Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

I've been having trouble feeling like I was stuck in neutral. The day in, day out grind of kids, cooking, cleaning, clothes, and chaos. Kind of like the movie "Groundhog Day."

This morning's devotion from Daily Focus (Alpha Omega) hit the nail on the head. I am waiting for something BIG to happen in our life (literally) and I am not fully living here...in the miracle of the moment. I am here physically, but my mind and heart are elsewhere. This devotion reminded me to be present. I am a child of God, a wife, a mom, and a teacher and I wasn't giving any of those jobs my present attention. I know I'm onto a life lesson, because a friend called shortly after I read the devotion this morning and when she heard how frazzled I was she offered to pray for me. God directed her into the very core of my heart. She zeroed in on this issue of mine and prayed for me to be present, to not keep looking ahead to "the" day, but to live for now. She nailed it.

THEN, I get in the car and I have a picture of a little girl that we sponsor at PHF on my dashboard. As I went to back out, I saw the reflection of that picture in my driver side mirror. That has never happened before, nor could I make it happen again (I tried and I watched for it as I drove around town today-nope!). What word's did God use in the devotion to reach the writer? Yup, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."

THEN, as I was driving to BLR with our 3 kids, I started to have a pity party that went something like this "I'm always the one to tata everyone when things go wrong, when you lose something, or break something, or you get hurt. Well, who's there to tata me??? huh?" (sound familiar?) My brave 11 year old quietly pipes up, almost in a whisper, "God..." He goes on to ask if I've prayed about it. He said "just close your eyes and pray sincerely to God in your heart." OUCH! He was right. My time with God has been dry. I'm there reading my chapter of the old testament, a psalm, and a chapter of the new testament, day in, day out. But my actual time with Him is weak.

Things will not always be this way. We need to take each moment as it is...a miracle from God and live it to it's fullest.

So my quest is to nourish my time with God, I need to be present with Him as well.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

My ebay finds

I had so much fun browsing ebay last night looking for girly dresses! I haven't really done much dress shopping before, but the Princess is liking dresses now. I thought I'd share some of my finds!
3 dresses (Old Navy, Gymboree, and Heartstrings) for $10 including s & h,

a Blueberi jumper and shirt for $9.99 including s & h,

and lastly, this adorable Frances Elizabeth jumper for $18.50, also including s & h!!!
I am so tickled over my finds! I can't wait to see my Princess in them!

Good Mom, Bad Mom, Good Mom

I received the most appropriately timed blog in my inbox this morning. It was from Proverbs31
(http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/)

Good Mom, Bad Mom, Good Mom
by Lysa TerKeurst

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26 (NIV)

Good Mom?

Bad Mom?

Good Mom?

Bad Mom?

Do you ever feel as though you are the ping-pong ball in a heated match bouncing constantly between feeling like a good mom to a bad mom?

One minute I have a great discussion where my child finally gets it... GOOD MOM!

The next I get an e-mail from a teacher that lists the three parents who have yet to turn in that permission slip and I am on the list for all the world to see... BAD MOM!

I calmly handle the stresses of the morning routine... GOOD MOM!

But then during the afternoon homework session, my child's irresponsibility over a last minute project just about sends me over the edge. I find my neck muscles tensing and my voice rising... BAD MOM!

I make sure they pack something healthy for lunch... GOOD MOM!

The schedule falls apart in the late afternoon and I wind up feeding them sugar cereal for dinner... BAD MOM!

Sometimes I feel like that ping-pong ball mom bouncing from feeling good to bad. Yesterday morning I sat down at the kitchen table after getting everyone where they needed to be and cried. Sometimes having kids is the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life. Other days I feel like the task of parenting little people is driving me to the brink of craziness.

Just the other day I was processing some recent family things with my friend, Renee, over the phone. Suddenly a strange theme seemed to arise. I just started laughing. I told Renee that so many of my days seemed to tell the same kind of story... I was on the verge of a breakdown and then I spent time with Jesus and He made things better.

Renee quipped back to me, "Well, isn't that where most of us live every day?"

Not that we are on the edge of a breakdown, but we live in a place of utter dependence on God. I know as a mom, I live in constant need of His love, encouragement, wisdom, perspective, strength, patience, and grace.

Anything I do right as a mom is because of my constant dialogs with God.

Anything I do wrong as a mom is because of trying to do things in my own strength and slap wearing myself out.

That's where grace steps in. And I need lots of grace. God's grace steps in and says, “Lysa, you are doing better than you think. Stop bouncing from feeling good to bad to good to bad. In the good times, rejoice and thank me. In the not so good times, call out to me quickly."

And suddenly it occurred to me; with God I'm never a bad mom. I might be having a bad moment... or two... or seventeen. But a few bad moments do not define me as a bad mom.

God's grace is there to cover me. Teach me. And even in the middle of a bad moment, interrupt me, redirect me, and change me.

Forgiveness is there.

Love is there.

A second chance is there.

You are a good mom my friend even if, like me, you’ve had a few bad moments... you are the exact mom God knew your children needed. Let's live in that truth today.


