No Negotiations

This week marks Matthew and Jordan’s fourth week of swimming lessons.  Most lessons as the instructor prompts the kids, their responses have made me giggle yet ache inside as I notice their disguised disobedience.  I never knew my five year-old to be a negotiator:  The teacher tells Matthew to swim to the forth line and he says “to the second,” so the teacher says “ok, the third.”  Teacher says to take two breaths, Matthew takes one. 

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” Mark 10:21 (NKJV)

In this passage, we don’t see any negotiations.  It is clear what our Lord wants the Rich Young Ruler to do, yet he… refused. 

As mommas, we are training and later expecting our kids to obey us so they will know how to obey God.  We don’t expect them to obey only part of the way or even better yet… refuse!  We are in the midst of teaching them through the word of God what happens when He says to do something yet the thing is not carried out.  A great example, however a little gory for little kids is in 1 Samuel 15 where king Saul was supposed to “utterly destroy” all the people yet he “took Agag king of the Amalekites alive.”

No negotiations.  No refusals.  What is God asking you and me to do yet we… refuse – or we try to negotiate!  Let’s be that momma after God’s own heart to do as He says, without compromising.  Our children are looking on.  

All Wrapped Up at Christmas-time

One day last week I was all stressed out, doing work stuff on the computer, trying to manage the children’s needs, hungry, and the list went on.  I felt so bad that I had to be so focused on the computer rather than giving the kids my full attention.  However, in a moment of clarity I looked at Matthew, our soon-to-be five year-old and said, “I just want you guys to know the real meaning of Christmas…” 

Matthew’s birthday is three days after Christmas so the thrill of getting gifts must be on his mind.  A little while after my “real meaning of Christmas” statement, Matthew came up to me all excited with one of his favorite cars that he made with daddy and said, “Mommy, Mommy!!  Since its Jesus’ birthday shouldn’t WE give Him gifts?!!”  He said this like a bright light had just gone on in his beautiful head.  So I chose to let him and our three year-old daughter go for it!  Cutting paper, wrapping and TAPING.

“In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”  Luke 10:21

Since then I’ve noticed a few other toys have shown up under the tree with just a bow on them.  Matthew is the “bow-guy”.  If a present I’m wrapping for a friend needs a bow, I know I can call on him to get the job done.  He gets excited to help and a sense of accomplishment too.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6

It’s all about Jesus.  Instead of us getting all wrapped up in making everything just perfect, let’s focus on the perfect One – Jesus and get all wrapped up in Him!

Celebrate Their Differences!

“For you created me in my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days of my life ordained for me were written in your book before one of the came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139: 13-18

My three kids are so very different from each other. On the outside they have surprisingly similar features: same complexion, same curly hair, same eyebrows even, BUT on the inside…Whoa, are they different!

My oldest son is so sweet and incredibly silly at the same time. He is never in a rush, and I sincerely believe that he thinks life is his playground. He is super smart and talkative…and he always thinks he is right. (Dare I say, he’s a little like me in that respect. Ouch!)

My middle son is thoughtful, intense, “before his time”…a bit precocious. He is athletic, smart, and determined. Never quits…a figure-it-out kind of guy. But he needs his rest or he can be a beast. Yikes!

My youngest child is “so stinkin’ cute” (as her brothers would say). She is our little princess that packs a punch…literally. She is sweet and smart, incredibly cute, but that girl was born with a double-dose of feistiness. That little girl knows what she wants…and what she doesn’t want!

However, I caught myself sinning recently in the way I was relating to my oldest son. I was comparing him to his younger brother instead of allowing him to be who God created him to be. I want to encourage their gifts and help them grow and work through their differences. At the end of the day, I want them to KNOW that I love them incredibly, immeasurably even if they made a myriad of mistakes and bad choices that day. I want to love them into the men and women God has created them to be.

