As we grow closer to God, He is faithful to show us areas of sin in our lives, whether we want to see it or not. Case in point, contentment--we are instructed to be content in all things, but are we?
I find myself constantly evaluating how to make a situation "better." How can I be a better mother, a better wife, a better teacher to the kids? How can I improve the organization of my home, my schedule, our extra curricular activities? There is always something in my life that can be "improved." It has, at times, consumed my thoughts to the point that the very thing that I want to improve, I actually end up neglecting. If you are wondering if I need medication, you may be right!
I have always thought of this as a trait of my personality, always striving to be better, a little competitive, over achiever, but sinful--never! I never realized this was sinful behavior, until this week when God knocked me over the head with this realization, while I was on a walk.
From that point on, every scripture I read seemed to be concerning contentment, every article I read was concerning contentment, my husband even mentioned it to me. Okay, Okay, I am thick headed and stubborn, but I hear You speaking to me.
Of course, we are going to make changes in our lives, but it should be in God's time and provision and not our own. If the change comes from our discontentment, it is from God? Are we resting in Him? I used to think that was how God guided me to change my life, but when I look upon the Big changes, such as homeschooling, I see that He guided me through contentment and peace, not discontentment with my life, but scripture and patience (as I waited on my husband to come aboard).
Terry Maxwell wrote a beautiful article on contentment that sums it up so much more eloquently than I ever could.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Fair or Fear?
We recently went to our county fair, where we had to take out a second mortgage and cut off our right arms to pay for the rides. But, we were happy to do it to see the big beautiful smiles on our children's faces as they were violently twirled and twisted through the air.
We went on 50 ft. slides, ate our weight in funnel cake, and inhaled as much carbon monoxide as 20 tractor trailers can produce all the while, still happy to be there.
Then, as my children were aboard the most terrifying ride at the fair, the operator of the ride called me aside and asked me if those were my children. After I acknowledge with severe suspicion that they are indeed mine, he tells me that he has worked for this fair for 12 years and the rides are EXTREMELY unsafe. His exact words were, "Those are some precious little girls, so I am telling you, for their safety, not to let them ride ANY ride at this fair. I have worked with this outfit for 12 years and I can promise you that none, not one, not any of these rides are safe. Someone is going to get killed, don't let it be your precious girls. Look at my face, I am dead serious."
Those were not exactly the words I was hoping to hear as my children were being hurled through the air in the death trap he was describing. So, Mark and I made the executive decision to take our happy children and ruin their day by dragging them away from the joyous adventure that we had talked up and promised them all day and end it with tears and pouting.
But, to our surprise, after we explained what had happened and how we love them too much to risk their lives, even though we look like evil villans who just stole a lollipop from a baby, they apologize for whining and agreed that they would do the same thing to protect their own children.
Thank you, Lord for the little life lessons.
We went on 50 ft. slides, ate our weight in funnel cake, and inhaled as much carbon monoxide as 20 tractor trailers can produce all the while, still happy to be there.
Then, as my children were aboard the most terrifying ride at the fair, the operator of the ride called me aside and asked me if those were my children. After I acknowledge with severe suspicion that they are indeed mine, he tells me that he has worked for this fair for 12 years and the rides are EXTREMELY unsafe. His exact words were, "Those are some precious little girls, so I am telling you, for their safety, not to let them ride ANY ride at this fair. I have worked with this outfit for 12 years and I can promise you that none, not one, not any of these rides are safe. Someone is going to get killed, don't let it be your precious girls. Look at my face, I am dead serious."
Those were not exactly the words I was hoping to hear as my children were being hurled through the air in the death trap he was describing. So, Mark and I made the executive decision to take our happy children and ruin their day by dragging them away from the joyous adventure that we had talked up and promised them all day and end it with tears and pouting.
But, to our surprise, after we explained what had happened and how we love them too much to risk their lives, even though we look like evil villans who just stole a lollipop from a baby, they apologize for whining and agreed that they would do the same thing to protect their own children.
