Why I already know what my kids are getting for high school graduation!

Ok . . . my kids are only 8 & 6.  High school graduation isn't for another 10 & 12 years, BUT I already have their graduation gifts purchased! I'm not a "buy Christmas presents on December 23" person, but neither am I a "I have all my gifts purchased in January for next year." person So . . . what would prompt me to buy gifts in March, 2015 or events that won't happen until May, 2025 and May 2027????

A few days ago I was at a luncheon with Moms in Prayer leaders from all over Phoenix area.

We had several speakers who talked about the 4 steps of prayer we use in MIP: Praising God for who He is, Thanking God for what He has giving us, Confession, and Intercession.  While at Moms in Prayer we pray the Scriptures over our kids, their teachers, and their schools.

One of the speakers is now an "empty nester" whose kids aren't in school any longer, but she continues to gather with the same ladies who have been praying for their kids for 20+ years.  This sweet woman has now been "promoted" to grandma.  The woman who spoke to us moms still "in the trenches" said that 3x (one for each of her kids) she put her "regular" Bible down and picked up one for her child.  That Bible was the only Bible she used that year.  As she read through the Bible that year she marked it up with highlights and made notes in it for her child as she prayed the Scriptures for that child.  This woman did this for each of her kids and now plans to do it for each of her grandkids.

The woman said she gave each of her kids their marked up, prayed over, Bible and they now consider it one of their most prized possessions  (along with the quilt she made for each of them of their dad's old shirts, since their dad is now with Jesus).  I absolutely LOVED the idea and decided to do it for each of my kids.   Because my kids are 8 & 6 I don't think they'd truly appreciate the gift at this age, but I was thinking high school graduation would be an amazing time to present it to them!

I heard this on Friday and bought the kids each a Bible on Monday to get this project started.

For my kids I'm modifying it slightly . . . I will still use "my" Bible for things like church where my kids will see it.  I have my kids' new Bibles hidden so that they won't see them, yet.  I know my kids well enough to know that if they see me reading a new one they'll wonder why and I don't want to spill the secret, yet.

I am starting with my 8 year old's Bible since he'll graduate first! I am using a Bible in One Year reading plan on my phone to track my progress.  I am reading in his paper Bible, but am using the app to track my progress and give me a schedule.  Right now my son's Bible is tucked into my nightstand drawer while my daughter's is hidden in my closet.

As soon as I got back from the meeting on Friday I posted the idea on my Facebook page and several friends liked it, and some said they were going to start it.   After I bought the Bibles Monday I shared a picture on Facebook and Instagram of the Bibles I'd purchased.

Over the weekend a friend asked what kids of things I was writing in the Bible.  I'm basically highlighting and taking notes the way I would for myself.  I am also writing notes to my son with the prayers I am praying for him as I read.  For example, after reading Psalm 1 Psalm 1 I wrote "We pray you will not walk in step with the wicked.  We pray your delight will be in God's word.  We pray you will be like a tree planted in streams of water whose leaf does not wither."  Not every prayer will be able to be written out like that, due to space constraints, but that's an example.   As I am reading through Proverbs I am highlighting a lot since there is a lot of wisdom in there :)

I can't think of a better way to send our kids off to college than with the knowledge than seeing what Mom prayed for them as they were growing up.

P.S. If you know my kids . . . PLEASE don't mention this! It's a surprise! 

A funny thing happened on the way . . .

I don't know why, but I still get surprised when God uses my selfish motivations and changes my heart.

It started over the weekend when I was writing about perspective and was looking for links to add to the post.  While I was on Compassion's website I read about the Compassion bloggers trip to Nicaragua.  A few days later I got an e-mail from Compassion (several months ago I signed up to be a Compassion blogger, but sadly have never written anything using the prompts they send out each month) saying they were having a contest related to the trip and that there were ways to get up to 22 entries a day.

The prize pack includes 9 books including some that have been sitting un-purchased on my Amazon wish list:  One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond and Plan B by Pete Wilson.

Confession: Compassion Week on Heidi's @ Home has been motivated by the fact that I would get 10 entries for each blog post about the trip to Nicaragua where I linked the Compassion bloggers.  (I could only enter this portion of the contest once a day)

I figured it was a win/win because I got to write about child sponsorship, which is near and dear to my heart, while also doing everything possible to win books.  I love to write and I love to read.  Doing a writing assignment so I'd have more books to read? Yes, please!

The contest ended Thursday afternoon.

By the time I wrote the final post in my "Compassion Week" series on Thursday morning I had spent hours on the Compassion website, on the Compassion bloggers website, on twitter following the bloggers, reading their posts on Facebook, going to their individual sites, etc.  My blog wasn't the only thing that was consumed by Compassion International this week--it felt like my entire life was.

On the way to getting the maximum 88 entries (max of 22 entries over 4 days) a funny thing happened . . . I started caring less about winning the contest and more about finding a sponsor for as many children as possible.  9.5 years after my own sponsorship journey began (when my husband and I got married and I "inherited" his Compassion children) I thought my heart had already been changed by sponsorship.  I mean, we made our Compassion children a priority in our budget, ahead of things like eating out, going on "date nights" or getting a babysitter to preserve my sanity while I got out of the house for a few hours during the day. I take my kids to doctor's appointments rather than pay a baby-sitter so we can sponsor our kids.  I was wrong.  There's still plenty of room for God to work.  As I've been reading the stories coming out of Nicaragua this week my heart started changing even more.

For the first time I was in the home of a child being sponsored.  For the first time I caught a glimpse into the life of a mom who had been forced to choose between her child receiving an education or feeding her family  and I met a dad who has defied the cultural norm and is sticking around to raise his children.

There's already more month than food in our grocery budget and yet I'm left wondering today . . . where  can I find another $38/mo to bring hope to another child?

As I've read these stories and seen these pictures this week I've been changed and I never left suburbia.   I've served on foreign mission trips and seen those who don't have much materially, but this virtual trip has changed me more than those ones I've been to in the barrios of Chile (twice) and having built houses for people whose homes had been made up only of pallets.

The contest is over, and for the first time this week I'm not submitting my blog link to Compassion to be eligible for to win 9 books, but I'm ok with that because I know God has started a movement in my heart that (I believe) will continue to go forward.

