Life with Sally

My friends, this week, be still and listen to the music of life that is pulsating from the heart of God, create a few moments of peace and I pray you are blessed with joy unexpected even if for a few moments.

As I look back over my life, I realize that much of my blessing right now was due to the fact that somewhere along the way, I learned the value of keeping going, putting one foot in front of the other, remaining faithful through all of the dark passages.

Join me today as I explore the biblical attribute of goodness. It should be a fruit of the Holy Spirit living through us so that in a fallen world, we may live out God's excellent goodness so that others may have a picture of what God's excellent character is like.

Who needs your thoughtfulness, kindness this week? How can you display it to your children? Your friend? Your husband? Choose at least 2 people you might show the kindness of God who are in need of His benevolence.

All of life in a fallen world will require us to be patient, to rule over our impatient spirits, to rule our spirit. We do not walk by emotions, or desires, but we learn to walk in obedience to the path God has given. Then, His reward will be sure and generous.

Peace is the fruit of the spirit. It has changed me again to study and ponder the real depths of Shalom—peace in Hebrew. God wants us to enjoy the fullness of life, quietness, a rest, a sense of flourishing every day because of His reality.

Here I am in London with Joy where we spent a whole day "just being girls." You will have to listen to find out some of what we did.

Joy is not the absence of difficulty or feelings of concern, but resting in the presence of God in the midst of it.

So often, we are caught up in the immediate things—getting the tasks done, housework, homework, bills paid, child discipline. Yet, it is the air our children breathe, the foundations we live by that will attach their hearts to ours and ultimately, potentially, to God.

Join me today on my podcast to hear from my sweet ones about life where they are — and what is going on in their worlds. I am having way too much fun. Happy Tuesday.

Our hearts will not have peace until our bodies have had rest. You matter. You are worth it. You need to take care of yourself.

In order to thrive and heal, you must accept any limitations by faith, trust in His faithfulness each step of the way, and wait for His grace so you can live a faithful story right in the place you find yourself.

Amid invisibility, times when no one sees or knows what is going on in our lives: stresses from challenging children, loneliness of a struggling marriage, cleaning up one more mess amidst the crumbs of our life, God sees us. It is in these places where "loving God with our whole heart" is revealed.

Focusing on love as the lens through which I looked at every person who came my way gave me the understanding of how Jesus lived His life. Love is the oxygen needed in our hearts to be healthy.

We grew from immaturity and selfishness toward humility, grace, selflessness, admitting flaws, straining to understand how to love and forgive. But there had to be anchors that held us fast in storms.

Teatime Discipleship, my phrase for personal, generous hospitality, is about the serving and cherishing one friend offers another. We link arms, to say, "I am here for you" in a world that is draining and isolating. Download for free: The Heart of a Disciple Journal

An important long journey in my life has been to rid myself of guilt for not living up to my ideals, for stumbling, and instead moving in the direction more toward God's unconditional love, grace for me and His gentleness, His grace gives strength for my every day when I choose to rest in Him. May freebie: The Heart of a Disciple Journal

This week, I have had the privilege of hosting the most important people in the world. Dancing, feasting, making memories are more important than any other task.

Today in my podcast, I speak about how to curate a home that creates welcome. Rhythms, routines, traditions, collections and more.

Beauty, love, serving, encouraging, living out my faith in mundane moments of days was my defense against the darkness, my defiance to the world's lies and fears. Special April freebie: 5 Ways To Cultivate Beauty In The Ordinary — download here!

On today's extra podcast episode, Sally and Nathan discuss how what we watch influences us, and what we "should" watch as people who seek to cultivate lives of beauty and goodness.

Impactful moments come with no great spiritual announcement that says, "This is a very spiritual moment." Spiritual influence comes hidden in daily life, whether with a child or grandchild. Special April freebie: 5 Ways To Cultivate Beauty In The Ordinary — download here!

It is only in being intentional and purposeful about your life that you will grow. And in growing, your heart and soul will become more fulfilled, because God's will, which is that we become more "holy" — set apart for His purposes — is indeed good and acceptable and perfect. Special April freebie: 5 Ways To Cultivate Beauty In The Ordinary — download here!

Every year, when darkness seems longest, daffodils spring up first, blooming "with all of their heart," they proclaim, hope is coming, light is on its way!

The way to live well, to flourish on the unique pathway of our lives, is to follow His wisdom, to obey His ways. It must encompass our thoughts, our inner choices, our willingness to live by faith, our commitment to take "Every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," that we will be able to live all of our years well, to see His purposes and ways for us.

