Love God, Love Others

"Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)


Happy New Year Moms!  Wow, a new year...new opportunities, new goals, a new me, a new mom.  Are these your thoughts at the beginning of a new year?  I resolve to be a better mom, to be more physically fit, to be better with my finances, to be a better wife to my husband.  We dive right in and suddenly find ourselves smashing into the bottom of the pool.  As soon as that first mistake or failure comes (and it will) we "beat" ourselves up--how could I; I was supposed to be better at this--or we completely blow off the whole idea.  Does that sound familiar?  In all honesty, it certainly does for me.

I have been thinking and praying a lot about this upcoming New Year.  I do not want to overwhelm myself with lots of resolutions or put pressure on myself to finally be "supermom" nor to give up altogether on everything.  So, I have been talking with God about this very thing. Lord, how can I be a better mom?  How can I raise these children You have entrusted me with in a way that honors you?  I feel overwhelmed at the responsibility and tend to be quite hard on myself whenever I fail.  I have finally learned after about 7 1/2 years of parenting that failure (as I call it) is inevitable.  I will make mistakes and need to ask for God's forgiveness, which of course He lovingly always gives.  I even need to ask my kids for forgiveness often, good grief!

I must remember, God's view of me is not a failure at all.  He loves me no matter what!  And this is the very thing I have been trying to instill into my children.  There is nothing you can do, to stop God from loving you.  His love is unconditional.

This is the sign that hangs above my oldest son's door in his room.  We made this sign when he was 5, I think.  We made it because I wanted him to remember that this is what God says is the most important thing for us to do as Christians.  

So, as I have been talking with God, He has reminded me not only of His view of me, but also of the most important thing in life.  Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-39, that to love God and to love our "neighbor" is the first and greatest commandment.  This is the number one most important thing we can do to honor Him.

Therefore, when I ask God, "How can I honor you as a mom?"  His answer...to love Him and to love others and to teach my children to do the same.  Just making this my one focus for the New Year is so much better than resolving to be "supermom."  

The bible says that without love, I am nothing.  I love how The Message says it in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.  If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.  If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere.  So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love."

LOVE is the most important thing I can give, show, and teach my children.  And I have learned that the more I know God's love and "fill" myself up with His love, the more I can show that love to others.  When my "cup" is filled and overflowing with God's love, then others will have that love come pouring over to them!  Is that not amazing!  And, loving others becomes easy, not a chore or something else I need to add to my "to do" list.   When I know God's love, I naturally want to love others!  

I plan to blog more on this in the New Year.  So, prayerfully resolve with me to know and experience God's love this year.  Dive into His overwhelming love because when you do, I believe we will all be suddenly surprised to not smash into the bottom of the pool, but instead, to soar through the water, splashing His love joyfully onto others.

Take Time to Make Memories

Merry Christmas all! I am honored to have the opportunity to do some blogging with Jenny on her fantastic site. After having the privilege of knowing Jenny for almost twenty years, I was thrilled when she asked me to contribute. I look forward to sharing stories of my faith and learning many of your own as we muddle our way together through this precious gift of motherhood.

 

 

 

It’s 7:00 PM on Friday, December 21^st. Today was supposed to be a day of huge excitement. First there were those who assumed life as we knew it would end today. Of course, as we all know, the world is still turning and each of us is still blessed with the opportunity to continue enjoying life. With that established, it was time to begin our regular morning. I quickly realized though that the rest of our planned excitement was about to drastically change. Instead of getting dressed to head to my daughter’s school for her class holiday party, I was taking her temperature and trying to figure out the best way to get the supplies, food, and crafts to the school with a daughter running a temperature of 102 and looking thoroughly miserable.  Needless to say, my definition of excitement changed greatly.

By lunchtime it was official. My precious little one tested positive for both flu and strep. It was not the way we intended to begin celebrating Christmas.

Now, I’m sitting here with her head in my lap trying to figure out how to rearrange all of our plans. You see, like most Moms, I am the ultimate manager. I am the one who organizes everything for our family – the schedules, the gifts, the travel arrangements, the food, and every other thing imaginable. My planning schedule just got turned upside down.

