It's A Single Mom Thing
Welcome to “It's A Single Mom Thing”, the show for single moms by single moms.
Being a solo momma and present parent is hard work and it’s easy to lose your focus when you forget your faith. The good news is, that you are not alone, you were singled out in this season, and together we can work on what’s not working for you finding Christ in the crisis! Whether you are listening early in the morning or late at night, we are here for you!
Be encouraged. Get inspired. You can do this, momma.
Stay tuned as each Monday we will feature fresh and fun content and conversations as we join you on this journey from solo momma to solo momma. We promise not to take too much of your time and thank you for spending it with us. It may be a single mom thing, but it doesn’t have to be the single thing that stops you!
It's A Single Mom Thing
Finding Our Faithfulness
In this episode of It’s a Single Mom Thing, we explore the power of staying faithful through the ups and downs of single motherhood. Whether you’re facing overwhelming challenges, moments of doubt, or even small victories, faithfulness is what sustains us. Join me as I dive into what it means to trust God’s plan, even when the future feels uncertain.
Plus, learn more about our It’s a Single Mom Thing class, meeting the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, and how you can access our 24-hour prayer line for support whenever you need it. Stay tuned to discover how faith can transform your journey—one step at a time.
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It's a Single Mom Thing, Not the Single Thing That Stops You!
Welcome to it's a Single Mom Thing, the show for single moms by single moms. This is Sheri, your host, and I am happy you are here today. Remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you. Welcome back my solo peeps to another episode of it's a Single Mom Thing. So thanks for playing it cool while I was away for the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1:I've really missed our time together, and before our time in this podcast, I've been in prayer as to what word I wanted to share with you today, and this is where I landed on the thought of faithfulness. Faithfulness, whether it's an uncertain future, a promise that hasn't come to pass or a dream that has yet to be fulfilled, god, he's faithful, even when we may not be full of faith. You know, I feel, especially in this time of uncertainty and well, isn't much of our single experience uncertain, am I right? So I think it's important that we shift our focus off the news and onto the good news, to what we know is certain God's faithfulness. Much of our daily walk as single parents is uncertain, as we straddle many struggles, wear many hats and ponder what is next for us and our family, even if you're moving forward, focused on your future, in school, working on a second job, in therapy or in a program to build or buy a home, you still may have moments of uncertainty, which can lead to fear, doubt and worry. Not today, though. We are doing what I like to call a fill her up, so to speak. We're going to find our faith. So God's faithfulness finds us, finds us trusting his plans even when things feel uncertain, when we've made a mess of things or maybe our mind is what is a mess. Finding our strength not in sight of what we can see, but what we can't the knowing that he is faithful even when we are not. So thanks for joining me today as we explore how to remain faithful in the journey, not just for ourselves, but for the little ones who look up to us every day. Finding our faith.
Speaker 1:I'll know about you, but sometimes I feel I need to find my faith as I lost it somewhere along the way, losing it like I lost my son along the rungs of clothing racks at the store. Okay, have you ever had that moment when, shopping, suddenly something catches your eye and, in a hot flash, you look away for a second and then, as soon as you turn your head back in the direction of your kiddo, you realize they're gone. As you frantically look high and low for them through the piles and miles of endless clothes, you pause and panic and freak out as you're on the lookout for them. For me, anyways, that is what it feels like when I lose my faith. Something as simple as like a squirrel crosses my path and then I look in that direction and then I keep looking in that direction and over time I realize something's off and doesn't feel right. I lost my connection, my discernment, my competence, my peace, and when I turned back in the direction I was headed in, I realized that it is my faith that I lost. So, if I'm being honest with you, I have lost my son more than once in a store.
Speaker 1:That is straight up facts. And here check this out it was I who was lost, not him. Let me unpack this little suitcase for you. You see, I'm at Michael's the craft store to get something for my son's school project when suddenly that something caught my eye. Now, honestly, it has been so many years I can't remember what that something was, but it was probably some home decor if I had to guess. But here is what is true about that situationship it was I who left my son, and not the other way around. That something let's call it home decor led me to another something, ooh, and then another something, ooh. Look at that.
Speaker 1:And before you know it, I was on the opposite side of the store from where I had left my son. I left him. He didn't leave me. In fact, after my freak out when I noticed he was not with me, when I made my way back to where I left him, retracing my steps, did you know that? He was still there playing on the floor with some dinosaurs waiting for me to come back. And when I did finally come back, all disheveled, he said to me Mama, why did you leave me? Ouch, okay, did my son just gut check me?