Yet, I caught myself essentially telling my oldest son that he needed to be a little more like his younger brother—persistent, not easy to give up, figure it out instead of immediately asking for help, stop complaining! All good attributes, but he did NOT need me to constantly remind of him of what his younger brother was doing right and what he was doing wrong.

I needed to correct my oldest Doodlebug without outwardly (or inwardly/secretly) hoping he would be a little more like his younger brother. TRUST ME, his younger brother has his own set of issues. I needed to teach him lovingly, gently, and consistently.

Consider some of the men and women in the Bible and their strengths and weaknesses: Moses, Daniel, David, Solomon, Job, Deborah, Ruth, Mary, Rahab, Paul. They each had some great qualities, but they also had their hang-ups or weaknesses. Some of their weaknesses are even recorded in Scripture for us to read about and learn from.

Yet, each one of them had a God-divined purpose—a special plan set in place by our Heavenly Father to use their gifts, their personalities, even their quirks and weaknesses for His glory. The same is true for our children. God made them different on purpose. He has a special plan for them. Some of the very things we find annoying or frustrating may be the very things God uses in an incredible way. When we allow them to blossom into who God has made them to be, when we love them for who they are NOW and not just for who they will be, we will see our children in a whole new light. We will see them as Jesus sees them…wonderfully and beautifully made.

Let’s pray

Abba Father, Thank you for blessing us with children. Children that challenge us and force us to examine ourselves. Children that show us more of you. Children that force us to press into you for wisdom and guidance. Thank you for their little personalities (or big ones), their gifts, and their talents. We even thank you for their weaknesses…because we trust that you will work it out all out for your glory. Help us to teach them and train them in righteousness and to constantly show them your love. Help us not compare our children to each other, but allow them to be who you have made them to be…beautiful inside and out. 

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Silly Games...Serious Truths

Lately, my oldest Doodlebug has been encouraged by his Sunday school teachers to memorize scripture verses. Each week he comes home with a new verse and a craft and worksheets to complete. It’s so funny because we are also a part of a homeschool learning co-op that greatly focuses on memorization and the ability of young kids to learn great amounts of information…especially to the tune of a song.

This program, Classical Conversations, has greatly challenged my thinking of the capacity of young children to learn all sorts of information (history facts, math laws, new languages, etc.). I was delighted when his Sunday school teachers applied this same concept to learning the Bible. When I think about it, I still remember the ABC bible verses that I learned back when I was in elementary school….A: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 B: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31 C: Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Ephesians 6:1…The list goes on and on…all the way to Z.

The funny thing is that I found the challenge of memorizing these verses fun when I was a little sprout. I would proudly recite my verses for a sticker or a trip to the blessing box during children’s church. I had no idea that some of these very scriptures that I learned as a child would end up being a life line for me as I reached adult-hood. The older I got, the more these verses came alive to me in not just my head, but also my heart.

The best gift we can give our children is a knowledge of who the Lord is (and how to have a personal relationship with Him) and a knowledge of His word. I want to encourage you as fellow moms to teach Scripture to your children. Help them commit God’s truth to memory. At our house, we use silly hand motions and dramatic gestures to help our children retain this valuable information. To my surprise, while we were teaching these movements to our six year old, our wee little ones were storing this information also and reciting it for family. What a beautiful sight!

My biggest advice would be to have fun with it, plant the seed of His word in your child’s heart, and watch God make it grow. J

Verses to consider:

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 11:19

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Psalm 34:11

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  Proverbs 22:6

Even the Hard Stuff...

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3

For most of my adult life I have avoided the book of Revelation like the plague. Why? Because I was repeatedly told when I was little that it was a “tough” book, and that I should not read it because…(insert a variety of reasons here). Lately, however, I have been blessed to study and teach this book to the youth (high school and young adult ministry) at my church.

