I Already Paid For That----- (The Flight)

Sometimes when a person views the Christian life, it simply can feels like a list of "do's"
 and "don'ts." And ironically, many believers can fall into the trap of living like it's just a list of "do's" and "don'ts." We are by nature people who like to pay for our own price. Most people have a hard time accepting gifts in the payment form. And we are not quick to take a "hand out."
That is what makes Jesus's death on the cross for our sins so radical. It's saying in essence, the thing that you hold so close, your very life, was paid for and redeemed by Jesus.
"You mean I don't have to do anything to get Him to pay my price?" And the answer is, "Believe in Me." John 14...
I always have struggled feeling like I need to earn God's love. Be better. Do more. Live perfectly.
Well it's true that His word says, "Be holy for I am holy." And in some translations that says, "be perfect for I am perfect." But that holy living is not done in the name of, "Earning His love." For I will never be perfect enough to pay for my own sins. And when I strive, and search, and grasp to be better, please Him by making "sacrifices" and striving to be a little better than the next guy, none of this will add to my payment for my salvation, or earn me "more love" from God. The bills been paid, and the love tank is eternally full. It will not run out, or run dry.
You see we often view heavenly things, from an earthly perspective. In our world we have to pay for everything and there "is no such thing as  a free lunch." SO surely there must be SOMETHING we must do to earn God's love?
The answer is simple. Believe in the One He sent.
Striving has ceased.
Works have ceased.

We surrender to the One who paid our debt, and took our place. This is what it means to believe. To say with our actions, and our words that He paid our debt.

So in here has lay my problem for so many years. I have always said with my mouth "Jesus paid my debt." But with my actions, I am always trying to earn His approval.
When in reality, all the approval I ever needed was given to me freely the day I accepted Jesus's payment for my sin.
I put myself under a microscope and if there is anything that appears unrighteous in my life, I take a tweezers and extract it. I try to be perfect. That is just not possible my friends.
Perfection is found in Christ alone.
I will never be able to act, respond, and be perfect.
Now I can seek Him for  holiness, because He is my example, but I will not have to strive. Because holiness relies on Him to refine me, I look to Him for this type of growth.
I don't strive endlessly in vain pursuit of something that is unattainable in my own strength.

It's like this. I can flap my arms as hard as I can, even visualizing wings on my arms, I can strive this way for my entire life, but no matter how hard I strive, I will never fly this way.
However, I can board  an airplane, calmly lay my head back on the seat, and take flight with no real effort, other than that a boarding pass had be paid.
SO it is with Jesus. He payed my boarding pass. I am on the flight. Were are mid-air because Jesus got me there. There is nothing I have to do stay there in the air except to remain on the plane. If I jump off the plane and start violently flapping my arms, well I will crash to my death. My striving will bring me nothing.

So keeping in line with air plane analogy, I realized the hard way that I was trying to lift myself off the ground with my own arms, and it was getting me no where. So I took the ticket that Jesus handed me the day I received salvation, I boarded the air-plane and here I am. Enjoying the flight. There have been bumps along the flight, because everyone faces turbulence in their lives. Sometimes great, sometimes light, but regardless...when Jesus sees the fear in my eyes, and comes and sits down next to me, puts His hand on my knee and says It's going to be OK, I'm in control.
My white knuckles release and I am able to lay my head down and rest again.

You see, nothing I sacrifice on this earth will amount to anything, unless it is a sacrifice He has told me to make. Nothing I strive with will add to anything, unless He points to me, and say, "I've got a job for you to do today!"
And then it's with excitement that I can jump from my seat knowing He has something for me! I love it when He does this.
We are to love our fellow passengers, and love our Pilot.
And even this, daily He will help us unpack what that will look like.
Striving has ceased.

I'm done flapping my arms. I feel like a chicken when I do this. Striving, working hard, and never really going anywhere near where I feel like I should be. Striving in the flesh will fill you pride, if you happen to lift off a few inches, it will tire you and it will also cause you to make a lot of sacrifices you would not be required to make had you just accepted His grace to lift you up high in the sky...

