Sweet Summer Days

 

"It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth;

You made both summer and winter."

Psalm 74:17

 

Oh what a sweet summer we are having!    Sweet Summer days that God has set in place. 

• Swimming in the pool out back counts as a bath.
• Sleeping outside under the stars and hoping for a shooting star, night after night.
• Icecream and strawberries for lunch. 
• Watermelon for dinner.
• A bit more squabbling among the children... 
• A bit more love among the children.
• Two trips to camp for the boys.
• 26 books read.
• Late nights and early mornings. 
• 1/2 price slushes and Diet cokes at Sonic during "happy hour"!
• Unpacking, organizing, re-organizing, again and again. 
• On a whim trips to the park (or Walmart!)
• CAUTION: Children in Tow.... Bringing the children to the Center and making sure noone ends up in a Tote or ran over by a C-Cart and keeping them from swinging around on the ZRacks. Or wait.  Is that me?
• Getting kicked out of Major Daddy-O's office. Hummpphh. Fine then. 
• Squirting fully clothed children with the hose,  fun for me :)
• Countless trips to the Library, Doctor, Dentist, Schools, Groceries, Dry Cleaners, and our Family Stores.
• Paper plates and plastic forks.
• Craft upon craft upon craft.
• Wii, Movies and the Military Channel and my newly discovered favorite Judie Byrd cooking show. 6am and all to myself.
• Imaginitive, Creative, Adventurous Play, Play, Play. (mess, mess, mess too) 

   And sometimes,  me just longing for a little break.... aaaaahhhhh.... one day....

 

 

He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,

but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

Proverbs 10:5

 

Ants are creatures of little strength,

yet they store up their food in the summer;

Proverbs 30:25

  

We Gather and Store Up love, cherished memories, and character building in our family as we engage these summer days.
Soon it will be time for a harvest!

 

Mother's Day

              
              Proverbs 31:28 "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her"

Well... at least on Mother's Day they do.  ;)

Ann greeted me first with her gift that she had put together the day before.

Isn't it so sweet?  She is such a gift giver. 

I felt bad about her giving me her money,

so we agreed that I would put it in our "Michigan fund" where we can all enjoy.

She also asked for her scarf back. 

Cards from my brother and soon to be SIL and from my parents.

From Paul and the children.  A ONE HOUR massage!!  (Paul said our friend Stacie refered us to the right one since our John left town).  Also a $15 coffee gift card to Dutch Bros.  I've got a lot of coffee to drink!

And two very nice cards.

From Ann and Hannah.  Bath salts in the middle.  The bath salts had already been spilt twice in the car and 2 more times at home, and Mary tried to eat them too.  So, now I have enough bath salts for a 1 inch bath.  (But that's before the girls want to share them now too!)

From Elijah.

David gave me the blessing of being my "servant" for the day. 

He brought me icewaters, kept me company during my chores, and brushed my hair.

And I did use the excuse to treat myself to a marraige and home teaching cd 

and Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies.

Saturday was our Mother and Daughter Banquet. 

This is what we looked like:

"Yes, Hannah, I know the sun is in your eyes"

"Yes, Ann I know the sun is in YOUR eyes too, and I know your sister is snorting"

This is the best I could come up with, we had to stop before we really started to fall apart.

Sunday was our Women's Ministries Sunday. 

If I had written this on Sunday, I probably would've vented  on a few certain situations, but the emotion is gone now, thank God, because I was "having a moment" and Paul so gently calmed me down.   

Sometimes... it's just plain hard to be me

surrounded by so many demands and needy people.

I pray I am not a difficult person to others, I pray I'm a blessing. 

The Lord kept speaking to me "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." So instead of choosing some wrong courses of action that would've very much gratified my flesh, I smothered the situation with love, grace, and prayer and the Holy Spirit promptly fixed my hurt attitude.  HE is so very good!

The Service was very nice.  

The pews were packed because so many family members joined their mothers. 