To be honest, it is one of those books that I have to “buckle up and put on my big girl boots on” in order to fully comprehend the message that God is communicating to us, His people. I mean I have to cross-reference Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Matthew, Luke, etc. just to wrap my mind around some of the details….BUT we have been so amazingly blessed by really digging into this book.

You see, at the heart of Revelation is the culmination of God’s love story to his people. He will not stop short of pursuing His people, revealing His love to them, warning them of the fate of the unrepentant, and judging the wicked. Reading this book has been an adventure to say the least. But Revelation 1:3 rings true. There are many blessing in store for those who read and take to heart the words of this book. If you knew a hurricane was going to hit your town soon, wouldn’t you prepare yourself and your family?

Well, imagine my surprise when my oldest Doodlebug (a precocious 6 year old), decided that since I was reading Revelation, he was going to also. To top things off, he turns to Chapter 12 to start and says, “Mommy this chapter is called,’ The Woman and the Dragon’”. YIKES!!! Here we go! What was my response?

I was tempted to back away (slowly…LOL) and tell him all the “reasons” to avoid this book until he was older…the same reasons people had given me. However, when I sheepishly said we would talk about it later, he proceeded to read it himself. Hmmmm…what’s a mom to do?! Ban him from reading it? Of course not!

So….I am preparing to go through this book with my son. I will try my best to explain things in a way that are age appropriate for him, and to help him see the heart of the Gospel in Revelation. Would you consider doing the same? If you have not personally gone through the book of Revelation, I would encourage you to do so. There is a blessing for all those who read, hear, and keep the words of this book.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you that every word in your holy Word is useful for teaching and instruction in Godly living. Thank you for the prophecies of the past and those that are yet to come. Lord, when we read your Word, I pray that you would give us wisdom and understanding so that we can comprehend the vast greatness of your character, your love, and your plan for all mankind. May we not shrink away from reading the “hard stuff”…and teaching it to our children. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. 

Good Works

Ephesians 2: 10 

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus

to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

            This verse has been especially sweet to me the past couple of days.  We have been honored to have a friend and her infant son stay with us.  Each morning as that beautiful baby woke, we all swarmed in to see his first stretches and his first attempts at “talking.”

            The children and I have had to “draw straws” over who was going to feed, change and hold him first.  In the midst of our fascination with this little miracle we all began to speak a little more expressive and demonstrative.  We have had a ball loving on this little life.

               I have loved saying to him each morning, “I wonder what the Lord has planned for you today? And as we bathed him and prepared him for bedtime, I would ask, “What were the good works you did for your Heavenly Father today?”  

               His mother shared with me that others have commented that this new little life has been a “blessing” to others.  She said she has been praying that he would be a blessing, but she really thought it was futuristic.

Psalm 8: 2

 “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.”

                This post begs the question, “How do you value your children and the works God has planned for them?”  Not works for the future (although that is true) but works for the moment.  Whether your infant is napping in your arms, or he has grown and is diligently starting a job, I challenge you to see them filled with the potential God has for them.

            Encourage your children to find the “good works” God has for them.  Enjoy the “workmanship” and their good works God has loaned to you! 

Much like the disciples

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’” Mark 1:17

Much like the disciples had a “job” change when they met Jesus, we as moms have changed “jobs” too.  Our focus isn’t only on ourselves – although I’ve been learning lately that it’s not a bad idea to at least look in the mirror before leaving the house. J

Like Peter was ready to fight for Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane, we will fight for (or stick up for) our kids on the playground or the like.  Like John, the disciple “whom Jesus loved”, we have a deep love for our children and they have a great affection toward us too. 

Simply, we, like the disciples have been given a great task – to teach and preach Jesus to the watching eyes around us.  Yet, even though it looks like this job change looks so huge on our shoulders, we can rest on the promise Jesus gave us, that when He left us in the flesh, He sent the Holy Spirit to help and guide us.  Praise God!  Jesus also prayed for us and our kids too in John 17:20-26.  We’re covered!

