Turning Over a New Leaf

I told myself that when I quit my job and became a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) life would slow down and I would take the time to smell the roses.  There would be no more fretting over the little things and I would make the effort to connect on a more personal level with my family, individually.  I now can see that it requires a learned behavior, not merely opportunity, to change one's habits. 

I, by nature, am a type A personality.  To think of "wasting" precious time by participating in unplanned events causes me to perspire.  :)  Add to that 4 kiddos who are all about spur of the moment living and you get one chaotic household!  I can recognize the need to relax, but I just don't know how, lol!  It seems like I can't get caught up.  But, why do I worry so much about things that will perish???

My new goal; my goal over weight loss and healthier living is: to worry about "Kingdom" Issues.  I know part of life is doing the laboring things that wear us down, but that shouldn't be the center of our priorities.  I tend to be so goal-oriented that I overlook the precious moments when my children are seeking my love.  My priorities have not been set on building relationships and encouraging spiritual growth in my family.  I say they have, yet I am a slave to my chores and my schedule.  I worry so much about what kind of kids I am raising and what kind of adults they will one day become and forget that they are not grown and they ARE going to make mistakes, just as I do, on a daily basis.  I don't remember that they need to see the peace I have from God's gift of grace to where they desire the same peace in their hearts, and not see so much of their mom flippin out over the little stuff! :)  I have felt weighted down instead of uplifted by this amazing opportunity to influence our four beautiful children to grow into what God created them to be.

So, if you'd like to pray for me, please pray that I will remember what matters....... and let my life show it.

Baptism

Today I had the pleasure of witnessing a dear friend's baptism in the river.  I'd never been to a baptism outside of the church, so I was anxious not only to witness the event but to see what it was all about.  On my long drive to Pineville, my mind began to wonder about baptisms during Jesus' walk on the earth.  Church can become so ritualistic and dry at times that our man-made routines seem to take away from the WOW factor of a baptism.  (Don't get me wrong; I love my church and church family, but sometimes wish things weren't always the same.)  I wondered what it would be like to not worry about how warm the baptistry water is or if we had the batteries charged on our camera and camcorder.  I pondered the thought of a simplistic time when you didn't need an image to capture the event because the event was imbedded in your mind and so intimate between you and the Lord that it couldn't ever possibly be forgotten.  Isn't it ironic that we create these inventions to make our life simpler and fuller, yet our lives become more cluttered and we never feel full?  I think we're being mislead.          

Once I arrived in Pineville and I followed my friend to the river after church services, we stood along the riverbank.  Before anything proceded, the minister read through some doctrines with the church encouraging those being baptised as well as requested for the church itself to uplift and teach the babies of the faith.  Then, while the church was waiting for the new Christians to get down into the river, we began singing beautiful hymns.  Before long, it was one by one, "down with the old man and up with the new," as Randy Travis and Kenny Chesney described in a duet which I'd grown fond of years ago.  And you know what, it was simplistic.  It was real.  It was perfect.  There were no destractions from anything except for God's creation.  I found myself wishing I, myself, had a river baptism.  I quickly reminded myself it doesn't matter where you do it, as the water isn't what saves you, but I was still so moved by the experience that I wished I'd experienced it from the river.  See, I'm one of those "don't-wanna-get-dirty-or-sweaty-type-of-people."  However today, it just didn't matter.

So, I challenge you to this:  Don't get hung up on the modern-day comforts of our churches.  Don't inhibit the Holy Spirit to move in your life because the temperature in the sanctuary was a little warm today, so-and-so brought her noisy kids to church again, or because some tall guy blocked your view from the pew.  Life is short and we tend to make it so shallow.  I feel like Paul because that which I know I should do, I don't do and that which I know I shouldn't do, I do.  So trust me, I'm preaching to myself.  How aggravating to fight yourself!  I want to be able to reflect on what the Lord wants me to learn each day and not on man-made inventions or rituals.  I almost didn't go this morning due to lack of sleep, but I sure would've missed a blessing.  I hope you have a blessed week enjoying God's creation and dwelling upon the things that matter.    

