I Need You

Everyday my need for God seems to grow and grow.  As a mom some days I feel I lack the strength, the love, mercy, patience and compassion to be who my kids need.  I cry out to my God and He gives me all I need. 

This song has been for me a sweet time of worship and praise to my God.  I pray it will be the same for you.   

I Need You By Chris Tomlin


Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

From the ends of the earth I call to you,

I call as my heart grows faint;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the foe.

I long to dwell in your tent forever

and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

 

                                                 Psalm 61:1-4

Priorities Part 3 Continued - The first generation

"There is a special relationship between the first and third generations." – Gary and Ann Marie Ezzo and Dr. Bucknam, Co-Authors of the Babywise books. I love this quote and remember it often, though I read it almost two years ago. I saw it come to life this week when our family arrived at a restaurant in Miami to celebrate my cousin's birthday. While my husband was dutifully parking our car, neither my son nor my mother could contain their excitement over seeing each other again. Upon seeing his Abuela, my son started yelling, "Abue, Abue!" Let me clarify - Abuela is Spanish for grandmother and my son is almost 16 months old. He started with "Aba" and has progressed to "Abue". He says it with such love - it sounds beautiful! At the same time, my mother is standing on the curb, next to the car, insisting to my husband that the car is just fine - because she cannot wait to get her hands on her grandson again. They had just spent the previous day together, but already they had missed each other so much. What a special love, indeed!

In August, I began a monthly series on priorities because as moms, we have so much to balance that it’s important for us to be intentional about how we spend our time.  I have found it helpful to remind myself what those priorities are and check in once in a while to see if my “to do” list reflects those priorities.  In my previous blogs, I asked you to examine how you were doing giving priority time to our Lord and serving your husband and your children.  I hope today’s blog will encourage us to better honor the first generation – our parents. 

 Ephesians 6:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)

 6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: ³ “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”^[a]

 To paraphrase the NIV commentary on this verse, the direction to obey is intended for children; however, the command to honor is for life. We are the model for our children. They will learn how to honor us by watching how we honor our parents, BOTH sets of parents, the mothers who gave birth to us as well as the mothers who gave birth to our beloved husbands, and, of course, our fathers, too. It is our responsibility to cultivate and nurture a loving, respectful and Godly relationship between our children and our parents.

 I think there are a couple things that stand in our way of creating and enhancing close relationships with our parents and encouraging the same for our children. First, differences of opinion in raising children can be an obstacle. Second, the busyness of our days can distract us from spending quality time with our parents if they live locally and distance can make it an impossibility if they live far from us.  We are intentional in putting God first and serving our husbands and children.  Let’s make sure we are intentional about honoring our parents, too! 

 Here are a few practical reminders of ways that we can honor our parents and encourage our children to do the same.

1)      Listen to them. Esteem them. Though we may disagree, they've been at this longer than us!

Extra Credit – Give them an opportunity to tell their story.  Interview them and record their interview on video to share with your children when they ask about their grandparents.  Ask them about their childhood, their testimony, how they met their spouse, their wedding, favorite vacations, memories, God’s faithfulness in their life, the legacy they hope to leave, etc.  If your parents have passed, consider asking someone to interview you on their behalf. 

2)      Praise them, especially in front of your children! My mom does a wonderful job teaching our son how to do things. She taught him how to open and close doors, turn lights on and off, climb steps - all before he could walk! When I notice him doing something I know we didn't teach him, I smile and realize who did. When I remember, I tell Abuela that I noticed she taught Hunter to climb, what a great teacher she is, how the Lord has blessed her with a gift for children, that I will always be grateful for the childhood memories she gave me, etc. Watch your mom just beam after hearing these words! Dad, too! Thank your MIL for raising such an amazing husband. If you have a son, tell your MIL how you'd like your son to display a specific gift or character trait that your husband has - his faith, perseverance, determination, helpfulness, sense of humor, etc. and ask how she cultivated that gift in him as a child.

Extra Credit – Make a list of 10 things you love about your mom, dad, MIL and/or FIL or 10 things you’ve learned from them.   As a Thanksgiving welcome, give them a list of 10 reasons you’re thankful for them.  If your children are old enough, have them do the same. 