Concluding "Compassion Week"

This week I've been sharing stories from the Compassion bloggers in Nicaragua as they've been traveling to different centers and visiting the homes of their sponsored children. As someone living in my suburban home with the comforts of food in my fridge, a roof over my head, a comfortable mattress and cool air provided by my air conditioning it's hard for me to imagine what "extreme poverty" looks like. ("Extreme poverty" as defined by the UN is living on less than $1 USD a day) Last night Kelly at Faithful Provisions  wrote a beautiful story from the perspective of Daisy, the mom of a sponsored child.

 In recent months I've been struggling with fitting in with my culture and truly living like Jesus. While I know (in my head) it's not about my home being "updated" (which it's not), having new furniture (we're 37 & nearly 47 and most of our furniture is still second and third hand from our parents and friends) I'd be dishonest if I were saying I didn't want those things. Then I read stories like Bending For Treasure In The Trash by Shaun Groves and I'm reminded what's truly important in this world. I love how Traci describes the role of a Compassion sponsor in the Body of Christ.

By going on this virtual trip to Nicaragua and immersing myself in the work of Compassion for the past few days I have been changed. Being fully honest, there have been times I've looked at our monthly charitable giving and thought "If we didn't give to (fill in the organization) each month we'd have room in our budget for (my want)."  God has been shifting my heart and aligning it more with His. Instead of looking at my "wants" right now I'm finding myself looking at our budget and finding where else we can cut/"find" money to sponsor another child.

The Compassion bloggers are going to be in Nicaragua for a few more days and are going to continue to post so please continue to follow their stories and be introduced to the amazing lives being changed by sponsorship.

Up until recently our Compassion children have been chosen for us. As I've mentioned before, my husband started sponsoring children through Compassion before we met and his first 2 children were chosen for him.  Over the years we've had 3 girls from the Dominican Republic and one boy from Peru who wasn't even in (our equivalent) of Kindergarten when my husband started sponsoring him, and is now 17 and getting ready to graduate!  Though we've sponsored 4 children over the years, we've never sponsored more than 2 at a time.  Recently I was thinking of friends (who have 5 kids) and who have a Compassion child for each of the children living in their own home so their kids each have a friend they get to write to.  Compressing the story, a few months I went to Compassion's website and searched for a 4 child between 4-5 with no other search parameters set.  After seeing all the children in that age range I entered our daughter's birthdate in the search box and there was an adorable little boy in Peru staring at me.  I told my husband what I'd done and asked, "Do you think we can make this work?".  He agreed with me and we added Alexis to our family.  A few weeks later I did the same thing, this time looking up a child with the same birthdate as our 6 year old and we were introduced to Sharon in Kenya.  We have friends who live overseas (in a country where Compassion works) and they've told us that if we end up sponsoring a child near them (there are several centers in their area) that they would go visit the child on our behalf, which would be wonderful so we've considered that as well.  Who knows  . . . maybe we'll add a 5th child in their region before much longer :)

If your heart has been stirred by my posts, and the stories of the Compassion bloggers, please consider the $38/mo it would take to provide food, education and medical care for a child living in poverty.  You can start your journey to sponsorship by clicking the banner to the left or the widget below.

Help a Child

Compassion Week Continued . . . . Meeting A Sponsored Child

   

Yesterday was the first full day for the Compassion Bloggers and I was anxiously awaiting their first posts last night.  During the day Kelly from Faithful Provisions tweeted a picture of her with Marcos.  I rejoiced with her as she got to meet him and not-so-patiently waited for her to have a few moments to write about her day.

I was rewarded last evening when Kelly shared Marcos' story and beautiful pictures.

As I read through the description of Marcos' house I couldn't help but think of our own Marco, Alexis who live in Peru.  I know they live in solid construction homes, but I was wondering what their sleeping conditions are like.   We're just getting to know Naidelin in the Domincan Republic so I don't know what her living conditions are like.   I know that Sharon must fetch water and most likely lives in a hut.  All are a far (and humbling) cry from my own living situation as I sit here in my suburban Arizona home listening to the sound of the air conditioner that is keeping me cool in the midst of a hot Phoenix summer.

This morning, the first moment I could, I went to my computer and read through the other posts from the Compassion Bloggers.

My heart was caught in my throat this morning as I saw Christy's first day in Nicaragua detailed in words and pictures that rattled my world.  I can see why she felt like she lived an entire year of her life in one year.   After seeing the images Christy and Bri shared from the garbage dump they visited to the joy of meeting Wilbert and his family I felt like I was on the roller coaster of emotions, too.

Following the Compassion Bloggers for the past few days has reinforced my passion for sponsorship as well as given birth to my desire to go visit one of our kids.

If you're reading my blog I challenge you to follow these stories and others as they unfold this week and see what God does in your heart through these stories and the others that are going to be unfolding over the next few days.

Compassion Week at Heidi's @ Home

Even if you just started reading my blog this week you know my family and I are huge supporters of Compassion International since I have written several posts about our experience, the way my life is being changed and how I'm going on a going on a (virtual) trip this week with the Compassion bloggers.

Because of this week's trip to Nicaragua I'm considering this "Compassion Week" here at Heidi's @ Home :)  I'll resume my "regular" posts next week, but figure this is a good time to bring attention to one of my favorite groups.

I'm anxiously awaiting updates from the team and am extremely jealous of Kelly from Faithful Provisions who gets to meet her sponsored child, Marcos today!  Kelly tweeted a picture this morning as she was getting ready to meet him and all I could think of is how I'd love to visit Marcos (our oldest Compassion child, who is getting ready to graduate) in Peru, Naidelin  in the Dominican Republic, Sharon in Kenya or Alexis in Peru.   Alexis and Marco only live about 100 miles away from each other.

While I can't visit our kids this week I'm excited to follow the activities of the Compassion bloggers on Twitter.

Until the team starts posting their updates I'm enjoying getting to know the team by reading their blogs, including Giving the internet malaria by Shaun Groves who is helping to lead this trip.

Will you join me in following this team as they get to love on some beautiful children and witness first hand the amazing work Compassion is doing in Nicaragua?

Going on a (virtual) trip!

All weekend I have been thinking about the lesson in perspective and the object lesson we tried to teach our kids Saturday.  My husband and I had an interesting talk Saturday night about the struggle of wanting to live the life God wants while also being heavily influenced by our American culture of "stuff".

We currently have 4 Compassion children, including one who is getting to graduate his program.  This young man is someone that has been part of my husband's life since before we met and started dating over 10 years ago so he's seen our family change from my husband as a single man to where we are today: a family with 2 kids who will be 7 and 5 this summer.  Until recently we'd never had more than 2 Compassion children at a time, but had had 4 total over the years.   In recent months we added a little boy born the same day as our daughter and a little girl born the same day as our son so we can watch these children grow up along with ours, which brought our total to 4 that we currently sponsor.  We've had two we sponsor leave the program: one due to graduation and one due to other circumstances.