Thank you, Lord for the little life lessons.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
MORNING BIBLE STUDY
I love to do Bible study with the kids first thing in the morning. They are fresh and ready to receive God's word to start a new day. Their young minds are open and willing to envelope his word and write it on their hearts.
Case in point: This morning we were studying Proverbs 21 and came to vs. 21:23 He who guards his mouth and tongue, keeps himself from calamity. I asked the kids, "How do we guard our mouth and tongue?" And Briley replied without hesitation, "with our teeth."
Ah, yes, it does a mother's heart good to know the vast amount of wisdom in her children.
Case in point: This morning we were studying Proverbs 21 and came to vs. 21:23 He who guards his mouth and tongue, keeps himself from calamity. I asked the kids, "How do we guard our mouth and tongue?" And Briley replied without hesitation, "with our teeth."
Ah, yes, it does a mother's heart good to know the vast amount of wisdom in her children.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Ashton is 2
We are visiting family in Tennessee for my nephews 2nd birthday. Again, I am sorry, I still cannot post pictures. But, I just have to share some of the beauty of being a 2 year old. I love this age.
1. You can wear your shoes on the wrong feet and people think it is cute.
2. You can gallop around and people call it dancing.
3. When you run through a sprinkler with a diaper on and it fills up with water, you can plop down on the ground and watch the filling fly out of the back. It looks like it is snowing.
4. When you smile at people, they are putty in your hands. This is the time to ask for
"cook-tees."
5. This is the one time in life when your smile is gorgeous, even though you are missing a few teeth here and there.
6. Breadsticks, straws, and wooden spoons will make a perfect key to start the car.
7. A waddle is the perfect way to walk.
8. A clown is a scary creature, but animals are instant friends.
9. kids are "tids", dogs are "wogs", outside is "owshide", water is "wawa", and watermelon is "wawawellon"
10. It doesn't matter if you are sad, mad, or glad, you can scream out loud!
This is a great age!
1. You can wear your shoes on the wrong feet and people think it is cute.
2. You can gallop around and people call it dancing.
3. When you run through a sprinkler with a diaper on and it fills up with water, you can plop down on the ground and watch the filling fly out of the back. It looks like it is snowing.
4. When you smile at people, they are putty in your hands. This is the time to ask for
"cook-tees."
5. This is the one time in life when your smile is gorgeous, even though you are missing a few teeth here and there.
6. Breadsticks, straws, and wooden spoons will make a perfect key to start the car.
7. A waddle is the perfect way to walk.
8. A clown is a scary creature, but animals are instant friends.
9. kids are "tids", dogs are "wogs", outside is "owshide", water is "wawa", and watermelon is "wawawellon"
10. It doesn't matter if you are sad, mad, or glad, you can scream out loud!
This is a great age!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Picture Perfect
I know that I promised to post some pictures, but I only have one computer that will download pictures from my camera and it is currently unavailable. So, instead of looking at pictures, I will give you a picture perfect moment from our day yesterday.
Sabree was not feeling well. We went to the pool the day before and she was playing with a little boy who loudly announced after 2 hours of spitting pool water in the pool and at my kids, that he had been throwing up all morning long. WHAT WAS THAT FATHER THINKING? I'm sure all the mothers out there reading my blog will second the motion that when your child is sick or has been sick within the last 24 hours--KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ALL OTHER CHILDREN. Don't bring a sick child out in 90+ degree heat, it will not make them feel better to swim in a pool when it is so sweltering hot outside that your skin melts off your face. No, No, this is not good. I say that in the meekest, gentlest spirit I can muster after a sleepless night with a sick child.
But, back to the picture perfect moment. Sabree was not feeling well, so Seviann made her a drink and Briley brought her a blanket and they both proceeded to rub her back and massage her feet to help her "get better faster." That is the kind of servant's heart I want them to always have. Thank you, Lord, for a glimpse of your love in their hearts.
