The Reflection of God To Our Children

I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you. - Don Miller

When I think deeply over this truth I am reminded what I have purposed in my heart to be as a mother to my children. I reflect on my intentions of wholeheartedly wanting to be a woman who slows the world down for their childhood, creating memories and enchantment in the most ordinary days. A mom that they wake up and see reading the word of God and one that is intentional about connection and observation in tiny matters of their hearts.

But social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest can be mass weapons of distraction. They can be valuable sources of encouragement and kinship or they can be a tool used by the enemy to distract my life from my children. In each inattentive moment I am scrolling and double tapping wishing they would stop "bothering" me for "just 5 more minutes" defines God a little bit more clearly for my child. The times I make the effort to create a fun day for them and take them to exciting places are important, but they pale in comparison to the image of God that I am reflecting to them when they need me most. An image that I define little by little, day by day.

My prayer today is that we don't let ourselves be distracted, but be still, listen to our children and reflect to them what we know our Father is for us when we approach His throne. He is never too distracted for us or bothered by us. Our part in their story matters just as much as our part in our own. So pray for me today momma, as I pray for you and the portrait you paint to your children of God's everlasting love and vigilance of our hearts. #makeitcount

Thinking of Home Schooling?

Photo by Kristin Rogers

One of the biggest myths about families that choose home education is that they believe that the public and private school systems are evil, that everyone that teaches is intentionally trying to lead their children away from Christ and so therefore, they know the "RIGHT" way to educate their Children and everyone else is "WRONG". And that could not be further from the truth. I went to a public school, my husband went to a private school, and we both turned out to be adults seeking the Lord and trying to live according to His Word. I also have several friends that are teachers, my mom worked for a school district for several years, my mother in law has been a teacher for several years, and I know for a fact ... that none of those people are trying to corrupt your Children. (possibly a college professor or two, but none of the people I just mentioned ;-))  But the home education movement IS starting to become more popular. Why is that?

You see, we are in a spiritual war right now. Not with teachers and principles. But with the ruler of this world. And we all know who the ruler of this world is and he is prowling around like a lion seeking for someone to devour. My husband and I went to a Home school conference in the Woodlands last week and learned many surprising and stomach turning things about the Common Core Curriculum. As the years pass, unfortunately what the government is hoping to do in the public school system is teach our children that everything that God says in His word is a lie. And Satan loves that. So as soon as we even barely touch on the idea in our minds that we might want to educate our children at home, you know what he does? He starts to try and play with your mind.

I remember transitioning from just the idea of homeschooling to really leaning toward it with full force. And Satan came up on my left side and whispered in my ear...[wait. time out. No, I didn't literally hear him whispering in my ear. I do not have evil voices that talk to me. Nobody call CPS.] ... so he whispers... "You? Educate your children? ha! That's laughable. You? The woman that can't remember a single lick of fractions? You? Who misspells biscuits EVERY.SINGLE.TIME on the grocery list? (only spelled it right that time because of spell check, thanks blogger!) ... And seeds of doubt began to linger in my heart. But I thought, No! You know what? Sure I'm not the most intelligent. But my kids will be ok. I can learn things over along with them. Even fractions (God, please help me with that one) and my kids will be just fine. GET BEHIND ME SATAN.

But then he came up and whispered in my right ear. "Psst. Hey you. Yeah, remember your two kids and their never stop moving, never stop making noise personality? Yeah. You're doomed. Gonna go pretty insane in that house every day for the next 16 or so years. Good luck with that." And seeds of doubt began to plant themselves in my mind. But again, I thought - NO. Sure, it's hard. Some days have already pushed me to the brink of insanity and I'm only 5 years in (let's be honest), but this isn't going to break me. I've dreamed of being a mother for as long as I can remember. And this is a privilege. It's hard. And yes, some days I find myself wanting to pull the covers over my head in the morning and yelling back - "Mommy Who?!?"  But I am up for the challenge. I thank God every day that he made me THEIR mother. When a child is born, you only get 6,570 days with them until they turn 18 years old and leave your home. (well, ok, some mom's luck out and get a kid until they are like mid thirties. In the basement. Playing pokemon .... but I digress.) But I dream of days with my children when we can just go slow, soak in the nature that surrounds us, talk about spiritual things in every conversation and live life to the fullest. So that's not going to work on me, Satan.
SO GET BEHIND ME.

And then I heard him again. And I can't say that he didn't have a good point this time. I heard " Oh hey frazzled mommy. Yeah you. You know, you're going to be the mom that LET'S HERSELF GO. Whoa ho ho. We're talking, funky toenails, hair hasn't been trimmed in ages. Trying to smear on makeup from the 1990's because you don't have the time or the money (can I get an amen) to go buy any new makeup, and you're going to feel TERRIBLE about yourself. You won't have any time to take care of yourself  because every hour of every day you will be with your children. Yeah. Good luck covering those wrinkles and gray hairs. Which by the way, I'm already seeing right now, ouch. But those other moms ... the ones with the kids in public schools. Oh, you are so going to envy them. They are going to have fresh pedicures every week, just you watch. Oh and salon appointments and they will look at you in pity while they have bright eyes and fresh faces. Oh yeah frazzled mom, you're going down." And really, I didn't have an awesome come back for that one. I mean, he was right. It's probably true. I probably will look tired and frazzled most of the time. I pretty much already do, who am I kidding? But the point is, I wasn't going to let him shake me. And when I leave this disaster of a planet we call earth, I'm not taking this tired old wrinkled shell with me, praise God. It stays here. In the ground. From dust to dust. So I resolved not to let his lies discourage me. Because that's what he does. He wants to discourage you, and dishearten you and defeat you and distract you. And he does that by lying to you, but the best way he does that,
is by keeping you from the Word of God.

