September 7th 2010

Today
My four year old has no real concept of time yet. "Is today this day?" She will ask me. "Yes,"I respond, "Until tomorrow!"...a look of confusion crosses her face as her brows dip in frustration. In her world the term yesterday can be applied to any event that happened in the past, and the term tomorrow encompasses anything that will happen in the future. I love the sweet innocence of her view of time. I wish I could hold on to that a bit more myself. I think what makes it so precious to me is the freedom from worry that she brings with her.

Her needs are met.

She knows she's loved.

She has no real worries in life.

To think that the time of eternity is a concept we don't fully understand takes my breath away. "Abba, will we be with You forever?" I ask. "Yes," He responds, "Until eternity!"... a look of confusion crosses my face and my brow dips in frustration. In my world things are finite. There is a beginning, there is an end. Not so with my amazing God. He goes beyond the bounds of my mind. He wants me to have sweet innocence in my view of time. Why? Because it brings freedom.

My needs are met.

I know that I'm loved.

In Him I have no real worries.

Oh the rich blessings and lessons I learn from my precious little ones.

"Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Matthew 18:3

I hope you laugh.

If laughter is the best medicine than I am the picture of health today.

Precious moments

This morning, my daughter rose before seven. It's the rule that she stay in bed until the clock says 7:00. "Mama, I just wanted to cuddle you." How can I argue with that. I had hoped that after a quick shower I would have time to sit and pray and focus before beginning breakfast. And so I did, but instead with my first born child curled up in my lap. I pulled down the book of prayers from the mantle, and together we prayed, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the Lord." Psalm 118:26
There is no better way to start the day, than walking with Him, and cuddling her...

What I Learned This Week~ Leadership

I don't know who first said it, but I've heard numerous people say that

"Leadership is done best by example."

Last night my children lead me spiritually. As we sat down to do our evening prayers I read them a quick story from the "Book of Virtues". A new tradition we recently started. It's a book my mother used to read to me when I was a child.


With chapters on: Self-Discipline, Compassion, Responsibility, Friendship, Work, Courage, Perseverance, Honesty, Loyalty and Faith, it's a book I can't afford to NOT read to my kids.


One of the first time we sat down to read I tried to explain the virtues in terms my five year old and my three year old could understand. I compared self-discipline to self-control as they know the fruits of the spirit well. My three year old (Noraa) said sweetly, "Oh, self-control! That's what I'm working on!"


But, back to last night. I read a poem about perseverance explaining to my girls what it means to not give up. I gave an example (them saying they "can't" clean up the toys) and it seemed to sink in a bit. When we said prayers Grace asked me to pray perseverance for her.
To desire virtues...lesson #1.

When it was their turn to pray, I was touched. I told Noraa to say to God what was on her heart and on her mind: she prayed "You are on my heart and You are on my mind, and I love you."...lesson #2.

As my children continued on in their prayers I caught sweet sentences amidst the mumblings. Things like:
"Jesus please open up my forehead and come into my heart, then close my forehead and lock it and throw away the key so you can never get out."... lesson #3

"Jesus please help me to not use the word can't, because I know that You told me that I can."...lesson #4.

Oh the lessons I learn each day from my children!
Thank you Lord for blessing me with "little leaders"!

For more What I learned This Week, check out the host page @Musings of a Housewife

This week hosted by From Inmates to Playdates.

Fall

Today's morning activity was cracking walnuts. The Church we attend was once a walnut grove and still has over a dozen walnut trees that produce a TON of walnuts each year. (Okay so maybe not a ton literally, but you get the idea!) After the storm a few weeks ago Aaron called me and asked if the kids and I had time to pick up some of the walnuts that had blown down from the trees. We went and in a matter of 30 minutes had a paper grocery bag FULL. I've never picked up walnuts before and I have to say, it was pretty gross. The kids had a good time however stepping on the slimy black "soft shells" revealing the harder shell underneath.

Today I finally got around to pulling out the hammer and mallet and setting to the task of "shelling" the walnuts. What a fun activity! After a while we actually got the hang of things and were able to crack them without completely smashing the walnut!
We talked about how great the design of the walnut is and how smart God was to create it the way He did.

We also talked about all the fun things we are going to make with our walnuts, including, but not limited to cookies and brownies. (I can't wait to candy some for my salads!) Grey didn't care for the taste of them raw, actually neither did Noraa, but they were great helpers today in spite of their dislike. Even Sam enjoyed himself as he was given full permission to bang away with his little red hammer!

He made me laugh out loud as he tried so intently to hit the actual walnut. Every time it escaped him he grew frustrated until I finally gave him some that were already cracked in half and stayed put enough to hit properly. Such a boy!

So what did I learn from this adventure? Simply this: it may be easier to do it myself, I may loose a few walnuts in the process, but letting them help me sure made for a morning of fun and memories that will last!

Little Pitchers

I'm not sure where the saying came from, but I heard a friend of mine say to her husband "Little pitchers have big ears", simply meaning "Be careful what you say dear, the children are listening". As a mother of three precious little souls, this is on my mind frequently. That is to say, every time I say something that they repeat and I hear the crassness of it said in their sweet little voices and I am convicted. They are such sponges, and I'm amazed at what they pick up and where they get it from. Most of the time, I fear they get things from me. Today my oldest said to the "twins" "Okay guys, we are almost to where we are going, so please just stop arguing. Knock it off you two!" The inflection and timing were perfect. My husband and I looked at one another with raised eyebrows and a knowing gaze. ~sigh~ Where did she hear that one?
As I refine this blog to be my thoughts on being a "homemaker in training", I hope to do so with much prayer. I will seek to share money saving tips and ways to make good use of your precious time and in thus being the "good steward" that God has called us to be; but more than that I hope to learn for myself by sharing the ways God is helping me turn our frazzled house into "a home".