I love when I come across a picture in my files that seems to beg for a bible verse and this was one of those. I took it a week or so ago at a park near our house. I love the way the sun is streaming in across the tranquil waters. The ducks appear to be quite content and all seems to be well in the world. Peace.
I've been having a couple of extra challenging weeks with my passionate 2 year old. She has been testing me with incessant tantrums, potty training failure and nap resistance. Basically she has all but, turned into a new human being and quite frankly I am missing the pleasant child that I gave up my job to stay home with. teehee.
It is in the challenging seasons of life that we often get more discouraged and question our abilities (or in my situation my parenting skills). Am I disciplining her right? Am I doing enough to bring out the best in her? Am I loving her enough? How come she doesn't know how to read Shakespeare yet like those other two year olds? Am I patient enough? Have I been teaching her enough about Jesus? Why is she dead set on chucking a block at that kid's head every time they want to play with her? Is TV frying her brain? Or perhaps the TV should be on more often so that I take breaks from her craziness? Does she get enough play dates...or maybe she is getting too many play dates? Blah Blah blahgity blah. And no, blahgity is not a word. I am fond of making up new words from time to time. Thank you for wondering. ;)
I put my little one down for her nap today and took my ever growing angst to the Lord in prayer. God is always so faithful to realign my thoughts in truth and calm the stormy waters in my soul. After meeting with Him in prayer I'm left with peace. I also become keenly aware of the fact that I am so glad that I am not God. I can't imagine having billions of whiny adults driving me crazy all day (and fortunately we don't drive Him crazy)! One whiny two year old is more than enough. I am also reminded of how patient my Father in Heaven is with me and with all of His kids and I am so thankful for such a perfect parenting example. The more I look to Him for parenting advice (or life advice) the more the chaos to the right and to the left of me begin to fade. I know I don't have to have it all figured out. Sometimes I just need the big guy upstairs to remind me that He has already taken care of it all and I can rest in His peace.
Side note: I am totally aware that the 2's and 3's and 4's and 15's are all full of new challenges and drama. My little girl is behaving right on cue for a 2 year old. Ultimately, I am the one trying to learn how to behave as my child's behavior will ever be changing. Thanks for supporting me in this wild journey called parenthood!
I thoroughly enjoy gardening, landscaping and yard work. I get great satisfaction out of pushing a lawn mower and watching the grass get shorter, pulling weeds, planting flowers, trees or whatever, watering and edging along the fence line. My hubby happens to enjoy these things also so it is no surprise that our little one has taken notice of her parent's love for the yard. If given the chance she'll gladly get her little hands dirty to help me plant some flowers, pull weeks (which usually ends up being a chunk of our lawn), or water the plants (which usually entails soaking me unexpectedly...not so fun). She is such a great little helper and I think she's going to be a yard lover just like her Mommy and Daddy.
I hope I can teach my little girl that in the same way that we tend to and care for our flowers and plants that we need to tend to and care for our spirit. I hope I can teach her that praying and reading her bible is like watering a thirsty flower and it will refresh her and give her strength. I hope I can show her through example that in the same way we pull the weeds in our garden that try to hinder the plants growth, we need to pull the weeds in our lives that hinder our growth and spiritual health. I hope that I can teach her to pull weeds of fear. Pull weeds of hatred. Pull weeds of gossip, envy and strife. I hope I can teach her to pull weeds of pride and of shame to make room for the fruits of the spirit to grow and thrive in her. It is not easy to hold on to these virtues or on to faith at times. The weeds are always popping up, the dry seasons come, the storms beat down and the pests attack. When those times come for my little one, I hope she will remember that she is never alone. The gardener will always be there to protect and strengthen her. The gardener never gives up on His garden and under his care all things thrive. Jesus.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galations 5:22-23
"For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Isaiah 61:11(NKJV)
I love writing a little list of things that I would like to accomplish at the start of each year. Sometimes I write the list out but, more often than not the list sits in my head like a dream waiting to come to life. This year I am determined to write the list down. I've read that when you write goals down and keep them in a place where you will see them often, they are more likely to come to fruition. I will save that fun little list for another post, but for now I will share a new tradition that is near and dear to my heart.
