Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Here Am I!

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Last night I was talking with another mom about how overwhelmed we both feel. She said, “Do you feel like you need to not make any other commitments and just focus all your attention on your family?” And I had to laugh. Because God recently asked me to make a commitment to serve Him in a large, time-consuming way. When I was first approached about this service, I had every intention of saying no. But I prayed about it, and God went to work on me.

As I prayed, I heard God speaking in a way that I rarely do. (Maybe I should ask Him what He thinks more often.) I didn’t really like what I heard: “When are you going to serve Me sacrificially?” I’ll be honest. I don’t mind little bits of service here and there. Volunteering in the nursery, taking a meal to someone, that kind of thing. But something major? Oh, I can’t do that. You see, I homeschool my (brilliant, self-teaching) son three days a week. I have a baby. (She’s 15 months old. How long do I get to keep calling her a baby?) My husband works weird hours. So surely God wouldn’t ask me to take on something big outside my home.

But He did. And over the next couple of days, I decided to take a giant leap of faith. I have no idea how this commitment will fit into my schedule. I can’t map it out on a nice little spreadsheet, like I’m fond of doing. And I think that’s a good thing. Because if I could map it out, I could think it was all about me. Look at me! I’m SuperMom and SuperChristian–look what I can do!

I have no idea how this is going to work, but I know that God is asking me to do it. So the glory will be all His. I can already see growth happening because my eyes have been taken off myself as I’m looking to Him to see what He’s going to do. I am confident that this service will reap spiritual benefits for me which will overflow to my entire family, and that is exciting.

Are you serving sacrificially? It will look different for everyone.  I didn’t go looking for this, but I should have been.  So I challenge you to stop making excuses and ask God to show you how He wants you to serve, no matter your season of life. You might be surprised what happens!

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”      Isaiah 6:8

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Being a little girl’s mom

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After a few years of experience as a boy mom, they tell me this one’s gonna be a girl.  As excited as I am about buying pink, I’m a little nervous about this.  (And not only because I spent most of my adolescence yelling hurtful things at my own mother.)  The other day when I was praying for my kids and their marriages and future spouses, I was reminded again of the weight of responsibility that comes with raising a girl.  When raising my boys to be godly husbands and fathers, I can point to their father and say, “Look at how hard he works to support his family.  Look at how he helps me when he gets home and cares about spending time with you.”  Thankfully, my boys have a wonderful example to follow.

But this little girl will learn the most about being a wife and mom from MY day-to-day example.  What will she see?  Will she see laziness and selfishness, or diligence and service?  Will she see respect or resentment toward my husband?  Submission or manipulation?  Patience in disciplining my children, or a lack of self-control?  Will she learn to be frugal and wise in her spending habits, or will she see me rationalizing and spending on my own desires?  Will she see me seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, or will she see me seeking after the things of this world?

I am not perfect.  There are sin patterns in my life that I know my daughter will see, and I pray that God will protect her from following when I am a poor example.  I know that God is probably bringing a little girl into my life to provide even more accountability than my sons already have.

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