What To Do With Time

Time.  I hear it clicking on the clock.  The Lord knows I have wasted plenty of MY time.  Sure some, perhaps many, have been for good, but there has been time squandered as well.  Squandered with moments of indifference, anger, irritation, hurt, unforgiveness, laziness at times in work and relationships.

And time can never be given back.  

My modern clock ticks second by second to remind me that it is here, and then it is gone.  Why do we spend so much of that time waiting...wishing for the next step?

Things will be better when.  

Things will be better when what?  When we make more money?  When the little ones are older and are potty trained, can dress themselves, communicate and can read?  When we mothers are no longer spending time green, leaning over a toilet as our body builds yet another human being?  Things will be better when the house is cleaner, more organized, when we have more storage space or more space period.  Will things be better when our spouses "get it right" or when our teenagers are raised and living for the Lord? 

Why do we do this?  Why do we waste time anxiously waiting for a season where we will only anxiously wait for another season?  

It’s all foolishness.

Lord, forgive me for my time wasted in frivolous things.  Things that don’t glorify you and enhance Your Kingdom by obedience in “redeeming the time” given to me.  I am done “running” to the next.  I want each second of my life to count for Your glory.  

Every word.  Every deed.  Every thought. 

I recognize I am in a battle, Lord.  The race against time has left me wounded, but I know who my real enemy is.  It is he who wants to use time to trip us up and to imprison us.  He wants us to grow cold, indifferent and unaware of the second hand, so that we give no attention to how we are spending it.

Oh, he uses it to make us feel like we are truly paying attention.  The rushing here and there, in thought or action, only numbs us to Your will on how we ought to spend the gift of time. 

Open my eyes, Lord.  It is all selfishness.  Forgive me.  I want to live the selfless life.  This is the only way I can spend the time you’ve given, this life....well.

When Motherhood is a Mess

Motherhood is messy, Lord.  My tears, they want to flow when I find the bathroom floor flooded with water, the doings of a curious toddler boy.  I am happy when I enter that room, but oh how quickly a smile can fade.  I don't cry, though.  I just get to work and try to keep my composure.  Water spraying from a joint in the toilet's hardware.  I am not sure if I should get the man of the house.

Can I handle this mess on my own? 

Towels.  Alot of towels. 

 And late nights.  Early mornings.  Broken toes and broken hearts.  Tears.

 And towels for tears.  A lot of towels.  The disaster cannot be cleaned up with a towel.

So many motherhood disasters cannot be cleaned up with a towel.  

I leave to inspect the level below.  The basement carpeted underneath the chaos above is not left unaffected.  It is soaked.  A mess.  A terrible horrible awful mess.  The electrical in the ceiling has shorted out.  Hot water is pouring from the ceiling as hot tears well in my eyes.  I sink down and give in to the tears this time.  What do I do now?

I cannot handle this mess on my own.

It is moments like this, Lord, that I can't do this motherhood thing.  It can leave a mess and leave me feeling like I am a mess.  I am tempted.  As the tears flow, I am tempted to start to feel sorry for myself, to feel frustrated and to say I just can't do this, I don't want to do this...but I stop myself.

What if I praised You in this moment?  In this crazy, awful, sopping wet moment, what if I pictured the beautiful, chubby little hand that twisted that knob on the toilet out of sheer curiousity?

And thanked you for that?

What if, as I soaked towels wet with carpet stained water, I allowed my mind to travel thousands of miles where a mother's son will sleep on a muddy dirt floor.  This is sobering.  My wet carpet still has the safe covering of a roof over it.

It is raining.  I can hear the rain and I picture it easily when I close my eyes, as I hear it fall.  My mischievous toddler son will sleep snuggled warm under his favorite blanket as the rains fall.  He has the peace that someone is taking care of the messes of life.

I can be thankful for that as I clean this mess.

What if I just thank you for the messy of motherhood?  What if I just right then say,

Lord, when I saw this mess I am in, I thought to wonder if I should call on the man of the house.  Can I handle this mess on my own?  Of course I can't.  Of course I cannot handle this mess.  I cannot handle any of it on my own. 

And this is how you want it.  These moments come to bring me outside of me and to reach out to you, the man of the house.  I know I cannot clean any of it up on my own.

