We Don't Always See the Fruit

At least not right away.  In this journey of motherhood with young children, so often the seeds we sow do not bear fruit for many many years.  We pour and pour out of ourselves praying that God will use our teaching, modeling, and even mistakes for good in our children's lives.  We pray that one day all of the seeds we have sown will bear fruit. 

But sometimes we do see fruit right away and in the moment.  These times can encourage us to continue on with perseverance. 

Scott and I really want for prayer to be a normal often done thing for our kids.  We don't want it to be any big deal for them to hear us praying out loud for them.  We want them to learn to readily pray for each other.  We know that for this to be normal when they are older, then we need to be doing that from the get go. 

So anyway, the other day Caeden slipped in the bathtub and busted his lip.  Scott and I whisked Caeden out of the bathroom to get some ice.  We happened to go back in just in time to hear Micaiah praying for his brother.  Unprompted and on his own.  Because Caeden needed it.  Because he knew it was important.  It makes me tear up right now just thinking about it.

I'm not trying to bragg on my child.  I just want to remember this sweet moment being that it was the first time he has ever done this on his own.  I also just want to remind everyone to persevere and keep on teaching your kiddos; there will be fruit.  If not today, then tomorrow, or the next.  But it will come.

  Loving on each other

Goals 2011

Randmon picture of a cute boy brushing his teeth!

I know I can be a bit wordy :) Sorry. You can either bare with me...or not!

So I found my reading list from last year that I had misplaced during the move. It was neatly tucked within the pages of a book I ended up deciding not to read. I noticed it just before taking the book, along with many others, to sell. I read 18 books last year. For me, that's pretty good. But then I realized that I read a huge chunk of them at the beginning of the year.....when Micaiah was still taking 4 2-hour naps a day. By the spring he was only taking 3 naps a day, and then over the summer he was down to 2 2-hour naps, but there was still plenty of time to read. I noticed, however, that my reading amount took a ginormous nosedive around October. That was about when we shortened Micaiah's morning nap to an hour and then he still took a 2 hour afternoon nap. And...he was beginning to become more mobile. :) Now his morning nap is down to just 45 minutes, and he takes a 2-2.5 hour afternoon nap, but when he's awake I can no longer just lay him on a blanket with some toys and sit up on the couch and relax and read. He is walking....and even starting to pick up some speed....all over the place! With that in mind, and knowing I'm going to have a newborn alongside of Micaiah this year, perhaps my reading list for 2011 is a little ambitious. Oh well, at least I have a goal. I'll just roll over to 2012 whatever I don't finish!

A few other random goals I have for the year:

*Try making homemade bread again. (I finally found success with a homemade whole wheat recipe, but have been turned off of the smell of it since I found out I was pregnant. I need a honey wheat or white/wheat recipe I like)

*Learn to sew some simple things like pillow covers, curtains, or a straight lined bag

*Try making homemade dishwasher detergent (I tried a recipe in the past, and it didn't clean our dishes. I have a new one to try out, but I'll wait until we have our own place)

*Do some container gardening (I had full intentions of doing a bed garden last year, but we ended up moving, so that became a wash. Since we're living in someone else's house for now, containers are going to be the way for me to go this year!)

*Complete reading through my chronological Bible

*Make exercise a priority and do it consistently

*Get a workable budget set up for us and begin to utilize cash only for a few of our categories of spending

*Start a “nutritional goals” notebook or file where I can tuck healthy substitutes/alternatives recipes, goals, & articles that I've found and continue to find to help me continue to slowly & steadily make changes to our over-processed, unwhole foods diet :)

Recipes to Try:
This is a neverending list! But off the top of my head, I’d love to try some new recipes in the crockpot and make it work for me. I've never been very successful with cooking meat in it, but I am determined to figure out some yummy things to use it for! I also want to try scones, chocolate pudding zucchini muffins, homemade yogurt, and homemade pigs in a blanket.

It feels good to have some goals set in place for the year. Not that I'll do them all or do them all well, but as the saying goes "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it everytime." I want to at least have something to aim at. For me personally, it helps me to live more intentionally and purposefully.

Anything you're wanting to do in 2011?

Who are you?

So who are you? What is your identity? I define myself as being first a child of God. Second I am a wife to Scott. Third, a mom to Micaiah and Caeden. Fourth, a full-time homemaker. Third, a daughter, sister, friend, among other things.

Is it important that we prioritize our roles in life? What does it matter if we put more emphasis on one over another and if the role with the most emphasis changes?

Thankfully, God has laid out for us in His word what the order should be. In Deuteronomy 6:5 He tells us, "You shall love the LORD your God with all of your heart..." We know our relationship with the Lord should be the first and foremost relationship of our lives.

In Titus 2, Paul instructs Pastor Titus on what to teach the older women in his church to teach the younger women: "...and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled (emphasis mine). You can see the progression of relationships here. First husband, then children, then home.

Recently, God has revealed to me the misplacing of my roles. They have been all jumbled up. I don't even know what order they have been! All I know is that where I SHOULD find my true identity is not where I've been finding it. I have been defining myself by my other, less important roles. (And don't get me wrong, being a wife, mom, and homemaker are hugely important roles. They are what I spend my life doing right now. They just should not be the main source of my purpose in life.)

Since living with Scott's parents, my roles as homemaker and mother have shifted immensely. I am still mommy to Micaiah, and nothing can or ever will change that. But the way in which my role plays out is so different. Now there are 4 people sitting around all day to do what was once my job. (Both of his parents are retired, and since Scott's not working right now...that makes 4 of us!) I didn't anticipate how hard that would be for me and much I would miss "the old days" of it being just us. I chose to be a stay at home mom for a reason, and it's just not the same as it used to be.