SO if you don't mind, you can now unfasten your seat belts and feel free to move about the cabin at your leisure, we have to now reached an altitude of  45,000 feet. Enjoy your flight.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith and this in not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9

"O Praise the One who paid my debt, who raised my life, up from the dead!" -song

Trying to "Figure it out"

It's that moment after the ball drops and all you're left with is an array of glass laying at your feet, in pieces like a Picasso painting. The wonderings and musing, and questions soon follow...(for me)
I scratch my head and think, "what did I do wrong.." "how did this happen?" "why did this happen.." I've heard it said that , "answers to the questions do not really make the pain go away..." but somehow I feel that if only I could just "figure it out.." I'd be better off. " So I wouldn't make the same mistake again..."
And then there is the old adage, "everything happens for a reason..." I swore I'd hit the next person who said that to me in the wake of my dropped glass ball.
My heart was filled with wondering and uncertainty.... until.... I rested.
That may seem like a oxymoron, to rest in uncertainty...but that may be another unique definition of faith rightly placed. Faith placed on the Unchanging One, allows me to rest, to lay down and sleep in the pile of my broken dreams and know that God who holds all things together, will turn this all for good.
The process in which it took to get me to my place of rest will be different than it is for you. Mine was  a twisty road, filled with mistakes and setbacks, but that is because I continually stopped along the way to point things out to my Maker. I'd whine a lot, and muse to Him that this was not my idea of a good time. My patient faithful Father would just stay constant and study with me, and we'd carry on. Always reassuring me along the way, whispering, "I'll never leave you..." as we walked along.
I'd try and do things to please God, thinking that in these actions I'd make Him so pleased that we could turn around and go back to, "the way things used to be, you know, before the ball dropped." He would stay constant and study...as I reeled at His unchanging course.
His ways are sure. He ways are true. As constant as the setting sun. I liked this truth about Him until He was relentlessly pursuing me... to have ALL of me.
Constantly I'd hear Him say, "trust me!" and His actions were always consistent with His words.
"Along unfamiliar paths you will lead me..."
There would be times along the journey that I would feel His peace and rest in His plans, and trust in His WAY,  and I would be so at peace. Then I would start to try and EARN His love and acceptance and favor again, thinking that if I was a good enough little girl, He'd give me what I wanted.
"thats not how it works..." He would say. "it's by grace your saved by me, not by works so that no one can boast." The gift of God is eternal life. But the key word is "gift.." you do not earn gifts. You receive gifts by the grace of Giver.
"Oh...OK.." I'd say, and He'd take my hand or put His arm around me and we'd carry on.
When he'd take my hand, or lift me up in His arms, it's as if He was saying, "I'm not mad at you daughter, but lets stay focused. Let's carry on..."
I'd wrap my arms around His neck when He'd pick me up...He knew when I was too weak to walk anymore. And He'd just carry me in His rest for 10, 12 hours sometimes....I'd lay my head on shoulder and I'd sleep... He always knows exactly what I need.

We came to a clearing in the path. Deep set in mountains, and there was a river. SO we sat down there and were still.
"Be still and know that I am God, and that I have great plans for you..."
I let those words sink it. I meditated on them. I rested in them for several minutes before I gather the courage to ask, " SO there is nothing I have to do to earn your rest?"
"Just that you would rest in me..."
The relief that flooded over me was inexplainable with words. I threw my arms around His neck and all I could do was weep, and say "Thank you."

"This is all my hope and peace, nothing but blood of Jesus! "

There is nothing in all of creation that will make me more holy in His sight than simple trust and faith in His Son's blood that was shed for me. This acceptance of His finished work on the cross makes me more and more thankful each day. Knowing that I bring nothing to table but my sin, and His grace that is all sufficient fills me with the peace that surpasses all understanding... and in that I can rest.

It's as if I equated that if my plans do not turn out the way I wanted my plans to turn out, when I wanted them to turn out, it meant that God did not love me. And that in order for my plans to turn out the way I desired, I had to do something more to earn His love and favor.

His love is not earned. It's given. His blessings are bestowed in countless ways that one cannot even begin to count...and His favor, like a staff, is constant as we lean on Him and rest in His way in surrender.

My greatest heartache, became my greatest surrender, which ultimately became my greatest journey towards resting in Him.

And my journey, and your journey is not done until the day God calls us home. So let us keep the faith, rest in Him, remind one another of how His plans are perfect, and good and right...and encourage one another that it by grace alone that we are saved!!!!