As Moms, we work hard to ensure the holidays are as perfect for our families as possible. Yes, we know the importance of togetherness instead of things, and of flexibility instead of perfection. In fact, many of us encourage those ideas every year at the exact same time we are stressing over making Christmas cookies, wrapping presents, or putting in appearances at family get togethers. You see, we can focus so hard on doing the right thing for our families for Christmas that we forget to do the important thing.

Somewhere along the way, we forget the significance of making memories and it’s those memories that will carry our children into the future. They won’t always remember what they received for Christmas, whose Christmas present was wrapped the best, or which cookie had the most beautiful design. Instead, they will remember the year the turkey didn’t cook and Spam was served in its place. They will remember the year the cat climbed up the Christmas tree. They will remember the year the nametags were not filled out on the presents and they played the game ‘match the gift to the person.’

My daughter will not get a chance to sing her solo on Christmas Eve. She will not get to travel and visit with her cousins nor will she be able to wear her new Christmas dress. Instead, because of the strep and the flu, many of our standard family traditions we have built a lifetime making with her will fall to the wayside. So, Mom is throwing out the plan book. Instead, we are going to have a quiet Christmas of three and spend our time making those unplanned memories she will never forget.

Moms, in these last few days before Christmas, I encourage you to take a little pause and see if you can find some time to create the little memories with your family in addition to enjoying the beloved family traditions. Don’t stress when they occur; instead, enjoy them. They will be remembered!

Take Five

Hey, Sorry I have been so silent for so long... life has been CRAZY!  I have not been in the writing mood in a very loooooong time, and that is not normal for me.  You see, last year we adopted a 5 1/2 year old boy, and soon after settling in with him and getting past all the transitional crazy that went with that, the Lord led us to get pregnant again.  So last Dec, right after Christmas I found myself with child. The news came one beautiful morning, and then later that night I got a call that my Dad had been rushed to the hospital... a few days later he died.  So dealing with his death, still adjusting to the new son, and being pregnant made for an interesting year.  But all is well, and of course we are loving life no matter how hard it is at times.  Our sweet little girl was born Aug 31, and is such a bundle of joy to each and every one of us.  The transition to 5 kids was not as easy as I was hoping.  She is a great baby, but juggling an infant with my already full life with all we got going on, wiped me out.  We are finally figuring things out; a new normal is making its way into our life.

Anyway, I wanted to share something here that I have been doing recently.  Really I don't know why I have not been doing something this structured sooner, because I have known about this parenting wisdom for some time now and heard it a few times in different places.  I guess maybe I didn't like the appointment type approach it seemed to have.  But, one of my kids is in counseling and it was recently brought back to my attention; so I decided to give it a try.  I did not want to just do it without telling the kids what I was doing.  And I want them to be able to help me remember and hold me accountable to doing this.  I also like to try to make things sound fun or cool for the kids and wanted to make it easy for them to remember.  So, like my "hang time" I have mentioned before where each month 1 kid gets a day where we have special time together out of the house, now we have "take five".  This is 5 min a day, that each child gets to have with mommy all to themselves.  Of course it can go over that 5 min if able or allowed, but the idea is for the kid to get 5 min to do whatever they want to do with mom.  They get to choose and as long as it is something they are allowed to do, we do it.  I am not allowed to give commands, or say anything negative, or ask any questions... we have fun playing whatever that kid wants to play.  I enter into their world, just like I was a kid too.  The kids really like this idea.  My son, who is an extreme E personality, will always come and say "take five" to me constantly.  So whenever I am not busy with something that needs attention at that moment, we are not doing school, the baby is okay without me, etc... they are allowed to come say "take five".  They can only have one a day, unless all the kids have had theirs and there is somehow a lot of spare time in my day still and I am able to do more.  This is still new, but I look fwd to seeing how it goes and what things come of it.  I hope it helps grow our relationships better and love each other better.

DO any of you do something like this as well?  If so, does it work?  What do you do differently?  Do you find it hard to have child-led play time?  Do you find yourself turning 5 min into an hour?  Would love to hear input.

Go enjoy your kids,
Chrissy

Being Thankful

This year as I prepare for Thanksgiving, I am sad.  I am thankful for this time of year to stop, be with family, and reflect on what I am thankful for this year.  However, I am saddened by the consumerism that is attempting to over shadow this day.  In case you did not know, there are going to be stores open for business on Thanksgiving day with sales galore to entice you to shop until you drop.  However, Thanksgiving is a time to STOP (not shop)--stop being busy, stop being selfish, stop forgetting.  It is a time to enjoy our families, a time to give, and a time to remember our blessings this year.