The ladies all participated and I gave the sermon on "A Beautiful Home"

and honored the women with flowered "Be Blessed" Mugs. 

Have I ever mentioned what a wonderful church family we have here? 

Our family got cheeseburgers and curly fries for lunch (my pick!) and ate around the table at home. Then Paul went and did church at the Veteran's home and gave me the "afternoon off" (whatever that is with 5 kids!LOL!).   We played in the backyard for a while, I talked to my brother, my mother, and my MIL on the phone. We ate snacks for dinner since we ate a big lunch.

And everyone was exceptionally good because "it was Mother's Day!"

Dinner tonight: Crockpots- Corned Beef and Cabbage  (Youth Activities night!)

Is the Bible really God's Word? and teaching our children!

                                         
              Here is my Bible on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus ate with his disciples.

I love to warm up my Sunday School class with a Sword Drill.  Do you know what that is?  The children place the Bible in front of them, closed, with their hand on top.  They sit eagerly on the edge of their chairs in anticipation for the Scripture Chapter and Verse I'm about to announce.  The moment I announce it, pages fly, sometimes Bibles too, while the children race to find the Scripture.  The first one who finds it, jumps up and reads it.  Even the littler ones get involved when I pair them up with an older child who likes to help.  I have to admit, that I think us adults enjoy Sword Drills just as much! I've torn many a pages in Bibles with when my competetive spirit gets out of hand.  (Shame on me.)

It is thrilling to see children and adults excited about using their Bible!  The Bible is God's Word.  It is absolute truth.    I'm not trying to get anyone's defenses up or anything, but here are some of the questions I have asked myself in discerning the Bible to be God's Word.  
*name me one other book in the whole world that is a compilation of 66 books,  has been written by 40 authors, covering a period of 4000 years, yet has the same common thread of redemption for mankind? 
*Pick any book in the Bible and you will see a clear and consistent display of God's character and man's character.  You may not know God, but I'm sure you know yourself.  Look to the word and you will see yourself.  Yikes!
*In all the excavating and studying of history, the Bible has never been proven wrong. The Bible gives an accurate account of all kinds of historical events. Even "atheists" (silly gooses!) look to it for historical value.  If it can be trusted in it's physical context, then how could it not be trusted in it's spiritual context?
*When it is read, it resonates with the human soul, no matter what time period or culture one may be in.  How can it always relate?  Because God and people are the same no matter what the timeline or language.
*It is the best selling book of all time.  Millions of people have and continue to embrace it.  Could that many people really be duped? 
Seriously, how could I not believe??  Only God could inspire a book like that.

When I was working on my CBS Lesson the other day, Ann asked me why I kept flipping around in my Bible.  I told her I was studying and answering questions from my notebook.  She looked at me and said "isn't that cheating?"  "No way, Ann!" I said, "we're supposed to look in our Bible for the answers." 

                  Reading Scripture over the house of Caiaphas where Jesus was beaten and imprisoned          
                     overnight. Next to me was the cistern that prisoners were traditionally thrown down. 


and a quote, about children, and the blessing and exhortation of giving them direction from God's Word      
       “Think of the possibility of raising a multitude of men and women
       whose bodies have never been poisoned by vicious indulgences,
       whose minds have been enlightened and filled with the principles of Divine truth from their infancy,
       and whose hearts, from their earliest days, have been inspired with the love of Christ
       and possessed with the one supreme ambition to glorify the Father,
       dethrone the devil, destroy sin and save the world!”
                                William Booth, Founder of The Salvation Army, 1884

Don't ever be ashamed or afraid to teach your children the Word. I have heard christian mothers say "well, I don't want to turn them off from God"  or "it's their choice" or "I wouldn't want to shove it down their throat".   That is all worldly thinking of  fear and defeat!  My children LOOOOOVE God's Word!  They love the real heros and the wild stories and how it always seems to have just the right answer for them.  My babies have ruined Bibles from mimicking those around them that are reading.  Help your children get  in the habit of listening to the voice of God that reveals itself in Scripture.  Train them to go to it for answers.  Help them be in the habit of reading it and learning from it.  Let them see you wrestle with questions and search for answers.    Going to God's Word is the best habit to develop in them!  Pushing in their chair, or making their beds, or saying "please" and "thank you", among so many other habits are all good, but if you must stress, and fret, and focus on one... make it the reading and learning from God's Word. 

