"Off-Roading" with God

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes." (James 4:13-16)


Have you ever been "off-roading" before?  Early in my marriage, my husband finally convinced me to ride on a 4-wheeler with him.  I had never done anything like that before (and for those who knew me then, you wouldn't expect me to go for it).  We were visiting with family and they had access to 4-wheelers and a great place to ride them.  So, hesitantly, I decided to go on a ride.  


First, you must understand my husband a bit.  Have you ever read the book, Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge?  It describes my husband very well.  He loves motorcycles, jumping his truck, mountain biking, etc.  So, now he was trying to get me to enter into that part of his life.  Ha!  


I was a bit afraid, but also, honestly, excited.  I wasn't sure I wanted to go, but thought it would be fun to try.  So many different feelings and emotions going through me as we started off.  Not just was I getting on a 4-wheeler and riding through the woods for the first time, but I was also having to trust my husband as the driver!  This was not my plan for a good time, but it was my spouses and so I joined him.


Have you ever felt that way before?  Hesitant to move forward where God may be leading, nervous about the journey you are about to enter into, afraid something bad or scary might happen, and unwilling to try something new because it's out of your comfort zone?


As we started into the woods I was still anxious, scared and tense, but again, willing to go.  It was hot out, the road was bumpy and rough, there were lots of bugs out and of course, there was mud.  But, as we rode, the wind felt so cool (you only felt the heat if you stopped), we would go so fast that sometimes you didn't notice the bumps and as we splashed through the muddy water it cooled me off and felt great!  Surprisingly, I LOVED it!!  We had so much fun, I couldn't believe it!  I would totally go again.


Recently, I have been remembering that ride and reflecting on it.  Early in our marriage, my husband and I adopted the verse above in James as a guideline.  We can make plans, but be prepared for God to change them.  He changed our plans a lot early in our marriage, so we learned to be flexible, to hold onto that verse and let God guide us.  These past couple years have been very difficult on our family--we lost my nephew to cancer, put our house on the market to move closer to his family, then my dad suddenly passed away right as our house sold and we moved in with my mom so we could renovate a fixer-upper house we bought.  All this with 3 little kids too!  Trying to move, plan a funeral, find time to grieve and still take care of 3 little ones all at the same time pushed me over the edge.  I found myself questioning God and his "perfect" timing.  Isn't everything supposed to happen in His "perfect" time?  Why did it take a year to sell our house so we could move closer to my nephew's family and why did it sell right when my dad passed away?  That didn't sound like perfect timing to me!  My emotions were out of control and I found myself disappointed in God.


Thankfully, I had my women's Bible study group and God's word to fall on.  It was through my daily study of the word that God opened my eyes to a new perspective.  Life is how we perceive it, right?  I thought about that ride on the 4-wheeler and ended up adopting a saying and new perspective on life.  "We are currently off-roading with God."  My family and I are deviating from our expected path or what some may call the "American dream" path and we are entering the off-beaten path, the amazing journey that God has for us.  


Just like that first ride on the 4-wheeler, I'm scared, I'm hesitant to face the journey, the road is bumpy and rough and there's lots of "mud."  When I saw this path as "off-roading" with God, I began to see the adventure He had for me.  I began to change my perspective on my life's current events.  I have learned to see life as an adventure, not a straight, smooth and perfect path.  And you know what...that straight, smooth perfect path is kinda boring.  I would much rather get on that 4-wheeler with the Lord, follow and trust Him through the bumpy woods, and come out stronger in my faith as a result.  Finally, I will share with you that this rough, bumpy path is ironically what led my 7 year old son to choose to be a follower of Christ.  


Happy "off-roading" moms.  :)

Summer Brain Time

Okay, so it's summer.  Are your kids bored yet?  lol Mine have already told me more than once that they are.  Apparently that's normal, so no worries.  :)  I want to share an idea I came up with last year.  It was successful and the kids are already asking for it this summer.

