Our Guest: Debbie Stevenson

Debbie Stevenson worked for several years as a high-end interior designer until she traded that career for being a full-time wife and mother to four beautiful, kind and fun children. Through the years, God has worked in unique ways in Debbie. He’s done some interior design in her and He has moved through her to minister to others.

Key Thoughts and Scriptures from Debbie’s story

Psalm 145:9 TPT God, everyone sees your goodness, for your tender love is blended into everything you do.

Our faith walk was a family affair.
We grew in the Lord together and were nurtured together.
I knew from a young age beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was alive and He was personal.
Our parents chose family covenant first.

Joshua 24:15 NIV …But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

We were encouraged to read our Bible on our own.
Even as a teenager I would read God’s Word and try to apply it to my life.
When a decision was causing turmoil instead of peace, it taught Debbie what God’s voice sounded like.
God’s will brings us peace.
That doesn’t mean if there’s a challenge that it’s not God.
When you walk in God’s will and do it God’s way in God’s timing, you will have total peace.
Debbie and her future husband, Jeff, were both on the mission trip to do the Lord’s work.
They sought Godly counsel for their relationship.
Debbie had learned to recognize God’s peace.
“I wanted to be a wife and mother more than I wanted a career,” said Debbie.

Isaac and Rebekah’s Story

Genesis 24 NIV

Rebekah was willing to heed God’s call, leave her family, and move to a distant country to marry Isaac.
She trusted God.
Being a part of a faith community through the long haul is very important.
The Christian life is not a “me” life, it’s a “we” life.
We need people close to us that encourage us in our faith.

Hebrews 10:24 NIV And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

It’s important to invest in the people who are around us.
The only thing I could say was, “Oh, God!”

Psalm 68:20 NIV Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

“We want her as part of our family,” prayer of grandparents for Cecilie.
Regardless of what happens in life, He knows. Nothing takes Him by surprise.
God uses trials and challenges in our lives to grow us and grow our character.
There are times in our lives where all we can do is cling to Him, rely on the prayers of others, and keep moving forward one step at a time.
We need to be diligent about passing down our faith.

Three Important Things Debbie and Jeff did while raising their children:

Model an Authentic Christian Faith Daily
- Following Jesus is not a Sunday activity
- It doesn’t mean you have to be perfect.
- They need to see and participate in your pursuit of Jesus.
Pray!
- For your children
- With your children
- Over your children with scriptures
- Teach them how to pray when going through life
- Also, teach them how to pray for others
Have Regular Family Devotions
- Read God’s Word to them
- Be willing to discuss hard topics
- Don’t get discouraged when they seem disinterested
- They see and hear more than you realize

Ecclesiastes 3 NIV A Time for Everything

As a Mom, Debbie prayed, “Lord, Fill in the gaps.”
They strove to keep lines of communication open.
Your identity in mothering changes as your children become adults.
“This season of life is over. What do you have for me now?”
I had to release expectations of what life was going to look like.
Motherhood had become an idol.
I had to release control.
God knows and loves our children more than we do.
If we love them, we’ll allow God to work in their lives.
“Let’s say yes to God.”
“Your calling as a mother hasn’t changed, but who you are going to mother has.”
There is beauty in being a mother.
I just needed to step in with courage to the way He had made me.

Romans 12:13 NIV Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

2 Key Truths:

Wait on the Lord (Psalm 27:14 NIV)
Perseverance
- James 1:2-4 NIV Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

There is no other answer for anything in this world than Jesus.

John 6:67-68 NIV “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The only way to feel complete is to persevere in our faith and relationship with God.
God wants an intimate relationship with us.
Intimacy takes time.

Deborah’s Story

Judges 4-5 NIV

Deborah played a role in an era and culture that was male dominated.
She was a prophetess.
Deborah had a level of intimacy with the Lord.
She spoke God’s words boldly.
Deborah was a judge with wisdom and discernment.
She was called a “mother in Israel.”
Motherhood is an immensely valuable calling.
Our influence as mothers is for our children, but it also goes beyond our children.
We should seek and search out how we can minister and invest in everyone that we meet.
You don’t normally think of mothers leading troops into war, but that’s what mothers do when they pray for their kids.

Ephesians 6:12 NIV For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

Psalm 119:68 NLT You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees.

Psalm 139:13-16 NIV For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God has a plan for each of us to flourish and thrive.

Psalm 115:14 NIV May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children.

Books:

Barbara and Susan’s Guide To the Empty Nest by Susan Yates and Barbara Rainey
Empty Nest, Full Life by Jill Savage
Doing Life With Your Adult Children by Jim Burns

The Hiding Place and Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom

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Motherhood is a Holy Calling, Debbie Stevenson’s Story (Ep. 12)