Though we've sponsored Compassion children the entire time we've been married (as I mentioned, my husband started before we were married, so I "inherited" these kids on our wedding day) it's been in recent months that my heart has seriously been changed by the sponsorship experience.  We pray for our Compassion children regularly as they each have their own "sticks" and have their pictures hanging in the hallway where we get to see their faces often.  Our kids know their names and they are part of normal conversation in our home.  Our kids love that they each have a friend in a different country who was born the same day as them (though my 4 year old was confused for awhile as to why she and her friend in Peru weren't twins even though they were born the same day).

This week, Edie at life{in}grace has the amazing experience of travelling to Nicaragua with Compassion International and she, along with her fellow travelers, are blogging about their experiences.

I'm not going to lie---I'm extremely jealous of these bloggers this week who get to meet and love on children that Compassion is helping to release from poverty in the name of Jesus Christ!  In my dreams we get to travel to Peru (Our oldest and youngest Compassion children live approximately 100mi from each other) or the Dominican Republic or Kenya to visit one of these members or our extended family.   Since I can't visit our own Compassion kids this week I'm going to live vicariously through those who can!

Will you join me in following Edie, Shaun, Traci, Kelly, and Christy this week as they get to be Jesus' hands and feet in Nicaragua and love on some amazing kids?

Perspective and an Impromptu Object Lesson

This week we received our first letter from our newest Compassion Child, a little girl from Kenya who was born the same day as our son.   This morning my husband was reading the newest Compassion Magazine, which we received yesterday and I asked him, "Did you read Sharon's letter? Did you see one of her chores is fetching water?"  Both of our kids were playing in the kitchen while we talked so when my 6 year old heard us he asked what "fetching water" meant. 

Since we were standing in the kitchen I turned on our faucet and told the kids how lucky we are to have running water.   I explained about how many people around the world aren't lucky enough to have water in their house and they have to go get it.  I explained that some people get their water from a well and others have to go get theirs from a body of water that they share with animals who drink and go to the bathroom there.  I asked the kids how they'd like to drink water that came from where animals pooped.   Needless to say there was a chorus of "EEEWWWWW".

I asked my son, "Sharon is your age.  Do you think you could carry water back to our house without spilling it?"  In typical 6 year old bravado he said, "Of course! That's easy!".   Immediately an idea started forming in my head and within minutes we had an impromptu object lesson this morning.

I filled 3 buckets with water: a small one they received as a gift, a 2.5 gallon bucket and a 5 gallon bucket. Our side of the street doesn't have a sidewalk, so I carried the buckets across the street and instructed them to carry the buckets down a few houses to a neighbor's house.

My 4 year old went first with the small bucket:

Next up was my 6 year old:

After both kids successfully carried the small bucket past 4 houses in our suburban neighborhood I had them attempt the 2.5 gallon bucket:

As you can see, my daughter couldn't even lift the 2.5 gallon bucket and by the time my son walked to our neighbor's house that we'd designated as our end point his bucket was basically empty.

The water ended up primarily on him, which he didn't mind since we're in the midst of a Phoenix summer and it was already about 95 when we were doing this at 11am.

After watching what happened when my son picked up the 2.5 gallon bucket I was quite interested to see what would happen once the kids attempted the next challenge:

I don't know if the kids fully got the object lesson I was trying to teach because they were more into how fun it was to get wet on this hot morning, but hopefully it'll stick.

Once we got in the house I was getting a little pushback when I asked them to mop the floor and unload the dishwasher.  We talked about how Sharon would probably LOVE a machine that did the dishes for her and I told them that where she lives they have dirt floors so she would think our tile floors were extremely fancy.

Our activities this morning were also a good dose of perspective for this mom.  For the past few weeks I've been seeing pictures on Facebook of vacations my friends are taking and I've been getting discouraged that we haven't been able to fit anything like that into our budget.  (Ironically when my kids dressed themselves this morning they both put on shirts given to them by a family member who went to Disney World last year and one of the things I've been really struggling with is not being able to afford to take our kids to Disneyland, despite it only being 6 hours away so I had that "god" in my face the whole time the kids were doing this).

Mom needed this dose of perspective at least as much as the kids.

Thankful

Back in December I wrote about how thankful I am for my Moms in Prayer group.  My group meets at 9am on Monday.  At first I found the time inconvenient because first thing Monday morning my priority was getting the house "re-set" from the weekend and getting everything done I didn't get to on Saturday or Sunday.  I was jealous of my friends at other schools that have their meetings later in the week, because the first half of my week tends to be busier than the second half.

In the months since I've been meeting with these ladies I've become increasingly thankful for the time.  Sure, 9am on Monday isn't the most convenient, but I've come to love knowing that first thing Monday morning our school, our kids' teachers and our kids are being lifted up.  I know Monday mornings are hectic for everyone and I can't think of a better time to pray for teachers as they begin a long week of teaching our kids.

As we were praying today I was just overwhelmed with gratitude, not just that our group exists, but that we live in a country where we can openly meet as Christians.  I am well aware that all over the world Christians are being tortured, arrested and murdered for their beliefs.  I know Christians have to gather in underground communities to pray, worship and study God's word.

I'm thankful that I'm able to gather with other believers on the weekends to worship God corporately without concern for my safety, the safety of my family, or of my husband losing his job.  I'm thankful the ladies in my Moms in Prayer group and I are able to gather without the same concerns.

I'm thankful that if I want to acquire a copy of the Bible it is easy to do so.  I can download a free app of the Bible.  I can order one online.  I can walk in to almost any store that sells books.  I can even send a Bible to someone in prison. Churches and ministries give Bibles away to those who want one, but don't have one. It is not an exaggeration to say that almost anyone in America who wants access to God's word can have it.  I am thankful for this.

Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ aren't nearly as fortunate.  Single pages of God's word are memorized, passed down, treasured and shared.  Those who have studied the Bible are asked to share their wisdom and God's truth is shared via story and word of mouth.

On this Monday morning my heart is full and I'm thankful . . .

Our Global Wall . . . It is finished!!!!

In November I wrote Leaving a Legacy where I mentioned a Global Wall we were going to put together in our hallway.   I updated that post with a bad cell phone picture I took in January to show what it looked like before I bought frames and shelves this week.

