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“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

“Dwelling on your problems doesn’t fix them; it just makes you an expert at them.” Tommy Newberry

• A big component of the Help Club for Moms is praying with a prayer partner for 10 minutes once a week. If you don’t have a prayer partner, pray and ask God to bring her to you! He is faithful and will provide!
• It’s time to meet with Jesus! Oh, how He loves you and me! Pray today for Jesus to speak to your heart, and help you and your family feel His love—the wide and long and high and deep love of Jesus (Ephesians 3:18). Ask Him to help you love others the way He loves you.
• Read 1 Peter 4:8. Ask Jesus to speak to you about loving your family and friends deeply.

Where Do You Shine Your Spotlight?

Thanksgiving week is almost here, and our hearts are drawn to all the nostalgia of home and family. We long for the delicious smells of turkey, au-gratin potatoes, and pumpkin pies cooking in the oven and the sounds of people laughing and having fun together while the kids run all around the house.

As moms of the home, we have worked so hard to get to this day. The shopping, cooking, and decorating have all been completed. Now, all we need is for the family to arrive so the festivities can begin. And, for some families, this is where the hard part of our holiday season can often begin— when the family arrives.

I meet sweet moms all over the place who have been hurt by the ones closest to them. The holidays serve as reminders of a harsh word spoken or a wound unhealed. These memories can steal the joy of precious time spent with family.

Some have family members who get on their nerves after time spent together and cause irritation as each day passes until everyone goes home. As I speak with these sweet moms, I say one phrase to them that I feel can help make their holidays better, and I thought I would share this with you, too:

Where do you shine your spotlight? In other words, what do you choose to focus on in the other person?

In our minds, we all have a “spotlight” with which we shine on the good or the not-so-good aspects of people and circumstances simply by what we think about. Our thoughts and attention go to where we focus—for better or for worse. So when you think about a particular loved one, do you think about the hurt, wound, or annoying habits, or do you see a fellow human being in need of a Savior and unconditional love as we do?

I would love to share a few Scriptures and tips to help your holiday season be the best it can possibly be. As with everything else in life, I believe the Lord wants us mamas to come to Him with our bitterness, burdens, and sadness. He wants us to focus on His goodness and His everlasting, healing Word and choose to love like Jesus as much as possible.

When we go to God’s Word, we read things like:

• Be content (Hebrews 13:5, Philippians 4:11)
• Get rid of all bitterness (Ephesians 4:31)
• Love one another deeply (1 Peter 4:8)
• Be thankful (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
• Count your blessings (Psalm 118:1, Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
• Forgive (Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32)
• Stay hopeful and believe the best intentions of others (1 Corinthians 13:7, Philippians 4:8)

May I suggest writing these verses down in your journal or in dry-erase marker on your bathroom mirror to keep them close to you during the holiday season?

Sweet friend, it all boils down to keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, meditating on the Scriptures, praying, and obeying by faith, especially in the area of relationships. Do what Philippians 4:8 says and think true, excellent, honorable, and lovely thoughts. Refuse to think bitter, resentful, critical, or unkind thoughts.

Ask God to help you think like Jesus, love like Jesus, and forgive like Jesus. Assume the best as much as possible. Pray to see people the way God does, and ask Him to help you to love them as He does.

Spotlight the good!

Where’s your spotlight focused? When you look at others, what do you see?

Blessings and Love,

Deb Weakly and the Help Club for Moms Team

Questions to Ponder

• Ask God to give you three positive qualities about each person you will see this Thanksgiving.
• Ask God to fill you with His love for each and every one of them.
• Pray for them to come to know Jesus if they haven’t already, and pray for God to bring them joy this holiday season.
• Ask God to show you how to be a blessing to them this week. Write it down in your journal, and keep praying this week for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Faith-Filled Ideas

Buy a small bunch of flowers for your table if you are hosting the meal. Get small vases and arrange the flowers to make the table more inviting. If you are going to someone’s home for dinner, bring a lovely, inexpensive bouquet of flowers as a thank-you gift for the hostess.

Purchase a thank-you note and write a lovely note to the host and hostess of your Thanksgiving meal.

Be a blessing this Thanksgiving! Offer to help clean up and then do it! Stay in the kitchen until the last plate is clean.

Make sure to say “thank you” many times for the meal and again as you are leaving. Highlight your favorite part of the meal. Be generous with your kind words!

This devotional comes from our book “Holidays with the Help Club.” You can find it HERE!

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Deb Weakly

Co-founder at Help Club for Moms

My name is Deb Weakly and I helped create the Help Club for Moms with one goal in mind: to create a community in which moms help moms to know the love of Christ. My own childhood was difficult and filled with sadness. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, so when I became a Christian (and soon after, a mom), I had no idea what I was doing; I didn’t know what it meant to raise Christ-centered kids, but I so desperately wanted to learn.

I remember going into my daughter's room night after night and kneeling beside her bed and crying my heart out to God because I didn’t know how to be a Christian mom; I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. You know what? God is so faithful! He answered me and simply said, “Spend time with me, Deb.” And so I did. I began arising 15-30 minutes earlier each day so I could read my Bible and pray, and plan out my day with my family.

If there was one thing I would love to share with you is that God is personal and loves you as you are. You don’t have to be perfect to be loved by our amazing God! Come as you are! His loving presence can be practically known and experienced. He is not a God who is far away, He is near and easily found. He longs for you to come to Him!

Randy and I have been married for 33 years and we have two grown children, Christie, and Jack, and one answer to prayer son-in-law named Alex. And now I get to be a Gigi to my sweet little grandbabies, Aspen and Skylar, and Piper. Yay!

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