 And when I open the Word of God and I look for a rebuttal against those lies Satan told me, well, sadly I don't find anything about fractions and funky toenails, so I'm kinda at a loss there. But you know what it does say? Its says "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, are children born in one's youth." - Psalm 127:4. Why do I need arrows? And who am I fighting? And more importantly, WHO AM I FIGHTING FOR? And it also says "So fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates..." Deuteronomy 11:18-20. And Proverbs 22:6 that says " Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." "We know that we all have knowledge, but knowledge puffs up and love builds up."- 1 Corinthians 1:8.

Do I believe that Christian parents who send their children off to public school won't teach them any of the Word at home? Well of course not! But I do know that with the problem that my kids have of listening and the problem I have of being distracted, our family needs just a little more grace and a little more time in the day to do that than every one else. Let's just call it for what it is. Ha. And do I think that there is anything wrong at all with wanting your children to be super intelligent right along side having wisdom? Not at all. But it is like something I heard a speaker say at our conference - "My sole purpose in teaching my child to read is not so that they can get into Harvard but so that they can read and discern the Word of the Living God."

Home educating is not the right answer for every family, but it is the answer for our family. And I urge you, if you feel like it might be the answer for your family, DO NOT let Satan try to lie to you and discourage you out of that decision. He is going to try to tell you all sorts of lies. "It's going to be overwhelming." Well, yep. but that's motherhood. Motherhood is overwhelming, but we lace up our boot straps and we give it our best shot anyway, am I right? Seriously, what can be more overwhelming than bringing your first child home from the hospital and all of your family and friends leaving and you stand there all alone with your husband and begin to panic asking- "what do we do with this thing? Where do we put it? Is it a bomb?" But you survived. It's what we do.
By the grace of God.

And Satan will lie and say to you "People will compare their children to yours and not only will your KIDS look stupid, but YOU will also look stupid or, even worse, people will think that you aren't teaching them at all and that you sit on the couch all day eating bon bons and watching Soap Operas." And to that, I've learned to say - WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK? There is a war for my children's hearts. And I'm not going to sacrifice a relationship with my children because I have to keep up with the Jones' or prove to Kelly Sue that my child is just as smart as her child but in different ways and different areas. Or prove to Mary Beth that I actually AM teaching my children even though they STILL can't grasp fractions (I'm sorry kids, it's just not in your blood) and despite the fact that I might have a little bit of bon bon chocolate left on my face. #sorrynotsorry The people who have to always compare and compete? That is THEIR problem and not yours. Say a prayer over that and release it from your heart. Ask God to make peace within you that even when you feel like a failure because your child doesn't meet the "standards" - that you know He has made everything fitting in HIS time, Ecclesiastes 3:11, and not when you want it to show it's fruits. Remember who you are through this. God wants you to rely on Him to see this thing through.  I hope you can decide what will be best for your family as far as your children's education and I hope you make the decision without any outside negative influences whispering in your ear (again, not literally, I don't hear voices.) Please contact me if you need someone to pray for you or with you about the decision to home educate or to help remind you of the Warrior you are when you start to feel doubt or discouragement creep in. Good luck mommas! Whether home educator or sending your children away every day - we need to encourage and support one another because this job is hard and we are all trying to do what is best for our family. And also because, we are a warrior in the fight for our kids to have eternal life. Train hard.

Bridging the Gap

In light of my week, I wanted to share something that I came across today that gave me so much
encouragement as a mother, and I'm hoping that it might encourage other moms as well. 

First, let's backtrack. 

How did my week start?  

Well, I woke up one morning to the sounds of my child. It wasn't really a cry....more of like a frustrated moan. So I got out of bed to see what was going on. When I walked into his room, I saw him standing there, arms raised, ready to get out of his bed. He looked ok. He wasn't hurt and he started to smile at me as I came in closer. So I thought -ok, he's fine, probably just wanted to wake me up so we could get our day started, no big deal.

As I got in closer and wrapped my hands around him to pick him up, I noticed something odd. I could see more flesh color below his shirt than I normally see. I slowly raised it. That's when I noticed the diaper sitting over in the right side of his bed. You know, the one he took off of his body.  

The first thing that ran through my mind were the words DON'T PANIC. But of course, the next few things to run through it were - how long has this been off? did he pee anywhere? I'm washing all these sheets just in case. why did he take this off ? am I stepping in anything? check the floor, check the floor!!

