What faith she had. To believe he was the Messiah and to believe that he would care about her and her situation. She recognized his power and also his goodness.
Author Archives: lstoyko
Reflecting God’s Homemaking Heart
The very act of homemaking, investing in our homes, is a reflection of the heart of God himself. We are imaging him to our family and those around us.
Moms in the Bible–Herodias
All of the other moms that we have studied so far had redeeming qualities about them. Not Herodias. Her story is different from all the others in that she did not acknowledge or believe in God and her life showed it. Hers is a cautionary tale that we would be wise to heed.
Drawing Your Dysregulated Child Close
As I have been doing the hard work of dealing with my baggage and becoming a safe and loving person for my children, I am slowly (emphasis on slowly) learning to draw my children close in times of misbehavior and dysregulation rather than push them away.
Foster Care and Adoption–In Her Shoes
It is difficult to be hopeful for the bio families if we cannot put ourselves in their shoes. If we never see their hearts but only see the wrong actions they took. If we never acknowledge their grief but only focus on ours. If we forget God’s plan for the family and only live in the broken reality of sin.
Moms in the Bible–Mary, part 2
In the weeks leading up to Good Friday and Easter, it is right that we begin to prepare our hearts in remembrance of the incredible acts of love, mercy and power that Jesus did in those three days. In this episode, as part of our Moms in the Bible series, we are going to look at those three days through the eyes of Mary, Jesus’ mother.
Kneeling with Jesus in the Garden
I have been reflecting on the hours leading up to Jesus’ arrest. In the dark of night, he knelt before God, pleading for a different way, a new plan of redemption. It is perhaps the most powerful example to all of us of the humanity and humility of Christ.
Hemmed in by God
A word of encouragement for moms from Psalm 139. God has hemmed us into the present and into his presence. Let us find our rest, our strength and our daily grace right where he has us.
The Struggle Against Complacency
The enemy delights in our complacency, God delights in our contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” God invites us to be content when we are in the season of calm and when we are stepping into the hard.
Moms in the Bible–The Shunammite Woman
What I see in the Shunammite’s story, and in scripture, is that hospitality is as much a heart attitude as an action.
Lyssa Stoyko 