son became a snitch who dishonored his dad while the other two sons chose humility and honor.

Why?

Why do some of our children walk blamelessly, doing right and speaking truth while others slander and do evil?

Why do some honor those who fear the Lord while others honor the vile and wicked?

I wish I had an answer but I don’t. What I do know, though, is that God is good and all-knowing and all-powerful. He has a plan and purpose through it all and He is working behind the scenes in His perfect timing and wisdom to accomplish good.

Like A.W. Tozer wrote in his classic book, Knowledge of the Holy, “All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done: a better way to do them could not be imagined.”

If you struggle with this, too, I suggest you read Romans 9 which addresses some of this issue.

Let’s pray together for all our children.

Heavenly Father,

We know that You alone are always good, always wise, and always in charge. We lay our questions and struggles at Your feet. We choose to trust You in things that we don’t understand.

We also choose to lay our children at Your feet, trusting You to work for their good. Please, Father, save our children from their own selfish pride and sinfulness. Open their eyes to see You and to see their need for salvation.

We pray that You will make us godly examples for our children. Keep us from drunkenness. Help us to be sober-minded and self-controlled. We want to be filled with Your Holy Spirit, walking by faith and living pure and holy lives.

Please protect our children from pride and jealousy and strife. Guide them to the truth that You bless the meek and humble. Remind them that love covers a multitude of sins.

In the Name of our Merciful and Wise Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

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

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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.

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The Gift of Being Created to be a Helper – 2025 Day 30 (Genesis 1-2)

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 30; Genesis 1-2

I like to read Genesis one and two together because I see Genesis chapter two as an expansion of the account of the creation of man in chapter 1. There’s so much in these two chapters that I read both of them together, two days in a row.

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

– Genesis 2:18-24 ESV

God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone, so He wanted to give Adam a helper who was fit for him. Not just any helper would do. He didn’t just need the strength of an ox or the beauty of a peacock or the loyalty of a dog. No, Adam needed a suitable helper, designed especially for man, and so God gave him a woman.

Being a helper is a gift to both the man and the woman. The man needs the woman … And the woman needs the man. They both have been given very important jobs.

God always has such perfect timing. When I initially wrote this devotional in January of 2023, I was visiting my parents hundreds of miles away from my husband, and I thought about how much my husband misses me when I’m gone. Yes, he misses me cooking and cleaning for him. Yes, he misses me making his morning coffee. Whether he missed them or not, I knew he needed my help in the little reminders I give and the times I’m an extra set of hands in the projects he’s working on. But I was especially struck by the thought that what he misses most is my company, simply having someone to talk to and share life with.

It is good to be needed and missed.

It’s a blessing to be created to be a helper.

Now, in 2025, as I reflect again on Genesis 1-2, my husband and I just celebrated our 30th anniversary, our daughter just got engaged, and our youngest son is preparing to graduate from homeschooling through high school and go away to college this fall.

I’m again reminded how careful we most be to not allow our children to take our husband’s place. Children are made from the seed of their father, not from his rib … or yours.

Children are created to
leave their parents,
but husbands and wives are created to become one flesh until they are parted by death.

Sisters, don’t leave your husband in the dust while you’re attending to your babies. Those babies are going to grow up and move away, but your husband will be by your side for the rest of his life. He needs you, and you need to be needed. Make sure you keep your children and your husband in their rightful places in your hearts, minds, and lives.

I speak from personal experience. This is hard, but it can be done. Here are a few ideas I’ve learned (and am still learning) over my 30 years of marriage.

  • Schedule regular dates with your husband to keep those flames of friendship burning.
  • Look for something small that you can do to serve your husband every day – make him a cup of coffee or write him a little note or send him a text over lunch.
  • Express to your husband (and others) how grateful you are for him. Let them know how much they mean to you and how much you value them.
  • Keep a careful watch over your thought life. Complaining thoughts turn into complaining attitudes and complaining words. Nothing works more powerfully against your marriage than having a complaining spirit. When those thoughts (true though they might be) come into your mind, grab hold of them and replace them with the truths of hope and grace found at the foot of the cross.
  • Make praying for your husband a priority. Ask God to bless him and guide him. Check out this video to a wonderful prayer for your husband – from his head to his feet.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You so much for the gift that my husband is. Thank You for making me his helper. Thank You for making him such that he needed me. And thank You for making me fit for him.

Help me to recognize the blessing it is to be needed. I pray that I would make my husband a priority in my life. Help me to do him good and not harm all the days of his life. Help me to submit myself willingly and cheerfully to him, and to trust You, Lord, in the process.

Father, help me not to grow weary of doing good and to trust that in due season I will reap a harvest if I do not lose heart.

I pray that You would bless my husband with every spiritual blessing according to the riches of Your glory in Christ Jesus. I pray that You would take care of him physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Give him the strength and wisdom that he needs to lead our family and give him the humility that he needs to turn to You in his weakness.

I pray also for my married children and their spouses. Make the men servant leaders and the women responsive helpers. Give them a deep love for Your Word and Your church. Show them their need for a savior and grant them the humility they need to live daily in love with the sinner they married.

I pray also for my not-yet-married children and their someday-spouses. Help them to guard their hearts, for they are the wellspring of life. Protect them, body, mind, and spirit, for Your glory and their good. May these days and years be used to prepare them to be a humble leader or a humble helper, to be fit for one another and for Your kingdom.

In the good and gracious name of Jesus Christ , my Savior and my Lord, I pray.

Amen.

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

A New Commandment – 2025 Day 13 (John 13)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 13, John 13

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

John 13:34 ESV

When Jesus knew that His hour had come to give up His life and return to his Father, He didn’t look to a bucket list of “Top 100 Things to Do Before You Die.” No, he washed His disciples’ feet. The most important thing to Him before His death was to leave an example of true love for His followers.

He gives them this “new commandment” – a very old commandment actually, but made even more difficult by the addition of “JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” It’s really, really hard to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) This takes supernatural power. But to love others sacrificially as Jesus did – washing your friends’ feet, your students’ feet, even your betrayer’s feet – and even to lay down your own life for someone else, this is impossible apart from being born again, having a new will and new power working in you. (Philippians 2:13)

Will you please pray with me for the Lord to give you this strength?

Heavenly Father, I confess to you how hard it is for me to love others as myself, how totally impossible it is for me to love them as you have loved me. Help me to remember that what is impossible for man is possible for God. Nothing is impossible for You. I need You to give me both the strength and the desire!

Help me to remember that You loved me while I was a sinner, your enemy. You ran after me while I was running away from You. Help me to feel – and express – that kind of love for others, even when I don’t feel like it. Help me to pursue others like You pursued me.

Help me to consider others more highly than myself. Help me to serve my family and my friends, people who love me. Help me to serve my children and my students, people who are under my authority. Help me to serve the stranger and alien and even my enemy, remembering that You loved me when I was a stranger and alien and even Your enemy.

I need Your help. Please. In the strong and kind name of Jesus my Savior and Lord, I pray, Amen.

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