I call it my "Brain Time Bin."  Over the years my kids have come home with end of the year school projects.  These were things like a color wheel to practice their colors, flash cards to practice letters and numbers, etc.  I never really did anything with them at first; just set them aside somewhere.  Well, last year I realized we had a lot of this stuff and maybe we could use it over the summer.  I threw all their projects along with some teaching tools I had collected over time from the dollar spot at Target into a large bin and decided to call it our "Brain Time Bin."

The kids loved it!  Almost every day, we would have "brain time."  I'd pull out the bin, set it on the table and let the kids pick out whatever they wanted to do.  We had a hang-man game, which my 1st grader loved to play (and little did he know, he was practicing his spelling at the same time).  We also had flash cards, some lacing cards for my preschoolers, and more.

This year with all three kids having been in school, I created a "Brain Time Bin" for each kid.  We have already started having "brain time" throughout the week.  AND if I forget, the kids have been asking for it themselves.  Amazing.

Community

I took a short break from my blog.  Yes, I've been a busy mom, but I've also been in prayer about this blog and honestly, just been trying to work through some hard times.  In the past month, God has continued to remind me of our deep need for community.

I began the idea of this blog and reaching out to other moms after hearing a sermon on Mark 2:1-5.  This is the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man.  The story tells about a paralyzed man who wants to be healed by Jesus.  Since he is paralyzed he cannot get to Jesus by himself; he must rely on the help of his friends.  The story gets even better because his friends go all out for him.  We are told there is a large crowd and they are unable to get to Jesus.  Do his friends give up on him?  No!  They take him up to the roof of the house where Jesus is, dig a hole in the roof, and then lower the parlayed man through the roof to Jesus!  Wow!

We too can be "paralyzed" in our lives and we need to lean on the help of our friends in Christ.  Do we need to ultimately lean on Jesus?  Of course!  But sometimes we need some help getting there.  Do you ever feel "paralyzed" as a parent?  So overwhelmed you just don't know what to do?  Or even in any part of your life, not just parenting.

A couple weeks ago, I was very blessed to be reunited with some dear friends from graduate school--our discipleship small group.  We became very close during our years of grad school together.  I had been struggling a bit with community in my life.  But when I was reunited with this group, even after not seeing each other for four years, I was greatly blessed, encourage, and ready to be who God needs me to be.  Refreshed as a woman, wife, and mom.

Then, last week I heard the sermon again from Mark 2.  God is reminding me I need community.  I need friends to be real with, to count on for help, and to keep bringing me back to the Lord.  I cannot do this whole mom thing on my own.  So, I remind myself and you of my purpose for this blog:

Moms need community and ideas. Lots and lots of ideas! I believe God created us to be in community and relationship. We cannot do this whole mom thing on our own, no matter how hard we try. We need Him and each other. So, I've decided to create this blog along with a few other moms to share our ideas and our journeys. We hope to pass along our faith from one mom to another as well as to the next generation. 2 Timothy 1:5


I also created this blog because I know how hard it can be as a busy mom to get out of the house with our friends!  It's sometimes impossible.  Therefore, I hope this blog can help to provide that community we all need.  Feel free to comment and chat with me.  I love hearing about what other moms are doing.  :)

Wheaton DSG Reunion 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

So, I'm curious, did anyone take the Valentine's Day challenge from my last post?  Our kids were so excited to collect food for our local food pantry as a way of showing God's love to others.  I forgot to count up all the bags of food, but I think we collected about 6 or 7 bags of food.  The most exciting part was when we took the food to the church for the food pantry.  The church had two large bins for collecting food for their pantry.  When we got there, the bins were completely empty!  We got to put our 7 bags of food into an empty bin.  Now that bin is no longer empty because we chose to follow the Spirit's leading in doing a Valentine's Day family project.  So exciting!

