Charlene Smith.com

I read an article recently that truly blessed me. It explained that the Hebrew word, Avodah (Ah’-voe-dah) actually has two meanings, to work and also to worship. It got me thinking about the limited understanding I had about work and worship. The two are not mutually exclusive.  It is possible for your work to be an expression of your love and adoration for God.  Sure we can worship God by singing songs, dancing to Him, living godly lives and reading the bible, but do we consider the way we work as a form of worship?

Whether your work is outside the home or you are a “keeper of the home”, it should be done to and for the glory of God. It makes sense that you should enjoy that work if that worship is to received properly. It would seem impossible to be able to worship God through your work if it is something from which you have no joy.

Have you ever experienced when someone is doing something for you but you can tell they don’t want to or just don’t have any joy in doing it for you? I sometimes want to say, “Just forget it, if you are going to have that attitude!” How do you think God feels as we worship Him through our work?

Recently, I was reminded that the “work” I had volunteered for was not glorifying God. I murmured and complained about broken promises, the lack of resources, and how much time it was taking up. I felt convicted about the lack of peace and joy in this situation. I began to ask the Lord to help me with my attitude.

I began to see that this was a season where I was being stretched and instructed on how to deal with situations that don’t quite go the way I think they should. Instead of concentrating on the negative things, I began to focus on the positive things I could bring to the situation. In the end, I learned that all I needed was an attitude adjustment. Not only was I able to complete the task joyfully, others expressed their appreciation and prayerfully God was glorified.

What about you? Can you say that the work you do shows your love, respect and reverence for God? Why not pray the following prayer just in case?

Father God,

I thank You for where I am right now. Help me to have the right attitude for what I am doing in this season of my life. If I am not doing the work You called me to, please direct me in the correct path for my life. Help me to see the good that I can bring to all that I do. May all I do, say and think glorify You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tags: attitude, work, worship

It’s been a minute since my last post. The last couple of weeks have been interesting for me. I feel I am in the midst of a transition. Change is good but isn’t always comfortable. I am uncomfortable because I know I need to shift from my own understanding, logic and ideas and allow the Lord to lead and guide me. I know there are things and people that I must let go of in order to bear the proper fruit in my life. The kind of fruit that produces life.

Letting go is not particularly easy for me. I used to be a pack rat (calling those things that be not as though they were). I have stacks of magazines, old bills, notes on slips of paper, objects from years past that I will probably never use again. I won’t even mention all the stuff that is stored on my computer!

I always believed that it was good to keep things because you never know when you might need it again. Well, I have come to realize that if I have not even looked at some of these things in 3 years (the time I’ve been in my current house), then it is time to go. The clutter has to go!

The clutter in my head has to go as well. I want my mind to be free and clear. Free from the worry, the fear and mess from the past. No longer will I hold onto the memories of past hurts, unresolved issues and unmet needs. I want all the Father has for me and that means getting rid of the things that are hindering that from happening.

I know the solution. I must go back to the basics. The basics of spending time with the Father, prayer and fasting. Abiding in the Father. Why do we make things more difficult than they need to be? Why do we think we have progressed past the basics? These are the foundation upon which everything else in our life is built. This foundation produces the fruit:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself unless it abides in the vine; neither can you,
unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)

How about you? What kind of fruit have you been producing lately? Why not pray the following prayer so that God can begin producing the fruit He desires from your life?

Father God,

Please forgive me for trying to produce fruit from my own efforts, intelligence and ideas. No longer do I want to produce the works of the flesh. I now realize that real fruit is only produced from abiding in You.  Help me to seek, wait on and rely on You only. Thank You for loving and forgiving me daily, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tags: abiding in Christ, prayer, transition

In my last post I mentioned some of the resources I’ve used in the past to help me identify my spiritual gifts.  Just recently, I found another excellent online assessment.  I particularly like this free spiritual gifts analysis because of the detailed explanations given about what the gifts are, how they can be effectively used and additional resources to further expand your knowledge about your newly discovered gifts.

Why not check it out?  It requires a quick registration in order to send the results via email and has a newsletter to which you can subscribe.

Tags: spiritual gifts analysis

I have a strong desire to get in “my lane” with regards to what God has called me to do.  I know that I am called to be at home ministering to my husband and children.  I know that I am called to homeschool my children. But as I considered how the Lord would use me outside my household, I wasn’t quite sure.

Seek God

As I began to ask the Lord to reveal to me how He wanted to use me, I felt Him leading me to concentrate on my strengths.  I didn’t realize how challenging this would become.   I had worked so long building up my areas of weakness that I found it difficult to nail down my strengths.  As a start, I began reading books about spiritual gifts.  