Sweet Peace

So, I haven't taken the time to post anything for some time.  However, I do have some good excuses.  As if 2011 hasn't brought on enough changes and adventures for our family, we decided to add another one.  And, it's not small.  We are officially homeschooling our children!  When I say "we", I mean "me", with the support of my husband.  :)  We have discussed this for years, but I never saw it actually happening.  As our 1st day of school approached, I felt panicked and bounced my doubts off of my husband just about every night in bed.  His responses were always short and simple and sounded something like, "You can do this.  It'll be fine."  He never seemed to have doubts, or if he did, he didn't share them with me.  I believe that God knows our needs and hears our pleads.  I prayed and prayed and prayed.  I prayed for signs, I prayed for wisdom, and I prayed for peace. 

We started our school year on Tuesday, August 16th.... and we haven't looked back.  I know we made the right decision.  I feel it and I see it.  I have struggled in becoming a stay-at-home-mom.  Going from a well-paying career to a no-paying (monetarily speaking) position was shocking to say the least.  Oh, and add in there having a 4th baby.  I felt overwhelmed and confused.  Did I make the right decision?  Are we going to experience financial disaster now?  Would the kids ever get along and respect me?  Or did I wait too long to make the sacrifice?  After only (almost) 3 weeks into our school year, I can see some fruits of our labor.  Thank you, Lord!  I can see my sons bonding like never before.  I can see the look on my children's faces when I talk to them.  It's a look of respect that I had never known.  I can hear their quick responses to my requests when I had gotten used to not getting responses at all.  Is everything perfect?  Heck no!  But it's drastically better.  See, my expectations of my children have elevated and you might think that would cause more tension, but I've seen the opposite affect.  They see that I love them enough to invest my time on them.  I love them enough to sacrifice my selfish desires so that they might be nurtured in an amazing way. 

I am thankful that I am where I am, right now.  I am eternally grateful for some heaven-sent friendships as well, especially Mrs. Brady.  Encouragement from her was what kept me from running back to what seemed to be the easy way out.  That's right... public school would've been easier on my daytime schedule, but it wouldn't have been worth it because it would have costed much more than what it was worth.  Homeschooling may not have worked one year ago or if we had waited one year from now, but it's working today.  I was diligently praying for signs, but I overlooked the gift of peace.  And, I feel peace, sweet peace. 

Out with the Old & In with the New

I did it.  No more just "talking" about it, I finally DID it!  I deactivated my facebook account.  Why?  My motivation was simply that I spend soooo much free time on there that it replaces things I should be doing.  So why start a blog and delete facebook?  Honestly, this is therapeutic to me.  I've always enjoyed writing and I don't have to see people's blogs (or statuses) that I don't want to see.  I don't have to worry about the drama.  Blogs seems to provide an abundance of resources, which is beneficial to me.  So, it's just me and you now...  :)

Friendship

Today, I am thankful for friendship.  And, I am thankful that God didn't make us all alike... how boring would that be anyway?! 

Of course, I've had some friends come and go, but God has always crossed my path with the "right" friend at the "right" time.  Isn't that amazing?  And, I'm sure you can relate to this:  I have friends for different circumstances.  For instance, I know when I'm down, who I should call:  my friend who uplifts and encourages me.  When I feel motivated, I call the friend who typically needs uplifted.  When I need to share my Mom-of-the-Year moments and I need laughter, I know who to call.  But, when I need to shed some tears, I call the friend who will cry along with me.

I pray that I will learn from each of my close friends to become a faithful friend myself.  One close friend of mine often says, "You'll have many aquaintances, but few true friends."  I am eternally thankful for my true friends and I pray that I am a "true friend" to someone.  So, hug a friend today.  :)