Let’s sing along with our kids who know this great truth in a tune: 

Jesus is my best friend,

He’s always there for me.

Lord, thank You for my job change!  Thank You that You are here with me and You are guiding me by the Holy Spirit.  Thank You for being my best friend and for helping me guide my kids to know You.

Let ‘Em Know…Part I

“Come on in flies!” It is the running joke in our family. When I was a little girl, my grandma was cooking in her small, country kitchen with no central A/C. She had a screen on her back door that allowed us to ventilate the kitchen on hot, summer days. Well, one day I was playing with the screen door when my grandma politely asked me to close it so that I wouldn’t let any flies in. For whatever reason, I opened the door as wide as I could and said…”Come on in flies!!!” Let’s just say that I never did that again.

Imagine my shock when my oldest Doodlebug, who had never heard this story before, opened the kitchen door of our previous house and said, “Come on in mosquitoes!” I almost fell to the floor. Is my former disobedience in his genes? I guess so! This little incident prompted a discussion…

I told him what I did that hot, summer day at his great grandma’s house, and I also told him the outcome. He was shocked! “You mean you did something wrong, Mommy?” I sure did, and I had a consequence too! He could hardly believe it!

The other day, I was having a discussion with one of my favorite mom friends. The question came up, “How much should we tell our children about our past?” You see, she has a son who just entered his teen years…and some of the questions and choices that go along with that. My answer, “We don’t have to tell them every detail, but they need to know.” Why? For me personally, it would have made my mom a lot more “credible” in my mind. Instead of her giving me a hypothetical scenario with consequences attached, I would have definitely benefited from a real-life, this is how I learned, type of story.

Consider the following verses:

O my people, listen to my teaching. Open your ears to what I am saying, 2 for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past -- 3 stories we have heard and know, stories our ancestors handed down to us.

4 We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.

5 For he issued his decree to Jacob; he gave his law to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, 6 so the next generation might know them -- even the children not yet born -- that they in turn might teach their children.

7 So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.

8 Then they will not be like their ancestors -- stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.

Mom, I must say that the remaining verses of this Psalm DO NOT outline Israel’s great accomplishments and God’s greatest rescues of them. Instead, the remaining 64 verses tell of Israel’s rebellion, God’s punishment, Israel’s repentance, and God’s mercy. Let the above eight verses be an encouragement to you. Our children can and will learn from our mistakes, but only if we share it with them.

Challenge: Read Psalm 78 in its entirety, and pray about what stories from your past will benefit your children. Keep in mind that the goal is to point them to the LORD in all things.

Heavenly Father,

Oh how we wish we were perfect! We often do not want to remember some of the foolish things we did…let alone share them with our children. However, your Word boldly proclaims the power of a transformed life. We are a new creation in you. Help our children to know that YOU are the one who cleanses us and redeems us. May our story be an encouragement to them as they are able to witness the power of a transformed life in us. We love you, Lord. Thank you for your grace that changes everything.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

 

 

Daddy’s Little Princess

The other day, I asked my husband Ryan to bring Jordan in for dinner and he took this picture.  Jordan is our 18 month-old daughter who is truly “Daddy’s little princess.”  When Ryan took this picture of her, it was more than just Ryan’s little princess holding her purse in one hand and the Bible in the other, to me it was about Whose princess she really is.  Jordan is God’s little princess.  She loves to say, “Hallelujah” and raise her hand (praising God).  It’s precious!!  

So moms, keep singing and praising the Lord in front of your kids. They ARE watching and listening and they are made in the image of God too who need to hear the good news of the gospel and need to see it practiced in everyday life.

