 COMING 2020! WHAT IS Book Series for every child who enters the foster care system. Learn what is a Child Welfare Worker and find out their roles as a worker in the foster care system. This will be a free resource for every child in Louisiana. If you are outside of Louisiana and interested in providing this book to the children in your state foster care system, please contact Aimee or Heather at aimeepoche@gmail.com or louisianaheartgallery@empower225.org.
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 COMING 2020! Momma, tell me again how I WAS WORTH THE WAIT!
Darius loveS to hear his parents tell the story about how he was worth the wait! I think he has heard it a thousand times but it never gets old to Darius. Darius was in the foster care system as are over 500,000 children in the USA. The couple who adopted Darius walked through a season of having their faith stretched and made a decision to look to God for their desire to have a child of their own. God is faithful and as Darius' Mom says in the story, "he was worth the wait!"  I am praying God’s 250 great and precious promises in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation over my spouse, children, and loved ones. Today's promise from God is GOOD THINGS. If you missed the others you can find them here. Join me in praying for your family and other loved ones.
GOOD THINGS: Matthew 7:11 says, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" As I read this scripture, I get so excited that my Father wants to give me good things; He wants to give you good things; He wants to give our loved ones good things and all He asks of us is to ASK Him. Do you or a loved one need healing? Wouldn't that be a good thing to receive? Do you or your loved one need protection? Wouldn't that be a good thing to receive? Do you need a financial breakthrough, a pay raise, favor with a job opportunity? Wouldn't that be a good thing to receive? Has God laid a dream on your heart but you don't know where to begin or how to accomplish this dream? Wouldn't it be a good thing if God directs your steps and leads you to see this dream come to fruition? Are you single and desire a husband or wife? Wouldn't that be a good thing to receive? do you desire children? Wouldn't that be a good thing to receive? Do you want God to touch the heart of your children? Wouldn't that be a good thing to receive? I can go on and on but you get the picture. What is the good thing you would like to receive for you or your loved ones? JUST ASK. It is His will to give you good things so stop questioning it and feeling guilty for asking. Father, thank you for Your promise for GOOD THINGS. I need You today and everyday Lord. I want to be intentional of seeking you daily, talking to You daily. I have received so many good things from You in my life. I am thankful for Your handprints in my life and my loved ones lives. I look around and I am overwhelmed with Your love for me. Just as it brings me joy to give my spouse, my children and other loved ones good things, I know it brings You joy to give me good things. Lord, I know You see all and know all what I need already yet Your word says ask You for what I need. I believe this is because You desire fellowship with me, a deeper relationship with me. You desire me to seek You when I am in need and not seek to fulfill this need in others or get the need met from this world. I believe nothing is too small or too big to ask from You. So today, I come to You and ask for __(what is it you or your loved ones needs? Ask Him for all of it)__ Lord, I lay this all before You and thank You in advance for being a good good Father to me and my loved ones. I lift up my hands and declare thankfulness for You and Your desire to want to give me good things. I love You, Lord! Thank You for Your great and precious promises. In Jesus' name Amen. The year is coming to an end and a new year is right upon us. For me, there is an excitement in the air that a fresh new season is almost here. This time of year, our family sits down at the table for a time of reflection of all the blessings of the year and we all talk about ways we can do life better as a Christian son and daughter. We talk about specific ways we can commit to do better in the following areas: spiritual, family, academics, health, and friends. We each take time to pray for a Word from the Lord and then write our word down on each of our own resolution papers. I encourage the children to look their word up in the bible concordance and read all the different bible scriptures related to their word and decide which one pops out to them. That becomes their scripture for the year and they write it in the scripture space on the resolution paper. They then look at each specific areas to improve and write down specifically what they need to improve or would like to do in that area. They sum it up in a prayer and write that down in the space provided on their resolution paper. When we are done, my husband and I will spend time with each child and talk about their goals for the New Year. We then let them read the prayer at the bottom of their resolution paper and sign their name. The last thing we do is find a spot in their room or bathroom mirror where we tape it up for them to see it throughout the New Year. We are believing for a great New Year 2019! Our prayer is that you and your family will experience the Lord on a deeper level and have your best year yet. HAPPY NEW YEAR! The New Year Resolution template is under the picture below for you to download and print out for you and your family. (See download link below picture.)  