Mother Is Not Maid

When I was  in the dentist's office the other day, I got a chance to catch up on all the celebrity magazines.  I would've never thought that admist all that entertaining trash I would find an epiphany-a-ha-click-lightbulb- went-off moment for myself, but God is infamous for turning garbage into gem!  Here's what I found.........

"Mother is not maid."

-Jonas Brother's Mom

You know when I am most frustrated with motherhood is if I'm not actually engaged in it.  I get most frustrated when I feel like I've just been cleaning up, shuttling kids around, and feeding everyone all day.

Yes, those are all parts of motherhood, but it is NOT the definition of motherhood.   I think in a lot of ways the pattern of this world says... "do not over-mother", "let the village raise the child", "don't cram things down the kids' throat", "you're just a mom, you're not capable of what the professionals are" and on and on.  On the inside I am not duped into believing these things. God is transforming me by the  renewing of my mind.  But I have to admit that there are many times when I will just nodd my head and agree so as not to look "over-bearing" and so that I will not look "foolish" because I consider being a mother the most important-eternal-world changing- legacy leaving thing I will ever do.  I have 5 little disciples 24/7.  

So I have been really pondering lately my role as Mother in my children's lives,

 how am I and will I be actively engaged in raising my children?

A Mother nurtures and takes responsbility for her offspring.    A Mother trains, guides and protects her children.  She does what she knows to be best for them.  She does not just wish, or churn things over in her mind, or simply sit in thoughtful prayer; she puts her love into action, she takes a stand, and she takes full responsibilty for being the only mother that God has given  her children.  She is fierce, but gentle.  She has her mind made up, but is open to Heavenly Father and earthly father  directed change.  She is steadfast, but knows when to take a break.   She respects her children, but is not afraid of them.  She is head over heals in love, but sensible. She is friend and foe, depending on the the child's perception! 

And more precisely:        

A mother meets the need of her child according to what he/she cannot do for themselves (much like ministry!)    A mother selflessly serves, teaches, demonstrates and helps her child do for themselves what they cannot do until they can.  Oh, how tender God has made our hearts!  How He has put these special abilities in the hands of Woman for all the world to benefit and see His glory and grace. 

Not what they won't do for themselves.

A mother uses discipline, routine, natural consequences, and sometimes punishment so that the child will eventually do for themselves what they won't do.    THIS is where it counts.  It is my intention to raise men and women, not helpless children in an adult body.  I must constantly be on my toes in this area- praying for discernment so that I will know the difference between cannot and will not.  For example:  My 3 yod, Hannah, is in the mostly "cannot" area when it comes too cleaning up her room perfectly, but my 10 yod, David, absolutley can, and perfectly at that.  My 10 month old, Mary, can not possibly make her own bowl of Cheerios, but my 8 yod, Elijah, sure can.  This also applies to heart areas.  I expect my older children to be more in control of their emotions than my little ones.  Sometimes I need to physically hold a child until their temper cools but I expect an older child to hold themselves.

What does a "will not" look like?  Hear me----it is very rarely in the form of open defiance!!   It comes more in  forms of     laziness, "not hearing", denial, moodiness, divertion, lying, sneakiness, self-justification, blame, forgetfulness, selfish acts, and more.  These  are the areas that require the heart of a mother to tend after.  Others would want to expose these sins to make themselves look better and feel better about themselves (that's my conclusion of why we pick out others' sins),   but a mother does it with un-conditional love, acceptance,  and perfect hope for the path that her child will be on.  A mother is on her child's side, not against.   

She pours her energy into the character of her child before she pours it into anything else. 

She is far more Mother than Maid!