Update from Joe McDonald Ministry

Here is the latest Joe McDonald Ministry newsletter. You can see it here: “The Evangelism Trail” for November.

Also, if you want to order the “Sunsets on Mobile Bay” 10th addition with photos by award winning photographer Tommie Peterson, you can go

to professionalmom.com to order yours and one for your sunset lovers.

 

Praying you and your family have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!

 

Reverend Joe McDonald  Isaiah 6:8
sharing “the message of grace”
Joe McDonald Ministry Inc.
a 501(c)(3) donation supported ministry
http://JoeMcDonaldMinistry.org
http://MinisteriodeJoeMcDonald.org
http://TheEvangelismTrail.org

Also, if you want to order the “Sunsets on Mobile Bay” 10th addition with photos by award winning photographer Tommie Peterson, you can go

to professionalmom.com to order yours and one for your sunset lovers.

 

Praying you and your family have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!

 

Reverend Joe McDonald  Isaiah 6:8
sharing “the message of grace”
Joe McDonald Ministry Inc.
a 501(c)(3) donation supported ministry
http://JoeMcDonaldMinistry.org
http://MinisteriodeJoeMcDonald.org
http://TheEvangelismTrail.org

Overwhelmed Mommy

Periodically most mommies get overwhelmed. I say most because you may be one of those special people who are so organized, have perfect children, have a nannie, or just don’t let things bother you. But if you do get overwhelmed from time to time, you are not alone.

I have a bit of experience in the area. I have 6 children. They are all in the 40’s now so I can positively say that we survived, however, there were a few times in their upbringing that I lost it. These days with the added elements of electronics and now with the current pandemic, to be a mom you really have to put your armor on every single day.

When I say put your armor on, I mean to be able to take the slings and arrows that hit moms every day. But, even with said armor, you can still get overwhelmed.

So, lets define overwhelmed. This state may be different for different moms and situations. After, of course, the normal stresses of having twins, my first children, it didn’t take long for my house to get into a yearlong mess. I am not naturally a meticulous housekeeper and have even tagged myself as lazy, however, with the care and feeding of these two very demanding children, I admit that I got overwhelmed on several occasions. Overwhelmed for me at that time was the anxiety of a messy house.

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What Are You Afraid Of?

 

It seems that we are all afraid of something. I will share some of my fears and I would like you, as you read this, to contemplate yours. Fears take on different aspects, they could be inward or outward, but this is not about the fears themselves, but what we do with them.

I’ll start with one of the fears I have identified in myself. That is, fear of success. By that I mean, some of the opportunities I have been faced with over my life, may have produced good results, however, I got in my head and declined to proceed or went a little way and then gave up. One way these fears have manifested is my confidence in writing. Although I have had a blog for twenty years now, and have even self-published a children’s book, “The Gospel Parade,” I have failed to put 100% into the process, some because of limited funds, but also because I have a habit of saying to myself, “Who would read this? Would ‘they’ be interested? Who really cares what I have to say?”

I am currently working on a book, “Why Do You Want to Go to Hell?” and have gone through most of the negative head-speak through the process. Except for prayer and patience through writer’s block, I would have given up on this, now, yearlong project. But in an effort to press on, I am still working on it and should have it ready by years end.

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The Conundrum of WHY

By Patti McDonald, Professional Mom

We are human, that’s a fact. We ask WHY. Another fact. Have you ever wondered why something happened, or why it happened in the way it did? I have.

For example, why did the log pop out of the ocean, just as the little boy was walking on the beach. And kill him! Why did the car swerve just in time to miss the oncoming traffic? Why did it hit?

Some of the WHY questions for all of us are: Why am I sick? Why did my husband die? Why did I miscarry? Why did my child die? Why did I wreck my car? Why did my house burn down? Why did the flood come here? There are as many WHYs as there are people. Why did my wife get cancer? Why did the tornado hit my house and not my neighbor’s? Or vice versa.

These and many, many more WHY questions are sent to a Holy, loving God every single second. So, how does he answer our WHY?

Sometimes the WHY is far off. Sometimes it is immediate. There is only one answer. The answer is to trust God. We don’t see with “God eyes.” His power and omnipotence are not in our realm, these qualities are higher and more intense than human hearts can understand. In our weakest moments, He is strong.

Still, there is sadness, mourning, anger, and grief in our suffering, whatever the reason. I have gone through seasons of WHY. If yours includes the finality of death, to me, it is much harder to understand the WHY and for some and some situations, we will not understand fully until we see Jesus, however, there is a glimmer of understanding in God’s Word.

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Sarah Laughed

Genesis 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

So, what shall we take from this “physiologically incomprehensible” forecast from the angel visitors? Abraham had been promised to be the Father of Many Nations by God. Here we have the inside view of Sarah as she overheard the conversation of her husband and his heavenly messengers, one of which, I believe was Jesus, but that’s for another day. She laughed within herself, scripture says. As a woman, I can see where she was coming from. Her husband was 99 years old and she was not too far behind, probably 90 or 91, according to historic accounts. The problem here is Sarah’s unwillingness to believe God, hence, the laugh.

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