I don't have anything amazing to say about the recent events in the news. I don't have a son that I can write an article about or the gift of turning traditional Christmas poems into a poem of comfort. I'm just a Mom who is heartbroken over the recent events.
I have a son who is the age of the children in that class. I cannot tell you how many times since Friday that my eyes have welled up with tears as I watched him playing without a care in the world. His laugh, his joy, his creativity has always warmed me.
My heart is broken for the families of the children who were lost. No laughter on Christmas morning, no giggles and yelps of delight as they open their gifts. Even the families who have surviving children will not experience it in the same way. Everything will be a reminder of the children who are missing from their homes.
A friend & I were texting about this earlier and it really struck me that we live in such a broken world. It's been broken from the moment Eve took that step & listened to the Devil instead of to the Lord. It was *so* broken, God destroyed it with a flood. It was *so* broken that God sent his Son to make the ultimate sacrifice to take away the brokenness and restore the life that God created the world to be. And one day He will send His son back to claim it for His own. He will take away the brokenness and restore it to the beauty, fullness & perfection it was back on Day 1.
It's hard to watch the news, to read the news, to listen to the stories & see the smiling faces of those little ones. I'm thankful for the reminder that one of our pastors gave us today. It's ok to mourn. Jesus wept with Lazarus' family even tho He KNEW He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He wept with them because he mourned with those who mourn. It's ok for us to mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep. Even if we don't know them, it's ok to hurt with those who hurt.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The One About An App
I don't usually blog about iPad apps, but today, I want to share this one. And it'll take more than a Facebook post, so I'm posting here. :)
I found an app called iallowance. Matt and I looked it over and decided it was worth the $4 to try it out. I love it! In this app you can create a profile for each child. Under that profile you can make a list of all the chores that child has. You can put the chores on a rotating basis, which is great for me because I rotate the kids through chores every 4 weeks. You can choose if the chores are rewarded with stars or with $. If they are rewarded with stars, you can have those stars go to a bigger reward. For example, when my kids earn 100 stars, they get a special day :)
You can also keep track of their allowance on this. It reminds me of online banking. You can set up as many banks as you want. I set up a savings, spending and tithe bank for each of the kids. I entered the amount of their weekly allowance and split it between the banks. 10% to tithe, 25% to savings and the rest goes into spending $.
The last awesome thing is that you can set up a negative "chore"that they need to work on doing better at and they will get negative points if they do it wrong. That doesn't make much sense... For example, I have one child who leaves the door open all the time. So I set it up so that when he leaves the door open, it deducts .10 from his spending money.
I've had an iPod for a year and an iPad for 8 mos & this is the first time I've gotten really excited about an app. Talk about making my life easier! It keeps track of chores and allowance for me! And the kids like it so far. (Except the deducting $ part.)
I found an app called iallowance. Matt and I looked it over and decided it was worth the $4 to try it out. I love it! In this app you can create a profile for each child. Under that profile you can make a list of all the chores that child has. You can put the chores on a rotating basis, which is great for me because I rotate the kids through chores every 4 weeks. You can choose if the chores are rewarded with stars or with $. If they are rewarded with stars, you can have those stars go to a bigger reward. For example, when my kids earn 100 stars, they get a special day :)
You can also keep track of their allowance on this. It reminds me of online banking. You can set up as many banks as you want. I set up a savings, spending and tithe bank for each of the kids. I entered the amount of their weekly allowance and split it between the banks. 10% to tithe, 25% to savings and the rest goes into spending $.
The last awesome thing is that you can set up a negative "chore"that they need to work on doing better at and they will get negative points if they do it wrong. That doesn't make much sense... For example, I have one child who leaves the door open all the time. So I set it up so that when he leaves the door open, it deducts .10 from his spending money.
I've had an iPod for a year and an iPad for 8 mos & this is the first time I've gotten really excited about an app. Talk about making my life easier! It keeps track of chores and allowance for me! And the kids like it so far. (Except the deducting $ part.)
Saturday, November 17, 2012
The One About Family.
I was driving home the other night and drove right by my Moms house. They were at work, so the house was dark, but I still smiled as I drove by. There's something comforting about knowing that your family lives so close. This hasn't always been the case for me. Most of our married life we have spent at least an hour away. Even though we've now lived close for a 2.5 years, I still appreciate it.