Search Within

One of the first books that really helped me identify my spiritual gifts was, [amazonify]0800791088::text:charlenesmith-20:::Discover Your God Given Gifts[/amazonify].  For the first time, I was able to see myself through God’s eyes. I realized that there was a reason why I responded to things the way I did. Everything started to make sense.  No longer did I feel the need to compare myself to anyone else because I realized that it takes all of us to fulfill God’s plan. It’s an excellent book and I refer back to it all the time. 

I have since gotten [amazonify]0800791517::text:charlenesmith-20:::Discover Your Children’s Gifts[/amazonify] now that the children are getting old enough to see their strengths developing. Both books help you identify the gifts in yourself as well as others.

Recently, I found this quick, little Spiritual Gifts Test that confirmed what I knew to be my gifts. No test is perfect, but I think that it gives you something with which to start.

How many people have no clue what their God-given gifts are? How many people are not serving the Kingdom because they don’t know where they fit in? I don’t believe you can have true joy nor serve the Lord effectively as possible, until you know what your gifts are.

Pray

Why not pray the following prayer and then take the test so you take joy in who God created you be and begin to use those spiritual gifts He has given you?

Heavenly Father,

Your Word says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  It also says that only good gifts come from You. Therefore You have created me just the way I am for this specific time.  I believe you have a plan for my life and I want to come in agreement with that plan. I desire to use the spiritual gifts You have given me to bring You glory and for the good of the Kingdom.  Reveal my gifts to me and give me the courage to step out in faith to begin to use them, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tags: Discover Your Children's Gifts, Discover Your God Given Gifts, spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts test, strengths

Are there things in your life that are hindering you from living the peaceful life God provides for you? Peace doesn’t just happen, we have to go after it. Really, we have to fight for it.  There are ways, however, that we can be proactive in protecting our peace.  Think of the times in the past when you  lacked peace.  What caused you to feel that way? Once you are able to identify those times, you will be better able to recognize when they appear and nip them in the bud before they can completely manifest.  Here are some of the peace stealers I have recognized in my own life.

Overcommitting

I attribute this to my over-estimating my ability to multi-task.  I used to pride myself on being able to do alot of things, all at once.  While it may be possible to do 10 things at once, I have found that I can’t do all these things in excellence?  I now concentrate on only doing as many things at a time that I can do well.

Lack of Planning

I don’t have peace when I am rushing.  For example, church services are the same time every week. Knowing that, why do I wait to the last minute before getting ready?  You would think I would have learned that it takes more than 30 minutes to get myself and 3 children dressed and ready to go. When I rush, that’s when one of the kids happens to spill something all over their clothes, one child can’t find a shoe, or you happen to get behind someone on the road that has no specific time at all to get where they are going. It’s impossible to operate in peace when I don’t plan ahead.

People Pleasing

By this I mean that my drive to be accepted by and please others is so strong that it affects the choices and decisions I make.   I am sensitive now that if I am asked to doing something and my mouth is saying one thing while my head is saying “man, I don’t want to do this”, I need to step back and consider what I am doing.  James 1:8 says, “…a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” I realize now that it is okay to say no to others.  

Worry/Fear/Dread

I group these together because they tend to hang out with each other.  It is impossible for peace and worry (fear or dread) to co-exist.  When I am losing sleep, dreaming about an issue, talking negatively about something I need to do, I know I need to pull out the Word.  I lay the issue on the altar in prayer and then I begin to meditate on the following scripture John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Not Spending Enough Time With the Lord

This is a biggie.  I truly believe that this is the main issue that causes me to lose peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  When I don’t spend the time I should with the Lord, I can sense the loss of peace.  I now realize that it is essential to spend time with Him in the morning when I wake up, talk to him throughout the day and end the day thanking Him for keeping me that day.  It is by spending time with Him that I can get built up, strengthened and receive the answers I need to my pressing issues. Prov 3:2 says that by keeping His teachings in your memory and his rules in your heart will give you increase of days, years of life and peace.

So what are the peace stealers in your life?  Take some time and think about those things that seem to always irritate you, cause you to lose sleep at night or hinder you from being the best witness you could be.  Why not pray the following prayer and begin your journey towards a peaceful life?  I guarantee that your life will begin to change with the help of the Holy Spirit!