¹⁸ “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ¹⁹ You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ²⁰ And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. “  Deuteronomy 11:18-21  (for some reason, God wanted part of this Scripture to be black instead of my blue...)

~~~~

Lord, in these days where we rush from thing to thing doing this and that, may we be the generation to teach this new generation about who You are and how they can practically worship You, seek and find You in their everyday.   Hallelujah!  Amen.

“Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

Remembering Moses' Mama

  This beautiful post is written by my friend, Julie. It is an update on her sweet little guy who just turned five months old. You can follow her story (and receive all types of other goodies--craft ideas, recipes, etc.) at www.happyhomefairy.com. I hope you enjoy reading it. It is such a wonderful reminder that our children and our times are in God's hands.


                                           Yesterday did not go as I had planned.

Three weeks ago (right about the time we found out the Happy Baby didn’t have a fatal genetic disorder), we decided to stop using the feeding tube. Knowing that there was not a disability helped me to see that most of the Happy Baby’s feeding issues are aftermath from our 3+ month hospital stay.

As soon as we took him off the tube the poor thing lost 5 ounces almost instantly.

I spent a lot of time in the fetal position trying not to have panic attacks that my precious little boy was going to waste away into a bag of bones.

I fretted about whether or not I was doing the right thing, but yet found myself stubbornly determined not to use the tube ever again.

Then one night when I crept into his room to quietly trick him into taking a bottle while asleep, he guzzled 6 ounces in less than 15 minutes!

Practically a world record!

From that point on I watched as (miraculously) the Happy Baby got better and better about taking his bottles.

I started texting pictures of empty Dr. Brown’s to my mom or the Happy Hubby at work because I was so excited about his progress.

Not every feed is awesome. He still has quite a bit of reflux going on. I’ve even cut dairy and gluten (*sob to no more late night ice cream binges*) from my diet to see if it might help – and while it’s improved, I can tell that some bottles hurt more than others and some bottles are still unbelievably rough. But, on the whole, he is taking in better volumes.

I began praying that God would pack the pounds on the Happy Baby. Use the milk that I am frantically trying to provide to turn our son into a little Dough Boy.

I started praying for a specific weight to be attained by the Happy Baby’s next GI doctor appointment so that I could prove to the medical staff that our baby didn’t need his feeding tube anymore and would they please take it out.

I figured that God wanted the Happy Baby’s feeding tube out as much as I did.

Well, that GI appointment was yesterday.

And as I said, it did not go as I had planned.

For starters, what I was hoping would be a party around the scale, ended up being a HUGE disappointment.

3 weeks. Only 3 ounces gained.

Then the doctor came in and informed us that not only had the Happy Baby dropped from the 25th percentile for weight down to the 8th, but also that we were nuts to think we could take his tube out so soon.

I tried to stand my ground in our little meeting and push my “I just believe he’s going to be fine” agenda on the doctor, but he held up the facts.

It seems I am a bit in denial that our sweet Happy Baby still very much has some obstacles to overcome.

Instead of getting the tube out we must wait another 6 weeks and try some things to boost the Happy Baby’s weight because clearly my breast milk alone is not cutting it (big disappointment).

I am tempted to quietly push ice cream through the tube! Or maybe invite Paula Deen to move in with us and lavish her buttery goodness on our boy.

Needless to say, I left the doctor’s feeling incredibly discouraged.

I had walked in feeling so sure that we’d be scheduling a tube-removal surgery and we could put this whole season behind us.

Somehow I had managed, once again, to form my own idea of our ‘happily ever after’ and forget that sometimes (okay, often times) God’s ‘happily ever afters’ are quite different than ours.

Sometimes He allows hard things. Sometimes the perfect little ideal I dream up is just the opposite of God’s plans.

Sometimes there are babies with feeding tubes for extended amounts of time.

Sometimes there are children with serious disorders and diseases.

Sometimes there is even death.

Sometimes the journey to His ‘happily ever after’ doesn’t feel quite so fairy-tale-ish.

These are the thoughts I have wrestled with lately, trying desperately to hold on to my Pollyanna Complex – believing that God will perform a miraculous and instant healing in our baby – in all hurting babies for that matter.

But the truth remains – sometimes He doesn’t.

And that is a hard pill to swallow.

I was reminded recently of Moses’ mother.