Even the surrender is not done in our own strength. In quiet trust, we rest. Knowing He's got the whole world in His hands. And He, unlike me, never drops the ball.  I have come to realize this process of surrender in my own life, and that if a ball drops in our lives, it's because He first of all allowed it, and second of all, He plans on putting the pieces back together in such a way that we are more whole than we ever were prior the ball dropping in the first place.

A Living HOPE---(A Road Less Traveled)

A stark reality begins to hit as you age, and it is this:  all things end. Good or bad, all events, lives and      experiences end at some point. All things, except our living hope, namely, Jesus.
I say this not to depress you, but more to point to you something better.
This verse hit me this morning as I read the Word:

"Paise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power." 1 Peter 1:3-5

I am the first to admit that there are times in this life, that I feel hope-less. But the reasons that these feelings creep in and overtake me are based upon the reality that I have begun (without meaning to) to put my faith and hope in things that won't last.

For a long time my hope was in my children, and it was in my ability to have more of them. Once that changed for me via the circumstances God placed in my life I began the soul searching journey of divorcing the things that were stealing the platform of hope that only belongs to Jesus.

I actually discovered many things that I placed my hope in. I had mistaken this earth greatly as the source of my ability to have hope. My hope lies no where on this side of paradise. My hope lies solely in the person of Jesus Christ and the redemptive, saving work He did for me on the cross.
That is where my hope lies.
For I know that as the above verses state, there is an inheritance awaiting me that is beyond my ability to comprehend. Eternity without end, in a place where there is no more suffering, tears or pain. A place that the earth is completely restored to it's original God planned perfection (prior to sin entering in) and I get to be there. With Jesus.

My hope is found in nothing less that Jesus blood and righteousness.
He enables me to live a life that filled with hope because I know that He is holding me fast, keeping me and with me always. I don't have to be afraid of my hope "walking out on me.." or dying..or ending.
My hope is placed on something (someone) that is eternal.

Does that mean that I am spared of suffering? No. But I am promised hope through the suffering. How can this be? Because even in the midst of trial JESUS is unchanging. He is there, causing me to fix my eyes not on the pain, and sin of this present darkness, but rather, on the hope that is, and the eternal home that awaits as I rest in Jesus Christ alone.

False hope is a hope that is based upon people, circumstances, events, and things that give temporary excitement. Everything new gets old, every thing fresh will fade. Except Jesus.
I know we are a society of options, we like choices.
But with Christ there are only two things you can say to His hope that is offered, "yes" or "no."

Most of my life, I unknowingly, and knowingly, said "No." To the hope that Jesus offered.
Today I answer with a resounding "Yes!" To the hand of hope that is extended.

Think of it as a a fork in the road. At some point, we all reach it. And we must pick which way we shall go. To the right is the boldly printed sign that claims, "True Hope is found in Jesus."
The other road boasts a sign, "Find hope in anything you want."

All athletes know that the road of least resistance is not the road you take for gaining strength. The road that boasts success anyway you seek it sounds nice on the surface but will it really end well?  I traveled the wide, "easy" road for much of my life, and I promise you that my years on that road were the most tumultuous of my life.

The road I walk with Jesus by my side has been a beautiful but challenging journey. There has been some loss along the way, tears I've cried but wherever the tears fell, flowers shot up from the ground. Jesus made beauty of my sorrow, and laughter in my tears.
He holds my hand and tells me with reassurance that "He will never leave me nor forsake me."
Sometimes I'm tempted to glance over to the other road, the one that is wide and filled with people, but over there, the tears do not spring up flowers. The tears fall on rocks and stay there. The laughter although loud, is hollow. And the people, although beautiful, they are fading and the lines on their faces boast many years of covering up pain with a fake smile.

No, I shake my head, take Jesus's hand and together we continue up the beautiful, more challenging path we're on, were heading up the mountain, and I can see the sun rising between the peaks. It's treacherous,  but I feel safe. I know if I get tired Jesus will put me between His shoulder blades and carry me for a while. No, I wouldn't want or dream to be anywhere else. For with Jesus my hope is held. With Jesus my life is secure. I look up into His face, He looks down at me, and smiles. O yes. I am right where I need to be. I sigh a sigh of peace. And together we keep on walking up, up and  up...

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Obedience is....