I smile.  The mess is still there but I can smile now because I know who You are.  The great I Am.  The Man of this home.  It is all good and I am thankful for the opportunity to look outside of me and to be reminded of this truth.

For The Weary Mother

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These moments, they come rushing in.  That mommy moment when you feel like you cannot put another foot forward.  You are weary.  Spirit weary.  Mental weary.  Body weary.  So weary you are going to collapse from the weight of it all.

It takes so much, this life of giving.  You’re tired.  You need a place to safely fall.  Sometimes you need a pillow to cry into.  Maybe you need to cry.  Maybe you are too tired to cry.  Maybe you are grasping for any ounce of strength available just to make it to that moment when you can cry. 

If you are like me, you seek solitude in moments like this.  And if your life is anything like mine, if you find solitude, they will find you.

The stocky little boy of four climbs on your back and giggles, peeking over into your face,

“I found you mommy!”

I am found.  I am lost.  So lost, but yet I am found.  Not just by a little boy with face smeared with chocolate.  But by someone who is greater than the weary soul face buried deep into a feathered pillow.

And You?

You are found there in your weariness, by the Spirit who helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26)

Does He care about the weary mother?  Is it too small a matter for Him?  Is not the God who created the Universe, who parted the Red Sea so His people could safely pass, the same God who says that He will gently lead those who are with young?

 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.(Isaiah 40:11)

Me. 

You. 

He thinks about the mothers.

The ones who are trying to do this mother thing.  Struggling.  Succeeding.  “Failing”.  Holding to pride.  Saying our sorries. 

Trying.  Trying to learn humility. 

Crying in pillow moments.  Smiling laughing moments.  Yelling moments (inside or out).  Frustrated.  Calm.  Anxious.  Trusting.  Teaching moments.  Learning moments.  Hard on ourself moments.

Yes.  He sees it all.  And He cares so much that He intercedes for us when we cannot take one more step.  He knows!  And it is in this weakness, and through the knowing that the Savior cares, that we can lift our head.  Look up.  Reach out for His outstretched hand.  And with His strength, perfected in our weakness…..

Try again.

2 Peter 1:5-7~Priorites

The following is a compilation of thoughts I have printed to remind me what my priorities are as I teach and train my children. 

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

"We raise educated fools when we don't follow God's priorities in the teaching and training of our children. We need to first instill in our children the blessing of wisdom. The ear of the wise, then seeketh after knowledge! "

"We can work hard, so that our children know the wonders of academics; but if we do not teach them to have faith and to be faithful, to be self controlled, to be patient, to be compassionate, to be forgiving, to be humble, to be honest, to be obedient, to be benevolent and to be kind to his own brother...then we have taught him nothing." 

Puting First Things First:

(a list to live by!)

#1 Faith
#2 Virtue
#3 Knowledge
#4 Temperance
#5 Patience
#6 Godliness
#7 Brotherly Kindness
#8 Charity

"If you have to make the choice, choose:
*attentiveness over algebra
*compassion over chemistry
*generosity over geography
*humility over humanity
*obedience over optimology
*self control over sociology
*truthfulness over trigonometry"
 (The quotes are not my own words, but I do not know who they belong to. Feel free to let me know if you do!) 

Thankyou For the Hard Days

I am not really sure what happened, but the moment my feet touched the floor things were falling apart all around me.  My children were at each other, the phone was ringing off the hook, my toddlers were grouchy and into everything....I was grouchy too!

So.....I could find no better day to speak out in thankfulness to my Heavenly Father.

Lord, thank you for these days when everything seems to go wrong.  For it is on these days that I remember I am nothing without you, yet with you I can do all things! 

Thank you for humbling me, showing me when I am trying to rely on my own strength and understanding.

Thank you for a little nursling needing my arms around her.

Thank you for healthy, active, sometimes “into everything” 2 and 3 year olds.

Thank you for dear friends, whom I may not have much time to call, yet I know they are out there living the same (wonderful) life that I am.

Thank you for kitchen gadgets that make life a bit easier. I certainly wasn’t feeling thankful in the moment that I had hot bean juice shooting out of my bosch all over my kitchen this morning, but I truly am thankful for such a delightful tool, given to me by my dear husband as a gift, to bring more ease into my kitchen work.

Thank you for the sweet hearts of my older children, who rush in to help clean up such a terrible mess!