Several years ago when we still lived in Southern California, a friend of ours hosted a huge party at their house. We ate tons of good food, played lots of games, talked for hours and ate more food but, before midnight everyone came together in the living room. We turned down the lights for less distractions, let candles light the room and then we prayed together as friends. It really blessed me and I hope to carry on that tradition for years to come! I find that starting each year off with a prayer of thanksgiving for the past year's many blessings and a prayer request for the upcoming year and all the unknowns that lie ahead to be the best way of celebrating the New Year. I can think of nothing better than having a chat with the creator of the universe before stepping my feet into 2012.
My Prayer of thanks to God For 2011
Lord, first and foremost I thank you for loving me. Your love sustained me and my family this difficult year. Thank you for taking care of my husband and for giving him the strength to face each broken day. Thank you for what you have already done for him and thank you for what you will do for him yet. Thank you for being the glue in our marriage. You remind us to serve each other selflessly and to forgive each other endlessly and that is what carries us through. Thank you for my husband Lord. In spite of it all he is still my best friend and I have learned so much from him. Thank you abundantly for our darling daughter, Daisy. Every single day I find myself in awe of her. She brought me laughter and warmed my heart on so many dark days this year. You knew I would need her to press on and to keep my focus on something other than myself. She is beautiful beyond description and I am constantly growing in my understanding of your love for me as I grow in my understanding of my love for my daughter. Thank you for the miracle of life and the honor of being another human beings caretaker!
Thank you Lord for providing for us this year. Your provision spared our home and my sanity for that matter. You provided for us in so many unexpected ways; through family and friends, medical reimbursements, work, photography jobs, an old savings and in just plain miraculous ways. I stand in awe of you Lord.
Thank you Lord for my Momma. What a priceless gift you gave me in her! Her tireless encouragement and faithful ear carried me through one of the toughest years of my life. Thank you for blessing our friendship and keeping us close even in distance. Thank you for using her to remind me of your promises and your will for my life, my marriage and my family. Thank you for speaking truth through her and holding me steady. The best things in life truly cannot be bought but, you give them all freely. Thank you!
Thank you for all of my family and friends. So many gifts, words of encouragement, e-mails, blog comments of support, hugs and coffee dates. I am blessed beyond measure to have so much love in my life!
Thank you Lord for this season with my husband. As much as it pains me to endure it I know that you have been teaching, stretching and growing me in ways I never would have known otherwise. As your word states, "It was good for me to be afflicted so I might learn of your decrees." Psalm 119:17 I am clay in your hands Lord and I know that you only make beautiful things. I thank you for the beautiful work you have and are doing in me and my family.
My Prayer Requests to God for 2012
Honestly, many, many selfish things immediately come to my mind to ask of you this upcoming year ...and they always do but, as I sit here and think about the fact that selfish requests tend to only breed more selfish desires in my naturally selfish nature...I come back in a full circle and realize that what I need most in 2012 is more of you in my life Lord and much, much less of me. I need more of your patience and love so that I can give more to my husband and daughter. I need more of your strength to serve without expecting anything in return. I need more of your peace to continue on in the storm and not be swept away by fleeting and unstable emotions. I need more of your joy so that I can dance in the rain and praise you come what may. I need more of your truth to cast out the lies that try to encamp in my soul and weigh me down. I need your victory for my husband's health and for our family. I need you Lord....only you. Everything in my being tries to tell me that I need things other than you to be fulfilled and to be at peace....but, deep in my depths I absolutely know that you are the answer to everything I long for. Find me here Lord and let's rock 2012 together. In Jesus name, Amen.