 I am praying God’s 250 great and precious promises in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation over my spouse, children, and loved ones. I’m on promise number 18. If you missed the others you can find them here. Join me in praying for your family and other loved ones.
Today’s promise is ANSWERS TO ALL PRAYERS. Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 21:21, “Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.” Mark 11:22-24, “Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” I did not get married until I was 29 years old. When I read the above scriptures, I am immediately brought back about 25 years ago to a night I was sitting at a table in Pizza Kitchen with a male friend. I was a single 24-year-old. We were sitting down to eat and my friend looked at me and asked me, “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” I looked at my friend and without hesitation, without any doubts, an excitement was stirred deep within me. I leaned over to the table closer to my friend and out of my mouth I said, “I get to meet my husband and children!” My friend, with a puzzled look on his face, said, “How can you be sure of that?” I have no idea where that confidence came from because I was and had not dated anybody that was even remotely a possibility of being my husband. I did not know the scriptures above at that time but I look back now and I am certain the way I answered that question with such boldness and confidence 25 years ago is the reason I have the husband and children I have today. Have faith and doubt not Matthew 21:21 Have faith in God Mark 11:22 Have no unforgiveness in your heart Mark 11:25 Ask (crave it, desire it, require or demand it), Seek, Knock Matthew 7:7 Today’s promise is answers to all prayers. The day I was asked the question “Where do I see myself in 10 years?”, I could have easily looked around me, looked at my current life of being single, having no possibility of a husband in sight and exclaimed, “Well, I don’t know. I’m not dating anyone now and haven’t in a while. I guess I’ll be single and working. I really don’t know.” God desires us to have faith! God wants us to believe for the best as it relates to His word. If I asked you today, “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”, what would you say? What if I asked you, “Where do you see your son in 10 years? Where do you see your daughter in 10 years? What if the question was directed at your marriage and the question was, “Where do you see your marriage in 10 years? Are you seeing some disappointments with your children, some obstacles in your marriage where it is making it hard to see if you will even be married to your spouse in 10 years? What if the question was directed to your health? Are you walking through an illness where honestly in 10 years your body is going to deteriorate if modern medicine and/or God does not heal you? There is a woman in the bible that said, “If I only touch His garment, I will be healed.” Now that is faith.! This woman with an illness for years spoke with such faith. And guess what? She was healed by Jesus. After Jesus realized the woman touched His cloak He said, “Your faith has healed you.” Maybe it's not a marriage issue or a health problem. Maybe you are believing for a spouse or you are barren and believing for children. Today, grab hold of God’s word in Matthew 7:7 and ask in faith, ask that your loved one’s life turn around for good. Ask in accordance with God’s will for a breakthrough in your marriage, ask for a healing in your body or the body of a loved one. Ask for God to send you a spouse, to bless you with children. Seek scriptures and declare God’s truth over your children, over your marriage, over whatever rocky road or muddy path you are on or speak forth His word over the desires of your heart for a spouse and/or children. God says knock and the door will be opened to you. Knock as hard and as many times until God opens that door! Be determined, be persistent in faith! Do not give up! Father, thank You for your promise to answer all prayers. Lord, I am thankful we can come to You about anything. Today, I am asking in faith for Your strength to empower my spouse, my children, other loved ones and I to walk out the life You intended for us. I am determined to seek Your ways in all areas of my life and be the woman you have purposed me to be. Lord, if I am asked where will I be in ten years? I will answer with confidence that in ten years I will be serving You, I will be healthy, full of life and joy in pursuing Your plan for my life. (Speak life into a situation or obstacle in your life right now. If you are sick, reach out and touch the cloak of Jesus and receive your healing.) Lord, if I am asked where will my spouse be in ten years? I confidently proclaim my spouse will be healthy and flourishing at work, that my spouse will be strengthened by Your word and living life as You planned for my spouse to live. (Speak life into a situation or obstacle in your spouse’s life right now. If your marriage is struggling, speak life to your marriage today and thank God for restoring your marriage. If you do not have a spouse but desire to be married, ask the Lord for a spouse and start thanking Him for the spouse He is sending you.) Lord, if I am asked where will my son and/or daughter be in ten years? I confidently proclaim my son and/or my daughter will be surrounded by Your presence, the eyes of their heart opened to You, healthy and living a life flourishing and pleasing to You. (Speak life into a situation or obstacle in your child’s life right now. If you are infertile or have a desire for more children, ask the Lord for a child and thank Him for the child/ren He is sending you.) Lord, I am knocking and I thank You the door will be opened. I love You, Lord. Thank You for caring about the details in my life, in my loved one’s life. I pray all this in faith. I pray all this believing it will come to pass in Jesus’ name. Amen.  I am praying God’s 250 great and precious promises in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation over my spouse, children, and loved ones. I’m on promise number 17. If you missed the others you can find them here. Join me in praying for your family and other loved ones.
