Guess this is one of those "from the heart" posts. Just sharing what's been going through my mind as this new year has begun.
Last year, the Lord impressed Isaiah 26:3 (Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee) on my heart. I had a feeling deep inside that it wasn't going to be an easy year and that the Lord was going to show me a lot of things. I've mentioned this on Facebook already, but those closest to me can attest to the fact that amidst difficult times this year (death of a childhood friend and housing issues to name a few) I possesed peace that was none of my own doing. Looking back on 2011, I can see many times the Lord gave me peace, where my faith was stregthened and I learned to trust Him more.
This year, the Lord has impressed "Joy" on my heart. Haven't quite found a theme verse yet. Guess I'm making my way through the Fruit of the Spirit or so it would seem. Recently, I've heard of Ann Voskamp and her book, One Thousand Gifts. I've only vaguely looked into it and am currently trying to get a copy of her book, but this is the jist of it. She wrote a book out of a tramadic situation in her childhood. She gives you "a dare to live fully right where you are" and count the blessings/gifts every day in your life.
This is a quote from a post she wrote for (in)courage. (I would encourage you, especially busy moms, to read this whole post.) "Wherever you are, count your blessings, collect gifts, count it all joy. Because there’s no way to enter into His courts but through the gates of Thanksgiving — and it’s only in His presence is fullness of Joy!" She offers "A Year of Graces" free printable on her website where you can write down (or download a free app) to keep track of your blessings. There is even a child's version to encourage your children to be grateful.
I'm excited about studying Joy and making it part of my every day life. Hope you'll join me or pray about what the Lord would have for you in 2012!
Janelle
Side note: This is not endorsed by SRBC. I have not read her book. I do know it references non-KJV Scripture -- I always keep my Bible along side a book like that so I can look up the references in the KJV.
Showing posts with label From the Heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label From the Heart. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Setting Time Aside
Life. Is. Busy. It just is. I'm beginning to think there is no way around that either. However, I do believe that we have time for what is important to us.
Lately, I've been studying child rearing resources (which I hope to do a post on soon). And all that has got me thinking. In order to be a good parent, I first have to start with a good relationship with my Heavenly Father AND have a solid relationship with my husband. Seems like in recent months, I've been flailing around like a fish out of water when it comes to handling motherhood. I've got my priorities all out of whack!
I'd like take a minute to focus on the husband/wife relationship . . . We need to purposefully set aside some time with our spouse. Whether it's a few minutes each evening to share a bowl of ice cream together after the kids go to bed or getting away for a date night every once in a while if you are so blessed to have the opportunity. Make the time -- pick one night a week to start if that's all the time you can take. It won't happen on it's own. You have to do it deliberately. Sometimes it may not be something you can plan ahead for. You may need to be spontaneous!
I'm only just learning how important this is. And it's not always easy to get time alone. For example the other night, I had just driven back from Indiana (the state, not county). The kids were going to VBS that evening, and it occurred to me that my hubby and I might have a little "free" time just the two of us. So I took a few extra minutes while readying the kids for VBS to set a nice table outside (in case he got home before I return from dropping off the kids). No sooner had I gotten the table set, it started to sprinkle outside. I just prayed our dinner wouldn't be rained out and headed over to church with the kids. It seemed to rain harder the further from home I got. I kept praying it would stop at least by the time I was back home. I wasn't going to let it ruffle my feathers (which is difficult for me -- I'm a planner)! I wasn't very far down the road and got a text from my hubby saying he was going to be 45 minutes later than he had originally thought. My first thought was, "Our time together is dwindling away!" But again, I calmed myself down and wouldn't let it bother me.
In the end, it all worked out -- Praise the Lord! I had put a Post-It note on the front door directing him to the back deck which he commented on and seemed to like. The rain was just a quick sprinkle passing through. It actually started sprinkling again just as we needed to head back inside to retrieve the kids.
It was nice to connect a little in the middle of a busy week. It was so nice to calmly eat dinner and not have to listen to the chaos that is sometimes present when children are around or cut food for three other people before sitting down to eat my cold dinner -- you know how that is, I'm sure. I'm so glad the Lord brought the idea to mind and that He allowed it to come together. Times like this make me feel better, and make me feel like I can face another day with my kids (which sometimes can become discouraging).
