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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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September 8, 2017

When Life is Falling Apart

Friends, we have such a treat for you today! It’s not often that we have the opportunity to share with you an excerpt from a book that was actually JUST released this week so we are especially thrilled to be welcoming our friend Micah Maddox whose book Anchored In is in stores now! 

Please help us welcome Micah to the picket fence…

There are moments in life that are so devastating there are no words to utter. You see people surrounding you and their lips are moving, but the words cannot be absorbed due to the burden that consumes your mind. You try to move forward with a normal routine, but the world seems to move in slow motion as problems persist, paralyzing your best efforts to press on. Life can hurt deeply. It can scar the tender parts of your heart and make you feel like your life is completely drenched in a sea of problems that cannot be remedied.

No one ever plans it this way, but there are people all around us holding shattered pieces of life, wanting desperately to put the pieces together again. We convince ourselves that if our problems would go away, we could get on with our lives and live a powerful life of fulfillment. But problems continue and we can’t seem to get out of the cycle of each current pulling us deeper and deeper into the problems we would rather avoid. Sometimes it feels as if the anchor of our soul has been ripped from the deepest depth of our heart and our ship of life is lost at sea. The waters rise and the trials, troubles, and struggles take center stage filling us with a void of power.

What is a desperate, hurting soul to do when life is filled to the brim with problems? Cling to the power and presence of God. If you know Him, He’s already with you. Right there, in the midst of the unpredictable, He knows every single detail of your life. He is an anchor that does not budge. When everything in life is in disarray, God’s presence is constant, firm, secure.

“But you shall cling to the Lord your God, just as you have done to this day.”
(Joshua 23:8)

Our deepest moments of life are often the ones that draw us into the presence of God more authentically than ever before, or they push us so far away that we cannot see, hear, or remember what it feels like to be close to Him. When it seems like God is far away and the water of life continues to billow overhead, it’s normal to try to achieve nearness to God by doing more for Him or by striving to ignite the inner strength we know we hold. The problem is that power is not something we can muster up when we think we need a fresh dose of the Holy Spirit. It goes much deeper than a crisis prayer at the moment of an emergency.

We must know that God’s Power is present every moment of our life.

The Holy Spirit does not blow in like the north wind on a fall day shaking every leaf of our lives to the ground wondering if we will be able to withstand the storm. He indwells every believer at the moment we choose to accept Jesus Christ into our lives, and consistently remains present and accessible no matter what our lives look or feel like. When the wind of life rushes in and we are shaken, we have what it takes within our own bodies to stand firm, be grounded, anchored, and tethered to the greatest power ever known. The biggest problem we face is not a lack of God’s power, it’s realizing where real power comes from. It’s not from you and it’s not from me. It’s from the Holy Spirit of God within each and every believer.

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)

Until we fully and completely accept the fact that real power comes from God and God alone, we will never really experience it. The power that we desperately desire is distinctly divine. Sometimes we get glimpses of it from a book, a sermon, or a song, but if we want to experience it every day, there is only one way.
God’s Power is present in people that pursue it.


You can learn more about Micah and her new book Anchored In: Experience a Power-Full Life in a Problem-Filled World at micahmaddox.com.
Micah Maddox is a women’s conference speaker, Bible teacher, writer, blogger, and author of Anchored In: Experience a Power-Full Life in a Problem-Filled World. She is passionate about helping women find purpose, peace, and calm in our chaotic world. As a pastor’s wife and mother of three, she contributes her time to MOPS and her local church – including serving as a women’s ministry leader.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/micahmaddoxencouragement/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mrsmicah/
BLOG: https://www.micahmaddox.com/anchored-in/

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Community, Devotionals, Faith, Guest Posts Tagged With: Faith, God

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This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most we’ve had in a LONG time) and now we are back to pouring rain. This has officially confirmed what I’ve know to be true for awhile now.

I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
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What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
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Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

I’ll admit, there are times where I see other people doing massive overhauls of their entire home in a matter of months and I feel a prick of envy. But, we decided that if our choice was between waiting a bit longer to enjoy a renovated bathroom or going on adventures as a family, we would choose adventures every time. And we don’t regret that decision for a single second. It’s not that we haven’t tackled home projects (we’ve done a lot!). It’s just that it’s been a slow and steady process. 

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We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
Happy Saturday!! After endless days of rain (and h Happy Saturday!! After endless days of rain (and hail and snow) we are finally getting some sunshine and warmer temperatures. I’ll be honest, it’s really affected my spirits having one gloomy day after the next. So this is a much needed reprieve. Our cherry trees are showing off outside my kitchen window and we plan to get outside and make the most of these days while we have them.

What’s the weather like where you are?
“The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and “The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don’t worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry…HE’S RISEN!” (Charles R. Swindoll).

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried; yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. (Isaiah 53)
I try to always remember to put a water bottle in I try to always remember to put a water bottle in my car before I go to pick up my daughter from school. She didn't ask me to do this, but a few months ago I began to notice that she was often thirsty when she would get in the car. Her water bottle filled up at the beginning of the day was empty by the time school got out and she would ask if she could have some water from my hydroflask. So I make sure to have one waiting for her. It's just a simple thing, really. But, I want her to know that I'm paying attention, that I see her.

Isn't it amazing how small gestures can make us feel less invisible? Knowing that someone is thinking of us and takes the time to meet a need that we might not have even realized we had? These little acts can have big impacts. What is something that someone has done for you recently that made you feel valued and seen?

What have you done for someone else to remind them that you are paying attention to their needs?

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
― Charles Dickens
“The next day the large crowd that had come to t “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ – John 12:9-19
#palmsunday
When the Lord blesses you with a glimpse of the pa When the Lord blesses you with a glimpse of the payoff of your investment in your children, it is truly one of the greatest gifts. We had that experience twice this week with our 18 year old son and were overwhelmed by this opportunity we had to watch as he handled two very different situations (one personal and one professional) with grace, maturity, integrity and courage. Those of you mamas of little ones, don't ever minimize the job you are doing in raising this next generation. 

Every story read at bedtime
Every correction made to strengthen character
Every outdoor exploration
Every nose wiped
Every bandaid applied
Every time you say no when the world says yes
Every night of helping with homework
Every difficult conversation
Every prayer uttered

The final pieces of the puzzle of his childhood are falling into place and the picture revealed is one that is more wonderful than we could have imagined. And we know that it is only by God's grace on us as we sought His wisdom and guidance that we have come to this point. We have been FAR from perfect parents, but one of my most sincere prayers for the past 18 years was that the Lord would stand in the gaps that were surely to be revealed by our imperfections. And He has answered those prayers again and again. He's taken my humble petitions and most sincere intentions and knocked our socks off with the young man we are so privileged to call our son. And we can’t wait to watch as his future unfolds!
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