Let me paint you a picture. Imagine you spent a hundred dollars every single week sending your child to a world class jujitsu dojo. You paid faithfully. You paid early. You tipped fifty dollars after every session because you believed in what was being built. And it worked. By four years old, FOUR....your child earned a black belt. They were sparring with adults in the dojo and holding their own. They had been given every tool, every technique, every skill they needed to fight. And then they got to second grade. And got beat up by kindergarteners. I know that sounds ridiculous. But that is exactly how a lot of us are walking around right now. We have the Word. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the anointing. We have the pastors, the Bible studies, the prayer warriors, the community, the books, the podcasts, the influencers, the prophetic words spoken over our lives. We were equipped when God called us. We are black belts in the spirit. And every time it is time to actually USE what we knoW, when the bill comes, when the child acts out, when the marriage gets hard, when the enemy shows up at the door..... we fumble. We fall into comparison. We fall into complacency. We fall into laziness. We fall into a pity party that lasts longer than it should. And I want to say something about that today. Somebody paid a HIGH price for you. Not a hundred dollars a week. A life. The life of the Son of God was the price of your investment. And every day you spend defeated, every day you spend operating below what you were equipped for, every day you choose the pity party over the purpose that is a poor return on the most expensive investment ever made. Now let me be clear. I am not talking about the hard days. Hard days are real. Grief is real. Depression is real. Trauma is real. There are seasons where all you can do is hold on and that is enough. I am talking about the hard days that became hard weeks that became hard months that became a hard identity. I am talking about the person who has made suffering their permanent address when God already paid for a different house.

I think this is where I struggle the most. During school days, having a routine feels much easier because we already have a schedule. But on Fridays and Saturdays, or whenever there’s no school, I honestly never know how our day should go. We usually don’t get up as early, so I find myself just kind of winging it. How do you apply “be consistent without exception” on weekends or days without a set schedule? Does consistency mean waking up at the exact same time every day, or is it more about keeping the same healthy habits in place even if the timing is different? @Ashley Lunnon

I just would like to say I appreciate this group so much, and all of the content here that’s been so Holy Spirit led and timely. Today my kids are doing their added chore of wall washing as a consequence of not completing their chores yesterday (for no good reason at all). The scripture the Lord gave us was 1 Corinthians 14:40 “But let all things be done decently and in order.” And I taught them about chaos vs order, and how to worship God in our home by keeping order. Now they know that if God loves order, and mom is teaching order and I disobey… I’m not just disobeying mom, but I’m disobeying the Lord. And so seeing them take that lesson and start cleaning in such a way that my 19mo old wanted to join in… my heart is full. Not all the littles are pictured, but I want the other ladies to know that with the Lord truly all things are possible ❤️ and to say thank you Ashley for your obedience with this group.

I walked for 10K+ steps everyday for 31 days because I wanted to be accountable for myself. It was definitely hard and I wanted to give up every single day! I prayed for strength and endurance. I will continue on thru the month of August! I pray you all have made your goals 🙏🏽

Moms, I could use some encouragement and advice. How do you stay consistent reading the Bible with your children when you’re struggling to stay consistent in your own personal time with God? Lately I’ve been feeling discouraged. Even when I make the effort to get back into reading, my son often doesn’t seem interested. Sometimes it feels like I’m forcing him to read rather than helping him develop a genuine desire for God’s Word on his own. I want to lead him well, but I’m not sure what the best approach is. Have any of you experienced this? What helped you encourage a love for Scripture in your children without making it feel forced?