Leaving godly disciples is the greatest work we will ever achieve. When I meet Jesus face to face, He will say, "What did you do to invest, love, teach your children the secrets of the kingdom of God so that they will love me and serve me with wholehearted devotion?"

My dear friend, Melissa Lester, editor of Victoria Magazine, chatted with me today about her beautiful new book, Gracious Home: Cultivating A Spirit Of Welcome.

A mother's love and legacy is one of the most powerful influences in the world, will determine the strength, history of a culture. But to provide such a legacy in the lives of our children requires a choice.

Join me today on ​m​y podcast to ponder the sweetness of cultivating deep friendship with your children, and learning how to put the duties of life into their proper place.

Join Sally as she invites author Whitney Newby on this special podcast episode to discuss Whitney's new book, Lift Your Eyes: Daily Invitations To Behold Christ In Motherhood.

When we understand and accept that the world is indeed fallen and creates all sorts of chaos, we can better prepare ourselves to become warriors of light, goodness in difficult times.

No matter how old your children become, you are their example. They will always look at you to see faith lived out in the day to day, how to interact with God.

One little act of kindness gave me the energy I needed to trust God that day, to keep going, to have hope. That day, that moment, hope began to fill my heart.

I see that through the decades of intentional living, us Clarksons were becoming each other's community. There are more of us now, and we continue to cherish any time we can be together.

We are all fragile, vulnerable, limited human beings. We mamas can be so hard on ourselves. Yet, God understands those times when you are empty and discouraged or feel that nothing you do matters or is making the difference you hoped for. Your discouraged heart matters to God.

Friendship is an imperative part of a healthy life! I invited the girls to join me in a podcast today because I thought it might be fun for you to hear from them and what they are pursuing in this season of their lives. We have so much fun. Find Joy's substack here: https://joyclarkson.substack.com/ Find Wallflower Journal here: www.wallflowerjournal.com

Your children are fearfully and wonderfully made by Him! Through patience and commitment, we will eventually reap a harvest. Today, I encourage you to begin the journey of discovering the individual wonders of each one.

In our new book, Uniquely You, Nathan and I step beyond mental illness and learning disabilities and explore every way a child can be different.

As Clay and I enter what will be our last season of ministry, we are praying that God will give us energy, health, strength to continue to be light in this dark world. We hope to teach more profoundly about the love of God, His desire to work through families to shape a godly generation.

The glory of Christ appearing to common men and women, shepherding their flocks was something we wanted to remember together—the glory of angels singing amidst the ordinary work of shepherds watching over their flocks. And so, Shepherd's meal became a sacred, beloved tradition for us.

Most of us carry baggage of some kind. But, if we understood the amazing, redeeming, generous meaning of salvation, God's commitment to love us, we would be different women.

Lanier is the wordsmith for all the stories and ideas of this beautiful and Jennifer is the artist who filled the book with beautiful illustrations. I know you would treasure this in your library. We had so much fun chatting about it on my podcast. I know you will enjoy this spirited conversation I had with two kindred spirits.

It is not from a place of worldly influence, or accomplishment that a godly woman caught the attention of God, but from an authentic place of humble worship of her creator, a place of serving faithfully in the normal moments of life. God saw a heart willing to love, follow, respond to Him.

Your home is a laboratory of the life of Christ, where He can be seen through the incarnation of himself through our music, our love, our feasts, our faith, and lights that reflect His very presence in our lives.

A mother's love is a vibrant, living picture of what Christ is like. When we love our children well, model to them what it is like to live a life of deep faith in our amazing God, our children will better be able to catch a glimpse of the remarkable life God has planned for them.

If we are created in God's image, shouldn't we, as believers, be the most excellent in our behavior, character and influence? Doesn't scripture teach us to lay down our lives for the sake of others — in this case, our children? Doesn't anything worthy always require great sacrifice, vision, and hard work?

This is a time to build virtue and to form destinies by giving our children a vision of what their personal stories might be in God's hands.

No matter what the circumstances, no matter what events, no matter what evil is boiling in the world, if we know our God, we understand that He is still at work, He is leading this world toward an ultimate celebration where all tears will be wiped away, all will be made new, all will be well.

Christian virtue is not just knowing the definition, but it is in putting virtue actively in the presence of every moment. The virtue of trust, thanks to God in all things, must be acted out in a real life to be understood and copied.

The sharing of life, the pointing them to His truth, His ways, His love, in the warp and woof of life moments — this is the secret of a blessed motherhood.