I am THRILLED to report that several months after I started the project it is finally finished! YAY!   Because the hallway is very narrow it was hard to get decent pictures or lighting, but here are the results! I have removed the pictures from the frames so if you want to see our friends' smiling faces you need to come visit me and I'll show you in person :)  The unframed pictures you see are our Compassion kids :)  I couldn't find frames to fit the cards sent to us by Compassion so I just tacked them to the wall. 

Yesterday, Kristen at We are THAT Family announced My Walls Talk.   My walls don't speak in words, but they speak in memories.

 

 

 

 

To give a bit of perspective as to the height of this wall . . . I am 5'3 and I would hit the bottom of the lowest shelf with my forehead if I weren't paying attention. The ceiling height is 10'.



As I stand back and look at this it brings a smile to my face. (I'm also thankful I don't live in CA because some of these priceless pieces would be extremely vulnerable in an earthquake). Every day I get to see the faces of our friends who live overseas and I get to see souvenirs from trips we've made around the world and ones friends have brought us from their travels.   I am not very crafty, nor am I good at decorating so this is a HUGE accomplishment for me.  It is not an exaggeration to say this hallway is now my favorite part of the house :)

Compassion

My husband and I are huge fans of Compassion International.  When I met my husband I was broke.  I was working a full-time job and a part time job.   I didn't have a spare penny so I couldn't afford to sponsor my own child, though I'd long wanted to. 

At the time I met my husband he was sponsoring two kids through Compassion.   One was in her teens and one was about 7.  The teenager graduated after we got married and when she did we decided to sponsor another child in her same country and were assigned a young girl.  10 years later we still sponsor the same boy who was once 7 and who is now getting ready to graduate from the program himself!  The young girl we sponsored after my husband's first Compassion child graduated has since left the program.  Last weekend we got a letter from Compassion asking if we'd consider another girl from that country and we immediately said, "Yes!"  Our newest Compassion child is only about 2.5mo younger than our firstborn (son).

We have friends who have 5 children living in their home and have a Compassion child the same age as each of their kids.  Their kids are pen pals with the Compassion child their same age and all the kids get to "grow up" together.  My husband and I have always loved that idea so we were thrilled at God's handiwork in giving us a new child who is roughly the same age as our son.

The same night we received the information packet in the mail I started thinking, "Well . . . now we have a 6 year old like our son.  I wonder if there's anybody who needs a sponsor with the same birth date as our youngest (our daughter is 4)."  Sure enough, there was a little boy in Peru whose mom gave birth the same day I gave birth to my daughter.  My husband and I had a very brief conversation that night and decided it was worth it to us to add another family member :)

Every time I go on Compassion.com my heart breaks for the kids who still need sponsors.  Tonight I looked up the birth date of our oldest and "met" a little boy born the same day as him.  Oh, how I wish we could add him to our circle, too.  I also "met" Vishnu who is physically disabled and who, according to Compassion's website is in an area with a higher risk of exploitation or abuse.  Oh, how my heart breaks as I want to help Vishnu.   I want Vishnu, the boy who was born the same date as my son, and countless others to know Jesus.  I want them to grow up being well fed and knowing how much they are loved.  I want their physical and spiritual needs taken care of.  I want them to grow up and be healthy and be able to rise up and be who God created them to be.  I pray our Compassion kids will be God's messengers in their own countries and around the world.

Our Compassion kids are on our "sticks" we pray for each night and their pictures are on our "global wall" so that we see their faces, and remember to pray for them several times a day.

Advent Tree

At the end of November, my friend Korri posted on her blog about a tradition they were starting in their home called an Advent Tree.  I loved the idea so much that I went to Hobby Lobby and got started on making one for our home so we could do this every year.

I finally downloaded the pictures from December off of our camera so here's how this project looked at our house:



25 ornaments with names of God on them

About halfway through December

 

 

Each night we had one of the kids pick the ornament out of the storage container.  Interestingly enough, on the night of the tragedy in Newtown, CT my daughter picked "Prince of Peace".  This was my Facebook status that night,

Tonight as I hugged both my babies and we did the Advent Tree we've done every night in December where we spend time each night reading a name of God and looking up references in the Bible, the youngest of my children selected "Prince of Peace" for tonight's time of study and reflection.

Father, please be our Prince of Peace tonight and give all of Newtown, CT a peace that transcends all understanding, especially those Mommies and Daddies who would do anything to be able to tuck their precious babes in tonight, kiss them on the cheek and say "I love you" one more time . .

Many nights my 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter would get a bit squirmy during this time while I was reading and they sat with Daddy so I don't recommend it with children younger than them, but this was special time that I looked forward to each night. Because of our kids' ages we just read the verses and didn't follow it up with much discussion, unless they asked a question, but that will change as they get older. This is definitely a tradition we are going to continue for many years and I'm excited to see how God is going to use it in all of our lives as we prepare for the greatest birthday party ever each December!

Inspired!

I started out 2012 feeling like there was a life lesson to be learned, but that I just couldn't grasp what it was.  Because of separate incidents that occured in the same area of my life I just KNEW there was something I was supposed to be learning, but I just couldn't figure out what it was. 

As the year progressed my quest for this big "answer" never really got anwered, or at least not answered in an easy to sum up "What I Learned in 2012" facebook status (Not even this blog is big enough), but one thing I did learn is that there are amazing people in my life who can teach me lessons and help me grow as a person, even when they're not trying to.   Just through observing the lives of 3 friends in particular this year I have come away inspired.  Only one of these women has chosen the challenge she's faced this year, but all three of them have climbed some pretty big mountains this year (like Mt. Everest sized mountains).   Watching them struggle, stumble, succeed, and learn has caused me to look at the challenges in my own life and know they're not impossible.

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About this time last year I, along with a few others, received an e-mail from a friend of ours who had found a lump in her breast.  In the first few business days of 2012 my friend was in her car, on the freeway, when she received the offical diagnosis of breast cancer. Through her journey I have followed her progress on facebook where she's been extremely transparent about the good days and bad.  Since her diagnosis in January my friend has faced a mastectomy, chemo and finally reconstruction with a grace that just absolutely astounds me.  I've followed Jesus for about half of my life now and I have NEVER seen anyone handle adversity the way this friend has been.  This friend "works the room" whenever she has an appointment at her oncologists, at chemo, at  Herceptin treatments, at the plastic surgeon, etc.  My friend wants to get to know other women who are on the same journey with her so they can encourage each other.  My friend sees her cancer diagnosis as a journey to encourage others and bring them together.  My friend knows there is a purpose to her battle and is just being her (extremely extroverted) self as she goes along side other women in her (lack of) a bra.