Honestly,my family is pretty awesome. I really don't know any other family quiet like ours. We have the best get togethers with lots of cousins running around playing, rarely having any cafuffles, & all of us adults hanging out, chatting & playing games. Knowing that we can have heartfelt discussions or religious discussions or even political discussions & not end up in a fight is pretty awesome. Even though we don't all agree in these areas, we do all respect and love each other enough to not let those things be such a big deal that it breaks relationship.
Relationship... isn't that what family is all about?
(Done w/ my mushy post now... :) )
Honestly,my family is pretty awesome. I really don't know any other family quiet like ours. We have the best get togethers with lots of cousins running around playing, rarely having any cafuffles, & all of us adults hanging out, chatting & playing games. Knowing that we can have heartfelt discussions or religious discussions or even political discussions & not end up in a fight is pretty awesome. Even though we don't all agree in these areas, we do all respect and love each other enough to not let those things be such a big deal that it breaks relationship.
Relationship... isn't that what family is all about?
(Done w/ my mushy post now... :) )
Friday, August 17, 2012
The One About Adventure
What if we started each day as a new adventure? When you are ready to set off on an adventure, you wake up excited and exhilarated. You don't know exactly what is going to happen on the adventure, just that you will experience new things and meet new people. You don't know if the adventure is going to be amazing or if it's going to be a struggle.
So what if we woke up each more, excited and exhilarated. What if we were to look at this day as a new adventure. We don't know what God has in store for us that day. We don't know if it'll be an amazing day or a tough one. We don't know if we will experience new thing or if we will meet someone new. Even as a stay at home mom, I can experience new things in a day.
Wake up. Keep an open heart and an open mind and see what adventure God leads you on....
So what if we woke up each more, excited and exhilarated. What if we were to look at this day as a new adventure. We don't know what God has in store for us that day. We don't know if it'll be an amazing day or a tough one. We don't know if we will experience new thing or if we will meet someone new. Even as a stay at home mom, I can experience new things in a day.
Wake up. Keep an open heart and an open mind and see what adventure God leads you on....
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Another One About Marriage
I've had all these thoughts about marriage mulling about in my head lately. How to have a happy marriage? How to make a marriage last? What to expect when you're married? I have no idea what to title my thoughts exactly... but here are the top 5 thoughts I've had.
- Your Spouse is Human! or Take Your Spouse off of That Pedestal!
- Can you believe your spouse is human? I remember walking down the aisle into my future as Mrs. Matt. Matt was perfect... the absolute best person in the whole wide world & I viewed him as a super hero. Most young blushing brides probably feel the same way I did & most grooms see their brides that way. The problem with seeing our spouses as superhuman is that they are, after all, merely human just as we all are. We put them high on a pedestal & where do they have to go but down? And when they fall (i.e. when they are human!) we are surprised. It may shake us to our core & shock us that they could be so... so human. I think one of the best things I did in our marriage was to see my husband for who he is. He's a great guy, a great dad, an amazing husband, but he is not perfect. I took him off the pedestal and accepted him for the man God created him to be.
- Forgiveness
- I have mulled this subject over numerous times. Forgiveness is a choice. A hard choice. What surprised me is that forgiveness doesn't mean the hurt is gone. It doesn't mean that you automatically forget (after all, we are human... not God who DOES forget!) It surprised me that often you have to make the choice to forgive more than once. Each time that negative feeling, the hurt, the pain creep back in... you choose to forgive again. Some things are easy to forgive & only take one time while others are much tougher & take numerous times. It is absolutely essential for a marriage that forgiveness be granted. (On the flip side... repentance is absolutely essential as well.)
- Love is More Than a Feeling
- There is probably a bad country song with that title. :) It's so true tho. Love is more than a feeling. Love begins with the feeling. On that day you get married, you feel so much love, excitement, & joy. You have dreamed of the day when you would marry the right person that swept you off your feet. Those are feelings of love. Love is a choice too. When the going gets tough (and it will at some point in your marriage) and you feel as tho you don't love that person anymore, you choose to. Choose to pick out the positive things, rekindle the love that you had at the beginning by dating again.. choose to love.