“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use." -Earl Nightingale (from guest post)
Hi friends! I had a neat opportunity to be a guest blogger for Su Casa's awesome Design blog! My article was titled Inpsiration for the New Year and was posted today, YEAH! If you wanna read it (which you totally should:) click here. Thanks again Esther (who manages the company blog) for asking me to guest post. It was such a treat!
And I cannot do a post without a picture... so this is me and my happy little girl at our first Christmas parade together in early December. More on this to come but, doncha just love her pointed toes. She has done that along with the scrunchy face since she was a little girl when she gets excited. I'm so thankful for my little peanut:).
It's a crazy time of year...crazy and wonderful. Presents to buy and things we can't find so we begin to search at a frenzied pace as Christmas rapidly approaches. Lights go up and houses are decorated to reflect the style of the family abiding there. Parties, special church productions, caroling, big dinners and lots of cleaning and lots more family time. Your holiday days might be abundantly stressful or brimming with cheer but, no doubt we are all quite busy regardless.
Today I went to the post office to mail Christmas presents, saw that the line was insanely long and knew it would be a nightmare to hold 6 individually wrapped gifts and a toddler so I went to the drug store first to get a cheap yellow envelope to stuff all the presents into one, easier to manage package. Then when packaging the presents, the sticky part of the envelope tore the wrapping clean off the present smashed on top. I looked at the destroyed wrapping and all I could do was shrug...there was no way I was going to go home and do this all over again. Family usually understands these things:). We went back to the Post Office and Daisy was so cute fluttering her little lashes and gazing at strangers with her beautiful brown eyes. She kept all the fidgety people in line quite entertained and that was nice. Then from there we went to the grocery store and I got a few groceries while Daisy drove around in the giant car cart which she loves and when we were done and the car was loaded up in the parking lot she didn't want to get out of her car cart and then she insisted that I give her my keys so that she could better "drive" her fake car. In that moment, I swear I heard the word linger whisper through my heart as I stood there leaning on the shopping cart return fence.
Don't forget to linger and soak up these moments especially in all the business of life. Savor the way the wind is whisking your daughter's golden hair around her cherubim face. Soak up her scrunchy face smile and the way her eyes turn into little slits when she grins bigger than her face can contain. Let your heart be warmed to it's core by the friendly little person that sits before you waving at every stranger pulling into the parking lot and then giggling when they wave back. Linger. So I did just that and spent the next 15 minutes letting my gal play in her car cart in the parking lot. She will be 18 and graduating high school in the blink of an eye and will I even be able to remember these precious moments? Will I remember her soft chubby cheeks that I could kiss all day long. Will I remember the way she says, "I nuv nu" for I love you and the way she screams with excitement when the blow up Santa pops out of the chimney at Wal-Mart? Will I remember that when she is scared she holds tightly to my leg in public places and looks up at me frequently to make sure she has the right leg...lol. Will I remember that she points to the ground and sternly yells at me, "mommy down," to join her on the floor for play time? Will I remember that we spent every warm day outside this Fall because I wanted to watch my little girl push her baby doll and stroller up and down the street one more time before the winter shuts us inside and she grows up even more over night.
Linger. Soak. Gaze. Take it all in. Observe.Breath In. Breath Out. The whole world can spin around us but, if we take the time to be still a little more this holiday season we just might remember it more, enjoy it more and have even more special memories to think back on.
*Her hair is getting so long and it got so light this Fall!
"Mom, I'm trying to watch The Backyardigans here do you mind?"
Daisy had a good ol' time chucking ornaments across our dining room when Joey's co-worker visited us and let her play on the table. It was pretty funny to watch the two of them. Daisy was smitten with her by the time she left. It was great to meet you and that cheesecake was yum! :)
Could she be any happier?
Daisy has cut 2 of her 4, two year molars..(that was a lot of numbers so I hope you follow:). She is constantly chewing on her fingers and biting down funny on her jaw as this picture indicates.
More fun playing with ornaments with Daddy and his co-worker. Thank goodness for hearty ornaments that don't break easily when fast ball pitched across the room!