Everyone knows the song, "Obedience is, the very best way, to show that you believe." My kids sang that at school last year in their program, and it affected me deeply.
"To obey is better than sacrifice.." (1 Samuel 15:22) "The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom" says Proverbs...
There are more verses than I can count in His word about fearing The Lord, obeying His commands and following His will.
Jesus wants all of me. He wants my obedience, and O the peace that will flood in and does flood in, when I live out my days in the way He desires.
He does not want my sacrifices, He does not want me to say, "O Lord, I'll give away all my possessions to demonstrate my love for you.." He may say, " All I want you to do is to offer to babysit that single mom's kids..."
But in my mind, I always am trying to come up with the perfect offering to Him, to show Him my undying love. He says, "No, Just obey me. When I say don't buy those expensive clothes, then don't do it. When I say, stay up late and spend time with me, do it.."
He never makes demands of us that don't make sense in the span of His eternity. He is perfect. Wise, and all knowing. SO when He convicts us or asks us for action we ought to obey. It's not difficult in theory, but sometimes obedience is uncomfortable, or "inconvenient"  but it's best we obey.
Obedience brings life to our bodies and peace to our hearts...
He may ask you to speak up about His name in a circle of friends that does not esteem Him. That can be uncomfortable. But obey, because the blessing that follows in various forms of peace and growth, will astound you. (and me)
Being obedient does not always take great strenuous action, (although at times it may)  it usually just requires  we do what He has asked.
This is why it's important to give Him our days, He has them already, but to offer Him our days, and say, "Speak Lord, Your servant is listening." And then do what He says.
O the peace that would overtake my life if I offered Him my every moment like this. But more often than not I am too busy. I'm moving to fast, and asking Him not of His desires for my moments and days.
Let me bless others with my words. Let me speak when He says, "speak." Let me move when He says, "move." I wonder how much better my days would flow if I did this.
My guess is the change would be astounding. I've seen Him move and breath in and through my day and it makes such a difference when I flow with Him, rather than against Him.
I believe when I live with an attitude of obedience, I am always watchful. I am always waiting to hear  His voice. "Move me Lord, lest I not be moved." I want to move and the impulse of His love. Not that I am paralyzed without Him, but my peace is blacked out when I fail to listen and obey.
IF there was ever a time in your life when you said "God said No..." but you proceeded in your own way, recount your steps. Go back to the place where He said No, and start over. Isn't that amazing about Him?? His grace is sufficient, even when we first did not obey. Now, we may face repercussions from our past mis-steps, because we live in a world where consequences happen in the natural sense from mistakes made. BUT, He will forgive us, forget our sin,  and use us to further His Kingdom, taking the pain of our sins to encourage others who are in danger of falling. This is how He takes the things that the enemy intended for evil and uses it for good.
"He will keep in perfect peace the one who's mind is steadfast  because they trust in you." Isaiah 26:3

"If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction." Psalm 119:92

God in His goodness, sees us in our humble estate, offers us guidance, helps and sustains us in and through every day here on earth.
If you are believer, earth is closest you'll ever get to hell. God knew this earth would be a challenging place to live for us as believers, because sin runs rampant here, so HE gave us His word, and His Holy Spirit to lead and direct us, to give us a better way.
Obedience is the very best way, to show that you believe.

"In fact, this is love for God; to keep His commands, and His commands are not burdensome." 1John 5:3

The Consistent Parent (short devotional)

Jesus, my example, is consistent by nature.
I however struggle with consistency. I don't use a cookbook, I hate plans, and routines are my enemy. So why O why does The Lord call me by name? Because He is in the business of making people who don't look like Him, look a lot more like Himself.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NIV)

The one place I need consistency the most, is in my parenting. I need to learn from Jesus in all things, because in Him all things hold together (Ephes 4) but also because He alone can  supply me with the patience, gentleness, and kindness that I need to be the type of Mommy that He wants me to be. I need to learn from Him, glean from His word, and fill up on Him before I step foot into my parenting role. TO get His word inside my heart, I pray for protected time with Him. (uninterrupted) so that I can gather all the goodness I need to be who I know only He can make me to be, (so I don't lash out at my loved ones)
We start out each day as Mothers with the best of intentions, but truly, when 10pm hits, we're all in bad shape usually. (at least I am)
We are by nature not eternally consistent.
God can create this consistency in us. Not by any strength of our own though mind you. Rather, by His grace He supplies us strength in our weakness, and fills our empty starving souls with the strength, ability, know-how and fuel to be the parent that brings God glory in all things. Because He does after all, make all things hold together.
My two verses that I want to be IN ME, are this:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12 NIV)

AND....