Sabree was not feeling well. We went to the pool the day before and she was playing with a little boy who loudly announced after 2 hours of spitting pool water in the pool and at my kids, that he had been throwing up all morning long. WHAT WAS THAT FATHER THINKING? I'm sure all the mothers out there reading my blog will second the motion that when your child is sick or has been sick within the last 24 hours--KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ALL OTHER CHILDREN. Don't bring a sick child out in 90+ degree heat, it will not make them feel better to swim in a pool when it is so sweltering hot outside that your skin melts off your face. No, No, this is not good. I say that in the meekest, gentlest spirit I can muster after a sleepless night with a sick child.
But, back to the picture perfect moment. Sabree was not feeling well, so Seviann made her a drink and Briley brought her a blanket and they both proceeded to rub her back and massage her feet to help her "get better faster." That is the kind of servant's heart I want them to always have. Thank you, Lord, for a glimpse of your love in their hearts.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Family Time
I was just reading a blog by Wendy that really hit home with me, so I thought I would share it with you all, along with my unsolicited thoughts.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to spend all day with your kids and yet not really spend any time with them? We can be in the same house, yet be completely distant from each other. The kids may be playing dolls or war in one room, while Dad is fixing something in another room and Mom is cooking, cleaning, or catching up on errands in another room. Time goes by so quickly and it is so easy to lose our children's hearts along the way. Children are a blessing, an inheritance from the Lord, and we are REQUIRED to train and admonish them in the Lord, yet it is so easy to lose sight of this in the every day hustle and bustle of life.
The world we live in makes us feel lazy, unproductive, and worthless if we spend our days "just" playing and being with our children. And, the sad thing is how easily we buy into this lie. We must train and admonish our children, but if we do not have their hearts, then they may only obey out of obligation or submission to authority. But, God does not want our children to obey out of just obligation or submission, He wants them to honor their parents and for obedience to come out of honor. This call for children to honor their mother and father is actually also the parents responsibility. What say you? Parents responsibility? Let me explain, while taking quotes from Steve and Teri Maxwell's book, Keeping our Children's Hearts.
Pg. 84--Even if Dad and Mom are not physically separated from the children, if their hearts are separated emotionally, then the children will turn their hearts elsewhere. The Lord uses separation to move hearts. We need to understand that as parents if we sow "separation," we will reap someone else winning our children's hearts. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8
So, you can see how subtle Satan can be, even when we are home with our children, he is after their hearts. We must not feel lazy or worthless for spending time with them, it is their eternity at stake. If our goals for our children are to be godly men and women, then we must spend one on one time with them every day and win their hearts to us. The laundry can wait (or you can do it together), the phone calls to return, crumbs on the floor, and dust on the picture frames will still be there after our children are tucked safely in bed. Time is the one thing we cannot turn back and it goes by so quickly.
As an unknown author once said, "I will never regret having a dirty house when my kids were little, but I will always regret the teddy bear tea parties I missed, the forgotten game of baseball in the yard, and the bedtime stories I never read."
pg. 87--If all we ever do is to correct, rebuke, lecture, and discipline our children, it will be difficult for them to be aware of the love we have for them. However, if we continually find ways to praise, edify, and encourage them, their hearts will be pulled toward us. "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19)
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to spend all day with your kids and yet not really spend any time with them? We can be in the same house, yet be completely distant from each other. The kids may be playing dolls or war in one room, while Dad is fixing something in another room and Mom is cooking, cleaning, or catching up on errands in another room. Time goes by so quickly and it is so easy to lose our children's hearts along the way. Children are a blessing, an inheritance from the Lord, and we are REQUIRED to train and admonish them in the Lord, yet it is so easy to lose sight of this in the every day hustle and bustle of life.
The world we live in makes us feel lazy, unproductive, and worthless if we spend our days "just" playing and being with our children. And, the sad thing is how easily we buy into this lie. We must train and admonish our children, but if we do not have their hearts, then they may only obey out of obligation or submission to authority. But, God does not want our children to obey out of just obligation or submission, He wants them to honor their parents and for obedience to come out of honor. This call for children to honor their mother and father is actually also the parents responsibility. What say you? Parents responsibility? Let me explain, while taking quotes from Steve and Teri Maxwell's book, Keeping our Children's Hearts.