Speaker 1:You see, I like in God's faithfulness, much like that experience. It's always there, even when we are not. However, in my experience I have found my faithfulness may take some time to get back, as I may need to retrace some steps to where I once was, in step with our father, and I found myself on the other side of the store checking out some home decor. You see, I left my home base. How many of you listening have had those moments or are in one right now. Girl, you need to be encouraged that you are in good company. So isn't it funny how quickly and we can use me as the punching bag here Isn't it funny how quickly, let's just say, I can freak out panic and ponder where did my faith go, when God, much like my son, says where did you go, sherry? Okay, god, I got you. Where did you go? Well, that's a great question.
Speaker 1:Have you ever thought about the places we go when we let go of our faith? There are a few instances in the Bible where God says where are you, where did you go? In Genesis 3, 9, when Adam was hiding in the bushes, even though God knew exactly where Adam was hiding. And it is the question the Lord continues to ask today. Then, in another chapter in the book of Genesis, the angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur and he said Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? I'm running away from my mistress, sorry. She answered so again. This is where I go back to my point. Where are you when God or the angel of the Lord says that in the Bible, what is really being asked is not where are you physically, what location? Give me a GPS or a pin, drop when are you? They are asking about your spiritual location, your heart center. Where are you? Where did you go? It's funny that title reminds me of a famous Dr Seuss book that says All the Places you Will Go.
Speaker 1:Well, where did you go and where do you go to in those situations when you lose your faith? Do you go to self-reliance, codependency, lust, covetousness, comparison, pride, idolatry, to name a few places? And then, when you get there, what are the feelings that led you there, do you notice? Was it jealousy, judgment, bitterness, discontent, helplessness, despair, low self-worth, even discouragement? And when you discovered, oh, I don't like the way that feels, then what did you do? Did you try taking it back, taking the control which you know you never really had anyways? Did you course correct, adjusting your steering wheel when hitting a patch of ice as you were hydroplaning across three lanes of traffic? Or did you take it out on God and make all this his fault, like, where did you go, god? Were you even listening to me? Let me ask you is the place you went, possibly like me, on the other side of the store as you were looking for more and more of what, of what you could do to bring that dream to pass faster than God can do, which really he can make happen at any time with just one word. Or maybe did you think it wasn't even about doing it faster. Well, your thought wasn't about that. Maybe your thought was, oh he forgot about me, so I'm just going to make this happen, or he must still be busy fulfilling somebody else's dream, so I'm just going to get mine now Heard. Okay. So listen, sister, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Speaker 1:How many of you are saying that right now or have even noticed that you have been saying that recently, been there, done that and you know what is really good news? There are a ton of characters in the Bible who have done the same thing. I can think of at least three amigas right now who went all old school in the Old Testament, who lost their faith, only to find it again in him Word. And here we go Three amigas. So one thing I have really started to love about my time in the Word is that there are always characters in the Bible who I can relate to, as they act like me, or maybe I act like them, even though they are Old Testament and old school. Their mistakes or mess ups are not. There is nothing new under the sun, including repeated sin throughout history.
Speaker 1:What's historical can also be hysterical, and so we will find that with Amiga number one, our girl Eve right out the gate, this sister had it made in the shade. She had the perfect figure, perfect husband and lived in the perfect place. She didn't even have to pay for it. She was blessed beyond her belief and didn't even know it, taking it, her husband and God for granted. Instead of listening to God, who gave her everything she wanted, she falls for the ploy of the serpent, who I like to call aka. He's like the bad boy. We've all had one of those in our life. Because, well, what did he do? He promised her something she didn't have and she thought she needed it. There she goes, thinking the grass is greener when she lived in perfection. Hello, not only was she sold on this lie, but she sold her husband on it too, selling out their relationship with God right there in the garden. From the beginning, their faith fell like a fig leaf they now had to wear. Don't worry, god found them, even though they didn't know where they were, and directed them, through his grace and mercy, out of the garden so they would never eat from the tree of life, living forever in this imperfect state they now found themselves in.
Speaker 1:You will find more to that story in the book of Genesis, chapter 2 and 3. And listen, if you know him, you know you get a new body when you leave this place, on this dust bowl of earth. Word Okay Amiga, number two, sarai, God out of all the pagans on earth, calls on Abram, sarai's husband, to go from their country to a land that he will show them of milk and honey, telling them he will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. You'll find that in Genesis 12, verses 1 through 3. All throughout their journey with God, god continues to bless them, giving them land possessions and clear direction on what to do, reminding them to your offspring. I will give you this land Now, albeit both Abram and Sari were people of, let's say, a particular age and not likely to be able to bear children, god repeatedly reminds them this will happen and repeatedly reminds them in the direction they are to go.