- Commitment 101
- I think one of my favorite quotes about marriage is this one: It's a picture of an older couple who have been marriage 50+ years. When asked what made them last that long, the answer was "We grew up in an era where you fixed things when they were broken, you don't throw them away." That's commitment. When things are tough & seemingly hopeless, that's the time you determine to stick it out & seek ways to fix what was broken. Too many people forget the commitment part of marriage because, let's face it, who wants to be miserable? Let me tell you from personal experience... when you feel like throwing in the towel, get on your knees and pray. Find some way to communicate what you need. Get help if needed.... but find a way to stay committed & the Lord will honor that.
- The Marriage Triangle
- Which brings me to this last topic that's been mulling around in my mind... the marriage triangle. God at the top... you on one side & your spouse on the other. It is not always easy to carve out time to focus on God in the midst of our daily, busy schedules. Believe me, I know! Keeping God at the top of the triangle will help all the rest fall into place. It will help you to stay committed, help you to love & help you to be able to forgive your spouse. God on the top... and equal partners below.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
The One About Father's Day
Father's Day brings mixed emotions for me. On one hand, I have an awesome step-dad & a husband who is an awesome Dad to our children. I am very blessed to have them in my life & they show me what a true Dad really is.
On the other hand, it's a reminder that I haven't really spoken to my Dad in over 12 years... and haven't seen him in 17 years. And I'm always reminded how he abandoned our family all those years ago. It still blows my mind how anybody can just walk away from their kids like that. Having children of my own, I just cannot imagine what would make it okay to not see them or talk with them. I guess it's just one of those things I won't ever be able to comprehend because I'm just not like that. My kids are my life. :)
I try to focus on the positive & not the negative... Happy Father's Day to my loving husband & my wonderful step-dad.
On the other hand, it's a reminder that I haven't really spoken to my Dad in over 12 years... and haven't seen him in 17 years. And I'm always reminded how he abandoned our family all those years ago. It still blows my mind how anybody can just walk away from their kids like that. Having children of my own, I just cannot imagine what would make it okay to not see them or talk with them. I guess it's just one of those things I won't ever be able to comprehend because I'm just not like that. My kids are my life. :)
I try to focus on the positive & not the negative... Happy Father's Day to my loving husband & my wonderful step-dad.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The One About How I Am Not a Teacher
Apparently I'm not a teacher. Matt & I recently decided to become members of our church & in doing so, we had to take a spiritual gifts test. My top 3 spiritual gifts were serving/ministry, encouraging & craftsmanship. Teaching was #4. I was shocked to say the least, but at the same time it made a lot of sense to me. I always thought teaching was 'my thing' in a way. I went to college to do it, but the whole time I felt I was in the wrong field. I've always been more drawn to nursing or midwifery. Turns out that is a great profession for someone who has the gift of serving/ministry. That makes so much more sense to me now that I understand a bit more about who God created me to be. It was like a light bulb going on!
But what does that mean for homeschooling? It explains why I've never fully enjoyed teaching. I don't enjoy it as much as people think I do. I'm good at it & I like to help out wherever I'm needed, but I'm not excited about it. And I homeschool. I realize you don't have to be a teacher to homeschool... but what happens when it's more frustrating to you than fun? Which has been the case over the past few years. I think I need to change my outlook on it as more of a ministry to my children & the children at CFS. Then maybe I can start to enjoy it??
I'm not sure where the notion that I was a teacher started. I think it was in my young teen years. Maybe I was just expected to follow in Mom's footsteps. (Who, by the way, IS an awesome teacher.) I kind of wish that I had followed my "heart" (i.e. God's prompting) and went to school to be a nurse or a midwife when I wanted to at 17.
But what does that mean for homeschooling? It explains why I've never fully enjoyed teaching. I don't enjoy it as much as people think I do. I'm good at it & I like to help out wherever I'm needed, but I'm not excited about it. And I homeschool. I realize you don't have to be a teacher to homeschool... but what happens when it's more frustrating to you than fun? Which has been the case over the past few years. I think I need to change my outlook on it as more of a ministry to my children & the children at CFS. Then maybe I can start to enjoy it??
I'm not sure where the notion that I was a teacher started. I think it was in my young teen years. Maybe I was just expected to follow in Mom's footsteps. (Who, by the way, IS an awesome teacher.) I kind of wish that I had followed my "heart" (i.e. God's prompting) and went to school to be a nurse or a midwife when I wanted to at 17.
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