All that to say, daily work on your relationship with the Lord. Think of little things that will be a boost to your marriage relationship. But remember, you'll have to purpose in your heart and mind to set aside the time.
Lately, I've been studying child rearing resources (which I hope to do a post on soon). And all that has got me thinking. In order to be a good parent, I first have to start with a good relationship with my Heavenly Father AND have a solid relationship with my husband. Seems like in recent months, I've been flailing around like a fish out of water when it comes to handling motherhood. I've got my priorities all out of whack!
I'd like take a minute to focus on the husband/wife relationship . . . We need to purposefully set aside some time with our spouse. Whether it's a few minutes each evening to share a bowl of ice cream together after the kids go to bed or getting away for a date night every once in a while if you are so blessed to have the opportunity. Make the time -- pick one night a week to start if that's all the time you can take. It won't happen on it's own. You have to do it deliberately. Sometimes it may not be something you can plan ahead for. You may need to be spontaneous!
I'm only just learning how important this is. And it's not always easy to get time alone. For example the other night, I had just driven back from Indiana (the state, not county). The kids were going to VBS that evening, and it occurred to me that my hubby and I might have a little "free" time just the two of us. So I took a few extra minutes while readying the kids for VBS to set a nice table outside (in case he got home before I return from dropping off the kids). No sooner had I gotten the table set, it started to sprinkle outside. I just prayed our dinner wouldn't be rained out and headed over to church with the kids. It seemed to rain harder the further from home I got. I kept praying it would stop at least by the time I was back home. I wasn't going to let it ruffle my feathers (which is difficult for me -- I'm a planner)! I wasn't very far down the road and got a text from my hubby saying he was going to be 45 minutes later than he had originally thought. My first thought was, "Our time together is dwindling away!" But again, I calmed myself down and wouldn't let it bother me.
In the end, it all worked out -- Praise the Lord! I had put a Post-It note on the front door directing him to the back deck which he commented on and seemed to like. The rain was just a quick sprinkle passing through. It actually started sprinkling again just as we needed to head back inside to retrieve the kids.
It was nice to connect a little in the middle of a busy week. It was so nice to calmly eat dinner and not have to listen to the chaos that is sometimes present when children are around or cut food for three other people before sitting down to eat my cold dinner -- you know how that is, I'm sure. I'm so glad the Lord brought the idea to mind and that He allowed it to come together. Times like this make me feel better, and make me feel like I can face another day with my kids (which sometimes can become discouraging).
All that to say, daily work on your relationship with the Lord. Think of little things that will be a boost to your marriage relationship. But remember, you'll have to purpose in your heart and mind to set aside the time.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Blessing of Children
Someone shared this song with me while riding in their car. Another friend posted a link to it online today. Thought it might be an encouragement to some of you young mothers.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Baby Steps
This may replace the recipe this week since I have to work with my husband tomorrow and that schedule wrecks havoc with almost everything . . .
This year the Lord has given me a verse as a theme in my personal life. Isaiah 26:3 ~ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. My thoughts on this are that if I stay focused on Him even if bad days happen or circumstances aren't what I had planned, I can still have perfect peace and be happy in the midst of it.
Last week, my husband had offered to take all three kids to Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday! Half kidding I told him he could take my grocery list and do the shopping too! He said, "No problem!" As you can imagine, this would make any wife/mother's day!! Long story short, I had to go along. Still thought things would work out as he would go to Chuck E. Cheese, and I would do the grocery shopping. We ended up leaving way later than planned due to circumstances out of our control. We decided to eat out with a gift card we received for Christmas. The wait was 45 minutes so we ran a couple errands and arrived back at the restaurant 15 minutes before our wait should have been up. We ended up waiting 30 minutes extra for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes -- way past our usual eating time. This further delayed our schedule. The hubby's contact acted up. He wasn't able to see out of that eye and had a headache from that and lack of eating. I ended up grabbing a couple things I needed from the store and drove us home -- sans Chuck E. Cheese. The kids were good sports and were fairly understanding. Later before bed, I could tell my oldest was a little down. I asked her what was bothering her. She said she was disappointed they didn't get to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I told her what my plans were supposed to be for the day and asked how she thought I would feel. Because I kept my cool and didn't have a bad attitude (which wouldn't be my usual response), I was able to teach her the right way to deal with that situation. I was so thankful and praised the Lord!
