Two articles you should read!

Two of my cousins have great articles out right now, especially for younger readers.
My cousin Kim writes about sexual purity here.  It is an excellent article...one of my fav things she says is "Short term pleasures are Satan's territory.  Long term joy is God's".

My cousin Holly writes about God using young people and that being young is not an excuse for sinful behavior.  Love her "Say Not That I am a Child".

168.  An impromtu play date at the park...complete with Starbucks for the mamas.  :)
169.  Good visit with my brother in law, sis in law, and nephews.  I love and cherish family.
170.  Church thanksgiving!
171.  My kids SO excited about Operation Christmas Chld
172.  Zumba...sometimes ya just need to burn some major calories!
173.  Much needed date with my hub...the fact that we can have fun together just going to Target
174.  Cinnamon rolls
175.  Unexpected warm days!  No coat needed!
176.  Kids who are thankful

177.  My baby boy saying "Mama"

178.  My baby boy saying "Dada"...that boy loves his daddy
179.  A hard working husband
180.  Healthy children

1000 Blessings

153.  Extra snuggles with my teething baby
154.  Talking to my mama on the phone
155.  A Starbucks date with a good friend
156.  Kids so excited over riding the combine

157.  Good soup on a cold day
158.  Our Sunday School class...watching God grow us as married couples
159.  Relaxing, stay at home weekend
160.  Unexpected short weekend shift for E
161.  Apple pie
162.  Forgiveness
163.  Daylight savings time...an extra hour (even though it wreaks havoc on children's sleep!)
164.  Cold evenings...beautiful skies
165.  My son singing "Me and my mama..." a little diddy he made up.  :)
166.  My kids' prayers before school.  T always seems to work in "Help mama make cookies"
167.  Good friendships between brother and sister

Blessed

"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."  Romans 4: 7-8  (said by David)

152.  Thanks be to God for forgiveness of my sins.  

"If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins...who could stand?"

Do you ever read Scripture and it's like God is speaking right to you, piercing your heart?  When I read this, I just have to pause and say...Certainly not me, God.  I couldn't stand.  Thank You, Thank You that I don't have to stand without You.  That Your blood paid the price for me.  

 

1000 Gifts

146.  Movie night
147.  A brave little girl after a skinned knee.
148.  A not quite potty trained two year old making progress
149.  Brother and sister playing board games together
150.  Caramel corn
151.  Laundry almost caught up!

Pursuit of the heart

Yesterday I failed as a parent.  Big time.  You know that feeling where you wish you could do it over?  Where you'd do everything different?   Yep, that was where I was at.   The to do list was miles long (it was Halloween after all), we were already running behind, and my girl was dragging her feet in the slowest way.  Instead of trying to get to the heart of what was going on, I went immediately to a consequence.  And it broke her sweet heart.  You see, she was out of line, but if I had stopped to explore why she was out of line, instead of just trying to fix or change the behavior, I would have gotten somewhere.
This is a concept we have talked about in our small group over and over again and seems to be a theme of Christian parenting studies.  The way it's presented is often different, but the idea is the same...
When we parent, we need to seek to change our child's heart toward Christ, not just change the behavior.

This is no easy task.  It's hard to do this in everyday life.  And certainly there are some scenarios that warrant immediate behavior changing action.  But the heart is our goal.

And isn't that how God loves us?  Isn't that the whole faith/works relationship?  We are saved by accepting  Christ, by our heart being His...but if our hearts are His, won't our works and deeds be pleasing to Him?  (As pleasing as humans can be!)  I'm reading Romans right now and at the end of Chapter 2, Paul talks about being a Jew inwardly and circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit.  It's not enough just to do the "right stuff"...God wants our heart.  He wants obedience out of love and devotion.

Thank GOD He seeks our hearts, and not our works because we could never measure up!  And neither can our kids...we can't be surprised when they sin.  They are human after all.  :)  But we have to seek to point their precious hearts to God.  We have to pursue their hearts relentlessly.  

And what I'm finding lately is just how little I let my kids see that I fail too.  I want to have everything together for them, so that they know that I will always take care of them.  But they need to see that their mama needs God's grace just as much as they do.

So after school had already started and I was sitting in the living room with a tear stained little girl who had finally calmed from her complete melt down... after I realized that being late to school was nothing compared to the complete and utter fatigue this little girl was feeling (I sent her back to bed for awhile in between),  I said, "I'm sorry.  I punished you before I talked to you and I didn't know all the facts.  I shouldn't have done that.  I still believe you deserved a consequence, but I also believe that I should have listened."  And she looked at me with her big brown eyes that still had a few tears in them and said four words that melted my heart.  "I forgive you, Mom."

