Valerie Woerner - Fresh Start for Moms: A 31-Day Devotional Journal to Renew Your Joy

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Fresh Start for Moms: A 31-Day Devotional Journal to Renew Your Joy

Copyright 2019 by Valerie Woerner. All rights reserved.

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A RE YOU FEELING WEARY, grumpy, impatient, or just plain bored on this journey of motherhood? If so, Im in the trenches with you right now. I know these feelings all too well:

• that ache that sets in before your eyes even open and your toes hit the floor
• that thought that the day will bring you more than you can possibly handle
• that dread that today holds nothing more than your mundane routine

In a split second, before you even get out of bed, youve decided whether you will conquer your day or simply surrender to it.

Im a mom to two girls, Vivi (four) and Vana (two), so Im still early on my journey of motherhood. I have a whole lot to learn and many trials ahead, but one thing I know for certain is that God has burdened me with a desire to face whatever is to come with a fresh perspective. This doesnt come naturally for meIm someone with a tendency toward melancholyso this God-sized perspective is something I have to fight for.

My prayer is that over the next thirty-one days, you will be refreshed and empowered in the knowledge that motherhood is so much more than making it through the day or hobbling through on caffeine and chocolate. You can kneel in front of a tantrum-throwing two-year-old or stand firmly in front of a disengaged teen and patiently speak truth and love in a way that trains their hearts to look more like Jesus. You can feel satisfied when you notice the sweat on your brow that comes from loving your family well. You can snuggle a baby way past bedtime and be grateful for the blessing of the extra time instead of feeling like its ruining your plans.

You can do all this not because I say so but because God does.

I wrote this devotional for every mom who is craving a fresh startnot just in her day but in her approach to motherhood. We dont have to wake up with that ache or already-exhausted feeling. We can wake up with contagious joy and a peace that will change our homesand us.

Your fresh start is here, momma! Dive in with me!

I know how busy you are, and I dont want to waste your time with fluff or things that wont really serve you. My goal is not to create another thing you must do or something that will overwhelm your already-full life. My desire is to create a habit of thinking differently. Sometimes just the thought of a long-term commitment can prompt us to give up before we start. So, momma, Ive made this as practical as possible so that by the end of the month, you will find that your thinking has been transformed.

Each day consists of a devotional, an action step, a prayer, and several questions for each morning, as well as a few reflection questions to end your day. To get the most out of the next thirty-one days, heres what I recommend committing to:

1. Set aside fifteen to twenty minutes in the morning and five to ten minutes at night for the next thirty-one days.
2. Read the devotional, follow the action step, and pray the prayer at the end.
3. Go through the morning questions before your day gets started.
4. As you climb into bed, make a nightly ritual of answering the evening questions.
5. You can use the page called My Prayer to journal your reflections and prayers at the end of the day.

I know there are so many other demands and obligations on your plate, but you need to know that you are valuable and this is worth your time. Prioritize this, fit it into your schedule, and process each days reading fully so it can take root in your mind. This isnt urgent like getting the kids to school or putting dinner on the table, but its important, so Im challenging you to really make the most of this! If you do, you will start to see that you dont have to live in overwhelmed mode. You will start to experience more moments that make you love motherhood instead of just trying to get through the day. I cant promise you a quiet and pristine house (or kids!), but I can promise you a fresh start in the way you respond to the challenges, which fortunately makes all the difference in the world.

SPRING 2019

A T THE RIPE AGE of thirty-three, Im starting to notice the crater-sized pores on my face, the stray facial hairs, and the ruddy complexion. Yesterday I found a hair that was literally an inch long coming from my forehead! How? When I look in the mirror, I feel too young to feel this old. I get overwhelmed by the idea that this skin isnt getting any better, and the rate of deterioration is only going to accelerate over the next thirty-three-plus years.

But before I take a nosedive into a sea of miracle creams, Id like to spend some time in the book of Exodus, where we can learn an unexpected lesson in beauty from Moses. I know. It seems like Im reaching on this one, but stay with me. That old guy with skin that was no doubt windburned and dry from decades in the desert knew a thing or two about getting a healthy glow.