Another instance where God helped me . . . Sunday mornings are hectic to say the least. My husband has started driving separately to set up his Sunday School class. Sometimes that isn't the best scenario for me, and I end up yelling and frustrated. So here I was clench-jawed, murmuring, driving to church! A couple miles into my drive, I remembered reading about someone that had woken up a couple days ago to find their 20-month old child had died in the night. The Lord immeditely began to melt my hardened heart, and I began thanking Him for my children and almost every other blessing in my life. Right there in the van, I began apologizing to my kids and to my husband. I felt so much better, lighter and happy!
Baby steps are how I'm going to have to do this. I've never been one to do anything cold turkey. Take for instance this:
These are cookies I made, let the girls ice and served to company! For those of you that know the perfectionist in me, you know this is a big deal. Can't say I didn't encourage the girls to let everyone know they had part by icing them though! I'm learning to let go and give my kids more experiences. It does take more time, effort and clean up! It's exciting and sad at the same time to see how proud the kids are when the do something. My oldest had earned herself a couple days of total supervision last week and was to stay with me at all times. I had her help with dinner. All the poor girl did was cut the kielbasa into slices and set the table, but you should have heard her telling everyone, "Guess who cut the kielbasa?" "I cut the kielbasa!" Wish I would have learned this lesson a long time ago for my kids sake. Makes me pretty happy and proud too!
I'm still a work in progress. Praying daily I can live by this verse! Hope this gives encouragement to you as you read this!
This year the Lord has given me a verse as a theme in my personal life. Isaiah 26:3 ~ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. My thoughts on this are that if I stay focused on Him even if bad days happen or circumstances aren't what I had planned, I can still have perfect peace and be happy in the midst of it.
Last week, my husband had offered to take all three kids to Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday! Half kidding I told him he could take my grocery list and do the shopping too! He said, "No problem!" As you can imagine, this would make any wife/mother's day!! Long story short, I had to go along. Still thought things would work out as he would go to Chuck E. Cheese, and I would do the grocery shopping. We ended up leaving way later than planned due to circumstances out of our control. We decided to eat out with a gift card we received for Christmas. The wait was 45 minutes so we ran a couple errands and arrived back at the restaurant 15 minutes before our wait should have been up. We ended up waiting 30 minutes extra for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes -- way past our usual eating time. This further delayed our schedule. The hubby's contact acted up. He wasn't able to see out of that eye and had a headache from that and lack of eating. I ended up grabbing a couple things I needed from the store and drove us home -- sans Chuck E. Cheese. The kids were good sports and were fairly understanding. Later before bed, I could tell my oldest was a little down. I asked her what was bothering her. She said she was disappointed they didn't get to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I told her what my plans were supposed to be for the day and asked how she thought I would feel. Because I kept my cool and didn't have a bad attitude (which wouldn't be my usual response), I was able to teach her the right way to deal with that situation. I was so thankful and praised the Lord!
Another instance where God helped me . . . Sunday mornings are hectic to say the least. My husband has started driving separately to set up his Sunday School class. Sometimes that isn't the best scenario for me, and I end up yelling and frustrated. So here I was clench-jawed, murmuring, driving to church! A couple miles into my drive, I remembered reading about someone that had woken up a couple days ago to find their 20-month old child had died in the night. The Lord immeditely began to melt my hardened heart, and I began thanking Him for my children and almost every other blessing in my life. Right there in the van, I began apologizing to my kids and to my husband. I felt so much better, lighter and happy!
Baby steps are how I'm going to have to do this. I've never been one to do anything cold turkey. Take for instance this:
These are cookies I made, let the girls ice and served to company! For those of you that know the perfectionist in me, you know this is a big deal. Can't say I didn't encourage the girls to let everyone know they had part by icing them though! I'm learning to let go and give my kids more experiences. It does take more time, effort and clean up! It's exciting and sad at the same time to see how proud the kids are when the do something. My oldest had earned herself a couple days of total supervision last week and was to stay with me at all times. I had her help with dinner. All the poor girl did was cut the kielbasa into slices and set the table, but you should have heard her telling everyone, "Guess who cut the kielbasa?" "I cut the kielbasa!" Wish I would have learned this lesson a long time ago for my kids sake. Makes me pretty happy and proud too!
I'm still a work in progress. Praying daily I can live by this verse! Hope this gives encouragement to you as you read this!
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