And I'm still counting...but I'm behind. :)
123. A trip to see Meme and Granddad.  Safe travels on the long drive there and back.
124.  Meme and her "cinnamomomom rolls" 
125.  Trick or treating...several times.  So fun to see the kiddos in costumes!
126.  Good talks with E in the car.
127.  A neighbor who spoils my kids
128.  Riding on a pony at the carnival!
129.  Good times shopping with my mama.
130.  A lot of spoiling by Meme and Granddad
131.  God's grace.  That He doesn't give up on me.
132.  Answered prayers for a good friend.
133.  Hot coffee on cold, dark mornings
134.  A trip to the farm/playground...awesome place for kiddos in Kansas
135.  That no matter the results of the election, Jesus is still the One in charge.  :)
136.  For awesome in laws that help us when we can't be in every place we need to at once.
137.  For my husband's funny texts he sends me during the day.  Keeps us both sane.
138.  For E's job.
139.  A little sister who is growing up to be an awesome young lady.  
140.  A week off from teaching.  Love teaching but it's nice to have a week where evenings are free (or at least free-er)
141.  Friends who pray for me.
142.  A family member who is recovering
143.  That croup is gone from this house
144.  A big brother who looks out for his little brother
145.  Coats and warm clothes in the cold

No more Mommy Wars!

Mom.  I think it's my favorite title ever.  I love being called Mom.  And I will say openly, it is absolutely the best job I've ever had, one I believe I was born to do.  But I gotta tell you, this Mom stuff, it's not easy, it's not for the weak or the faint of heart!   It's without a doubt the hardest job I've ever had.

That's why I get so frustrated when I find myself playing the Mommy Wars game.  It starts innocently enough, talking about diapering or staying at home or breast feeding or making your own baby food or whether to let your baby cry it out or homeschooling...and everyone has an opinion, and it's usually different.

I love to hear everyone's opinion, but so quickly it can turn into a "well my way is better than yours".  Here's a secret I've learned:  Everyone thinks their way is best.  That's why they are doing it.  :) Yet sometimes I still find myself wanting to participate in these back and forth discussions that really aren't building anyone up.  They are tearing, tearing down and hurting hearts and there are so many more important things to unite us.  I get that some of these issues are really important, and to be honest, some are very important to me too.  But they aren't worth hurting others over.  

Why can't we as moms build each other up?  Why can't we have friendships and relationships that are real instead of trying to convince others (or ourselves) that our way is the best way?

I believe this is the reason...At the heart of it, we are all insecure about if our way is really best.  We think it probably is.  But motherhood is the most important job we have and we are so invested in it... doubt creeps in. 

And I believe that insecurity, that doubt is what makes us great moms.  

The fact that we question our decisions, that we absolutely want to make the right choice for our kids...that's what makes us great moms.  But when we waste our time comparing and get caught up in why someone else's decision is wrong...that's where we run into trouble. 

We're all trying to raise our kids the very best way we can and that's no easy task. Every child is different and has different needs, just as every Mom is different.  No method is perfect and right for every person.  Except for One.  :)
I couldn't do it without God. I think we all could do it better without Mommy Wars!  Let's surrender!

If onlys...

This morning I was running late to get my daughter to school.  We're talking really late.  Spent too long trying to make the teacher's treats for Teacher Appreciation look better.  E needed money at the last minute for book sale.  T couldn't find his shoes.  C pooped.  Again.
On the way out the door my phone dinged for my appointment reminder for C's doctor's appointment.  "I know, got it!" I thought and then looked at the screen in disbelief.
9:00??  I thought it was 9:15!  The last appointment was for 9:15.  WHY would I have scheduled it for 9???  I can't possibly make that!  
Drove my daughter to school, called doctor's office on the way, pulled in to school only to miss the "not late" status by one minute so she needed to be signed in.  The doctor's office told me if I could get there by 9:10 I could still be seen.  A PTO friend saw me and yelled out, "I'll sign her in!"  Bless her heart.  Emma ran in, and we drove off.  I was due to arrive at 9:10, maybe 9:11...but when I turned on the road I needed, it was closed.  Then my detour was closed, so I had to take the real detour.  C had thrown his socks in the backseat, so when we finally pulled up at 9:16, I ran in with a sockless baby and a two year old who couldn't wait to see the fish.  As I walked in the door, my phone rang.  I saw the nurse on the phone.  She was gracious and sweet, but they couldn't fit us in.  Drove back to the school to drop off my treats quickly...
I walked out the door feeling totally and utterly defeated.
If I was only more organized...
If my house was neater...
If I could bring myself to wake up a little earlier even when C was up in the night, not feeling the best.
If I could just bring myself to be a better house keeper, play with my kids more, have energy left to hang out with my husband, work out and be in great shape, cook awesome meals every night, coupon for all our grocery shopping, do great pinterest projects (seriously, the people on Pinterest...where do they find time to do these things??)...
The list of if onlys overwhelms me as I drive down the road, the boys having a who can growl loudest contest at the top of their lungs.
Then I was reminded of these words by Nancy Leigh DeMoss...
"There is virtually never time in a twenty four hour day for me to do everything that is on everyone else's to do list for me.  There is seldom time to do everything on my own to do list.  I cannot meet with every person who wants to meet, call every person who wants to talk, tackle every project that people think I would be good at, keep each room in my house presentable for guests who drop in...It's just not physically possible.  What a relief that I don't have to do all those things!  The Truth is that all I have to do is the work God assigns to me...there is time to do everything that is on God's to do list for my day, for my week, and for my life."  
Don't let your if onlys take over.  You are enough, He is enough, and all you have to do is the work that God has given you for today.