Lila quote

Just a quick quote from Lila:
Out of the blue, I hear:
"It's sweet being little!"
"Oh, yeah?"I ask.
"Yeah, you can fit in tiny spaces where big people can't fit."
How true that is. I can't even fit into my old jeans!

Mary and Martha Teach me Freedom!

This morning's In Touch with Charles Stanley devotional email reminds me that all I do in Christ (which should be everything from cleaning my floors to teaching Sunday School) can be done with the fuel of the Holy Spirit. How freeing! And it fits with part of the Preacher's sermon Sunday about experiencing the Joy of my salvation. (Psalm 51:12)



This lesson is gleaned from Luke 10 :38-42. Martha is the doer, and Mary is the worshiper. We all must be doers and we all need to be worshipers. The issue in this passage is the timing. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is "a time to every purpose under heaven." There is a time to worship and a time to get things done. Martha's doing was important, but her timing was a little off. Mary on the other hand had her timing right. What Dr. Stanley pointed out to me this morning was that the time of worship can be used to seek the fuel that is the Holy Spirit. Thus eliminating the need for us to accomplish everything within our own power. Happy day, I am not alone! I have the strength of God within me, if only I will seek it and allow Him to work through me.



I struggle with getting it all done sometimes. If I spend some time in the morning getting my focus on my Creator, then I should feel empowered all day long. This also makes me wonder. If something I am doing is draining me, maybe its because it is not part of God's plan for my life. Instead it is something that I think I should be doing. Or maybe I am trying to do it within my own power instead of letting Him do it through me as an empty vessel. Here I must submit, and let go of the things that are outside of His will for my life, or let Him be in charge of all parts of my life. This is just what I needed today!

Character training

Well, if anyone in our house needs to practice and implement good habits, its me. I am looking at using Notebooking Pages' Sowing Seeds of Character system. It is no doubt a great idea. The problem is with my current state of permissive parenting. Sure the girls must clean up in the kitchen their own dishes, and they can each cook a signature dish (if you count fried eggs and macaroni and cheese). But their room reminds me of a landfill! (And I believe that's where most of the stuff in it belongs.) I am allowing them to keep a messy room by not removing privileges for it, thus preventing them from wanting to clean up.

Something else that I would like to change is my relaxed attitude about computer and TV time. In my heart I want to limit them both, but I am so tired, and they are so easy... I let my better judgement fall by the wayside for the sake of convenience.

This Character teaching system is a plan to help me regulate the girls' rewards in life, and encourage good habits and character at the same time. I seems like a perfect fit. The truth is that I am not sure I have the self-discipline to make it happen. As a loving mom, I know I must sometimes withhold things from my children to teach them , and yet it is so hard to stop my precious babies from having the thing they want sometimes.

The biggest issue is my stick-to-it-iveness. I know myself, and I need help from God to keep up good habits. Spurgeon says in his devotinal that "You may force your way through anything with the leverage of prayer." Here is my answer. I can't, but my Lord can and He will through me. I must step aside and let Him teach my darling daughters. Time for prayer.

Mushroom Photos from The Year of the Mushroom

The Year of the Mushrooms

The weather has been so dry for most of the summer. So when the rains began coming regularly and plentiful, we were all praising God and rejoicing; people, plants, birds, and all the little woodland creatures in the yard. There is a portion of God's creation that we only see under the right circumstances: mushrooms.

We have always been blessed to be on a wooded portion of earth. Here on our little acre many a season has seen a pretty mushroom patch in the yard. My girls and I often run out to examine the new specimen as soon as it's spotted. But this year has been vastly different. Instead of one or two mushrooms. Or even a couple of patches to explore, we have seen all of them at once. They popped up to praise God for the rain, and the family has been exploring them ever since.

Today, we took lots of pictures. The girls even made some paper fairies to pose for photos. We had so much fun exploring our yard. Have a peek at the beautiful fungi at Shade Tree these days.

Family Night

Nope, not a big fan of the whole family sitting down in front of the TV for dinner and family time. Yet, that is what my precious fam is doing every night it seems. I sometimes think that we should not be sharing our delicious salmon and spinach with these people in the boob box! Who invited them into my house anyway?!

So tonight we are sharing our meal with the strangers on Americas Funniest Home Videos. Its good clean fun, and we are all commenting on the yummy-ness of the food. Then Daddy falls asleep in Mommy's lap after dinner. I feel loved, and needed; warm and fuzzy.

But what's this? Dad is asleep?! We have remote control!!! The girls must watch the ultimate girls' show: What Not To Wear. Then one little one climbs into my lap, above dh's head so she can cuddle her mom and dad. Next commercial the other one says she wants to trade places with her sister. Sweet baby! Daddy's sleep is disturbed, so he moves to the love seat.

Now its me and my girls all snuggled up and watching the most girlie show I know. Mommie heaven. But the best part is when its all over. Little sister has been asleep for a while, so we tuck her into bed. I lay my 7-yo in her bed. When I lean over to kiss her good night she wraps her little arms around me and won't let go. When my arms start to go numb, I ask her to let go. What does the little puddin' cup say? "I don't want to." So I had to lay beside her for a few minutes and soak it up. You know, all the snuggles and desire to be close to mommy. As I told her, there will be a day when I want her to cuddle up to me and she will say, "I don't want to." So for now I cherish it. I hope I will always remember how great it feels to be Momma.