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2 NIV)

Aren't those great verses?

And unless I pray for the strength to apply them, and infiltrate them into my life they remain His word on a page.

Dear Lord,
This day is yours and all that is in it. Bring these attributes to mind as I am reaching that place in my day where human strength begins to fail, it may be in 5 hours, or five minutes. But regardless, Jesus, I need thee every hour. You are the strength I hold too, the grace I need, the fuel that fills me up to be the parent you want me to be. 
You God are my source, and my sustenance. I need you more that anything else.
SO when the rubber meets the road, be my road. Be the highway to consistency. You are GOD and I earnestly seek you. Thank you JESUS that you are all I need. 
Amen 

(Feel free to make this little prayer yours today as well.)

The Day God Said, "No."

None of us like to hear the word no. Especially from the one in charge. Because, the one in charge has the final say, and we know that, that is the word that goes. So then we have to figure out what we're going to do with that "No."
My first response when He said no, was of course, tears. Lots of them. Then I grieved heavily for a long time. Then I got mad. Then I began to accept the no on many different levels, but continued to take the "no acceptance" back time and time again. Shaking my head and fist thinking, "this certainly could not have been for real."
But it was for real.
I look at the process I went though as I reeled around and around from that "no" and I wish I would have been able to just say, "OK Lord, your will be done. It's not my life, it's yours, do with it what you will."
I wish that had been my initial response.
But it wasn't. I know He doesn't blame me, nor is He angry with me for my response. But still, when God says no, it's hard. He must know it's hard...because He lets us process. He never shamed me or made me feel like I was less His child because I struggled with His no...( like I sometimes can do when my children real at my no's.) He just let me process and so I did.
Over the years as the "no" became my reality some would say that I just got used to my no, but I beg to differ. His no changed me.
I'll tell you what I can see as of now from His "no."
It has made me more compassionate towards others who have received a no. It has made me watch my words, and check my heart, and consider how others might perceive the way I speak of things that they do not have.
DO I appear to be taking something I already have for granted? I check my heart on that quite frequently.
I recognize that what I always want for myself is not what is best for me. Of course we know this in our heads, but getting our hearts to comprehend this is quite another thing. That is what GOD'S no, did for me. It allowed my heart and it's understanding of not "getting what I want all the time..." and to respond in a God honoring way.
Are there days I still ask God to change His mind? Absolutely. Are there days I don't beg Him to change His no to a yes?! Absolutely. And could shock me with a "yes" at some point? Yes! He's God! He's sovereign!  And His plans are perfect. But I will tell you what is different about the way I think about His "no" now. My hope does not rest in the "yes." My hope lies in the person of Jesus Christ. He is unchanging, unfading and always present. Therefore I will not fear. Though the earth quake and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, I will not fear. (Psalm 46) My God is perfect and in control and I know that He planned things for me since before the foundations of the Earth were put into place (Ephesians 1:4) and I cannot argue with His word when He tells me that He has plans to prosper me and not to harm me." (Jeremiah 29:11) God is good. Even when He says no.
The process through which we all come to understand His sovereignty is as different as we all are, and if you are currently on the heals of hearing a "no" from your divine creator, do not despair. Go through the process, but don't fight the No. Rest in His hands, rest in His twisting and turning of your broken dreams, and know that only when the Master has shaped things the way He knows they will be best, will He rest.
HE is twisting your story upside down? Have all the pieces and cards you held crashed to the floor beneath you? Do not despair. Trust. Rest. Rest in His word, that is truth. Run to His word because it will fill you with the strength you need. He is making you better, He is making you useful. Be bendable. Be mold able. Let your body fall into His hands and let Him use you as He  knows you will be used. In this place you will have the most peace, and the most contentment. It's when we fight His molding that we find real pain. The pain that will not go away.
The nights I cried with a heart so heavy it quite literally drug me to the floor, I was not at peace as I fought His will and plans for me. But when I succumbed, and trusted and then finally, rested in His plan, the peace like a river that I had always heard about but never experienced until then, flooded in.