So, happy Valentine's Day!  Remember Jesus wants to be your first Valentine.  He loves you unconditionally, forever, and more than you can imagine!  He loves with a perfect love...

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Valentine's Day Challenge

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 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 22:36-39

Happy February!  As I continue to think about ways I can teach my children to know and be more like Christ, I started thinking more about a prayer we say every night at bed time.  Every night we end our prayers with, "help us to know your love, Lord, and to show it to others."  We want others to know Jesus loves them unconditionally, forever, and more than you can imagine!  He is the best Valentine!  So, I got an idea I'm really excited about!  How can we show Jesus' love to others this month, in light of Valentine's Day?


My first thought comes from ideas I've heard on the radio in past years.  I've heard about youth groups collecting food for their local food banks from their communities.  And, in light of the "Souper Bowl of Caring," I thought why don't the kids and I get a group of people to gather food together for our local food bank for Valentine's Day!  


Here's the challenge: ask your family, friends, and/or neighbors to help collect non-perishable food items for your local food bank for the next 2 weeks.  Then, take the food over to the food bank on Valentine's Day, the 14th!  Or come up with your own idea with your kids.  Ask, "what can we do as a family to show Christ's love to others this Valentine's Day?"  Then, please post your ideas below.  I'm sure we can share ideas and come up with great ways to show Christ's love this month!

Hang Time

We started a tradition at our house of what would normally be called "date nights" with our kids. However, my son did not like the idea of going on a date with his parents so we have renamed the outings to "hang time". Hang time is a special one on one time with our kids. In our family we take one kid per month out to do something fun or have a special snack or whatever they want within a certain price range. We have four children, so one month I would take #1 and my husband would take #2 on another day. Then, the next month, I would take #3 and he would take #4. We could do every kid each month but that can get costly and time consuming. So we are doing it this way for now. The kids really enjoy their special time with mom or dad. It is nice to get away from the house and have some time to build our relationship. They look forward to this time (so do I). We think it is important to let each kid know they are loved and not lost in the crowd and chaos of family life and life in general. They can see that we desire to spend time with them. It also gives each kid a chance to experience mom and dad in different ways. What are some things you like to do with your kids? Do you have anything like this you do with them?

A Time of Traditions

According to Webster's dictionary, a "tradition" is, an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom)," and "the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction."


As moms, part of our job is to teach our children, to pass down information from one generation to the next.  As Christian moms our job becomes to pass down the truths from the bible to the next generation.  


Christmas, I think, is one of the biggest times of year for tradition.  Think about some of your traditions and think about what is it you are teaching your children through these traditions?  This Christmas I would like to challenge you to add a new tradition.  A tradition to help further teach truths from the Bible.  


Last year, I was convicted on finding ways to "give Christmas away."  Of course, I already wanted to teach that to my children, but was really convicted about it after watching a new Veggie Tales movie and hearing a song by Matthew West and Amy Grant called, "Give This Christmas Away" .  I then went out and bought the book with the same title to get some ideas.  


This year we decided, as a family, to participate in Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse.  We collected 3 shoe boxes--one for each of my kids--and went shopping for toys, toiletries, candy, etc to fill up the boxes.  Then, we wrapped the boxes, designated who they were for (for example, my 6 year old boy shopped for a 6 year old boy) and sent them on their way.  Now, I admit this was a difficult task for my children to pick out toys for other kids and not themselves.  BUT, that is why we did it!  My husband and I are starting a new "tradition" of passing down and living out real Bible truths through this activity.  They are learning how to give to others in need.  Naturally, we are selfish people, so I am not surprised at all that this was difficult for them.  I am thankful though that they did it and for the most part did have fun at the same time. lol  They are also excited that their boxes will be tracked and we get to find out what part of the world they are going to!


Here are a few photos of our day.

So, I challenge you to find a way to "give Christmas away" this year.  You can buy the book, Give This Christmas Away to get lots of ideas.  Here are some more ideas as well:


Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog
World Vision Gift Catalog