In addition to encouraging others who are facing breast cancer, my friend is being very real and open about breast cancer for those of us who have never walked closely with someone during their treatment so that we would be able to have more empathy for those on this journey and so that we could be more educated.

Interestingly enough this same friend had finished chemo before she even made her diagnosis public on her regular facebook page (After 25+ years in marketing and media she knows A LOT of people)!

Whether she realizes it or not this friend's example should be the basis of a book titled "How to Handle Cancer and any other Life Altering Event"

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The only friend from this list who chose her battle is a rockstar. Ok, not literally, but she's cooler than pretty much any rock star I can think of.  Bon Jovi is cool and everything but is he a mom to 4 kids, actively involved in church, cook well enough to be a chef at his own restaurant, maintain his own blog . . . and oh yeah . . . complete an Ironman?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  That's why Missy from Sugar Coated Athlete is cooler than a rock star.

I'm not an athlete and I don't like to bake (I sure as heck  LOVE to eat sweets, though so if you want to bake me some I'll be home waiting for you!!!), but I read Missy's blog almost every day.  Seeing the workouts she does, the food she cooks, and the way she makes me laugh out loud while I'm reading her blog all inspire me.

You can read about Missy's journey to the finish line of the Arizona Ironman on her blog, but briefly it has included crashes, a trip to the ER, a long, HOT, very long, VERY HOT Phoenix summer, vacation, selling a house/moving a family of 6, potty training a toddler, and other normal life stuff that occurs when you're married and have 4 kids.

I've often said I don't have time to work out because of my kids.  Well . . . Missy has 2 more kids than I do, blogs more often than I do and still can ride her bike 90 miles on a Saturday afternoon.  What's my excuse? Yeah, I don't have one.

If Missy can train for an Ironman (quick education: An Ironman course is a 2.4mi swim, 112 mi bike ride and as if that weren't enough for one day . . . there's a full 26.2mi marathon at the end just for kicks).   I can't even run to the end of my street if I turn left out of my driveway.  (I totally kick butt when I run to the end of my street by hanging a right out of my driveway because my house IS at the end of the street)

Missy has inspired me to get off the couch and get moving!  I have no desire to ever be an Ironman, but I KNOW I'm capable of achieving my goals with enough determination and grit.

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When your husband of 14 years tells you there's someone else and he wants you and the kids to "set him free" how would you handle it?

One friend found out this fall.  Like me she said she'd always considered this marital issue to be a "deal breaker".   Through her blog and her facebook page I watched a true miracle occur when her husband (also a friend of mine.  Actually, he's one of my good friends from college and only know her as a result of her being his wife) changed his mind and decided he was willing to work it out with his wife.  I have prayed (and am continuing to pray) fervently for this couple and the reconciliation process. 

As with my friend who is just finishing up her battle with cancer I never want to find out if I'm as strong as this friend is.  I never want to find myself where I have to forgive so much and be tortured with the thoughts she is.

In the two years prior to the path this couple is walking now they've dealt with a deployment (they're a military family), their 8 year old having a brain tumor and a move.  (Their son just turned 10 and is doing great!).   Recently this family was rocked by the sudden passing of his mom and now their household is dealing with mono.

I have read my friend's blog posts and I am amazed at the faith she is showing in the midst of all this . . . YUCK.  I know God is growing her and He is changing her.   Watching her strength in the midst of this "It could never happen to us" crisis has been inspiring.  Through her blog and her facebook page I have watched her struggle with living out the Biblical commandment to forgive, while simultaneously wondering if I could forgive if I found myself in her situation and praying I never have to experience what she is facing.

Because her husband is a longtime friend of mine and because I've developed a friendship with her online in recent years I am rooting for this couple and cheering them, praying that they're able to have a marriage that thrives again!  I know this is not an easy road for them, but the fact they've made it this far and are continuing to work things out is incredibly inspring.  It's easy for me, or others, to tell them how they should handle things right now, but since I haven't ever been asked to forgive something so peronal I know all I can offer are prayers and encouragement.




I am blessed to know some amazing people but thanks to the internet I have watched as these three have climbed Mt. Everest (or maybe the entire Himilayan range) this year.  I know the journey isn't over, yet (especially for my friends dealing with healing their marriage), but the fact that they're all still laughing is encouraging in and of itself!

Why Santa Doesn't Live Here

2 years ago I wrote an entry I titled Santa Doesn't Live Here.  As I was re-reading it today I realized I didn't answer the "Why?" question we get so often.

Before I explain I want to add this disclaimer . . . Every family has to make their own decisions on things like this.  This is how/why our family does Christmas and I'm not trying to get into a "Mommy War" if your family does something different because I don't think it's a "right/wrong" issue.

First and foremost we don't do Santa because we don't want to lie to our kids and, in our minds, it's lying.  We feel hypocritical punishing our kids for lying and teaching them lying is wrong when we're doing it ourselves.  I know others tell us it's "Just a game", but to us it's still lying

Secondly, because we don't make a big deal of the commercial/material side of Christmas it doesn't really fit into our philosophy to be buying our kids two sets of presents: one from Santa and one from Mom and Dad.   We're on a pretty tight budget and our kids generally don't have much under the tree so I want all the credit ;) 

Also, this way I don't have to worry about older cousins, siblings or friends from school "ruining" it for my kids since I vividly remember discussions on the playground about, "My sister said there is no Santa".  As the oldest sibling and cousin I remember my mom pulling me aside when I was about 4th grade and saying, "You know there's no Santa, right?"  I told her I learned it at school already and she said, "Ok, just don't tell your sister or cousins".

When I was in college, and a new Christian, a friend was saying his family didn't do Santa when he was growing up because his parents didn't want the kids to make the correlation that if Mom and Dad were lying about Santa they must be lying about Jesus, too.   His point made sense in the fact that there is more "evidence" (to a kid) for Santa.  Santa is at the mall, Santa is on wrapping paper, NORAD tracks Santa on Christmas Eve, seemingly everyone believes in Santa, there are presents under the tree from Santa, etc.   On the other hand, not everyone believes in Jesus, you can't see Him, you only hear about Him at church, He's not mentioned on the news, etc.