Thank you for a husband, who can come in famished at noon for a meal, and see past my smile and know I need a hug.

Thank you for water, it is nourishment to our bodies, and readily available for a new cup of coffee when I have spilled the fresh one I just made all over the nice wood floor!

Thank you for my bed, for on days like today it beckons me to come back to it and try again tomorrow. Though I cannot succumb to its calling at this moment, I surely know it will feel so comforting at day’s end! Even more comforting knowing there is a warm body next to me, who loves me endlessly and sees past all my faults...who shows me Christ like love.

Thank you for a mother who I can call on or write whenever I need her....and thank you for being the Daddy I never had.

Thank you for taking my frustrations, my imperfections, my mess ups into your hands and using them to mold me into something you will be faithful to complete it in me.

Too Little Time to Rush Right Through

Our world stopped last night. Uh oh, did your heart skip a beat?  No, don't worry, nothing tragic has happened.  We were simply walking through the store, when an elderly gentlemen stopped to visit with us.  From that moment on, for over a half of an hour, we listened to this man tell us story after story.

At first, I thought we were blessing him by listening.  You know, "if you have done this to the least of these, you have done so to me"???  As I was tempted to notice the world quickly moving about around us, and when thoughts of supper, babies, baths and bedtime stories kept entering my mind, I kept reminding myself of this scripture.

Yes, we were going to stand there and be a blessing to this man.  Onlookers gave me looks of pity and sympathy as they passed us by.  Then suddenly my heart became sorrowful for them.

So busy.

No time.

No room in there hearts.

 I then looked deep into this man's eyes and realized that God sent him to bless ME...to bless my children.  It was up to us to receive this gift!

He told us about his Godly heritage and his love for children. It was like his toothless smile held a secret about Heaven that I haven't even come close to knowing in my short thirty some years of life!  I even noticed a Heavenly aroma and a feeling of the Lord's presense as we listened to this man laugh and tell his stories of old!

He eventually stopped and told me that he was sorry to have kept us so long.  I told him that we were thankful that he did and that he blessed our lives by giving us his time.

The ride home was quiet. I was thinking of the old man.  My children were too, I suppose.  Suddenly my 7 year old says, "Mama, the months go by too quickly." 

A tear slid down my cheek.

Yes, I thought, and how am I spending that time?  Am I rushing through it, missing the blessings God has for me along the way?  Minutes went by and my 9 year old son spoke up, "Mama, the Holidays just wouldn't be the same without you to make memories with us."  His statement took my breath away.  What kind of memories will I be leaving with my children as these months pass by us so quickly?  Will they have stories, beautiful stories, to tell an eager eared young person when they are old?

I tucked my children into bed last night and didn't want to let the moment go. 

 I wanted time to stop so I could capture it and make it last.

But time does go on. The world keeps spinning.   People keep rushing and life goes on.  I will never forget this moment in my life, though.  Today I am going to take that promised tromp through the woods with my children, so when they are old they can tell the story of it....and maybe those times that just seem to fly by, will be filled with memories that seemed to last us a lifetime.

 "It's been said that when an old person dies, a library dies with them. Avail yourself and your children of their years of wisdom at the same time that you are providing a source of joy in the final days of their life."~Marily Boyer "Parenting From the Heart"

 

Keeping the Lamp Lit

Her Lamp Does Not Go Out At Night
written 6 years ago

I awoke at 4:30 this morning to a baby needing comforting. Once I had her back to sleep, I crawled back into bed only to hear a deep sigh escaping my husband's lips. I could tell in the darkness that he was lying awake, obviously deep in thought. I took his hand and asked him what was on his mind. He shared with me his worries before him and we prayed. He has had much to sigh about lately, though one seldom will hear it, as he is not one to complain.

I tried, once again, to go back to sleep after we visited some, dreading how tired I might be by 10:00am if I DIDN'T get more rest.........but I just couldn't sleep, so I went to making a breakfast of cinnamon rolls for my family. I lit the candles all around the house, thinking it would be a lovely welcome to the day for my children.

 As the candle light danced across the darkened walls, it got me thinking on the scripture, "And her lamp does not go out by night."Proverbs 31:18b

 

The girls and I have been discussing Proverbs 31 alot lately. My oldest had asked when the Proverbs 31 woman ever got to sleep if her lamp never goes out. I came to the conclusion that she is always on call, lamp lit, ready to be there at any moment she is needed by her loved ones. Whether it be a nursing baby, a teething toddler, a fearful five year old, a sighing husband.....she is always ready to be a servant to those gifted to her.