In a time when the king had ordered all of the Israelite baby boys to be killed, Moses’ mother wrapped her baby up, laid him in a basket, and sent him floating down the river.

She put her baby in a basket – and trusted that God would deliver him.

That certainly doesn’t sound like the ideal situation to me! I’d be paralyzed with fear at the thought of the basket overturning or an angry alligator looking for its next meal!

But this is what God asks us to do.

Put our babies ‘in the basket’.

Surrender our hopes, dreams, and desires for them – knowing that God’s hopes, dreams, and desires for them (and ultimately, us) are better.

Little did Moses’ mother know that in her obedience to surrender her baby to the basket, God would lead that basket straight to the palace where her baby was found by the princess, herself, and given a life of royalty.

Not exactly what Moses’ mother had in mind. I would think she had prayed for a way to keep her baby in her care forever, begging the Lord for another way.

But God chose differently. And her son lived. Because of her obedience he lived to lead an entire nation of people out of slavery.

So the tube is staying in a little bit longer. And when I say a little bit, I hope and still pray it will be a little bit, but ultimately it’s up to God and not my own stubborn determination or endless hours of pumping.

The Happy Hubby commented to me as we left the hospital yesterday that our hearts should be so surrendered to God’s timing for the Happy Baby that when it does come time to get the tube out, we will be pleasantly surprised.

I’ll bet Moses’ mother was pleasantly surprised when she ended up being the woman the princess called on to nurse her new found baby in the basket.

Photo Credit

Yes, Mommy Warriors out there, let us put our babies in the basket.

Because in that obedience, we can be confident that God will lead them (and us!) to the palace.

Thank you always for your prayers and support.

You’re the best.

-Julie

“But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand…”

Psalm 31:14-15a

PRECIOUS MOMENTS

                                          Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”

     I came home from work last night to my mom asking to take the girls for the weekend. After having just worked 13 hours I didn’t have to think long before giving her a yes answer. My husband was working the next day and he does 24 hour shifts so it was just going to be my 2 year old son and me. I thought about all I could accomplish tomorrow with only one child by my side before quickly falling asleep.

     When the morning came it occurred to me that I couldn’t remember the last time my son and I had been able to be alone together, if fact, sadly I am not sure there has been a time? His 2 sisters are usually here and my husband but today it seemed God had carved out a special day for he and I to spend together. Isn’t it amazing how the Lord knows exactly what we need! I know we have many things that have to be done but I chose to make this a special day, to put the chores and errands aside and just spend the day getting to know him more.

     We started our day with breakfast, then reading books. He decided he wanted to play musical instruments so we were a 2 man marching band in the living room for a while. I asked him what he would like to do and he chose to go to the park to play soccer and ride bikes so that’s what we did. I took him out to lunch then home for a nap. We ate dinner together then watched, “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” (one of his favorites). After the movie I took him for ice cream. What an amazing day of bonding with my son!

     I got to hear his heart on so many things today about our family. I was able to experience his personality and character like I have never seen before. There is a lot of chatter and business in our house normally, but today it was about him. I really think he felt special! At the end of the night he said, “Mommy you are my best friend.”  Moms, if you have many children or only one, there are multiple things that can distract us from knowing them and investing in them. Take the time today to invest in each one personally. God has many children but He is so personal with each of us! I was the one truly blessed today! I am praying that each of you gets to take these one on one opportunities with your children!

Heavenly Father, thank you for clearing my day and giving me the opportunity to spend one on one time with my son. What an amazing boy he is! We are so blessed to call these children our own. I pray that each mom who reads this blog will be encouraged to take personal time with each child. I pray Lord that you would clear their day, like you did mine, so they can focus on each special gift you have given to each one of these babies. I pray that all distractions be put aside and that they would get to experience the blessing in the hearts of their children.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18)

But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. ( Luke 5:16)

Thoughts to ponder:

Is there something you are doing that could be put off for later so you can spend some time with your little one?