Today’s promise is NECESSITIES OF LIFE. No matter what season of life you are in, there seems to be an area in our life where worry and anxiety can try to make themselves at home with us. If we are not careful to seek, learn and do what God says about worry and anxiety, we can possibly live our life so concerned about the cares of tomorrow, so weighted down by what will happen tomorrow, we miss taking care of the cares of today; we miss the blessings that God has placed around us. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Jesus is saying hey wife, hey daughter, hey sister, hey Mom, hey grandmother, hey Dad, hey husband, hey son, hey brother, hey Grandpa, learn My word, My ways, and My thoughts; do what is right based on what you learn, and I will give you everything you need. If we back up a few scriptures in this chapter, God says don’t worry about your life, about what you shall eat or what you shall drink, don’t worry about your body and your clothes “for your heavenly Father knows all your needs.” Nothing is hidden from our Father. He knows our needs. He knows our spouse's needs. He knows our children’s needs. He knows our loved one's needs. Jesus is telling us, “I know the demands of this life but I want you to focus on Me, seek Me, worship, Me, make decisions based on My word and all these necessities of life will be given to you.” Jesus is saying we can trust Him to take care of us in every season of life if we are putting Him first. Maybe you are a fostering Mom and/or Dad and going through difficulty with children in your home. Maybe you are a single Mom and/or single Dad and you feel the weight of this world on your shoulders. Maybe you are a family where some of your children are adopted and some are biological and you are walking through some struggles in your family. Maybe one of your loved ones is weighted down by worry and anxiety. As you say the prayer below, make it personal to your situation and choose to trust your heavenly Father who cares for you and your loved ones deeply. Father, thank You for the promise of giving us the NECESSITIES OF LIFE. Lord, I do have needs. I do feel the weight of worry and anxiety over the areas of my life where I am in need. I look at my loved ones around me and I also worry about what they need and them being taken care of but I believe Your word, I choose to believe if I seek Your kingdom first, if I read Your word, learn Your word and do what is right by making decisions based on what Your word says that You will provide for me in my areas of need, You will provide for my loved ones in their time of need. Father, I praise Your mighty name today! I lift up my chin, my head, my eyes to You right now. I am raising up my arms and hands to release my needs to You. I cast worry and anxiety aside. I seek You first, Lord. I hold up my spouse, my children, my other loved ones to You and ask You to cause them to turn their eyes from the concerns of life and put their eyes on You. Thank You, You are drawing us to You. You are releasing Your Holy Spirit in us. You are touching us where we need it the most. You are pouring Your living water over us. You are going before us and clearing a path. You are orchestrating details of what we need even though we may not see it with our natural eyes right now; however, we can believe You are fighting our battles, You are in the midst of our pains, our struggles, and our desires. We are being filled with Your presence at this moment. We are going forth in life knowing You are taking care of all our needs. I love You, Lord. I thank You for being such a good Father to me and my loved ones. I trust You and believe everything I just prayed. In Jesus’ name Amen.  I am praying God’s 250 great and precious promises in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation over my spouse, children, and loved ones. I’m on promise number 16. If you missed the others you can find them here. Join me in praying for your family and other loved ones.