This is a challenging thought for me, as I know that my lamp has not always been lit, especially within. I am sad to say, that sometimes I have put that lamp out at night and selfishly prayed I could receive some sleep for a change and then when wakened, went about the task begrudgingly.

 

I am finding, that those times when I lay down completely exhausted at night, that there is a certain strength in simply praying for the Lord to give me what I need throughout the night. And then, if I awake, realizing I have slept a night through, I thank Him right away.

 

But, why not thank Him when my sleep is little? Thank Him for the wonderful reasons why I had a sleepless night!

 I wanted to share a bit of what the Lord is working on in my life. I am longing to be the kind of woman who has her lamp going in her home AND in her heart. A woman who finds delight, even in the dark hours of the night, at the opportunities to love, nurture and care for her family.

 

I want to be a woman who keeps her lamp lit.

 

A Joy The World Does Not Behold

I soaked in every breath of my children today. I look into their eyes and am saddened greatly by the views the world now holds of children. I wonder how so many can view this life I behold as one of “settling”.

I look out the windows of my home, and I just can’t see it.   It doesn’t have a hold on me.  It doesn’t beckon me or tempt me.  It only makes me all the more grateful that I am woman.  I am woman and I am blessed. The joy and fulfillment that I have in my life comes from doing my very best at living out my God given role.

Many days I find myself falling way short, yet still have joy because God is my guide.  He forgives and He leads me into a brand new day.  A brand new sunrise, with fresh dew upon the path I am on.  I am thankful to be challenged daily, in this life, to set myself aside and to live for others.

My joy comes from the things that this world has grown to hate.  Serving my husband and creating a haven for him.  A warm, fresh place to lay his head and find rest away from the wearisome world.

Loving, caring for, nurturing, educating my children.  Being sure each night, before they fall asleep, that there is no doubt in their precious little minds how very much they are loved and wanted, knowing they are safe, secure and children of a God who has had a special plan for their lives, even BEFORE they were conceived!

Caring for my home. Finding the joys in the “mundane” things of home life.  The laundry, dishes, diapers, messy faces, dirty little hands, floors needing swept several times a day.  Yes, I certainly can go about these tasks with a smile and a song because they are gifts.

God loved woman so much that He wanted to give her a fulfilling life in her home. Even when my heart, my body, my soul or my mind are tired and weary, I can still hold a song.

Thank you Father, for it is in the dirty dishes, endless meal preparations, floors to mop, a husband to serve, a messy face to wash, grimey fingers to scrub, lessons to teach, little boys to train, new babies to welcome and babies to let go of, that I have learned of your love and sacrifice.

I have learned to love in a way that I would have never learned, had you not given me this life. I have learned, what it means to live a life that is not all about me.

Dirty dishes piled in a sink mean a family was gathered minutes before. The dining area was more than likely filled with laughter and jibber jabber of the day.

Endless meal preparations, shows signs, that you have continued to provide food that we may eat and fellowship together. It means my little ones are growing healthy and strong.

Floors to mop is evidence that 24 feet have scampered about them all the day long, some rushing for an owie to be kissed, some running to present mama with a flower picked just for her. Or maybe it is left with sticky residue representing the precious time spent between mama and her children making cookies and discussing life....and You.

A husband to serve means I have a man to love.  It is a reminder to me that he is not my creation, or what I think he ought to be, but is your creation and is becoming what you intend him to be.  In knowing this, I also know that I have the power to build this creation up, or to tear it down. Having this man to serve and to honor, and yes, to submit to, means I am not alone.  I am protected and I am loved.  Oh, how I feel your love, when I love and honor my man.  How I feel protected by you, when I submit to my love.   Nothing feels better than being in your will.

Messy faces to wash mean I am still needed.  How can I pass up that silly little grin as a face is being scrubbed clean and then planting a mama kiss on that soft little face, knowing it will be back momentarily for another washing?

And those grimey little fingers? That shows I have a little hand to hold. A little hand that is reaching up to mine, embracing mine....and without words, pleading with me to lead him/her on in the right way.