Don't we need to stop?  Don't we need to breathe?  Don't we need to take a moment and reflect?  Don't we need to catch up with family and enjoy their presence while we still can?  This is a great day to rest. Even our Heavenly Father wants us to stop, to rest, to give, to reflect.  Why would anyone want to throw all that away just to be busy at stores?  Why is it our nature to be busy and constantly "doing?"  Why is it so hard to stop, to rest?  Why must we fall into the temptation of consumerism, amazing sales, and having more and more stuff?

This Thanksgiving, I want to encourage you to STOP.  I want to encourage you to slow down.  I want to encourage you to not fall into the temptation of "doing."  I encourage you to spend time with family, rest, and encourage each other.  I encourage you to reflect on all the ways God has blessed you this year.  Furthermore, I encourage you to teach your children to stop, to slow down, to reflect as well.  I encourage you to play with your children instead of shopping for them.  They will probably play with that toy for a few weeks and be done with it, ready to move on to something new.  But, if you spend time getting down on the floor with them and play, they will remember it forever.

So, stop, rest, reflect, teach, and play this Thanksgiving.  :)

With a thankful heart,
Jenny

Grandma's Corner

The following article is contributed by: Lorraine Richardson

GOD, our God!  GOD the one and only!  Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart:  love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!  Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts.  Get them inside of you and then get them inside  your children.  Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.  Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.   Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (The Message)

Inside Out Living …

God wants to engage His people in a loving relationship.  The spiritual nurturing of your child, although an awesome responsibility, is an inspiring opportunity.  What he learns about God during his preschool years may set the pattern for your child’s thinking and decision making for the rest of his life.  How will his personality develop?  In what ways will his natural abilities and gifts expand and be used?  What has God prepared for his life’s calling?  Will your son or daughter continue to grow spiritually?  What is the unique contribution God has for your child to make in our world?

God created and he saw that it was good; God communicated with the Son and with the Holy Spirit and said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule …”  (Genesis 1-2).  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day … But the LORD God called to the man:  “Where are you?” 

Has God been calling you out for “talk” time with Him?  Do you feel Him constantly tugging at your heart strings?  Has God whispered to you to come and enjoy His presence?  Do you sense His presence in your life?  He walked in the garden He created and He talked with the people he created.  The Bible tells us as believers that God lives in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  He has called believers to be set apart from the world, to be holy and blameless; and He has commanded us to tell our children about Him, passing along the baton of faith to the next generation.  Linda Shultz Anderson reminds us that parenting reveals more about our core values than anything else in our lives, and that moms really do matter.  Our mission matters as Moms!  God’s commands?  “Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children.”

      

You might say, “I listen to God all day long, and I play spiritual music frequently, but I have no time to lean back in those everlasting arms and truly enjoy His presence.”  Give yourself a “time out!”  Let your kids know that you need a time out with Jesus.  Withdraw from the mom busyness, even if it’s for ten or fifteen minutes.  Set a special place for your time out.  Jesus withdrew alone from the crowds, from the demands and went to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:35).    Be honest before God.  Tell Him that you’re tired and weary and need rejuvenated, open your heart freely, but appropriately if kids are present.  Spend time in thanksgiving and praise for what God is doing in your life.   Conclude with intercession, especially for your family.  Pray, pray, pray the Joseph prayer and listen for God to speak to you!   Eventually, your kids may want to join you; let your kids see you on your knees in your special place!  This is not for show as with the Pharisees, but use this to impress upon your children that time with God is a priority in your life.  Be the mirror that reflects God’s glory.  Children observe actions more than words!

Grandma Rain 

Transformation

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  2 Corinthians 5:17

Another renovation story...

We did contract out most of our house renovations.  But, I wanted to paint the front porch swing.  I actually do like to paint.  I don't care for sanding too much, but will do it to make the paint job look better.  I LOVE our front porch swing; it's one of my favorite parts of the house.  I was so excited to paint it myself!  The swing was in really bad shape.  The old green paint was chipping off all over, the chains were rusting, and the hooks needed replacing.  It was still safe to swing on, but my husband and I were not sure for how long.  The boards were also feeling quite rough and we did not want anyone getting splinters.  You can see a picture below with my kids sitting on the old, weathered swing (although I'm not sure the picture captures much of the weathered look).  The kids cannot see anything except the "jungle" surrounding it and nobody can see the swing.  It was hidden by a lot of overgrown landscaping.