(Ironically the same friend is now a dad and he and his wife have decided Santa does live at their house)

This point was driven home to me about a year ago when I saw this meme making it's way around the internet:
 

Our faith is extremely important to us and, as I've written before, we're (attempting) to leave a legacy of faith for our kids.  365 days a year Jesus comes up in natural conversation around our home and our faith is something we try to live by example.  We don't want to confuse our kids by throwing fictional characters they do see with a God who is unseen but VERY real.

How will be be celebrating without the man in red?

We will go to a Christmas Eve service at church (probably on the 22nd or 23rd to leave space on the 24th for others), but we go to church every week so this will be just another week of church for our kids.  On Christmas Eve we'll sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out candles on a cake we've made for Him (but we get to eat it since He's in heaven).  Christmas morning we'll wake up and go into the living room in our pj's.  Before we do anything else we'll have a small Bible study where my husband will read Luke, chapter 2 to us and we'll discuss Jesus' birth with the kids and explain we give presents on Christmas as a symbol of the gifts Jesus received from the Magi, as well as the ultimate gift God gave us in His Son.

This year we'll be adding a new nightly tradition inspired by my friend, Korri.   This morning I bought a 4.5ft Christmas tree we'll be using specifically as an Advent tree.  I spent the afternoon labeling the ornaments and I can't wait until we start having this devotional time with our kids every evening, discussing the names of God as we prepare to celebrate the greatest gift the Earth has ever known!  (I may blog again about the tree after we get going and after I take a few pictures)

We've got a few other tricks up our sleeve, too, but this is just a glimpse of why and how we celebrate Christmas without Santa. 

If Santa is part of your Christmas tradition I'm not judging you in the least and you can just thank me for being one less person at the mall in line with her kids to get their picture taken with a bearded fat man :)

Leaving a Legacy

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:6,7

 

Last weekend we attended the memorial service of an amazing woman who left a tremendous legacy of faith for her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.  We all leave a legacy to our kids and my husband and I want to leave a legacy of faith, compassion and prayer for our kids.

Here are a few ways we're trying to live out this teaching in our family and leave a lasting legacy for our family while talking about the things of God throughout our day:

 

 

We have a cup that sits on our kitchen table that contains craft sticks.  Each craft stick has the name of friends who live overseas, our kids' teachers, the preschool director at church or our pastor. Currently there are 11 sticks. Eventually we're going to start adding other friends and family members who need prayer.  Each night before dinner one of the kids gets to "pick a stick" and we take turns praying for that person or family.  We have been doing this for about 2 months and it's worked out very well.  The kids love picking the stick so much that it's become a reward for winning the nightly manners game we learned from a friend.   This has been a wonderful time of hearing our kids hearts as we lift up others in prayer.

We have this large map hanging in our hallway.  This hallway is the gateway to our bedrooms and our office/guest room so we all pass it multiple times per day.  This is phase one of what will be our "global wall".   Right now I'm working on getting shelves to display items we've been given, or personally collected, from around the world. We also want to have pictures of the friends who we pray for surrounding it.  Our kids are simultaneously learning about where friends live and world geography.  (The first several weeks we had this map the kids would find a flag in the pictures surrounding the map and would ask me where that country is).



Our daughter's Bible is being held together by duct tape from it's nightly use

Like most parents we read our kids bedtime stories as part of our night time routine.   From the time our kids started getting a bedtime story it has always been from their Beginner's Bible.  We usually read 3 of these stories a night before prayer.  Our son turned 6 in August and has graduated to his "Big Boy Bible", though we keep his Beginner's Bible handy as a reference tool since he is so familiar with those stories (and has several of them memorized verbatim).  After Bible time is prayer time. 

Each child gets one on-one-time for Bible and prayer. When our oldest was 2 and our youngest was infant it made the most sense for my husband to tuck in our son while I nursed our daughter and rocked her to sleep.   4 years later my husband still does the bedtime routine with our oldest  most nights while I do it with our youngest, though we occasionally switch it up.

We by no means have everything figured out, but these are just some of the ways we're trying to talk with our kids about the things of God on a daily basis.


4/1/13 Update: We now have 17 sticks including our Compassion kids, members of the military and ministries we support.   The wall is almost complete and I couldn't be more excited!  There is still some work to be done: I still need to get shelves to display our items that can't be hung on the wall and I still have 2 more pictures to frame.  In addition to our friends who live overseas we also have pictures on the wall of our Compassion kids.

Here is a really bad cell phone picture of the global wall as it looked in January, before I had any of the pictures framed.  The hallway is very narrow so I couldn't get the entire thing in one shot.  The blank space above the wall will be for the shelves.



 

 

4/4/13 Update: The Global Wall project is now done and I couldn't be happier with the results!

Somewhere out there . . .

I started following Christ when I was a freshman in college.  While in school I was introduced to the concept of praying for my husband, even though I didn't know who he was.  I thought the concept was good and I'd occasionally remember to do it, but it wasn't anything I did regularly.

A few years later I was at a conference and the speaker talked about how, when he was single, he picked a star in the sky to be his reminder to pray for his (future) wife.  This man wasn't talking about "Wishing upon a star", but he used the star as a reminder to pray to the One who created the stars for the woman he would eventually shar his life with.  Since I'd already proven to myself I wasn't very good at remembering to pray for someone I'd never met I latched on to this idea and decided to adopt it myself.  I picked the middle star in Orion's belt.

Though I didn't know it at the time, on November 8, 2002 God introduced me to the man I had been praying for.  Our first date was December 8, 2002 and we both knew fairly quickly this was "it".  In March, 2003 my (now) husband told me he knew he was going to marry me, but he wasn't ready to ask me, yet.  (Aside: 9.5 years and two kids later I still think that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard because were 26 and 36, he had a steady job, he owned his own home and I couldn't think of a single thing to wait for, but that's a story for another day. After we got engaged I told him how I felt back then and he still thinks it's hilarious; in fact, he tells me if he'd known how ridiculous I thought it was he would've waitied longer to propose. Goof.)

Memorial Day weekend, 2003 we loaded up my (now) husband's Nissan Xterra and headed for the mountains.  We didn't really have a plan, we just wanted to get out of the Phoenix heat and spend time together (I worked one full time job as a flight attendant and a part time job working retail so I had insane hours and we didn't have much free time together).  One of the ideas we'd talked about was just throwing a couple of sleeping bags in the truck and sleeping there.

Eventually we made our way to far Eastern Arizona and ended up camping there the entire weekend.  I had never been to that part of the state and immediately fell in love with it. (I was already in love with the guy I was with!)  One night during our trip we found our way to a meadow where we were just staring at the stars and talking.  Even though we couldn't see it in the summer sky, during that conversation I told him about Orion's belt and how I'd used that as my visual cue to pray for him.