Speaker 1:Now, both Abram and Sarai. Well, they tend to overlook what God has told them repeatedly and take matters into their own hands, so to speak. In Sarai's case, who was vexed on the false belief that it was God who prevented her from bearing children you can find that in Genesis 16, verse 2. Even though God said otherwise, she's forgetting her faith. And then she goes as far as to tell her husband yeah, it would be a great idea if he would just take her servant as a wife so he could bear a child through her, her servant. Now, check this, ladies Sarai viewed her servant not as a woman, not as a person, but property. A woman was the first one in the book of the Bible, in the first of time, to view women as property. Now, that's hysterical. And then, well then, it would be a great idea if she got pregnant, because then her and Abraham could claim the child that would be born of her servant as their own. Well now, abraham, being a dude like Adam, for some reason didn't use God's reasons and just rolled with whatever rolled out of their wife's mouth. Well, that went over like a lead balloon and just rolled downhill when the servant Hagar got pregnant and now had one up on her master Sarai. Side. Note this mistake, like the one with amiga, number one eve, we all pay for this today, as the child born of hagar would also rise a nation known today as palestine. And when god's promise did come to pass and sarai bore a son who would be the great nation of Israel, the two are at war as we speak. So, even though both Sarai and Abraham who, by the way, god renames them to Sarai and Abraham lost their mind and lost their faith, it was God that was still faithful to bring his promise to pass.
Speaker 1:You can read more to this story in Genesis, chapter 16. And then there is Amiga, number three Rachel, rachel, rachel. So, believe it or not, this Chica story is also found in the same first book of the Bible, genesis. Rachel was the love of Jacob's life, jacob, by the way, who was the grandson of Abraham, and Sarah. Rachel, much like her grandmother, was also barren. Now let me rewind for a second. Rachel was wife number two of Jacob. Wife number one was her sister, leah, who could, by the way, bear children, and she bore lots of them. And oh yeah, it gets even more interesting as these two amigas were jealous of one another and always trying to one up one another.
Speaker 1:So guess what happens when marriage departs from God's design of a man and a woman being married, of a man and a woman being married, jacob? Well, he takes two more wives, the servants of Leah and Rachel, who also bore children, all of which were males. Rachel, much like her grandmother. Well, she ain't having it, oh, god hasn't provided a child through her. So she commands her husband to have one with her servant. And as history is, what do we say? Hysterical as it repeats itself. Well, you can figure out what happened. Yes, the servant has a child, but in the end, as God is faithful, rachel would have a son, as God remembered, and God listened to her, and it is God who opened her womb. You can find that in Genesis 30, verse 22. In fact, well, she didn't just have any son. Her son was Joseph, who would play a key part in saving the Jews who were in exile in Egypt. You could read more to that story in the book of Genesis.
Speaker 1:So I have a question for you when are you Wake up, by the way, spiritually, do you find yourself off doing your own thing because God hasn't done his thing? Has he made a promise to you that has not come to pass yet? Have you taken matter into your own hands, so to speak, and made a mess of things? If you're not rolling with God right now, well then who are you rolling with? And have you lost not only your mind, but have you lost your faith? Finding your faith?
Speaker 1:Maybe you, like me, don't have a storyline literally like the aforementioned amigas, but figuratively speaking, they are similar. Take a moment and, girl, you need to laugh at yourself. History is hysterical, as sheep are messy. We make a mess of everything, but God is always faithful, as we have been washed by the blood of Christ. You know where you find your faith Right where you left it. It's there just waiting for you, and it always has been. Now I know about you, but I am so thankful for these stories.
Speaker 1:That, ironically, happened in the very first book of the Bible. He knew we make a mess of things, but he also knew he could make a message out of our mess. Isn't that hysterical, sister? I don't know where you are at, but I do know God does Turn to him today and turn over whatever burdens you decided to carry, they are not yours to carry. In fact, he said come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is life. That is a word from him in Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30 in the NIV. So, no matter how big the mess, our God is bigger and can clean it up. He is faithful.
Speaker 1:As we wrap up today's episode on being faithful, remember that no matter where you are on this journey, you're never alone. Faith is the foundation we can stand on, even in our hardest moments. If today's message spoke to you and you are looking for more support, I invite you to join me and my friends at our it's a Single Mom Things classes, where we come together on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month to connect, grow and encourage one another. For more information and inspiration on this, visit shepherdsvillagecom. Forward slash classes.
Speaker 1:We'd love for you to be a part of this community and if you need prayer or just someone to talk to, don't forget that our 24-hour prayer line is always available at 855-822-PRAY. Reach out anytime, because sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is ask for a little help. So thank you for listening to today. Until next time, keep holding on to the faith. It's what's carrying you through. Have a wonderful week and remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you. Thanks for listening to. It's a Single Mom Thing. I hope you enjoyed our time together. If you have more questions on how to have a relationship with Jesus or need prayer, visit us at wwwshepherdsvillagecom. Backslash prayer. For more information and resources, check out our show notes.