The Widow with the Two Mites

I read a devotional today from a weekly series on women of the Bible. Here is the wonderful lesson that I took away from it today:

Even if it doesn't seem like much, even if no one else knows...if you are giving your all, He sees and He is well pleased with you.

As a mother of several small children, it is easy to feel like no one knows or appreciates everything I do in a day. We young mothers have the privilege of training our children and keeping house all day, but at the end of the day, when daddy comes home, it often looks as though perhaps nothing productive was done at all. Take heart young mothers, that the Lord sees all that you do and knows the motives of your heart. He hears every story you read. He feels the gentle guidance of your hand as you assist in printing letters and cutting paper. He counts each time you:  sweep the floor, wash the dishes, change a diaper, wash someone else's hands, do a load of laundry, sing a cheerful song, kiss an owie, trip on something you didn't leave out, lol!  I think he overlooks:  your messy hair bun, the lipstick forgotten in your makeup bag, the baby drool on your shirt, your unmanicured nails, etc.

God sees all of the important things you do each day (yes, they are very important!), even when it may feel that no one knows your sacrifice. He loves you, His hard worker, and He says you are doing a great job!

I pray that you feel exceedingly blessed by Him today, and that you feel encouraged as you offer up your daily sacrifice to our Lord :-)

Where Does My Help Come From?

In a few days we will be moving. The floor of the kids' room is crowded by 2 toddler mattresses, 1 queen size mattress, 1 "pop-up" crib, and one chest of drawers.  Our "former" master bedroom is half full, floor to ceiling, with moving boxes and disassembled furniture.

My two oldest children (2 1/2 and 4yrs) have been ill since early yesterday afternoon with fevers and other unpleasant side effects of some sort of flu virus, I'm guessing. My baby (1yr) has been suffering terribly from the torments of teething, and I have to admit that my husband's and my sleep has been, as well.

Aiden's mattress borders with my side of the queen mattress and so we sleep inches away from each other. He loves being so close to me and sleeps so soundly this way.

With all that said, here are the events of my morning as they played out, after minimal hours of sleep:

I awaken to my poor Aiden, whimpering next to me on his mattress. I look over and offer words of comfort just before he starts getting sick. He is lying down, so I help him sit up. All of this commotion has woken the baby who was next to me in bed, and feels denied his morning nursing. Tim is awake now and tries to comfort the baby as I change Aiden's clothes and bedding and get him a drink of water. Declan (the baby) is nearing hysterics, as I (in my sleep-deprived stupor) take a ridiculously long time trying to find where I put the extra pillows. I finally settle Aiden back into his freshly made bed, and take the baby from my equally drowsy husband.

It is stuffy in "the bedroom" as we now call it, from the morning's events, so I bring Declan out to our recliner in the living room. I sit down next to the open sliding glass door and nurse my teething babe. It is cool and overcast outside (which I love) and the air smells heavy with the promise of rain. I open the web browser on my phone to my home page, biblegateway.com, and read their "verses of the day" selection, which are:

Psalm 121:1-3 (NASB)
The LORD the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth
He will not allow your foot to slip
He who keeps you will not slumber"

It begins to sprinkle lightly outside and the fragrance is Heavenly. Declan nurses contentedly and looks up at me, his comfort, his safety. My husband wanders in and plops into a stuffed chair facing me. We smile at each other and share my foot rest. I think of the passage I'd just read, and feel so blessed at how God has turned my morning around, and glad that I thought of looking to His Word, before anything else on this morning. And no matter what transpires today, sick children and all, I can look towards the Heavens; I know where my help comes from :-)

A Necklace for God

 
It so often feels this way, doesn't it mothers?
Such encouragement to know that, in this context, the Lord proudly wears the LONG string of beads that we are creating. He sees all that we do, and it is surely not in vain.
What kind of necklace are you fashioning for our Lord?  Are you hastily stringing beads on, quick as you can, feeling that you should meet some sort of "quota" for the day? Perhaps you are sluggishly adding them, one at a time, feeling that you'd rather be doing something else (perhaps napping which sounds Heavenly enough, after all!)

No.

Fellow mothers and homemakers, yes even you with several small children (this is me as well): Join me and let's carefully select the most beautiful beads to string for our God. Beads in the form of kind words and thoughtful actions. Of grace and selflessness and perseverance. Of love and gentle guidance, peace and contentment.
Let us create a lovely necklace that God, our Heavenly parent would be proud to show off to all!

Your Promises are True

Oh Lord, our Lord
How majestic is Your name
Your words are true
Your mercy does not change
All your promises are precious
Reviving our faith
Every one of them will be fullfilled one day

All Your promises are "Yes" and "Amen" Jesus
Your promises are true
All your promises are "Yes" and "Amen" Jesus
We'll keep running after You

I learned this song in my high school bible study group. (there might be more verses), and it popped into my head this morning. Isn't it wonderful to know that it's Truth? I forget where it's written in the Bible, but when I find it, I'll add the Scripture verses below.

Be abundantly blessed in Him today, and don't forget to talk with Him!

Here is a parting shot of Caitlin to brighten the day :-)

Months of the Year Books

This is what we are making today. What is your family creating? Is anyone gardening, crafting, or cooking? Please leave a comment below!

Hello Again

I took quite a long hiatus from blogging. Have you missed me? Well, life has it's hard times and occasionaly they come in rather large doses and you have to cut out all the extra to focus on the important things: God, family, home, and so forth. I promise I've kept up with reading everyone else's lovely blogs and I'm excited to get back to writing mine. I'll try to play catch up for several posts for everyone who has missed and maybe wondered what's gone on in our home over the last year. My husband installed a Blogger application on my smart phone and I hope it will make posting often more feasible, since I most always have my phone about me.  May God bless you richly as He is blessing us.