Father God,

I desire to walk in the peace that Jesus died on the cross for me to have.  I bind myself to that peace and to a sensitivity to when I am not operating in it.  Help me to identify those peace stealers in my life and give me the strength, courage and commitment to deal with them with the power You have given me.  I turn over all my fears, concerns, my schedule and my life over to You.  I purpose to pursue peace in every area in my life so that I can live in the fullness of life You have given me, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tags: dread, fear, overcommitting, peace, peace stealers, people pleasing, worry

After the post, “How Do You Value Yourself”, I decided to take some time and identify those things that I could really appreciate about myself as it lines up with the Word of God.  

The first thing I realized is that I am a woman of influence.  All of us are. God created us to be this way. Whether you realize it or not, there are people that are being impacted by your life. The things you have accomplished, the way you live your life, the things you say and the wisdom you have acquired, have the potential to profoundly affect the behavior or the choices of others.  

Every day we affect the lives of others such as our husbands, children, friends, co-workers and even strangers on the street.  That smile you gave the person next to you in line at the grocery store, the encouraging word that you gave a girlfriend, the strength you portray before your children as a single mom, all these things influence others in ways you can’t even imagine.

I remember going back home to Virginia last year on vacation.  My husband and I were shopping at a Target store not really looking for anything in particular.  I happened to see a woman with her back to me that had a nice dress on and thought to myself, ”that’s a nice dress, and it looks good on her”‘.  No sooner than I finished the thought, the woman turned around, saw me and screamed, “Charlene!”

Turns out, she was a friend from high school.  I hadn’t seen her in over 20 years!  Or so I thought. I introduced her to my husband and she began telling my husband how much I had inspired her.  She recalled visiting me when I lived in Maryland (over 17 years ago).  At the time, she was questioning whether she could make it on her own.  She said that after talking with me and seeing how I lived, that she decided, “I can do this.  If Charlene can leave Virginia and make it, I can too!”

I honestly don’t remember her visiting me at all.  What was amazing to me was the fact that I had impacted someone else’s life for the better and I hadn’t even tried to.  You can never underestimate the value that is in you to bless someone else.  While I am wondering whether or not I am a good wife, someone within my sphere of influence wants to know how she can become a wife.  While I am concerned about not being the perfect Christian, someone out there just wants to know about Jesus.  I have something of value to give others and so do you. 

Why not pray the following prayer so the the Lord will reveal to you all the goodness He has placed in you:

Father God, 

I believe that I am a woman of influence.  Help me to see myself as You see me.  Please enable me to influence others in ways that help them to become all You have created them to be.  Help me to always build up, encourage, and lift up and keep me from ever tearing anyone down.  May all I do, say, and think win others to You so that when all is said and done, You will get all the glory, honor and praise. Amen.

Tags: woman of influence

I was talking to a girlfriend of mine the other day and we got on the subject of self-worth and how we see ourselves. The thing that stuck out the most about this discussion was how I was determining my worth and how faulty it was. What is self-worth? I looked up the word in the dictionary and found, “the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person; self-esteem; self-respect.” My mission is to correctly identify that value and worth, accept it and use it to the glory of God.

Now, I don’t think I even thought about this seriously before I had children. Back when I was working in Corporate America, I didn’t doubt what value I brought to the world. I equated that value with the pay check, bonuses, promotions and things I was able to obtain. These were tangible things. Hey, I was young, college educated, making good money and I thought I had it goin’ on. It was my world, and everybody else was just living in it.

Fast forward 20 years. I am a stay-at-home wife and mother and have been for over 9 years now. I began homeschooling my 7 year old daughter last year and my 4 year old this year. Never before has this issue of my worth been as questionable as it is in this season of my life. What are the tangible things now that I can grasp onto? How do I know that I made the right choice to come home? How do I know that I am succeeding as a wife and mother? “Am I qualified to homeschool my children?”

I have to say that nine years of not having a paycheck and a “title” has had its toll on my self-esteem.  At times I find myself grasping for something to validate who I am and what I have to offer, whether it is trying to be the perfect homemaker, the prosperous entrepreneur, the good Christian or the infamous Superwoman. Now I realize that my value has to be based on things deeper than external material gains or what others think of me. These factors change. It has to be centered on who God created me to be and what He has called me to do. My pastor always says, “When you know who you are, no one can make you into who they want you to be”. I like that because if I know who I am and what I have to bring the table, no situation or person will be able to make me question that.

So what about you? What are you using to judge the value you offer your family and this world?

Tags: entrepreneur, good Christian, homemaker, Homeschool, mother, self-esteem, self-respect, self-worth, stay-at-home mom, Superwoman, value, wife