Dear Lord, being a mom is a great privilege but one that can be so challenging at times. Teach me how to lean on You with every action and every reaction. And when I mess up, please help me to not define myself by my mommy failures. Help me to only be defined by Your love that assures me and Your grace that covers me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Application Steps:
Find a verse today that could help redirect an angry or frustrated response with your kids. There are some good ones listed below in the power verses. Or you can search out one that specifically applies to your unique struggles. When you feel your temper about to flare, have this verse handy and quote it out loud. In that moment ask God to give you a wiser response than your natural feelings.

Reflections:
Do you ever struggle with being defined by your mistakes rather than by the truth of God? Spend some time in prayer today asking God to give you His loving perspective of how He sees you. Rest in his lavish love. If you need to ask for forgiveness for some of your actions, do this and then let these things go.

Power Verses:
Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (NIV)

James 1:5-6, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” (NIV- emphasis mine)

© 2008 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.

Two days ago, my oldest son and I butted heads. It rapidly spiralled downward. It was not pretty. Lots of screaming and crying, DS too... ;-) We both said things we regretted. We made up before bed and all was good, but there was still the guilt over it happening. I was the mom, how could I let it go there?

Compare that with today... We got up, opened all the sunroom windows, felt the gloriously cool morning, and had an EXTENDED time of bible reading. What started out at doing our 24 Family Ways, turned into almost an hour of time discussing obedience of people in the bible and what happened if they didn't obey and what about God's forgiveness and restoration? Which led to why did God have so many "laws" then and not now (answer--JESUS!!!). We finished our schoolwork before lunch and even had time to go sit by the playset in it's new spot while I read a couple of chapters from Alice in Wonderland (we're studying Lewis Carroll this 6 weeks!). Are you getting the picture here? Bad Mom, Good Mom?

I needed to hear the truth of this devotion today and so do you!

You are a good mom, my friend, even if, like me, you’ve had a few bad moments... you are the EXACT mom God knew your children needed. Think about that, let it sink in. Let's live in that truth today.

PRAISE GOD!!

Why did it take me 3 years to think of moving it here? It is an awesome spot!

Our new tree

A couple of weeks ago my wonderful husband and I went to a banquet for A Pregnancy Center and Clinic. It is a non-profit organization helping women and their families who are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy. (http://www.apccforlife.com/) They offer Christian counseling and prayer, doctor's visits, and free ultrasounds. They said they have a 98% success rate of a mother NOT aborting her BABY after seeing it on the ultrasound!

They had a silent auction and a live auction. We bid on a tree, yes, a tree. A 20' tree to be precise. We won and my sweetest of sweet husband whispered to me that we could plant it in honor of our daughters' birthmoms who chose NOT to abort them, but to give them LIFE!

Well, it was delivered today and planted! It looks a bit small next to the others, but it will one day match them. He said it would grow an inch in diameter each year.

Thought I'd share a few pictures:








Our house is behind the trees!

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3

Growing up...

My "baby" turns 11 tomorrow!! Where did the time go? From the little 7 lb. 2 oz. precious little baby boy to an almost 90 pound young man that's almost as tall as I am...

He's now allowed to use the riding mower to cut the back field.



And he came out to me the other day and announced that he had shaved!!! I almost fell over in laughter (but I managed to keep it in)! He had shaved his above his top lip and only made one nick.

I also realized that not all of the bible is "suitable" for an almost 11 year old boy... I felt like such a "good" mama. We were driving to a field trip and my boys were reading the bible. Late Genesis to be exact. Did you realize the discussion that could potentially happen after reading about Lot and his daughters, or Moab and what does "violate" mean? All this while I was driving. WOW!

Getting back into the swing of things

Sorry, I've been slacking so much! I just seem to be having a difficult time getting back into life/routine since the storm(s).

I'm not sure why, we didn't have any real damage from either storm. Lots of branches, meter box at the other house got destroyed, downed trees in BLR; but really nothing major. I guess it was just the stress of the preparations and then the cleanup... just more on top of the regular daily stuff.

Then there's the added stress of dealing with my sister. Her day center is closed due to flooding. No word on when it will reopen. I had to make the decision to let her go back to her house during the week. She's alone during the day and the sitters still come at night. It was just taking it's toll on our family life. She isn't handling Shao well. Shao is 3 and VERY independent. She'll let you help, but you just need to know how to approach her. My sister does NOT have the capabilities to discern that. She just wants to jump in and get in her face. Then she wonders why Shao doesn't want anything to do with her. Shao actually told her to go home this week!! Charlotte takes it to mean that Shao doesn't love her; she can't seem to understand that 3 year olds learn your buttons very fast and push them!!

I probably won't post too much this week, because I'm having a friend's adoption baby shower here on Saturday and there's so much to do before then.

Hurricane Gustav

Vira

Here's a video collage I made of Vira at Philip Hayden Foundation. (We are one of her sponsors.)

BLR after the hurricane

All I could do is cry as I watched the video Troy shot in BLR last night. Here it is.


Remember our pretty opening that you could just peek into our house area? This is it now...

My dancing princess!

Julie, I thought you'd appreciate this one! How I wished we lived close, I would LOVE for you to teach my little girl! Oh, and that's Connor providing the musical number in the background.