This past week our little family of 4 rented a cabin about 20 minutes from that campsite that is so special to me.   As we were getting out of the car after dinner last night I looked up at the night sky for the first time all week.  Whether it was because of the time of year or time of night I couldn't quickly find Orion (it was COLD and wanted to get the kids in bed so I didn't look long), but I told our 6 year old and our 4 year old about how I prayed for Daddy years before we met.

Last night as I tucked my 4 year old into bed she and I prayed for her husband.  Orion and Eastern Arizona are significant in the story my husband and I share.  Now every time I see that constellation, or am in that part of the state, I am going to pray for two more I haven't met, yet: my future daughter-in-law and my future son-in-law.

Just a Mom

I've always been fairly confident in the decision my husband and I made, before getting married, that I would stay at home while our kids were little and I would not work outside the home until our kids were in school.

Now that my kids are getting older and my social circle is expanding from my friends to parents of my kids' friends I am often finding myself the only mom in the room who doesn't earn a paycheck and admit that when the question is asked of me,  "What do you do?" I shyly admit, "I'm just a mom".  I see the looks and hear the unspoken words from these moms who have "real" jobs and my confidence in our decision gets shaken.

In addition to the new experiences of my expanded social circle, for several years I have looked around at what others my age have accomplished professionally and I can't help by wonder, "What have I done with my life?"  I have a degree in a field I'm no longer interested in entering.  I worked up until just before the arrival of my oldest, but I've just had "jobs" and I've never had a career.  I have come to the realization that I will probably never have a career, even when I do re-enter the work force and get a job outside of the home.

In short, I have started to see my role as "just a mom" as one that is less than my peers who work outside the home and are wonderful parents.

Last week an amazing godly woman was called home to be with Jesus and I spent time this week thinking about her legacy.  I don't know if she worked outside the home while her children were young.  I don't much of her story, but I have spent time with her at family gatherings for as long as I've known my husband.  I didn't know "GG" well, but I know some of her kids, her grandkids and her great-grandkids and I know the legacy she and her husband built has impacted countless thousands of lives for all eternity.

GG has one daughter who has been as a missionary overseas her entire adult life serving children who desperately need Jesus' love and compassion.  GG's daughter has been Jesus' hands, feet, arms, and so much else to these children for several decades and the lives she has touched have been changed for all eternity.  I honestly don't ever remember having met this daughter (maybe a brief introduction once), but I know her family and I've heard of her and her work for years.

GG has another daughter who I know primarily as my friends' mom. My friends' mom is the board of directors for a missions organization and is the missions director at her church.  My friends' mom has raised a son and daughter who love Jesus, who serve Him in their community and who are raising their kids in the Truth.  I count both of her children as friends.

One of GG's grandsons and his wife are close friends of ours.  My husband and GG's grandson grew up in the same church together and have a friendship that has lasted decades.  GG's grandson taught at a Christian school and was a youth pastor for many years before he and his family went on the mission field.  Now Stateside this man is a pastor leading his own congregation. 

GG's granddaughter is also a friend and she is raising her family in the same church she grew up in.   While not in vocational ministry GG's granddaughter is serving her Jesus and is a light in her community to those who know her. GG's granddaughter and her husband have two young kids who they are raising in God's Truth.

GG has 4 great-grandchildren ranging in age from 19-2 and I can only imagine the future God has in store for them.

This amazing legacy of faith that has spanned several generations, multiple continents and to countless thousands of lives is all because one couple loved Jesus and demonstrated that love to their children.

While this legacy can (and IS) left by families where both parents work, single parent families where working is the only way to put food on the table and everything in between, it has caused me to re-think how I view myself and my role as Mom.

No matter if I one day have a job that out earns my husband's or if I never earn a paycheck again, I look at GG's life and remember that parenthood has an eternal impact for generations to come.

I am not "just a mom" . . . I am a woman who is one half of a couple raising our kids for eternity and praying we leave a legacy of Christ followers that lasts for generations to come.

The day the Lord has made!

"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 119:24

Today is September 11, 2012

Almost all of us, over about the age of 16 remember where we were, what we were doing and who we were  with when we heard about the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

I was a flight attendant with America West Airlines and I happened to have the day off.  Less than 2 weeks earlier I had moved and was living with a new roommate, in the townhouse she owned.  My roommate (Kristina) was also a flight attendant and we were both accustomed to working red-eye flights and going to bed at odd hours, even on our days off so when the phone rang very early (probably around 6:30) I didn't get out of bed to answer it.  Because I knew by the distinctive ring that the call was from one of my roommate's friends or family I stayed in bed wondering who would call her on our home phone this early, knowing we were day sleepers and rolled back over to get more sleep before having to start my day.

I don't know how long it was after the phone rang, but at some point afterwards Kristina opened my bedroom door and woke me up by saying, "There's been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil".   "Huh?" Her words registered, but it sounded so foreign and so far out of anything I'd ever considered that it took me a few minutes, plus I had just woken up after only having a couple of hours sleep so I spent a moment trying to shake off the sleep and attempt to comprehend what she'd just told me.

The phone call I'd ignored was Kristina's dad telling her to turn on the news.  We didn't have cable, and the only TV in our house was upstairs in her loft bedroom so we spent the next several hours watching TV while fielding phone calls from concerned friends and family wanting to find out if we were home or if we were working.  While we fielded phone calls on our cell phones and our home phone we also were making outgoing phone calls to check on our friends who also worked in the industry.  At one point I looked at the date on my phone and saw it was 9-11.  Weird.

Kristina had a guy friend (who is now her husband and theirs was the wedding I'd attended the night I met my husband) who landed at Boston's Logan airport just as American Flight 11 was taxiing down the runway for it's doomed flight.

As Kristina and I sat on her bed while news reporters tried to make sense of the attacks Kristina and I knew  what nobody else was saying: We KNEW the pilots were dead, and were not in control of their aircraft, when those planes hit their targets.   Having worked in the airline industry for 3 years we knew that there was NO WAY the pilots would've crashed the planes into those buildings while they were alive.   We knew, even with a gun to their head, the pilots would've crashed their aircraft into the Hudson before killing innocents on the ground.

As the reports came in about United 93 our first reaction was that the pilots had taken it down in an effort to save lives on the ground because we'd learned a few things about pilots in our day and we KNEW there wasn't a pilot out there who would commit these heinous acts, even under duress.

