Jessica Turner
About the Author

Jessica Turner is the author of Stretched Too Thin: How Working Moms Can Lose the Guilt, Work Smarter and Thrive, and blogs on The Mom Creative. Every day is a juggling act as she balances working full-time, making memories with her family, photographing the every day and trying to be...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. i take for granted the small ways God uses me to breathe truth and encouragement into my girls lives. my 10 year old daughter decided to dress as iron man this halloween. she was so excited and confident in her choice. but when the time came to dress and go out, her usual introverted-shy-are-people-going-to-laugh-at-me self came out. she was in puddles of tears when i gently encouraged her to put on her mask … sometimes it’s okay to hide behind it, and when she’s feeling better she can take it off … and have some fun. reluctantly she did.

    at the end of the evening she reminded me how God uses me in their lives. “thank you mom for encouraging me to go out, i had a really fun night!”

    #happymommaheart

  2. Jessica,
    Thank you, I needed this today! Ive been struggling with how God is using me at work; changing jobs, changing careers and I will pray to God more fervently on how God is using me in my job! Peace to you and yours!
    Daphne

  3. Thank-you Jessica,
    For taking the time to share this , it certainly helped me as I’m sure it will many others.
    Bless you and your Family !
    Penny

  4. A wonderful post for the morning. I will look to see how God can use me today for His glory. Encouraging others can be so powerful.
    Blessings to you,
    Jan

  5. Thank you! THANK YOU!
    I have been thinking lately about mentoring other women and I’ve realized that I’m mentoring my daughters and have been all their lives. I’m sooo glad God keeps reminding me that the little things count and are very important in His kingdom. Bless you, sister. He is using you!

  6. Jessica ! Thank you for these words! I believe God (in all His wonderful wisdom) was using you to get to me this morning ! I needed to hear your message…which allowed me to reflect on the many ways that God does use me throughout the day. Many Blessings to you and yours and to all of my sisters out there ! ;o)

  7. This is exactly what I needed to hear today. It’s a perfect follow up to the thoughts I was already having earlier this morning. Today I specifically asked God to let me know what He wants me to say – to other women, to other people in my life. I had really been depending upon my own wisdom and intellect when in fact those things are empty. I can only be used in other’s lives when I’m letting God use me and when He is the source of all wisdom and help. And as you said, He’s using me hundreds of times a day in ways I don’t even recognize cuz I’m always looking for the big and grandiose. I need to be aware of this and start looking for the small yet terribly significant. Thank you so much for this reminder!

  8. Thank you for this post. I often feel like the special times I am used are few and far between, when I get the warm fuzzies. I need this reminder that he is using me every day. Always.

  9. Thanks for your precious words of encouragement! I was awakened many times last night with my teething 1 year old daughter. Knowing a nap is not an option today as I care for several young children while my husband is at work I really needed this reminder of how this is all apart of God using me! I choose to rest in HIM today!

  10. Recently God has been confirming to me that He’s using me. My husband just started a new job with a long commute, and I’ve gone nuts meal-planning and prepping and making him snacks so he can take a full lunch pail to work and he won’t have to want for anything. And he looks me in the eye and says “Do you know how much it blesses me that you do all this? It truly makes the commute easier.” And he’s been saying to me a lot “I appreciate so much that you stay home to raise our kids. You’re amazing.” Of course the fact that he was off work for two weeks between jobs and really saw what I go through every day probably has something to do with that! šŸ˜‰ All that goes to say, I’m right where God wants me right now. And that makes me happy. I’m making a difference for my husband and my kids, something I might miss were I pining to make a difference somewhere else.

  11. You took the words RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH. I just sent a friend a text message where I said the exact thing “God is using me in ways I never thought possible”. Thanks for the extra reminder of all the ways that we are used in our everyday lives.

  12. He is using me today by playing PacMan with my six yr old, voting, on discussion boards in online classroom, as I study to renew my mind for whoever He is equipping me to minister to, through my interaction with women who are training me to minister to other women, to tweet a reminder to pray and vote, and to hang out with my kids and hubbie when I get home. Purpose is refreshing.

  13. I think this is a good encouragement for moms that are living overseas ministering. Usually the husband is out sharing, traveling, translating and the mom stays home, figures out how to set up a home in a foreign country, cares for their kids, homeschools, etc. Not the glamorous life that she invisioned when God told her to be a missionary!

    • Kara,

      I really like your use of the word “glamorous”. We are not involved in missionary work but I know that I have been compelled to take on tasks outside of my home for want of more visibility or glamor and not for the betterment of my family. The reminder that I am doing God’s work in my home as well as away from it is powerful and your pointing out the lure of the glamorous is priceless.

      Carolyn

  14. love your post. I pray daily that God would “use me” in a way to touch others for His kingdom! Thanks for sharing!

  15. Such great words of wisdom. Yes, He uses us every single day. We are His hands here on earth, serving and loving others as He would have us do. I often forget that what I do in the home is serving, too. I almost always think it has to be some kind of grandiose service project, but it is in the small and simple things that we serve Him, too.

