I have two young daughters who have always been particularly imaginative. I guess the beauty of having a sibling so close in age is that you always have a built in playmate. When siblings also share a close friendship, the games never stop. Every morning I feed my girls breakfast and help them get ready for school. They relish every minute that they are ready before we need to leave because that means they get extra time to play before stepping out into the real world. If I tell my girls they have five minutes before we need to load up, they excitedly will run off to their room to build something they are working on or play barbies just a little bit longer.

When we get in the car, the game of pretend will continue on the way to school and then again when we get home in the evenings. If I have dragged them with me on an errand, they will just make up a game on the spot and are continuously engaging in conversations about their imaginary world. This sometimes looks like sitting in a waiting room somewhere and pretending that their separate chairs are their houses and they are neighbors or (and I’m confident they’re not alone in this) screaming “the floor is lava” as they jump from tile to tile at the grocery store.

Both girls have each had lots of imaginary participants in these games over the years and for about the past six months, my three year old has been regaling us with stories of “her husband.” By the way, he is a dinosaur and they have five children….who are also dinosaurs. Charlotte likes to check in with him several times throughout the day by announcing, “I have to call my husband.” Sometimes she wants privacy to make these phone calls and other times it is in the middle of dinner or in the car on our way somewhere. She always insists that her sister and I are quiet while she talks to “her husband.” She will even go so far as to pull her open palm away from her little ear and make this request with a sharp, “shhh. I’m on the phone.”

“I lift my eyes up to the mountains-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Psalm 121:1-2

It amazes me that every time Charlotte checks in with her dinosaur hubby he is always making dinner at home, cleaning the house and taking care of their dinosaur brood. But the craziest thing about these phone calls is that as my child role plays in her imaginary world I can’t help but hear all the ways her husband is helping her and think that must be so nice. I know the strains of single parenting are wearing on me when I am envious of the support my three year old gets from her imaginary dinosaur husband. We all need help in our lives every single day, for the little tasks, like shuttling carpool and getting our kids fed, and especially for the big picture to-do items.

We can’t all be as blessed as my preschooler is when it comes to an extra pair of hands around the house. We can, however, turn to God who promises to be our helper. God calls us to humble ourselves before Him with a childlike innocence. In the same way my three year old has faith that “her husband” is always going to answer the phone when she puts her palm to her ear, David expressed that same childlike faith in the Psalms- faith that God would answer and provide whenever he called upon Him. God is our refuge, our provider and our helper. Just as the Lord made us, He has already made a way for us when it comes to every single task we tackle, no matter how monumental some may seem from our perspective at the mountain base. His helping hand is always outstretched before us and waits for us to take take hold. We were never meant to go through the struggles of life alone and no matter what you are facing today, God’s hand will provide you that respite.

Love, Molly

Copyright © 2022, M. Marley, LLC

I consider myself beyond blessed to be the mother of not one, but two little girls. Little girls who will one day grow into women. When they came into this world, I never could have imagined that I would one day be left bringing them up alone. Parenting as a single mother, I have learned how important it is to surround my children with good influences, both men and women, because I know they are taking in the world around them and paying attention to the adults in their lives. I have learned how important it is to be the kind of woman myself that I want my girls to emulate and surround them with strong and faithful adults.

Click here to read my latest article written for Fort Worth Moms: Raising Strong Girls as a Single Woman.

Love, Molly

Copyright © 2022, M. Marley, LLC

I wanted to share today some personal thoughts that I can only hope will be a small light to others who are currently engulfed in the darkness of suffering the death of a loved one. Simply put, death is the end of life. There’s a popular saying that “nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Life will inevitably end for every single one of us, and I can attest to the fact that there will still be expenses to pay when it does. It is most important to remember that our God has already overcome death and is absolutely more certain than our government.

One definition of death reads, “A permanent cessation of all vital functions: The end of Life.” What Merriam-Webster forgot to add to this description is “…life as we know it.” Our bodies need working vital functions to exist in this world. But scripture reminds us that we were not made for this world. This world that we know and live in is under the control of “the evil one” (1 John 5:19, John 16:11, John 12:31, 1 John 4:4). Because of sin, we experience trials like cancer, addiction, loneliness, insurmountable debt, etc… in this fallen world that we currently occupy.

Death will come for all of us one day, but it is not anything we need to live in fear of. First of all, the time of our death has already been written (Psalm 139). One of the most comforting pieces I read after Taylor passed was an article on the Christian view of mortality that quoted Stonewall Jackson. When asked by his captain the source of his bravery, Jackson replied, “Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

“He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 25:8

My late-husband had a similar approach to life as Jackson. He would often remind me of this sentiment when I would nag him not to text while driving or encourage him to eat better. Taylor liked to tease me that the worst case scenario in any situation is that we die and go to heaven and I would have to add on, “But you don’t need to try to get there early.” It seems silly to reflect on this now because I know that God’s ways are higher than ours and He has already fixed the time of our deaths.

We are even reminded not to be anxious about this fixed time in Matthew 6:27, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” If God knows every hair on our heads, we can guarantee he knows every thought in our brains, every feeling in our hearts and the exact instance those vital organs will cease to function and sustain our life on earth. We don’t need to worry about what is on the other side of this permanent cessation of vital organs because we know that bodily death is not the end for the Christian. We know that the battle has already been won and that death has been defeated. We know that what awaits us on the other side is a world free of sin; free of mourning, crying and pain. What awaits us is freedom personified, offered to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Love, Molly

Copyright © 2022, M. Marley, LLC.