3)      Include them.  Have you had the equivalent of a date night with your mom recently?  If she lives far, what about a phone date?  Send her a Starbucks gift card ahead of time and then buy one for yourself so you can “have coffee together.” Encourage your husband to enjoy a father/son day or take his mom out for breakfast or lunch.  Do you have a family dinner night with the grandparents who live locally?  A weekly play date?

Extra Credit – Share what God is teaching you in His word or through Bible studies with your moms. 

4)       Write to them.  Send a thank you card this month and let them know how thankful you are for them.  Encourage your children to do the same.

Extra Credit – Children’s art projects make beautiful thank you cards!  Send them a recent art project with a little thank you note written on the back.

5)      Let them go first.  At dinnertime, each of us go around the table and share the “high” of our day, as well as the “low” of our day.  When Abuela is with us, she always goes first. 

Extra Credit – Invite your parents for dinner on the 1st of each month, or the 1st Saturday or Sunday of each month.  If they live out of town, call them.  Let them know they are among the first you choose to spend your time with. 

Okay, ladies, here’s our challenge.  Pick at least one parent and one item from above and honor them today!  Extra Credit – Comment on this blog with an additional way that we can honor our parents. 

 Let’s pray.  Heavenly Father, thank you for our parents  - for their love, their provision, wisdom and guidance.  Bless our relationships with them.  Help us to forgive when we need to, listen to them, praise them, include them, spend quality time with them and honor them always.  May our children follow our example and draw near to their grandparents.  Bless our families and our homes with our love, joy and peace this holiday season and always.  In Jesus’ precious name, we pray.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Election Day

Today is Election Day. The day we elect a president. According to Merrriam-Webster's dictionary, elect as a verb means:

1. to select by vote for an office...
2. to make a selection of...
3. to choose(as a course of action) especially by preference.

We, as Christian moms, should elect to raise our children in a Godly manner. We do this by following what the Bible says and constant prayer.

Deuteronomy 6:6,7 - And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

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

Proverbs 13:24 - Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

Matthew 22: 37-39 -  Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

We,  as Christian moms, should elect to teach, train, and discipline our children in love. Children can grow up; it's called getting older. However, we are called to raise our children.

Challenge: Have you elected to raise your children? How about when it's hard? Take time today, to do something special with your children. Teach a new scripture, train a new task, discipline bad behavior, or simply show some love.

Raising a LEADER by Sheridan House Ministries

Parenting on Purpose with Dr. Bob Barnes

 of Sheridan House Ministries

CLICK the LINK below & SCROLL DOWN to PART #1 for today :) Read the great wisdom about training our children to be leaders and feel free to click the icon to listen to the podcast as well - at bottom left of message  :)

http://parentingonpurpose.org/category/broadcast/page/8/

SEE the TRAIN in the TRAFFIC

Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father 

of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change 

like shifting shadows.

 - James 1:17

Today my oldest son experienced the presence of his Heavenly Father. This encounter showed him how God is into the small details of his life that bring great joy. We were on our way to a Bible study, quite a bit away from our home, when we got stuck in a traffic jam on I-95. I continued to watch the time wondering if I would be late in meeting up with friends. 

When things aren't working out 

as you wish, 

be patient. 

Stop trying 

to move ahead of God. 

His timing is perfect. 

Trust Him.

  -unknown

At the perfect moment, at a standstill, my son turned his head and was ecstatic to see the Tri-Rail, a huge train, pass by the highway. This led to a great conversation! 

I explained how the Lord knew how much my son LOVES trains and had us stopped at just the right time so we could see it. What a blessing! What a gift! It reminded me to praise God for being such a great Father. He is into the small details of our life and delights in blessing us. 

Today's train reminded me of our perfect Heavenly Father with perfect timing that sometimes my finite mind can't understand. I want my timing but if I am patient the Lord will far exceed my expectations. I saw a traffic jam but God saw a blessing he had been planning for my son. A sweet blessing that touched more than just my son.

What was your "traffic jam" moment today?

You have one. Think for a moment mom, and look for one unexpected way HE blessed you today.

Your heavenly Father is into the small details of your life. 

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. 

He delights in every detail of their lives.

-Psalm 37:23-

Every good gift is from Him. God loves you so much! 