Today’s promise is FORGIVENESS OF SINS. As a Christian, we know that the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior our sins are washed away and we are forgiven of our sins. Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is LORD," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Just in this scripture alone, we receive salvation, redemption, and forgiveness. But as we live our daily lives even after we believe in Him, we are not exempt from others abusing us, defaming our character, offending us, and insulting us. For this devotion today, the focus is on being a Christian but carrying unforgiveness in your heart for someone else. Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” and Mark 11:25 relates this promise to our praying, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” What an amazing promise the Lord is giving us; but, to receive this promise it comes with a sometimes hard to act upon condition we must do. We must forgive. We must forgive those who have sinned against us. For this prayer, I am going to focus on the word forgiveness. Forgiveness is not agreeing and approving what that person has done to you. Forgiving the person that has sinned against you, that has caused you pain, is the beginning of not being chained by what this person has done to you any longer. Forgiveness releases us from being shackled to this person any longer. Forgiveness is defined by Webster’s dictionary as to stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake. In the Bible, Jesus is saying forgiveness is to send away, to expire, to let go, to disregard, stop discussing it, to give up a debt, to remit/cancel a debt or punishment, to leave in order to go to another place. God has this promise available to us so we can live the fullness of what we were created for on this earth. Isn’t it true, if we hold on to unforgiveness, our minds get taken over by negative thoughts toward the person who hurt us? Unforgiveness makes us constantly rehearse the hurt in our minds, rehearse retaliation, rehearse telling that person off, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. That’s what unforgiveness does, it handcuffs us to this person, ties our thought life to this person, it keeps stirring up the hurt, it keeps us immobilized and we end up wasting too much time on this person. So what do we do? We forgive that person. But how? Forgiveness is intentional. The times I had to forgive someone who hurt me, I had to recognize all the time I spent rehearsing what that person had done to me. I had to recognize all the days I thought about telling that person off. Unforgiveness is a consumer. It consumes our time and devours our energy whereas we could be using that time and energy towards the plans and purposes God has for us. Remember, when you forgive a person who has wounded you, you are rising up straight and strong and saying “You can no longer control my emotions! You can no longer have any part of me anymore! I am breaking this invisible shackle you have had on me! I am releasing you to the Lord and I will let Him take care of you! I am free of you! I am free!” That is what forgiveness does. It frees you to let the Lord usher you into His destiny, plans, and purposes for you on this earth. And isn’t this something we want our spouse, children and other loved ones to experience? Father, I thank You for the promise of forgiveness of sins. Thank You that I do not have to be shackled and chained to (name the person that wounded you) any longer. I am deciding today this person will no longer hold my thoughts captive to this wound. I choose to praise You and call out the name of Jesus in the moments my mind wants to rehearse what they have done against me. I am letting this wrongdoing go and choosing to forgive them. I do not agree with what they did and I am not saying it is ok because it was wrong but I choose forgiveness because I want to be free, I want to live life in abundance as You have planned me to live. I want to walk in the fullness of the plans and purposes You have for me. I do not want to hinder You forgiving me of any sins I may do. Lord, I want this for my spouse and child/ren as well. I hold them up to You and ask You to bring to light any unforgiveness in their hearts. Lead them to forgive anybody they are holding unforgiveness towards. I know, as our child/ren walk through life, there will be classmates and other people who will offend them, hurt them, or try to insult them. Help my spouse and I teach our child/ren and show them how to forgive the people who do wrong towards them so they will not hinder You forgiving them of their sins and they will not live their life being weighted down by what others have done to them. Lord, if my spouse is being weighted down by a wrong someone has done to them, I stand in the gap for my spouse. Lead my spouse into forgiveness for this person. I thank You the enemy has no power over my spouse’s mind. I thank You that my spouse will choose to forgive this person and not carry unforgiveness in their heart. Thank You, Lord, my spouse will forgive this person and be set free from these shackles once and for all. Thank You, Lord, for the promise of when we forgive others who have sinned against us, You forgive our sins. I believe all I just prayed in Jesus’ name. Amen.  I am praying God’s 250 great and precious promises in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation over my spouse, children, and loved ones. I’m on promise number 15. If you missed the others you can find them here. Join me in praying for your family and other loved ones.
