This morning I was writing a devotion for my family/other families from Isaiah 26:3. It's one of my favorite Scriptures...He keeps us in perfect peace as our minds are stayed on Him. Here's a part of the devotion: A mind stayed on God isn't restless. It isn't wandering. It isn't spinning with worry. It's stayed. Like a boat anchored in the harbor, held steady by something deeper. When your mind is stayed on God—fixed on who He is, what He's done, what He promises—you find perfect peace. Not because the world becomes calm. But because your inner world is anchored to something unshakeable. The practice is simple: moment by moment, bring your wandering thoughts back to rest on God. What has He done? What has He promised? What do you know about His character? Each time you practice this—bringing your anxious thoughts back to God—you're building a habit of peace that will carry you through anything. This is how families change. Not through perfect circumstances. But through choosing, again and again, to keep their minds stayed on God. If you want to practice this with your family, we're building this habit in Present—our weekly family devotional that meets you where you are and helps you discover peace together. Present is daily devotions, 5 minutes per day, delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Check it out here: https://www.spiritledfamilies.world/products/present-weekly-family-devotionals

Only I can make myself afraid. My kids decisions can’t. The news can’t. Finances can’t. I have to allow them to have that place, which means only I can make myself afraid. Learning that is important. It empowers me. It means I can avoid living as a victim even if I’ve been victimized. Learning how fear works is even more important, otherwise I’ll continue to give people and situations power they don’t have. How I see things (no matter what I see) is one of the 2 factors that decides if my brain creates fear or not. Any place I feel fear I want to look at how I’m seeing it and question my perspective.

Jesus grew up as a Carpenter. Later, He was mistaken for a Gardener. Which is He? Both. He both builds and grows things with us, in and through us. One key to healthy family is to recognize when He’s which. Is He wanting to build something in us right now? Or grow something? So often, we try to build things when He’s growing something else and grow things when He’s building. This is true not only in us as families, but also individually.

And He also told us what we need to know so those storms don't destroy our homes. Had we not known what to do (and done it) when we found out our house needed to be torn down and our finances took a massive hit, our marriage wouldn't be in the thriving condition it is now. So, I'm just reminding you, storms are coming for your marriage and family. I want your house to stand through those storms. Not fall. I will show you what we did, and what you can do, the skills needed, to withstand those storms when they come. Plus there's still time for you to win $1000 off this course, I tell you how to do that in this video: Engage and contribute here in Skool and get yourself to level 5. Another plus, we have monthly investments available on the site as well so you can join this course for as little as $135/month. Here is the link to the details to the course, WE START IN 20 DAYS. Let's make sure your house is one that stays standing after the storms!

We are not the highest version of ourselves that we can imagine. We are the lowest versions of ourselves that we can accept. Sam Ovens