Don't miss those moments He causes you to slow down in order to see the "train" in the "traffic." 

More Memories from Marco Island

           I mentioned a couple of posts back, I had taken a trip with Hope and her friend to Marco Island.  On our first morning I sat alone on our rooms balcony with an unobstructed view of the Gulf of Mexico.  The water was as smooth as glass and crystal clear.

I loved the early morning activity.  I enjoyed watching the staff tote kayaks, beach chairs and umbrellas to the gulfs edge.  I watched as children raced to be the first to touch the shore. It was interesting watching a small tractor “rake” the sand.  There were tiki huts dotting the soft sand. 

Yet, there were two sights that made the biggest impression.

There was a beautiful sandcastle that stood over six feet tall.  It was obviously done by a sculptor.  It even had delicate lace cut detail around the turrets.   Later in the day we would go and have our picture made with this incredible work of art.

The other sight I was particularly interested in was a formation of rose petals and palm branches strewn about one of the tiki huts. This was a blank canvas waiting for me to paint my own ideas of why the rose petals and palm branches were there.

My imagination lead me to conclude there had been a wedding.  Maybe the night before we arrived, when the sun was setting a wedding had been preformed.  On this Saturday morning, I watched as the employees came out and picked up the palm branches and swept the petals into a pile of debris.

I thought about the months and days earlier that would have gone into planning the palm branches and rose petals as decorations.  Now, it was gone.  In fact the bride and groom may have no memory of what I found impactful.

Impactful?  Well, yeah.  I mean so many marriages fail. Things happen.  People change.  Life isn’t what we thought it would be. People don’t keep their promises.

To me the palm branches and rose petals were the reminder that things change and are forgotten.  I want my marriage to Greg to be ever growing.  I want to make the resolve that although the flowers have surely died and literally thousands of days have passed since our wedding day I want to give Greg my best.  I want to be his best friend, his best confidant, his best encourager, his best helpmate.

Moms, its so easy to focus on the demands of those underfoot.  To get caught up with play dates, and car pools, and even caring for the needs of others outside our families, that we forget the most important.  Every day activities are the process and therefore ARE important.

It really is no big deal if we forget the palm branches and rose petals!  Lets just never forget the most important part of our vows, our vow to God and to each other, to be the very best, “til death do us part.”

Prayer:

“Father God, Sometimes my life is like those things on the beach.  My foundation gets shaken. Will you please help me not to be distracted by the urgent? Please help me to gracefully accept the changes in my life.  Please show me how I can be my spouse’s “Best.”  I love you Lord.”

Challenge:  Read Matthew 5: 24 - 27.  Let God speak to you personally.

Trashcan Ninjas

Image Found Here

 

I had a great walk with my kids the other day.  We went our usual route.  The kids were on their bikes and I was walking or running when the urge hit me.  We were in front of a house where there is usually an older couple sitting out on their front porch, but they were not there that day.  My older son had asked me if he could do something and I honestly do not remember what it was but I do remember that I told him no.  With the no I had suggested that he take the older couples trashcans from the curb up to their garage.  At first he looked at me like I was crazy and said no I don’t want to do that.  I could tell it wasn’t that he didn’t want to do the work.  He seemed a little shy about it, which I could understand.  But then he looked at his brother and asked if he wanted to take the trashcans up with him and when he said yes they both took off with huge smiles on their faces. 

When they ran back they were excited and asked if they could take all the peoples trashcans up to their garages.  They were so cute, they would go from house to house and if a car were coming they would wait so that no one would see them.  With each house they were filled with more and more excitement and joy.  They had so much fun they asked if they could do this every week.  We talked about how surprised the people would be to come home from work and not have to bring up their trashcans.  They were filled with joy because they were blessing others. 

I called them my little trashcan ninjas because they were working so fast and trying not to be seen.  I was so proud of them.  They blessed an entire subdivision full of people that day but I think that they felt more blessed. 

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  Galatians 6:10

 

Who will you bless today?  I know that when the joy my kids had in their hearts from blessing others spilled over and touched me it made me want a bit of what they had.  It is contagious so I propose that we all put it in our minds to bless until we are so filled with joy that it spills over.