As the day progressed we knew our loved ones were on the ground and we had to continue living in the real world. (As an aside, I remember going to Wal-Mart at 9:30 that night to buy a toothbrush and feeling guilty for doing something so routine on such a horrific day when so many people had lost their lives.)

If I remember correctly Kristina had a dentist appointment.  I was scheduled to work at my part-time job at a Christian bookstore.   Two things from my afternoon shift stand out to me.  I remember talking with people about how the world changed that day for all of us and I remember saying, "No.  The world didn't change.  Our perception of the world has changed.  The world has always been an evil, fallen place.  The only thing that's changed is we thought we were immune to these problems that happen in other places"

I also remember ringing up a lady's purchases and as I placed her items in the bag I noticed one of the things she had bought was a plaque with Psalm 118: 24 on it "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  In that moment I felt God speaking to me and reminding me that even on a day as dark as that one He is still God and He is still in control.  Regardless of my circumstances He is still God, He is still in control and every day is a day He has made.   Evil may seem to take over, but God is still God.

For the past 11 years every time I see that verse I am reminded of that moment and God's message to me.  No matter what circumstances you're facing right now remember that today is the day the LORD has made and we are to rejoice and be glad in it.

Holy Week traditions

According to the Christian calendar yesterday was Palm Sunday, the day Christians remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where he was greeted by crowds praising him with cries of "Hosanna".  By the end of the week Jesus would be dead and buried a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.

I often imagine that Saturday as one of the darkest days in human history as Satan thought he had won by killing Jesus, not realizing the ultimate victory would come on Sunday!

My kids are now 5 and 3 and I love watching their faith grow and hearing them speak the Truth.  Last night at the dinner table we were discussing Easter and even my 3 year old was able to tell me we celebrate Easter because Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.  This morning I was in our spare room/office when my daughter came in, out of the blue, and said "Mommy!  Jesus is the Truth!"

I want to take time this week and help my kids focus on the meaning of Easter.  For the past few days I have been trying to think of different ways to prepare their young hearts and minds for the commemoration of the most important day in all of human history.  I would also like to establish some traditions for our family as we mark this monumental week. 

One friend and her husband participated in a reverse Lent project that they completed over the weekend. I love this idea so much that I'm going to discuss with my husband the possibility of doing it in our home next year.

Last week a friend posted a picture of this Easter garden and I immediately went to the store to get the necessary items.  The kids and I made our own on Thursday and we'll remove the stone on Sunday morning.   My son was quite concerned we were waiting so long (over a week) to roll the stone away because, "Mom! Jesus rose from the dead on the third day! Why are we waiting so long?"

Each night we read to our kids out of their children's Bible as their bedtime story.  Generally my husband reads to our son, while I read to our daughter.   We made sure last night to read them the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and will continue to read the events of this important week each night.

Though we will not be having a Seder dinner I am thinking about making a special dinner on Thursday night to remember the Last Supper.

Because we go to a large church they hold Easter services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.   Our family will attend church on Saturday night, leaving Sunday for our family celebration.

Sunday morning we will hunt for Resurrection Eggs and discuss the story of Easter as we open the eggs.

As I look forward to the week I'm left wondering about what other traditions we can establish and activities we can do to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made on the cross and the incredible victory of Jesus conquering death.

What are some activities your family does to mark Easter?

I stand amazed!

At church tonight, just before communion, the pastor talked about how Jesus knew he could call on legions of angels to rescue him from the cross, but how he also knew that was the way it had to be. Jesus knew salvation would only come to the nations through his death.  Jesus could've pulled out his cape, and proclaimed in his best Mighty Mouse voice, "Here I come to save the day!", but he didn't . . .   He chose not to.  Jesus knew there was no other way to the other side, but to go through the torture of crucifiction.  I've heard that at least a hundred times in the past 17 years, but it struck me in a new way tonight.

Today I've been weary thinking about the health battles my friends are fighting.  I have one friend whose 1 month old has been in the hospital for the past several days enduring blood tests and spinal taps trying to figure out what is making her so sick.  I have another friend who is just beginning to fight breast cancer.  A third friend has a little girl who has had to fight for life since she was born in April.  I've been praying for these precious friends and my heart has ached for each one of them as I've cried out to God for healing.

I went into church, my heart heavy for these families and what they're enduring right now.  During communion I was thinking about the pastor's words and my mind went to my friends and their situations.  I was thinking about how Jesus could just say the word and all their sickness would be healed.   My thought process continued and I started thinking about the way God is often glorified (and has been in all of these cases) in the darkest times of life.  I was reminded that on the other side of the journey my friends are on they're going to be stronger, they're going to be more alive, and they're going to have a testimony that is absolutely amazing, but they have to go through this first because it's the only way to get to the other side . . .

During communion I heard the band quietly playing one of my favorite hymns.  As I was still processing what God was teaching me about having to go through struggles to reach the ultimate goal the worship team started singing the song, and before long thousands of people were worshipping God with this song:






How marvelous! How wonderful! And [their] song shall ever be . .  How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me!

Far From a Perfect Parent

Last night my 5 year old came into my room while I was sleeping (fairly common occurance--happens most nights around here) to let me know that he couldn't sleep because he was scared (again, fairly common).  Usually I pray with him and try to console him, but I was especially out of it at 1:30am so I just mumbled, "There's nothing to be scared of" and told him to go back to bed.  He told me he was still scared and I told him, "Just pray to Jesus and go back to bed".   THEN he told me that he was sweaty and I told him to take off his comforter and go back to bed.  (Are you noticing a theme in my responses?)

Without too much of a fuss he went back to his room and I rolled over to go back to sleep.

Somewhere around 3am I heard a noise that sounded like it was coming from my 3 year old's room so I got up to investigate (I'd apparently been imagining things because she was sleeping soundly).  I was coherent enough at that moment to realize that earlier I had blown off my son when he came looking to me for comfort.  I felt horrible and went in his room to check on him.  Fortunately he was sleeping soundly, so I just gave him a hug and said, "Love you, Buddy".

As I made my way back to my room last night after checking on my sleeping kids I started thinking about how my reaction to my son was exactly the opposite of God's reaction to me as His child.  When my son came to me scared I blew him off.  When I come to God with my fears he tells me, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving, present your requests to Me and I will give you a peace that transcends all understanding"

I'm incredibly thankful that God is a much better parent than I am.  I am daily trying be more like Him and love my kids the way He loves me.