Sorry about the sideways photo. Still trying to figure out how to upload pics to Blogger from my mobile phone.

I'm Not Where I Want to Be

There are times in my life as a Christian where I realize that I am simply not where I want to be.  I am not referring to contentment or even circumstance, but of my relationship with the Lord.  I sometimes get comfortable with feeling great about life and enjoying the joy that comes from the Lord, and I get off track in my walk with Him.  I get distracted by all of the things He has given me, and I forget to keep in often communication with Him.  I want my relationship with Him to be more than just thanking Him for His blessings and asking for His help and forgiveness.  That feels so skin deep and I crave a closer relationship than that.  Why do I forget that this is so important to me? 

I have been feeling lately like things just aren't right.  Life is going well, etc., but things feel...off.  I realized that my conversations with God for a while now have been very short and not really touching on the issues of my heart.  I desire that feeling of oneness with the Lord that comes only from sharing my deepest thoughts, worries, and hopes with my Savior.  He is the only One who understands all of me and the only One who can give me peace.  I have discovered myself, to my own shame, seeking for His answers, in all of the wrong places.  I talk to others about my life and hypothesize with them about what God might be doing, and ask for their advice, etc. I listen to Christian radio sermons and read Christian literature and look for Him there.  These are all resources that speak of God from someone else's viewpoint based on their experience with Him.  How can I expect someone else to know what God would have to say to me about my very specific issues?  It is as if I needed to get some advice from a friend (let's name him Bob).  Imagine that for some reason I avoided asking Bob directly, but instead asked everyone else who knew Bob what they thought he might say.  Wouldn't that seem silly?  If Bob was the only one who could answer my question, and no one else could possibly know what he would say to me, wouldn't it only make sense for me to go ask Bob?  Why do I play beat around the bush games with God?  Am I the only one who does this? 

Anyways, I have been making a decided effort over the past few days to speak to God often and search my heart for anything that I might need to lay down at His feet.  It feels so good!  I encourage any and all who are reading this to share each matter on your heart directly with God, even in just a quick prayer, the instant it troubles your mind.  It brings such peace and it's the only way to resolve those issues.  Happy communion with Him and may you experience more and more intimate fellowship with Him each day!

The Secret to Contentedness

Last Sunday, the pastor said something that stuck with my husband and I. He said that people who aren't content aren't thankful. (Something along those lines- I forget his exact wording.) The point is that contentedness and thankfulness go hand in hand.  I have been dealing with some discontent in my heart and attitude lately, so when I reflected on this statement by the pastor, I felt rather surprised. I thought I was a thankful person. In general, I am not a person to complain or dwell on the things that I don't have; rather, when I think of something I wish I had (like a washer and dryer in my home) I try to think of how much more privileged my situation is than so many others (i.e. at least I have access to a washer and a dryer unlike many impoverished people in other countries).I thought about it some more. I may feel thankful, or talk myself into being thankful after I catch myself grumbling, but do I take any deliberate actions to act thankful towards the Lord? If He couldn't read my heart, and only heard my words and saw my actions, would He know that I am thankful? What do I do everyday that says clearly: "I am thankful to the Lord."?

I felt a bit ashamed when I couldn't think of anything I do except pray with my husband and children at mealtimes and before bed. A few thank-yous at routine prayer times just didn't seem like they were properly conveying my thankfulness in a way that was impacting my heart and attitude. So, I am trying to take some steps everday to work a little more thankfulness into my life, and hopefully my attitude. The first thing I've started doing may seem a bit simple and some might think it would not be enough to make a difference, but I think babysteps are the way to work in a new habit, or mindset in this case.

Here is a picture of the little dry erase board that hangs in our kitchen. I've used it to display reminders, quotes, scriptures, even a daily menu.  It's new purpose is as a "Thankfulness Board". Each morning, while finishing breakfast with the children, I write down things that our family is thankful for. Aiden adds things he is thankful for which, today, are: bananas, cereal, cars, flowers, tissue, monkeys, hats, and "smile faces". 

Aiden decided to finish his Cheerios this morning by making each bite into a "smile face" as he calls it.  He is so cute and smart, sometimes its hard for me to believe that he's only two : )

When Aiden told me that he is thankful for smile faces, I realized that I am, too.  Not just the Cheerio kind : )  I have a hunch that our new Thankfulness Board is going to help bring about a few more smile faces in our home.  Try it out, and you might see some in yours, too.

Trusting Him

"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things." -Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)

Okay, so this was BibleGateway.com's verse for today, and when I read it this morning, I felt like it was exactly what God has been hammering into my brain. Not just that God has plans that I don't understand, so I shouldn't worry about the future, etc. It's also speaking to some of my frustrations in life right now: feeling very large and pregnant with still 2 1/2 months left (not that I'm feeling over eager to go through labor any time soon-yikes!), dreaming of a washer and dryer in my home and no more hauling dirty/wet/peed! laundry to a laundry room where the washers may/may not be functioning correctly (we live in an apartment with no hookups), etc. The large and pregnant thing is probably just a good trial to remind me that God is ultimately in control, no matter how much I try to be. The washer and dryer thing: lessons in patience, trusting in the Lord's timing, gratefulness for all of the blessings that I have, and...a good workout on my arms? : )

So, if anyone is feeling like: "What is going on in my life right now?" or "Why is __ happening to me?" Just remember: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 (NASB) God is in control of all things; even the things that we think only matter to us-even the things that we think are petty or too insignificant to even mention to anyone. God loves us and cares about all of the minute details of our lives. I guess if God cares enough to notice and hear all of my woes, I can make a little more effort to trust Him with them? After all, He's the only One with the power to change anything, right?