Lessons to teach...what reward I have in seeing the delight in my child’s eyes in learning new things about God’s creations and design. When my eyes are focused on my children and not distracted by worldly things, then I notice the sparkle in the learning of new things each day!

Little boys to train...OH! But what would my life be like if I weren’t busy with little boys! They are the key to keeping me busy and unselfish! They, along with my precious daughters, are the reason why I faithfully hit my knees and ask the Lord to lead and guide me. I wouldn’t know God, as I know Him now, if it weren’t for the responsibility in the daily training of my children!

Little babies welcomed. Yes, I welcome any babies the Lord sends my way. I cannot say it better than Elizabeth Prentiss in Stepping Heavenward:

Here is a little mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother’s heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, to her most tender cares, to her life~long prayers! Oh how rich I am, how truly, how marvelously blest!

The babies my husband and I welcome into our lives have each offered a tiny taste of Heaven.

Little babies lost. This is one of the greatest griefs I have ever experienced in my life. It leaves me literally speechless at times. It is something that is so very painful to speak of, yet, at the same time, I am not convinced that I would ever know my Heavenly Father the way I do now, if it weren’t for the trusting Him with those babies gone from me.  It also might not be as easy for me to keep things in perspective when the Lord wills to grant us a baby soon after another. It is in this grief that I have learned the most valuable lesson of all in this life.  That is to cherish those we hold today, knowing truly tomorrow might never come.

This is how I can go about these things that others might find as dull and “mundane”, or even uncomfortable and unsatisfying, because God has allowed me to see the joy that lies beneath the surface of such things. There is no way that I would know the joy I know today, without these things.

They are gifts and we only have a short time to accept them, before that time is gone.

The King's Daughter?

“I wonder, I really wonder, what would happen in my life….if I started really living like the King of Kings loves ME. What would happen in my life…if I started being okay with being me, because I am TRULY a daughter of the Almighty Creator!?”

My wonderful husband has learned over the years, to simply smile at my thinking aloud, such as I was that night. But the Lord knew that it was a question He had planted within my heart.

 

Have you ever wondered, …”what would happen in my life….if I started really living like the King of Kings loves ME. What would happen in my life…if I started being okay with being me, because I am TRULY a daughter of the Almighty Creator!?”

Try not to analyze it. We make things so much more complicated than they really are. Simply allow yourself to think simply.

I AM A KING’S DAUGHTER.
THE KING LOVES ME.
THE KING CREATED ME.

 I am a woman with wounds. It is hard for such a woman to believe she is loved and valuable. Do you happen to feel this way? Do you feel like you are walking around, trying to conceal gaping wounds in your spirit? Here are some amazing thoughts taken from Beth Moore's study on Esther.

Do you have a painful history?
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (NKJV)

Do you feel weak and weary?
You are chosen.
1 Corinthians 1:27b~29
…..God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. (NKJV)

Are you broken?

Psalm 147:3~4
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the starts; He calls them all by name. (NKJV)

Look at the stars. Really think about this.

 The God who created you, the God who is reaching out to heal your broken heart, is the God who, not only created those stars, but He is the God who NAMED them all.

If you still do not get the great importance of this, get your hands on Louie Giglio’s How Great is Our God. It will change your life.

Colossians 2:10

And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (NKJV)

You are whole ONLY in Christ! Nobody else will ever complete you. He is the only way to ever being whole. The world leaves us broken. He heals the brokenness, binds our wounds and makes us whole IN HIM.

God is attracted to weakness because there is more room for HIS strength!

Are you beautiful and lovely?

Psalm 90:17

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hand for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands. (NKJV)

Let the beauty of the LORD be upon your face!

 So, what would happen in your life if you started living like the King of Kings loves YOU. What would really happen in your life…if you started being okay with being you, because you are truly a daughter of THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR!? If you saw yourself as His little girl.

Your life would never be the same.

Worth It All

Published and Copyrighted.  Please do not use without permission.

I’d rather hear you all trying to speak to me at once,
Than to hear absolute silence.


I’d rather find a stuffed doggy “drinking” milky water out of a cereal bowl,
Than to never feel that warming in my heart when I see your special stuffed friend.

I’d rather stay up all night comforting your fears, or easing your sicknesses,

Than to sleep all night and wake up to an empty house.