 Try to get a friend or family member to take turns watching one or two of your kids at a time so you can spend one special day with each of them. Schedule days for you and your husband to have some one on one quality time with each child, you just might be amazed at what you may learn!

Deeper still

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Pr.27:17 (NLT)

I just got back from visiting Courtney and her four children. It just so happened that both of our husbands were out of town over the weekend so I jumped in the car and drove the two and a half hours that separate us. My boys and I were very excited for some sweet fellowship. Somehow I knew it was the Lord providing an opportunity, knowing my friend has sometimes really long weeks with her husband out of town a lot. I prayed we would be a blessing to her while there. Little did I know how blessed we would be.

It’s one thing to meet up with a friend for coffee or at the park. It’s a whole other matter to go into one’s home and see how they do life for two days. My friend and I talked while fixing lunches, dinners and long after the kids went to bed. We encouraged each other in God, shared experiences, vented to each other and prayed together. Our friendship is still fairly new so we talked about our families and how we grew up. I can’t remember the last time I had an entire day with a friend without having to leave because of chores or responsibilities. After awhile everyone relaxes fully and you begin to see someone for who they are. And when you discover and observe something good, your trust grows and you begin to really receive each other. As I observed good things in my friend and her family, it happened to me, I began to learn and grow.

I saw great camaraderie between the four home schooled children. The oldest girl is an amazing young woman with a sweet smile, innocence, respect and sense of responsibility as I watched her help her mom and me with anything needed. The boys exhibited character in how they nurtured and took care of their little guest friends (even when my little guy was cranky and whiny) When they were playing the Wii, my Tyler (3yrs old) had a remote without batteries so he wouldn't get frustrated when his car went off the track. All of them told him time and again what a good driver he was even though someone else was controlling the car. (such a picture of Gods love that covers!) Another time I noticed my friends youngest one was not “babied” and took her discipline without complaining, something I was convicted about with my little guy.

The things I didn’t notice were just as significant. I didn’t notice any complaining, impatience or fights between the four. That’s amazing since we were there for two days! Nobody was telling on anyone else or being mean. There were hurt feelings when someone was excluded but it was unintentional and quickly worked out. There was a maturity and self sufficiency about the 5, 6, 8 and 10 year olds that is to be desired, but here is the real message and point that I want to make. In spending time with these four, I noticed my own children behaving better, helping more readily, obeying quicker and being more content. They conformed into their environment and were affected by their friends. Even at that age, those little ones were sharpening each other and transforming lives. How powerful!

I was edified as well, being convicted how often I offer assistance to my two boys when it’s not really needed. With four, one can’t do that and has to rely on them to express their needs. The result is a child (or four), not catered to but responsible to an extent for their own well being.
This experience was so powerful to me and I began to realize what God was intending the church to be all along, examples in real life, one to another. Not when we are on our best behavior in church but at home with our family. Would we dare to invite our friends to see how we really are? And if we fall short, would our friends dare to “sharpen” us by telling us the truth?

” Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” Rom.15:14
” And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,” 1Thess.5:12

We all know and read the Word on how to be and grow but this permission of a friend to speak truth into our lives is undiscovered country, at least to me. What would happen if I got so deep that I could trust a friend to tell me the truth about myself? Also, in love, tell me what my blind spots are and to help me improve. How much could I grow if I allowed this admonition through my spouse or close family member who really knows me? (I have to put a disclaimer here and say that I’m of course talking about a person of integrity and a believer) I know You have people like that in your life, not perfect but redeemed and who are for you and want your best. Spend time with someone on a deeper level this week and ask sometimes for truth about yourself, as she sees it. If you can receive it, it will be life to you. I will do the same.

“Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.” Pr.27:6 (NLT)

True friends are a gift, lets receive them and let us be one.