Pg. 84--Even if Dad and Mom are not physically separated from the children, if their hearts are separated emotionally, then the children will turn their hearts elsewhere. The Lord uses separation to move hearts. We need to understand that as parents if we sow "separation," we will reap someone else winning our children's hearts. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8
So, you can see how subtle Satan can be, even when we are home with our children, he is after their hearts. We must not feel lazy or worthless for spending time with them, it is their eternity at stake. If our goals for our children are to be godly men and women, then we must spend one on one time with them every day and win their hearts to us. The laundry can wait (or you can do it together), the phone calls to return, crumbs on the floor, and dust on the picture frames will still be there after our children are tucked safely in bed. Time is the one thing we cannot turn back and it goes by so quickly.
As an unknown author once said, "I will never regret having a dirty house when my kids were little, but I will always regret the teddy bear tea parties I missed, the forgotten game of baseball in the yard, and the bedtime stories I never read."
pg. 87--If all we ever do is to correct, rebuke, lecture, and discipline our children, it will be difficult for them to be aware of the love we have for them. However, if we continually find ways to praise, edify, and encourage them, their hearts will be pulled toward us. "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19)
Blog Break
I have really enjoyed blogging over the past year, but due to a lack of comments (hint! hint!) I did not think any of our family members were reading. However, due to an overwhelming outcry of people that I had no idea were lurking in the shadows, I am back.
The break has been nice, but now that I have 400 photos stored up to blog containing 4 birthdays, field trips, visits with friends, and just the usual day to day humor--where do I start?
I will start with a thank you to all our wonderful friends who made our birthdays so special. It makes my heart leap with joy to realize how many people love us--thank you. You are all so very special to us. And, I want to send out another thank you to my favorite aunt and uncle who always send us the most gorgeous beautiful cards from across the oceans. We love you guys so much and we appreciate and cherish the efforts and love you put into each card.
A funny story to finish off. You know how kids will come up with knock knock jokes--but when they are 5 years old the jokes just don't make any sense and are not funny, but you are on the ground rolling because your 5 year old is laughing so hard at his own joke? Well, here is Briley's dinner time knock knock jokes.
Knock knock
Who's there?
Chicken
Chicken who?
Chicken Dog---HA! Ha!
Knock knock
Who's there?
Dog
Dog who?
Dog chicken--Ha! Ha!
Why did the chicken say bock bock in the sandbox?
Why?
because he saw a dog--Ha! Ha! Ha!
Why did the dog cross the road?
Why?
Because the chicken said bock bock--Ha! Ha!
Are you sensing a theme here? This is not funny when you read it, but when a 5 year old can barely get the joke out because he has already started laughing so hard that his eyes are watering--that is funny.
Lord, please let me always see his beautiful heart and encourage him to make a joyful noise for you. Amen.
The break has been nice, but now that I have 400 photos stored up to blog containing 4 birthdays, field trips, visits with friends, and just the usual day to day humor--where do I start?
I will start with a thank you to all our wonderful friends who made our birthdays so special. It makes my heart leap with joy to realize how many people love us--thank you. You are all so very special to us. And, I want to send out another thank you to my favorite aunt and uncle who always send us the most gorgeous beautiful cards from across the oceans. We love you guys so much and we appreciate and cherish the efforts and love you put into each card.
A funny story to finish off. You know how kids will come up with knock knock jokes--but when they are 5 years old the jokes just don't make any sense and are not funny, but you are on the ground rolling because your 5 year old is laughing so hard at his own joke? Well, here is Briley's dinner time knock knock jokes.
Knock knock
Who's there?
Chicken
Chicken who?
Chicken Dog---HA! Ha!
Knock knock
Who's there?
Dog
Dog who?
Dog chicken--Ha! Ha!
Why did the chicken say bock bock in the sandbox?
Why?
because he saw a dog--Ha! Ha! Ha!
Why did the dog cross the road?
Why?
Because the chicken said bock bock--Ha! Ha!
Are you sensing a theme here? This is not funny when you read it, but when a 5 year old can barely get the joke out because he has already started laughing so hard that his eyes are watering--that is funny.
Lord, please let me always see his beautiful heart and encourage him to make a joyful noise for you. Amen.
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