Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Grace in the Moment


                                                                       Surrender to what is.

                Let GO of what was….  Have faith in what will be.
  I have this little saying written down in my journal, sometimes when change whips at us it can be difficult to remember that God knows every circumstance in our lives.  One thing my Dad always says to me is “What goes in ugly comes out ugly.” For the longest time I never really understood exactly what he was pointing to but he seemed to say it if I was upset at something.  All he was telling me was every time you choose to let go of something you make more room in your heart for God to fill and in turn a cleaner affection for other people. 
Everyone potty trains naked with winter boots right?
I was watching my little ones play this morning, they had this elaborate world of make believe going.  The sounds of their play was precious, I often say to myself don't forget what this moment feels like.  It’s why I blog, because likely I’ll forget. Anyway my darling little Hannah got upset and decided the best way to deal was to bite her sister with all her might.  Oh dear ~ Toddlers need I say more.  After taking care of Rachael and then Hannah everything settled down and playing continued I started to think about how we can expect so much more out of our children that we ourselves are able to handle. Children are not strong enough or firm enough in their convictions to stand against temptation, and I know for me it’s an upwards battle to make the right choices.  How do I teach my girls to let their emotions follow not lead when I myself am learning the same principle?
I want my children to treat others with kindness, showing love to one another. I want them to feel loved an accepted to be patient with each other.  I want them to catch a critical spirit and rebuke it before it does damage to their spirit causing them to feel insecure. I want them to not fall into the comparison trap, that they will know from the bottom of their bellies that God our Father WANTS THEM. That He made them and delights in who He made them to be.




I want to make every effort to train them to see God’s gifts in everyday trials.  Most of all I want to be their role model, I need Jesus’s help daily to remember they ARE indeed watching. I need Him to change me into the godly woman that He longs for me to be. The only sure way I know to do that is to love Jesus with everything in me.



Thursday, January 24, 2013

A Night out Tubing

 
An opportunity came up this week to go to the ski hill with a couple local churches to go tubing, it was such an excellent price I jumped at it.
I didn’t bother even telling the children until we were eating dinner, I just love surprising them.  
I took along our little infant sled and pulled baby up and down little hills for almost an hour until I was sure we were both freezing. So we took off to warm up in the lodge to sit by the fire.  


 
Jude (3 ½) surprises me with his bravery. He had no trouble being a big boy trucking up to the tow and going down the huge tubing park. He looked so tiny sitting in the tube with his little head poking out. He would squeal with excitement once at the bottom. I would stand there and my belly ached from laughing watching him.



 
Rachael (5) was a little more nervous it took a little pressure from little brother showing her up. She would have none of that happening. I could tell she was scared with tears in her eyes; everyone around the fire was cheering her on as the man hooked up her tube to be towed up. First run down she was sold! I didn’t see her for the rest of the night.


The big kids found friends from church and AWANA and linked up all their tubes to go down. I had a difficult time juggling my camera and Hannah to get any great pictures.   I’m sure there will be other times, the kids continue their school ski and snowboard lessons this Wednesday. 

Friday, January 18, 2013

excited

   

Already this year the Holy Spirit has made Himself known.  Everyday I wake up amazed and excited of what is to come.
The word delight rings through my head,

 
            I choose to delight in forgiveness and love deeply.
 I can discover a discipline that lies just beyond what I'm capable of and grab hold of God's strength to bridge the gap. I can recognize the beauty of humility and crave the intimacy with God it unleashes.I can rest though harsh winds blow, I will be held.Goodbye to my remnants, my rationalizations, shards, and tendencies. This is not who I am nor who I was created to be. Goodbye to shallow love, sharp words, self-pity, and suspicious fears.

 In my bible study group we are going through the book of James, it says in James 1:18 we are his prized possession. I have been really letting that sink deep with in.

I keep thinking about how you can't go backwards, I have tasted DEEP satisfaction with God, any cheep imitation just isn't going to do. I have witnessed too much, I have seen miracles, the impossible has happened, living water has filled the dry places and I want MORE. More of him than I have ever have. My flesh fails me daily  but my soul longs for him.


On a different note my amazing husband planned a weekend away for him and I at a resort. We have never been alone together in 15 years over night.   It's exciting to be able to start a new chapter in our life.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

  My Blog hasn't been working all that great the past couple days which is why there are no new posts. For some odd reason it won't let me post any photo's.

The temperature did a big dip this last week so that keeps everyone indoors with a little bit of cabin fever.  The children have been passing the afternoons with the audio CD of The Hobbit.

We all are looking forward to music lessons with Miss Jane starting up again and AWANA.

 I had plans to write a typical New Years post of all my goals for 2013 and then I had a change of heart on what looking at the year ahead was going to look like. I was excited to look at the calender months ahead with nothing on them no plans yet.
Every year I set out a couple things that I would like to see myself improve on but this year my focus isn't so much on myself but on my children.  Which is like working on myself because they are an extension of me.  I want to pour myself into them more than ever this year - I really want to see them excel with piano and violin this year, we have arranged for a few more private lessons to get them really going. I want to keep them busy with their studies and teaching them to have a drive with out mom being the main push.  Even right down to my little Hannah is having her little teaching time of pointing to numbers and letters telling me what they are.