Acceptance is Power By Jackie Stinson “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time. Enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking as He did, this sinful world as it is; not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right If I surrender to His Will. So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him. Forever and ever in the next.” Amen. Acceptance has become a very powerful and more meaningful action word in my life over this past year since coming together with so many wonderful and courageous moms in the HMMH Ministry. Two of my favorite Scriptures from the Breaking Free Group are: 2 Timothy 2:25-26 (NLT), “Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.” These Words redirected my prayer life and how I now view estrangement in my family. Instead of focusing more on how I had envisioned and would like things to be from day-to-day, I focus more in prayer on what only God has the power to do. Also, being sensitive to Holy Spirit on how to pray for me and my family members, and if God says, “Yes” being prepared to receive my children with love and open arms. As all hurting moms do, I have moments and special occasions where I allow my heart to grieve, but don’t and refuse to stay there. I’ve learned to be more grateful and accept every day God allows me to wake up and get up on my precious feet that He still has purpose, work for me to do for His Glory, and He’s not accepting any excuses. Just because estrangement is happening around and to me doesn’t mean it defines my identity and voids my God ordained purpose. Yielding Hearts opened my heart even more regarding this and took me deeper into His Holy Word. My sincere Yes to Him and releasing what I have no power to control or change has not only shown me the way going forward, but that I can have peace and joy in my life beyond any human reasoning and understanding amidst it all. If you would like more information about our Hurting Moms Mending Hearts groups, check out our website for upcoming groups, and other resources that are available: https://hurtingmomsmendinghearts.org/groups-2/ (fb)

God Will Renew Us By Cathy Taylor As a Hurting Mom I often feel hopeless and weak. I regularly have negative thoughts, a bad attitude and what I describe as a broken spirit. My hurt causes my heart to be bitter and angry. There are days when the pain and the worry overwhelm me, and I can’t sense God’s presence. Does He see me or know how I feel. I feel unsure of His love, and feelings of fear and uncertainty threaten to take over to become my identity. On days when I am battling with all those negative and debilitating things, I turn to God’s Word for comfort and advice. He teaches me who He is and how He wants to help me by renewing every negative area that I mentioned above. He wants to comfort me and give me renewed hope (Psalm 94:19), He wants to renew my negative thoughts and attitudes (Ephesians 4:34), He will create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit (Psalm 51:10), He will renew my strength (Isaiah 40:31), and He will renew my mind so that I can be transformed in order to follow his will (Romans 12:2). These verses tell me that God DOES see me, and He DOES love me. He knows my pain and He is ready to help me by renewing me in every area where I am struggling. My part is to open myself up to His love and allow Him to begin the renewal process. I must let go of hopelessness, brokenness, anger, bitterness, and worry. I have been a hurting mom long enough to recognize that I do not have the ability to let go of those painful and destructive things on my own. I’ve tried, just like I know many of you have, but on my own I am always unsuccessful. God has taught me that I must be intentional about asking for His help to let go and He NEVER fails! If you are a hurting mom, feeling defeated and broken, I want to encourage you to look up the scriptures referenced above. Get out your Bible, read God’s word and recognize how much He loves you. You are not alone. He is in it with you and all you have to do is turn to Him. He will renew you in every area where you are hurting. To learn more about how to tap into God’s renewal process, join a Breaking Free Group! https://hurtingmomsmendinghearts.org/join-a-group-2/#register (fb)