"Be still and know that I am God ...." Psalm 46:10

Dear Mother of Children---- Childless

As I sat in church that day I had never felt more alone. I felt like someone had placed the "dunce" hat on my head to wear for the duration of the service. It really wasn't anyones fault, and I know that no one intended to make me feel this way, but I felt so empty. I had lost a baby a the month before, and now here I sat, on Mothers Day, with no baby. Years later as I reflect on that painful Mothers Day it makes me think about all the women who are Mothers in their hearts, but hold no baby in their arms. Mothers Day is a special day, and it's nice to have a day to honor those who have labored and spent their lives caring for children, and to honor your own Mother. This is really noteworthy. Just like a Birthday. It's fun to celebrate the day that God brought you into the world. But for those who are not mothers, and want to be, Mothers Day can be very painful.
Even for those who have totally found their identity in Christ and who are wrapped up in His love, still feel. They still can experience feelings of sadness over not having children in their arms that are their own.
Mothers, you are a mother because God put you there in that place. He asked you to care for some of His creations and requestsed that you do it for His glory.
Women who are not phyiscal mothers, God also handed you a package. It was not a baby of your own, but it may have been the little nieghbor girl who's mother left. Or, the child at the grocery store that you waved to, smiled at and said Hi to. Perhaps you noticed an un-noticed child, and made that child's day.
The other possible contents of the package could be wrapped up in millions of different ways that GOD has asked you to serve Him and to care for His creations. You are not less important because you were not handed the package labeled "baby."

That dreadful Mothers Day I experienced some 9 years ago, I went through without Jesus. I was not walking with Him then as I am now, and I see how dark and sad I was. I was looking for my identity in the form of children.
We as mothers do this far too often. Our children become our everything, and we get wrapped up in them. Rather than viewing them as blessings and an opportunity to bring GOD glory with how we raise them, we build our lives around them.
Dear Mother of Chidlren please be sensitive. The woman next to you who does not have children does not need to hear about your children, how many you have and how easy it was for you to conceive them. I know you may not mean any harm, but please be prayerful about the way you carry yourself this Mother's Day. Be thankful in your heart, wise with your mouths and gracious with each word you speak.
Be a blessing. Be mindful of those around you who may be struggling.
For the woman who is not holding children, it may be the point  where her heart is given freedom if she sees a mother with children being compassionate towards her in her childless estate.
I'm not trying to be controversial, and I 'm not trying to point fingers or make any blessed Mother feel badly. You are, as GOD placed you.
But help those who are struggling. Be a servent. Even on Mothers Day.
A mother might say, "but this is one day to honor me!" And I undesrstand these feelings as well, but it's like Valentines Day for the one who is single. For the single woman on valentines day, it's more like, "curl up and cry day" than it is "celebrate love" day.
You don't know where someone's heart is at. And saying, "they shouldn't feel that way" is liketelling a   grieving person not to grieve.
Everyone is on their own road to wholeness, and Jesus will and is working on His children's heart in His perfect timing. So be careful not to hinder the gospel, even in the way you celebrate your special day. I'm not saying don't enjoy your day, I'm saying, being mindful first of other people before you consider youself.
DO to others as you would have them do to you. That is the gospel of Matthew's golden rule.
Dear Woman with other blessings, you are loved. You are not less of a woman because of your life calling. Who God made you to be is perfect just as you are. Lay yourself into the hands of Jesus. You will find you're peace and joy there. Hope is found Jesus, not in what we are or are not blessed with. Who you are to the children of this world that you come into contact with is precious.
You have spiritual children, and you are right where GOD wants you as you run after His will for you're life. You are not less of a person, or unblessed because you do not have children. Take total joy in the fact that you have  a God who is doing what is best for you, all the time.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)

Ask God today dear Woman what God has for you that He planned for you long ago. Perhaps you have never done this, and maybe you have and this is just a good reminder. 
And know this:
You are perfect, precious and exactly the way God wanted you dear woman without children. 
And Dear Mother, You are precious, and perfect and exactly where God wants you. Be a blessing both of you, and in turn you both will bring GOD much glory.
 For what is it that we are to say??? IN all things, TO GOD BE THE GLORY.