The same goes for my role as a homemaker. I am responsible for helping out here and keeping our part running smoothly. But it is so very, very different from having your own home to keep. I'm just not needed in quite the same way. So like I said, how my roles play out has shifted.

When our roles shift with the changing seasons of life, we will be shifted right along with them....IF we define ourselves as most importantly being first a homemaker or mother or other role. Kids grow and leave the nest. Jobs change. It is only when we define ourselves most importantly by the Lord, our rock, that we will not be moved.

Had my priorities and roles been in the correct place, I would have not been shaken in this way. There is one thing that is needed. One who is THE ROCK. Rocks don't move. They don't shift and change.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.

How thankful I am that our Lord does not change. How thankful I am that I can stand secure and NOT be rocked as the seasons of my life change and my roles shift for a time. If only I can be sure to keep my identity in the correct place. May I encourage you to evaluate your roles? Would you be rocked if your most important role was changed or taken away? If so maybe you, like me, need to redefine yourself with the Rock that will not be shaken.

Even the Best Laid Plans

I am the queen of plans. I have plans for everything. I have mentioned before that I am a list-maker and a scheduler if there ever was one. Several months ago I had the grand idea to keep a spiral notebook to contain all of my lists and plans rather than having them scattered about. I have already been through two of these notebooks since then!

All too often even my best laid plans go undone. This has been a reoccurring theme in my life that has once again been brought to my attention. Most recently, I was all excited about the advent season and what I could do to direct my heart towards remembering our Lord Jesus being born into this world. I had several ideas, for myself, and some that could even be appropriate for Micaiah. Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I thought how we are already several days into December, halfway to Christmas, well into the advent season, and I hadn’t even put the first thought into anything concerning the coming of our Savior. I have been busy…and distracted.

I am such a Martha. In the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, Martha was the one who was "distracted with much serving" (v. 40) and "worried and troubled about many things" (v. 42). Jesus came to her house in Bethany and she was busy doing all sorts of tasks in the kitchen. There is much to do, especially when such an important visitor stops by! Oh, how I can identify with her! There’s always much to do. My alarm goes off in the morning to begin my quiet time and oftentimes before even opening my Bible, I might see the cloth inserts that need to be stuffed into Micaiah’s diapers before he wakes up. While getting the diapers ready for the day, I see clothes on the floor and have to pick them up. Which then reminds me that laundry is on my list for the day, so I go ahead and separate the piles. After doing that I turn to see the bathroom mirror and realize I didn’t clean it the day before like I had wanted, so I reason that I will take just 10 seconds and clean it. In no time at all, my quiet time has been cut short. So Martha. Whereas "doing" is certainly not wrong, it is not the most important thing.

Mary, on the other hand, positioned herself at the feet of Jesus. Right smack dab in front of him. The Teacher came by, and she wanted to soak up every morsel of truth that she could. Martha did not approve of Mary’s choice. "And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’" (Luke 10:40) Tattle-tale. (Also so me; I have a tendency towards justice!) Jesus gently and lovingly rebukes her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her" (v. 42).

The word "portion" in the Greek means "meal." The meal that Mary chose to eat is the better meal. A meal that will never be taken from her. Not in all of eternity. You can’t take truth away when it’s already been ingested. Martha’s meal will be eaten in just a few short minutes and digested several hours later, only to need to be followed up with another meal.

Certainly there are preparations that need to be done. Tasks and to-do lists are part and parcel of running a household. People need to eat. Especially when guests come! It’s finding a balance between the Martha and the Mary that proves to be a challenge for me. I know there’s a place for Martha in my life, but the most important thing, the better part, the good meal, is what Mary chose. Sitting at the feet of Elohim, our Creator God. Learning more about Him, His ways, and how I and my family fit into His plans.

"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul." says Psalm 19:7. I need to lose some of the distractions so that my soul can be revived. Because I certainly need reviving. Mary chose the good portion. She positioned herself at Jesus’ feet on purpose. We should all follow in her footsteps and do the same. I can choose to say no to certain distractions that bide for my attention. I can choose to have a plan for my quiet time so that I will not be tempted to sit aimlessly with my Bible open and be further distracted by other thoughts. I can’t afford to wait for things to settle down before I decide to listen. This is life. I have to choose to listen now, in the midst of it.

So we’re not quite to Christmas yet. How about beginning to prepare my heart for Christmas when we’re already halfway there? Better late than never, right?

A Day Away

I am so excited for tomorrow! Scott is giving me a full day off. I don't even know all that I'm going to do to fill my day, but I have been looking forward to it and can't wait. I do know that I will be getting a very looooong overdue hair cut. If you know me well, you know that is one of my very favorite things.

I'm going to end the day with one of my planning retreats. I like to do these 2 or 3 times a year to organize the priorities of my life in an effort to live intentionally. I want to be wise in how I use my time. My theme verse for living intentionally is Ephesians 5:15-16. "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

I am a planner to my very core, but I don't like to do just any old plans and to do list. Instead I look at the 5 main priorities in my life that God has given me, and I look at how those priorities have been going for the last several months and how I need to grow. Then I come up with goals and action steps for the growth that needs to happen. It has been a very beneficial practice for me so far. I use these worksheets from the girltalk blog that I love. I adapted them quite a bit to fit me, but I like having somewhere I can write things down and then refer to them later. Doing a planning retreat brings such clarity to my mission. My seasons of life have been changing quite frequently lately, and I decided to use this most recent change to re-evaluate life once again. So excited! And so thankful for my hubby giving me the day off to recharge and refuel!

I was going to post a video of Micaiah playing chase this morning, but it is taking a really long time to download. I'll post some pictures in a separate post instead. :)