HOUSE OF ROBERTS BLOG

I was thinking this week of some really practical tips the Holy Spirit has coached me to do over the years of being a wife and mom, I know I’ve said it before but honestly the Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher, He will give you personalized tips and tricks all week long on how to strengthen your marriage and kids if you let Him! So today I just want to encourage you with 3 things the Lord has showed me…

A few months ago the Lord asked me to start praying for my kids more. It wasn’t like I wasn’t praying for them but sometimes there are seasons the Lord wants us to lean in greater in areas and I could sense that’s what He was asking of me here. I remember thinking “Ok I need to figure out how to make my thoughts trigger to them more, so that all through the day I would think and pray for them!” immediately without travail the Lord spoke to my mind and said “Put a picture of one of them as the wallpaper on your phone and every time you click on it (it’s almost like He knows I am on my phone A LOT ha!) you will see them when you see them pray for them! WOW so simple Lord. For the last 4 months I have rotated my kid’s faces through the wallpaper of my phone and every time I click on my phone and see their faces, I stop for 30-60sec and pray for them! I declare God’s blessings and promises over them, I pray strength to them, peace to them, the heart of God to be released in them, the mind of Christ to equip them. I pray for their gifts to be released, their future spouses and kids, I pray for greater wisdom on how to lead them as their mom, and so many other things I pray. I don’t pray these things all in the 60 seconds, but I choose one that I sense I need to pray and I pray into that for them. The Bible says in James 5:16 “The prayers of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Our prayers change everything! My mom used to tell me there is nothing like the prayers of mother and honestly, now that I am a mom I FULLY and DEEPLY believe this! Even since I have done this, I have sensed God give me a greater heart towards my kids, I feel the wisdom to lead and correct them, I have a deep discernment and patience to work with them and manage their thoughts and emotions, I’ve felt a greater bond with them and sense that I have more of their heart and trust. OUR prayers are powerful and effective! This week I want you to try this and lean into a greater level of prayer and declaration of God's promises over your kids…Test it and see!

So if you follow us on our socials, you know that Mike and I about a year ago started doing trending couples challenges. We started doing these to be so honest because we saw that viewers enjoyed content like this but man it quickly became one of our favorite posts of the week. We found that trying new things and being playful together was a POWERUL bonding agent. Our ability to work together, solve a fun problem, fail, and laugh so hard that our sides hurt became an atmosphere changer in our relationship at a greater level than it already had been. Mike and I quickly observed that if couples could just laugh, play, and enjoy each other this practical tip in and of itself could be a game changer and healing agent in marriages. Life, marriage, and family can get so serious. Without realizing it, it’s easy to become all business and no play. It’s easy to lose our childlike spirit, playful nature, and laughter in life. The Bible says in Proverbs 17:22, “ A cheerful heart is good medicine.” I agree and I have experienced this! I wish I could tell you that every week when Mike and I do these challenges, I “feel” like doing them but the truth is some weeks I really don’t, and some days I don’t feel playful or like I want to laugh, but its wild because we have committed to this rhythm in our content I come to those moments no matter what and every time they shift our whole mood and instantly connect us to one another afresh. I can’t express enough how important It is to enjoy and laugh with one another. If you have lost this—Find it! If you have never had this cultivate it. It will feel awkward at first but let the awkwardness bring laughter and bond you! Keep your hand to it, and commit to it once a week. Maybe do a couples challenge, maybe play a game of slap jack and looser puts kids down that night, maybe it’s doing something random and crazy together like jumping into the ocean or a lake. Maybe a funny story happened in the day SHARE it! A Merry heart is Medicine and it will be medicine to your marriage as you intentionally inject in.

The last tip to share is “ If you think it, say it.” Create a culture in your home where you very commonly say encouraging and uplifting things to one another, “just because.” One of my favorite things about the culture of our home is, is how unprompted and quite randomly we express how we feel about each other to each other. It’s common for my kids to come up to me and say something sweet or tell me how they feel about me. I really don’t believe this just happens. I believe it started with Mike and I setting the example of this. We tell our kids all through the week randomly what we see in them and how amazing we think they are. In turn, they, too, do the same thing! I have found it doesn’t even just stop with us; they are really good at using their words to encourage others even beyond our house! My rhythm is if I think the encouraging thing about Michael or my kids, I don’t let it just stay in my head and heart I say it…right then and there I say it! I think it’s important to be able to encourage for no reason at all; sometimes, if we aren’t careful, we can attach our encouraging words to being shared only when there are actions that provoke them, making our loved ones believe only when they do something great, they get our words. This week, practice it! Try it out! It may feel awkward at first, but it will get more familiar and easier, and over time, you will see the fruit of it! 

I am praying for you all this week! God is with you, He is for you, and He is working all things together for your good! I am so grateful for his constant voice in my life teaching me how to be the best wife and mom! He wants to be the same for you!