Pat Layton
Inspiring Woman To Embrace God Sized Dreams
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Spiritual Poverty
Poor: having little; dependent upon charity; meagerly supplied; deficient or lacking in something
Since the day I surrendered my life to Christ I have known 2 things without a doubt.
1) When I cry out to God, He always answers. (not always in my timing but HE ALWAYS ANSWERS.
2) I am nothing without Him.
There are times when I get caught up in activity, assignments, laundry….when, although I never “forget” those truths, I sometimes allow the noise of my life to drown out God’s quiet whisper and His sovereign control.
I shared over here on my Speaker page, that I have had a bit of a busy year. It has been great and God has been GREATER. He has shown up every single time. Times when I was too tired to “be wonderful”; times when the Host was a hot-mess; times when the crowd appeared “half-dead” from the podium and times when I was on fire and ablaze with His Word.
Regardless of my condition, he is never lacking and is actually AMAZING when I am the emptiest.
As this season of activity slows, I am able to quiet my heart and sit in His presence for some extended time of embrace. As usual, I come into these special seasons with an eagerness just to be FILLED. To be Restored. To be INFUSED. To be REDIRECTED and CORRECTED in any way He desires.
Sunday, as I lingered for several hours, the Lord led me to His Word in Matthew 5—The BE-Attitudes 
. A timeless teaching; an unparalleled Leadership Conference that took place without registration; without ticket sales; without social media promotion; without full page ads….
It’s been a while since I settled on these words of wisdom and life…how about you?
The first claim that Jesus makes here, nabbed me.
BLESSED are the POOR IN SPIRIT, for theirs is the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
I read, and reread. I pulled out every Bible research tool I have landing at the finish line on my Logos Bible Software (way more complicated and full of good stuff than I know how to use yet)
As I hit this season I am very aware that I am POOR IN SPIRIT.
I have little–I am meagerly supplied–I am lacking and deficient.
The good news is that Jesus says, and I believe, the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is MINE!!
God blesses those who realize they are POOR. God blesses those who know they need His help.
God blessed Gideon–who was not strong enough. (Judges 6:14)
God blessed Jeremiah–who was not a good speaker (Jer 1:4)
God blessed Simon Peter–who was unworthy and unsuccessful (Luke 5)
God blesses those who know they need Him.
God blesses those who are POOR in SPIRIT. Spiritually bankrupt.
God’s Definition of Poor: Humble; Modest; Surrendered; Submitted; In Need of a Savior; Depending upon God for every crumb.
Me.
You??
Don’t Miss a Kiss
Could this be YOUR child??
I love Mother’s Day.
My honey has never missed spoiling me on Mother’s Day. I know, it’s supposed to be the KID’S who spoil the Mom but my honey has always added the icing on the cake of my Mother’s Day blessings. He just “gets it”. He had a Mom he dearly loved and he has always honored and blessed me as a Mom.
In fact, I was Mom when we met. A VERY YOUNG Mom.
I started the priceless journey of motherhood when I was just a girl myself giving birth to my first son just weeks after my 18th birthday. WOW..little did I know what an amazing journey motherhood would be.
Every Mama knows that being called “MOM” is the most bitter-sweet name we will ever have in life. Filled with times of such joy and blessing that your heart explodes and lights up like a fourth of July firecracker–contrasted by moments that hurt so much they look more like the ashes LEFT BEHIND on the 5TH of July morning.
Today, as I sit in my Prayer Chair and reflect on being a Mom, I started to think about what I might have done differently–there are MANY things! I thought about what advice, if any, I might give my Daughter-in-Laws (who are both AMAZING MOM”s, way better than I feel I ever was) or the young women I have the honor of mentoring. I wondered what I might share with my sweet daughter who is NOT YET a Mom herself, when her time comes.
There are so many things one might say about spending quality time; being consistent with discipline; understanding your children’s different temperaments and adjusting your parenting style to fit each child individually; being committed to your husband; teaching them to capture God’s Word in their hearts; READING to your children…….dot..dot..dot.
The truth is, we are not ever going to be PERFECT MOM’s.
We are sinners saved by grace.
We are NOTHING without Jesus and HE ALONE will get us through parenting without ruining our children. He alone will be our ONLY hope of enjoying any lasting success as Mom’s.
So, my morning conclusion as the KEY to Motherhood….Don’t miss the moments that make it all count. Don’t miss the spontaneous “I Love You Mom” moments–they are priceless.
Most of all—
Don’t MISS A KISS!!
My Most Precious Mother’s Day Gifts!–Tim, Andy and Julianna. Come on over here and let me KISS YOU!!
Happy Mother’s MOM–You are THE BEST! I’m waiting to kiss you too
Happy Mother’s Day friends.
Will You Surrender YOUR Secret?
What a fun discussion my last post generated.
You didn’t see most of it since it happened by personal email and Facebook communication. Secrets shared with a friend.
Women sharing SECRETS….tends to be a repeating theme in my life. I have set myself up as someone who is a safe place. It seems I have established myself as someone women can talk to about SECRETS and feelings they are not quick to share publicly and I am very happy that I have. Honored in fact, to be able to share God’s redeeming love with other women.
Women need that. They need to be REAL with someone. I have discovered that too often women do not feel their own church, their own Christian “sisters” to be a safe place to share their secrets.
My personal journey through the heartbreak of abortion, as shared in my Bible study Surrendering the Secret propelled me into the land of sharing and hearing secrets and has blessed my heart for the past 4 years.
I am looking for a few secrets that are ready to be shared with the world.
I am in the final stages of completing a chapter version of Surrendering the Secret that will include stories from men, family members and friends of those women who have experienced the heartbreak of a past abortion.
I am looking for stories. Will you share your SECRET with me?
If you have a story about being a part of a past abortion–as a friend, as sister, a Mom or as a man–please send them to me ASAP at playton@awpm.net
