Another Happy Birthday

I can't believe our firstborn son just turned six years old! My how time flies. He had a great time at the gymnastics place with friends from church for his party.

Summer Break?

This post is for all you at home mom's out there who are busy busy planning your kids summer break so it will be fun, educational, and entertaining. You hope by making such a detailed plan of lessons, camps, play dates, "school" work, and projects, that you will limit hearing the dreaded words, "I'm bored" from your children. I too am guilty of all this. I have printed my summer schedule and posted on the fridge. We started immediately the day after school was out with our play school time (my attempt at summer homeschooling) and projects for home and others. Still, by 4:30 in the afternoon when they're tired of playing video games, nothing is on TV, they don't want to play with toys or do school work, I hear "There's nothing to do!" which to a mom who has devoted 100% of herself to planning the perfect summer is like a punch in the gut. So what to do?


Stop trying to be perfect! In all of my planning, I came across an awesome website of a Christian home school mom that has tons of free resources on it. It's called Confessions of a Homeschooler. While I was taking advantage of all the free phonics printables I came across the real reason the Lord probably led me to that site in a post called "Super Mom vs. Abiding Mom". I highly suggest every woman who has sacrificed her career to be a 100% in the home  mom print this out and put it somewhere where you can see it daily. It seems that almost every mom I know has at some point struggled with the underappreciated, unpaid, unmeasurable role of motherhood.  Stop thinking the Lord will have some great assignment for you in the future when your kids get big enough for you to go back to work and realize He's already given you the greatest assignment right now in raising your children! This is a reminder to make sure our priorities are right in that everything we do is for the Lord first. 

Super Mom	Abiding Mom
Does	Is (Psalm 46:10)
Tries to impress others	Pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10,Proverbs 29:25)
Is controlled by an agenda(curriculum, schedule, etc)	Is controlled by the Holy Spirit: (Gal. 5:22-26) (Uses curriculum & schedules as tools for orderliness so she's more free to follow the spirit)
Her self worth is found in her accomplishments (clean house, perfect kids, the perfect bulletin boards, etc.)	Her self worth is found in an accurate view of who she is in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)
Her peace is found in the “perfect” environment	Her peace is found in Jesus in the midst of any storm (Is 26:3)
She is discouraged by failure	Failure reminds her that God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
She expects perfection from herself and others	She practices grace with herself and others (Eph 4:32)
She teaches her kids to be good	She teaches her kids to be Godly (Proverbs 22:6)
She is frustrated with her lack of spiritual fruit	She abides in Christ and bears much fruit (John 15:5)
She does things with her children	She builds a relationship with her children (Deut 6:6-7)
Her perspective is based on what is seen	Her perspective is based on what is unseen (Col 3:2)
She chooses quantity of activities	She chooses the most excellent Way (I Cor 13)

From the mouths of babes

This morning I asked my youngest son, Shawn, to say the blessing at breakfast. After some reluctance on his part, because he was in a hurry to eat, he prays, "Thank you God for our food, family, and the whole universe. Amen!" I chuckled at a three year old praying for the whole universe, after all that's a big word for such a little guy. But then I started thinking how little my own prayers are. How many times a day do I quickly shoot up arrow prayers for help or thanks for something without really taking time to be thankful for all of the many blessings around me? Have I taken for granted that the same God who created the whole universe and everything in it at the sound of His voice is still in control of it today?  The same Creator who allows natural disasters also limits them from destroying the whole earth. Although, sadly, several people have lost their lives in the deadly tornadoes in Alabama, Missouri and elsewhere, countless other lives and property were spared. Don't forget to look for the blessings even if you are in the midst of what seems like disaster. Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Happy Mother’s Day

 

We had a good mother’s day beginning at 6:15 am when my boys (3 and 5) came in to wake me up with presents. The above picture shows the adorable things they made for me at church. Daddy also helped them pick out a beautiful apron, matching dish towels & pot holder, chocolate, tea, and soft cotton PJs. They even took me out to lunch after church and with no evening activities we all got a nap. In the words of my youngest son, “What an awesome day!”