  16. I just sat here at work and prayed for God to show me the way He is using me with a coworker that I had a confrontation with. Also for my humility and grace. Our relationship is damaged, and I’m struggling with being a good representative of Christ, as I know I am being watched in that role. You reminded me today that this isn’t just a senseless pain in my life, but that God is using me in all things. Instead of feeling like a stomped on doormat, I shall envision myself as a tool in the hand of God. Thank you!

  17. I’m really not feeling used by God. I feel like I just get in His way. Too many struggles and I can’t seem to ever respond the right way. It’s all just too hard.

  18. I have my 91 year old Dad living with us. He has a few health issues and I have leant to have that extra bit of patience with him even though we were never really close. He now relies on me quite a lot and this post has made me realise that God is not only using me to care for my husband and home but also for my Dad as well. That makes me feel good as I don’t always find it easy.
    Blessings Gail

  19. Thank you so much for this reminder. I struggle with the “little things” so much and it really touched me today to realize that while I didn’t feel successful today, God was using me after all. THANK YOU!

  20. Jessica:

    Thank you for these word. I have been in the ministry for close to 30 years and have felt used of God many times. Even when my roles have been that of ministry assistant, where there are lots of odds and ends to take care of. Lots of behind the scenes stuff.

    I am single and never had children. Sometimes, my personal life has very little “people” contact in it, so “feeling” useful can be hard. Recently, my best friend’s daughter, who is 21 and attending a local Bible College in my community, was at my house for lunch. We were chatting about the days when she was a child. Her parents were missionaries in Englad the first 11 years of her life and everytime they were in the states, we made sure were saw each other. We have done this now for over 30 years. We were “remember” when we did this and when we did that and Emma look at me and said “Aunt Kristy, it sounds like you had as much fun having us at your house when we were little as we did being at your house. I can’t imagine not having you in my life”.

    I really had no idea that she and her brother felt that way. Sometimes, you don’t know unitl YEARS later how God has used you. Emma is the only new born I have ever held and having her here as a young woman has been such a blessing. I pray God will continue to use me that way in others lives…even if I have to wait 20 years to hear about it.

  21. Thank you for these beautiful words! It left me in tears asking the Lord what he is using me for. I am a stay at home Mom and sometimes it feels like I could or should be doing more but God spoke to my heart and told me bringing up the next generation for Christ and meeting my family’s needs daily is a great service in the kingdom. God just used you to touch the hearts of many who needed to hear these words. God bless you! : )

  22. I am a talker, It seems like I talk all the time. But it just isn’t talk. I realized today as I stood in line to vote that I had an agenda too. I think it is my job to put a smile on others, Especially strangers. I was in a line that snaked up the middle of a hallway to the end, turned right and back down to the door where I came in then across that hall and back up to the door where we finally made our way into the church gym where my husband with his walker sat waiting for me as I kept our places in the line. Because of the circular path in the hallway, I kept meeting the same people coming as I was going. Like in the grocery store aisles. As certain ones came by, I shared a simple “hello, again” or “watch out for the dolley leaning against the wall as you move in that side of the line”, Why was I speaking to complete strangers, although they were neighbors, unknown neighbors.? I have always wanted to put a smile on others, to make them feel comfortable in strange situations. I have done this since I was a little girl. After reading about your blog on how God uses us, I thought it can be something as easy as a smiling face passing by over and over again in the grocery store, or in the circular line toward the voting booth. I made fast friends w/ the little girl w/the curls all over her head as she held onto mama’s hand. “Hi, curly”, What a big grin I got. I was used by God

  23. I have come to believe that God uses me to encourage others and vice versa. I have a good co-worker and she is always there for me–also have good friend and we text and e-mail each other. We are currently going through tough times with our aging parents so we both understand each other!

    My hubby is good at reminding me how God is using me. He thanks me for ALL the stuff I do for us. It can be hard to realize that God is using you in the mundane, everyday tasks. But encouraging people/ making them smile might just be what they need.

  24. When a friend gets a good giggle out of some mishap that I’ve had or lesson I’ve learned (the hard way, of course), I feel used by God. And when my child snuggles into my side and tells me that “I get him”, I feel triply used by God. And I am so grateful to be so used. This was a beautiful and simple reminder to stay available. Thank you!

  25. Thanks for this post. It’s so easy to forget that the “mundane” tasks of life can be done for God’s glory. I’m going to share this with my prayer group in the morning.

  26. I don’t know if this could have come at a better time for me…Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have been on bed rest for 11+ weeks now, awaiting the arrival of our second child. On top of it, this week (35, nearly 36 weeks) I have come down with a viscous chest cold. After all my husband, mother, family and friends have done, I feel as though I am letting all of them down since this occurred.

    But, you are right. God is using me to create another beautiful child and I am doing all i can to love and support and encourage my son and husband every chance I get, as it is all I can do right now.

    God Bless you for such a timely message…God truly used you today to help me gain perspective!

  27. This was very helpful to read. October was a very tough month for me. Now I find myself revisiting a certain situation and wondering if God was using me to teach someone else something – I had only considered the situation from my own perspective. This is comforting for me. I appreciate this!