I was excited to work on this project so we could have a comfy spot to sit, relax, and enjoy the beautiful country surrounding us.  Before I painted, my husband removed the overgrown landscaping since it was destroying the house and blocking the gorgeous view. 

When I was ready to paint, I first washed the swing--washing away all the spider webs, dead bugs, nasty grime, etc.  Then, I began to sand it--smoothing away the rough wood, getting rid of the potential splinters, and finding what appeared to be new wood underneath.  Amazing how that works!  The swing was already looking so much better.  Next, I got out the paint.  The fun part!  

As I worked on the swing, I could not help but think of the verse from 1 Corinthians 5:17.  As I painted, I meditated on the verse.  I watched the "old" pass away and the "new" begin to appear.  How did the new appear?  The new appeared after a good washing, sanding, and painting.  How do we become new in Christ?  We become new in Christ through the washing of His blood!  

But what happened first?  First, my husband removed the "jungle" surrounding the swing so we could see the beauty surrounding us.  Many times, God has to remove the "jungle" from around our hearts before we can even see His beauty!  Once, we see Him, we can find Him!  Then, He washes us, cleanses us.  After we find Him and become Christians, there are times when we feel like God is sanding us down.  He smoothes down our rough edges, heals us from our past and finds the "new" underneath just like these boards on the swing.  New wood seemed to appear after a good sanding.  

Finally, I painted the swing white--a color that represents newness, cleanliness, purification.  When we are washed with the blood of Christ, our sins are washed away, and we are new, clean, and purified.  Is that not a beautiful picture?  

As a mom, I tend to be really hard on myself.  I feel like I mess up every day with my kids.  I did not handle that situation well; I forgot a promise I made, I forgot to pray about a problem they are having (I am so forgetful these days); I lost my patience; I didn't go through the Sunday school homework for the week or make time for devotions, etc.  But, instead of worrying about everything I do wrong, I remember where He has brought me from. 

Twenty-one years ago this fall I became a new creation.  I found Jesus!  He washed away the "old" me and began to make me "new."  He "sanded" me, he changed me for the better.  He redirected my life down a better path.  He has done this at various times over the past 21 years.  I am so thankful for His love, grace, mercy, and guidance.  And I know that He makes me new every day.  Every day He forgives me for when I mess up.  And every day His grace and mercy protects my children from myself.   :)  He shines through me because of Jesus, because of His Holy Spirit that resides in me.  He shines through me to my children in spite of myself.

I also remember that each day is new, that God's grace and mercies are new every morning and that He makes me new.

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  Lamentations 3:21-23 (ESV)

Every morning I wake up, I know today is a new day God has given me.  He still loves me and offers me grace and mercy throughout the day as a mom.  I so desperately need Him.  Now every time I see our swing or sit on our swing, I remember how God has made me new, and that every day He continues to make me new.  He does this for all of us moms.  If today was a particularly rough one, just remember God is there offering us the love, compassion, and grace we need to keep going.  When the "sanding" process comes, it may be a bit painful, hard, and we don't want to go through it, but the end result is definitely worth it!  What a blessing!  What a savior!

Below are pictures of the swing and front porch after the transformation.  :)

PS  Thank you to Caroline for putting me on your prayer list back in high school (yes, I saw it!).  Thank you to Sarah and her mom for showing me the way.  And thank you to my Aunt Lorna who prayed for me as well.  :)

Stones of Remembrance

"When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 'Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.'


So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, 'Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.  Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.  In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.'”  Joshua 4:1-7


I have loved this passage for a long time.  I love it when I can use something practical and concrete to teach a purpose to my kids.  As you now know, we have been renovating a fixer-upper house all summer.  One of the things we added to the house is a fireplace.  I told my husband, if this suburban girl is moving out to the country in Indiana, then, we must have a back-up source of heat for the winter!  Well, our back-up source of heat has become more than I imagined.  It has become a centerpiece of God's promises for our home.  What an amazing blessing!