Today’s promise is GREATNESS. Matthew 5:19, “Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” There is so much pressure to be great in my daily life; to be exceptional and stand out as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. I don’t know about you, but in my life, I strive to be great. I want to be an above normal wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. I do not want to be just average. I want to stand out in my home, in my church, in my community, and in my work not to draw attention to myself but to be all that God wants me to be. If I am not careful, I can strive to be great based on how the world views being great and miss pursuing being great based on God’s word for being great. In the scripture above, Jesus specifically says to be called great in the kingdom of heaven, you must do and teach the laws of the kingdom. What are the laws of the kingdom Jesus is talking about? He is talking about laws on murder, civil suits, adultery, divorce, remarriage, making vows, retaliation, love, acts of charity, alone with God, the model prayer, condition of answered prayer, and fasting. Jesus is saying if you want to be called great in the kingdom of heaven, listen and do what I say to achieve being great in My eyes. Over the years, as a large family with eight children, I have received countless emails, calls, and texts asking for parenting advice. After 15 years of being a Mom to our children, I do have lots of advice about parenting; however, the greatest advice I can give a new Mom, a struggling Mom, or a Grandmother is to do and teach the laws of the kingdom; practice and communicate the words of Jesus in your home as a parent or as a grandparent. I truly believe we can help our children avoid so much of the world’s brokenness if we take the time to teach them the laws of the kingdom at home which are found in Matthew 5:17 – 6-18. What if you are reading this and you are divorced, you have committed adultery, or you haven’t always followed the ways and words of Jesus in some areas of your life? Well, my friend, there is no condemnation from God. He is a forgiving and loving God and wants the very best for you and your family. Today, you can make a change in your home and your parenting style. Before praying the prayer below, ask the Lord to forgive you in specific areas and, friend, He will wash you white as snow and you can throw off the weight of sin so that it doesn’t go with you in your tomorrows. Father, I thank you for the promise of being called great in heaven as we follow the laws of Your Kingdom while we are on this earth and as we teach the laws of Your kingdom to our families and as You open up doors of opportunity for us to teach others. Father, our goal is not to be titled with the word great but to be transformed by Your word; to be reformed as we submit to Your laws on how to live while on this earth. Lord, as my spouse and I do and teach Your laws to our child/ren, I thank You that my spouse, our children, and myself will be radically changed by Your word. I trust and thank You that as my spouse and I follow Your laws and as we train our child/ren up in Your ways and teach them Your laws, I will see all of our moral character develop; I will see our mind, body, soul, and spirit desire and grow to be a person of integrity and honesty. I will see confusion leave and a clarity of mind come forth in each of us. I thank You, Lord, as my spouse and I put a priority in following Your laws and be intentional in making sure our child/ren know what the laws of the Kingdom are and how to live the way You intended us to live that I will see a holy boldness rise up in each of us, a Godly confidence that only comes from You. I will see my spouse, our child/ren, and myself stand up for what is right. I will see us being set apart for our purpose and destiny You placed in us. I will see us grow in knowing who we are in Christ. I will see us walking through the tough times in life with You at our side carrying us through because we choose to follow Your way of living. Continue to show my spouse and I, Lord, where we can do better as parents in training our child/ren up in Your word. I thank You it is never too late to start following Your ways and teaching our child/ren Your laws. Thank You for Your great and precious promises. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Note: God's Laws of the Kingdom can be found in Matthew 5:17 - Matthew 6:18. Ask the Lord how to incorporate teaching His laws in your home. As you practice His laws and teach them to your family, pray that He will open up doors of opportunity to teach His laws in your community. Remember, it is never too late to start teaching your family His ways. Also, if you are a fostering parent, even though you will have children temporarily, teaching these precious children His laws, even if for a short amount of time, will plant Godly seeds within them that they will take with them on their journey to finding a forever family. |
Hello and Welcome!
Wife, Mother, Adoption Advocate, Writer, IllustratorWho am I? Galatians 2:20 does a great job of summing up who I am. My life is His, the One who loves me and gave Himself for me . In return, I want to be all He wants me to be and do all He wants me to do on this side of Heaven. 
Recipient of the Angels in Adoption Award 2016. A program of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in Washington D.C.
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