Quote of the Week: Learning to Know God



After watching the Prince of Egypt



"The best way for a child to learn to fear God

 is to know a real Christian.

The best way for a child to learn to pray is to live

with a father and mother who know

a life of friendship with God,

and who truly pray."

--Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

All Mothers are Working Mothers

My favorite Aunt gave me a magnet which I placed on my Refrigerator which says, “All Mothers are Working Mothers.” I look at it as I reach for the milk and eggs in the morning to fix breakfast for my men. It reminds me that ‘What I Do’ all day long… cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing, reading stories, playing with legos, training a special little heart… all this is Work. A Mother’s Work.

Sometimes I look at “those other moms” in the Black SUV’s, with their dark sun glasses, tinted dark windows, and ear-attached cell phones, and I feel like the maybe the world is down-playing my job as a simple mother. One friend even said that she doesn’t count housework as work (she has a lady who cleans her house weekly). I have decided this year to just focus my thoughts and mind on doing my job as a wife and mother to please only God, rather than to please my friends or others around me. When I do this, I feel a joy in my heart that is unbelievable. Kindness, Respect, Honesty, and non-sticky fingers are all my goals, and ones I want to help cultivate in my son, Blaine. And he won’t get them if I don’t model them. Don’t get me wrong, I have completely messed up many days, have lost it, show my weakness with "a major melt down," whatever one wants to call it. But I have learned that when I DO NOT listen to the negative talk around me (&amp sometimes inside my head), I start to become empowered like helium in a Balloon… developing sensitivity, integrity, and vigor. Willful children are tough! But I know that how I do my job impacts the future! And Eternity!!

May I concentrate on doing what I know to do ONLY to please the Lord, not others.

Excellence is not Perfection

“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His Eternal Glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (I Peter 5:10).

I can’t wait, because I am so hopelessly flawed. Today I had a small patch of flaky skin frozen off, as the Dermatologist diagnosed Pre-cancerous skin on the top of my lip. I look like Nanny McFee, with what looks like a HUGE discolored mole to the left of my upper lip. I yearn for the Return of Christ, & I hope the rumors are correct about 2012 (that the Rapture will occur then). I am striving to be ready, but I am way far from perfect! And will be until I receive my resurrection-body! But I try not to beat myself up about it. I must move forward in His Grace. Sometimes I find it difficult to forgive myself, especially if I handled some essential discipline in the wrong way, or failed my husband somehow. But, miraculously, my husband and son still think I am pretty special! They are like my Father, God… gracious in all of my shortcomings. I am so glad that God is working to perfect us. HE sees us through much different eyes than we see ourselves. We see weakness, He sees strength, we see failure, He sees victories. We see unattractiveness, He sees beauty.

My Prayer today-

Precious God,

Please give Me the Grace to accept my shortcomings with dignity. Please keep my reaching for High Standards, but keep me from the Trap of Perfectionism!

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Making Music with Children



Making Music

We love Music!  We usually have something playing in the background at our house throughout the day.  We also invent different instruments to play. 

If you have kids of your own, or are babysitting and are stuck for new ideas of how to keep the kids entertained, search no further than your kitchen cabinets and cupboards! We have hours of fun using what's inside of them. It's an inexpensive and fun way to create memories with kids as you compose free music that you've crafted and played together.  And you can play CDs and play along with them, which is a great way to help children learn rhythm, beat, and melody.  Here are some Quick ways to keep music in your daily fun:

Line up the glasses on the kitchen table in a row and fill them all with different amounts of water. If you have food coloring, add drops of coloring to each of the glasses, making each glass a different color.

Take a spoon and tap the sides of each glass over and over again in different order. It will produce a different pitched ring based on how much water you have inside the glass. Demonstrate first for your child, then give him/her a spoon to try it.
Now that your child is happily entertained tapping glassed and making music, line up two cans on the table as well, bottom-side up. Start tapping them with the wooden spoon for your own miniature drumming session.
Take turns with your child alternating back and forth between drummer and instrumentalist. They will be happy and occupied for hours.

Sink or Swim?

I am reminding myself to keep my eyes on my LORD at all times, especially in the midst of today’s trial. My little boy seems to be intent on pulling more “sticks” in first grade than any other student. I just hung up the phone after speaking to his sweet teacher. Am I the only mother who feels like I am living a “sink-or-swim” experience? Funny how my Bible reading was about Peter this morning! (Matthew 14:30) “But seeing the wind, he became afraid, & beginning to SINK, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!”

I think of how I react when I find myself in the midst of “storm.” As I hung up the phone, did I focus only on the circumstances (and drown), or did I look to Jesus, the Commander of all the storms of Life? Today, glory to God, I kept my eyes on my LORD. I pray that He will build in me a faith that will overcome the most horrendous storms. Today I kept my head above water and learned to be the kind of mother that HE wants me to be.

My Prayer Today:

Precious Savior- Keep on showing me HOPE. Build my faith. Help me overcome doubts and trust in YOU. And help my son to become a righteous and faithful servant of yours.

 In Jesus Name,

Amen.