We went back and forth on what the fireplace would look like and the placement.  We ended up putting it right in the middle of our home and covered it in stone.  We were blessed to have a guy named, Joe, working on the fireplace.  He is definitely a believer and he came up with a fun idea for the stone.  He told us when he was ready to put the stone on, our family could all come over and each pick out and put on a piece of the stone!  He also said we could write our names on it.  I was, of course, so very excited!  Another idea to include the whole family as we renovate our home.


So, we all came down one day and each kid picked out a stone, wrote their name on the inside and placed the stone on the fireplace.  This was already great, but when I saw Joe had picked out all cornerstones for us to place, I was impressed.  It immediately reminded me of several verses in the Bible that talk about the "cornerstone" who is Christ.  


"So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it  will never be stricken with panic.'"  Isaiah 28:16


"The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."  Psalm 118:22-23

"Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected which has become the cornerstone.’  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:11-12

In a previous post, I wrote about "off-roading with God."  This whole moving experience has been an "off-roading" experience.  Some people put their house on the market, quickly sell it and buy another one.  No big deal, less than 6 months average.  Well, from the time we put our house on the market to the time we will actually move into our new house, it will have been a very bumpy 18 months!  However, God has been faithful the entire process.  We have trusted in His guidance, followed Him in the planning, and seen Him do amazing things as a result.

AND...Now we have this beautiful stone fireplace right in the center of our home to remind us of God's promises and faithfulness.  Our very own "stones of remembrance."  When our kids ask us questions about God's promises as they grow, we can point to the fireplace and remember all He has done to bring us here.  What a beautiful blessing!  :)

John and I shared one stone to represent our oneness in Christ as a married couple.

Standing on the Word of God

"Your word is a light for my feet, a light on my path." (Psalm 119:105, NIV)

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."  (Hebrews 10:23, NIV)

This summer we have been renovating a "fixer-upper" house.  Since we do have 3 little ones, we decided to hire a contractor to do most of the work.  So, no we are not some sort of super human parents.  We have to have help on this one!  lol  We are finally nearing the end of this project just in time before school starts.  But before we could finish the work, we got a really fun idea from an old and dear friend of mine.  She got the idea from a friend of hers.  See this is how we roll, right?  Sharing ideas is one of the purposes for this blog.  Therefore, I am going to share this idea with all of you.  :)

My girlfriend also renovated her new house not too long ago.  Before the new floors went in, she heard about an idea to write scripture on the floor boards in all the rooms in the house.  That way, you are always, "standing" on the word of God.  How fun!  I loved this idea!  It also reminded me of the hymn, "Standing on the Promises," by Russell Kelso Carter.  What a great way to "stand" on God's promises in our home!

Well, the floors in our house are going down this week!  So, last weekend I had my 5 and 7 year olds pick out their favorite scriptures to write on the floor boards in each of their rooms.  We took turns, since it was a lot of writing.  Both boys wanted the Ephesians 6 verse about wearing the armor of God.  Of course, I was elated!  Then, I chose Proverbs 31 for my daughter's room (she is 3).  My desire is for her to grow to be a woman who fears the Lord.  

There were so many ideas on verses for the rest of the house.  I prayed about it and immediately heard Galations 5, the "Fruits of the Spirit" in my mind.  I put this in the great room since I want people to see and experience this when they enter our home.  For fun, I chose Psalm 34:8 for the kitchen, "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"  I wrote it right where the dining table would go.  :)

This was so much fun!  I took pictures to add to our photo book we will be making of our house.  We have not even moved in yet and this house is full of God's providence, promises, (and now) His Word, and lots of fun stories.  And yes, I will be sharing more about them in future posts.  :)


This idea also reminded me of another of my favorite verses in Deuteronomy:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NIV

Of course, we chose to write our favorite verses on our floors.  But, how fun to figure out how to put something on the door frames!  If you have any ideas, I would LOVE to hear them!

Caleb, age 7, in his room with Ephesians 6:10-18, "The Armor of God" 

Notice the toy soldier he wanted in the picture  :)

Isaac, age 5, also chose Ephesians 6:10-18, "The Armor of God"

I LOVE how big he wanted to write this!! 

Galatians 5:22 for the Great Room which is where you enter the house 

Psalm 34:8 for the Kitchen

I chose Proverbs 31:30 about a "woman who fears the Lord" since this is my prayer for my daughter, currently age 3