 

I’d rather be distracted from something “important” a million times,

Than to get everything on my list done, and look around... seeing that I am alone.

 I’d rather clean mud off of your face, arms, out of your ears, and in between your toes,

Than to be without you and have spotless clothes and floors.

 
I’d rather hold on tight when your sticky hand reaches for mine,

Than to never have a little hand to hold.

 
I’d rather you put finger prints all over the window I JUST cleaned,

than to never be able to see you watching out the window for Daddy to come home.

 
I’d rather trip over and stub my toe on your toys in the night,

Than to never hear your squeals and laughter as you play.

 
I’d rather give you every moment of my day, every bit of me,

Than to have a life full of my self.

 
I’d rather hurt when you hurt,

Than to never know the blessing of carrying your burdens.

 
I’d rather bear the criticism of the world,

Than to turn away the blessings a mighty Creater designed with His own Hand!

 
I’d rather lay in bed weary at night, physically and emotionally exhausted from all the things that went “wrong”,

Than to never know your big blue eyes and precocious smile.

 
My precious children, yes, I would rather do all that I am doing to raise you, train you, love you, than to have never known what it feels like to have you crawl into my lap, wrap your arms around my neck and whisper in my ear, “I love you mama.”

 My precious ones in Heaven,
I’d rather know you were created in my womb, and have to say goodbye long before I ever imagined,

Than to have never known you, loved you at all.

You are ALL worth it ALL.

 

The Best Days of My Life

“Day after day! I get absolutely NOTHING accomplished!” I am embarrassed to admit those as my own words. I was engulfed in utter selfishness. I rambled to my husband about how I tried to dust a shelf, just ONE shelf and was able to get one fourth of it done before I was needed in yet another matter. My husband listened as usual and then he replied.

 “Nothing accomplished? The children are your greatest accomplishment each day!”

I couldn’t argue that, and I am sure I blushed from my embarrassment because I knew that my attitude was so wrong.

 

The time is going to come, all to quickly enough, when the dust will no longer be found upon my shelves.

 

Today I might think how nice it would be to have a dust free shelf, but “tomorrow”, when my children’s little voices are but a memory, I will think about how wonderful it would be to see a tiny fingerprint on that dust laden shelf.

 

 My children scatter themselves and their things all over the basement floor and my first thought is to be irritated by the mess and to tell them to be sure to get it all cleaned up, just as it was before, when they are done, but I have to stop myself.

 

Someday I will miss their chitter chatter and the literal maze upon the floor and I will want to bid them to come back to sprawl themselves out and play awhile. But they will not.

 

This time is but a moment that is passing and when it is gone nothing will ever bring it back again.

 

Somedays being a cheerful mother will come easily and naturally. Somedays having a cheerful heart and countenance is based solely on the choice to do so! Somedays the blessings are obvious, shining brightly right in front of us. Somedays we need to have the self- discipline to look for them!

 

This Christmas I was blessed with a precious unexpected gift, at just the time I needed it the most. One of my husband’s aunts handed me a book with hopes that it would bless me. Bless me indeed. The title of this book is “Prayers and Peanut Butter-The Mother Book” by Barbara Classen. In the reading of this book , the Lord has given me a renewed vision and a plan for those moments when I let my “feelings” get a hold of me.

 

 "Do we think of our children as bothers instead of blessings? Our outlook makes the difference. Have we caught God’s plan in the verse about being a joyful mother of children? It’s morning; if I’m grouchy, I can guarantee that in thirty minutes the whole family will be grouching and grousing. If I’m cheerful, the morning sparkles with sunny words.  We need to toss feeling out the window and be civil even when we don’t feel cheerful, ” she writes.

 

Gather the children, Mother,

The little heads close to your knee

In the hush of the beautiful twilight,

And talk to them tenderly.

 

When the bright eyes grow tired and restless

And gaze at you wistfully

And the sweet lips beg for a story,

Then gather them close to your knee.

 

Not long will your little ones linger

So talk to them while you may.

A world may be better tomorrow

For the story you’re telling today.

 

So tell them the story of Jesus,

For the child’s heart is tender and true;

And not all the teachers and preachers

Can guide them, oh Mother, like you.

-Author Unknown

 

God will lead me one step at a time and I will make the most of each one. I know these truly ARE the best days of my life!