And that's when I turned around and saw it. Yep... IT. He had gotten tired of it being in his diaper I guess, taken his diaper off, and thrown IT on the floor. You know that music that plays in a horror movie right when the main star sees something terrifying? That music played in my head. Yep. This really just happened to me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't take a deep breath, cringe, and slowly look up at the ceiling ... just in case. 

And if that's not enough to throw off your week, there's more. 

Like the meltdown we had after .. of all things ... taking his toothbrush away. I thought kids didn't even like to brush their teeth! My child can't get enough. He wants to walk around with his toothbrush. He wants to talk to his toothbrush. I'm excited that he loves doing it so much at such a young age, but I'm not too excited about the tantrum he throws when I decide it's time to put it away. Kicking. Screaming. Crying. Hyperventilating. The works.

Then I find out that my son is a hoarder. Yep. You read that right. I pull out the couch to mop underneath and I find a plethora of items he has hidden under there. They include: 6 blocks, 1 sock, 4 goldfish, 2 empty water bottles, 3 assorted balls, 1 I Love Lucy DVD (out of the case), a comb, 2 foam letters, 3 books, and a zebra. You'd think we have a huge couch. But no, it's the usual size. You'd think I haven't mopped in a year. But nope, hasn't been that long ago. How my kid gets everything under there, I'm not really sure. 

After that day, I needed to return a pair of shoes that I bought for a wedding that I ended up not needing. Unfortunately for me, the stroller was in my husband's car. It will be fine, I thought, I will just get one of those kid cars at the front of the mall, take care of what I need to and we'll be headed out.

So there I go, into the mall carrying my 30 lb child, a box of shoes, and my huge diaper bag. Only to find out that I went in on the complete opposite side of the kid cars. So I make my way over there, now sweating profusely and out of breath to see that it costs 5 dollars to rent one of those things. Are they crazy!?! But there was no way I could get this done with a child in my arms, or running around on his own. No way. So I get out my wallet. Nope. No cash. Of course not. I make my way back over to the side of the mall with the ATM machine and withdrawal some money. By this time, my child wants anything but to be in my arms and is squirming like crazy while I'm fumbling these other items in my hands. Did I mention I'm sweating? From this point, my experience was bound to be awful, so I picked my lowest option of withdrawal, $20, and headed to a few of the kiosks to see who had change. After about 10 minutes of that headache, I made it over to the cookie cake place and bought an Icee so that I could get a five dollar bill. It was a small victory to pop that five dollars in that machine and get my car. At first, I couldn't believe those things were $5. By that time, I would have paid a fortune for one. 

And that leads us to Sunday. The day that challenges me at motherhood beyond anything else I have experienced. You see, I tell all of these funny stories about my child throwing fits and well, throwing other gross things, for entertainment purposes on my blog .... but that's only about 5% of the time. The other 95%, he's the happiest, sweetest, most friendly, lovable, adorable kid I've ever known. He's strong, he's kind, he's amazing. It's just that he's still a baby, and he's a BOY and he's not around other children a lot. So when we go to church services, he thinks it's time to play. Yesterday morning, I thought we were READY. I mean, you would think that about 3 books with 100 pages each, some crayons, a bucket of goldfish (ok, so maybe not a bucket .... that's an exaggeration. More like a barrel),  a bag full of toys, and half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be enough to keep your child still and quiet for a few minutes right? Well, once again I spent Sunday in the nursery *surprise* talking my son out of running into walls, reaching in the trash can, and getting in the faces of the other children just to say "hi!". It felt like a disaster. It's always the day when I need the most encouragement, and the day I'm hardest on myself as a mom. 

That brings me back to what I saw that encouraged me. It's exactly what I needed. I found it on a website called In the Mom Light that I stumbled upon when looking for something else. I'm so glad I did. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what adventures next week holds! 

Finding Joy In The Chaos

Let's get real. Being a mom is hard.

It's screaming fits in public. It's teething for a year straight.
 It's catapulting pancake pieces across the kitchen. {Oh, your kids don't do that?}

It's everything I never imagined it would be. and... luckily, it's

EVERYTHING I NEVER IMAGINED IT WOULD BE.

Recently I was reminded of a quote about the "4 things you can never get back"

The STONE after it's thrown.

The WORD after it's said.

The OCCASION after it's missed.

and the TIME after it's gone.

I struggle with joyful times as a parent. What I mean is, I almost always
 ruin that amazing, breathtakingly beautiful moment with my child when he
 reaches a milestone or does something hilarious, or when he just runs up and
wraps his arms around my neck.

I enjoy it, I do.... for a moment. And then the realization sets in deeper that before
 I know it, he won't want to blow me these kisses anymore. He won't be small
 enough for me to scoop up and tickle, and some day, I will no longer be the most
 important woman in his life anymore. It's just reality. So instead of getting to
 stretch out these joyful times with laughter and big smiles on our faces, I turn
 into a pile of goo with tears streaming down my face and before I even know
 it, I'm gripping on to my kid like a leach repeating please don't grow up,
 please don't grow up over and over again.

Ugh. It's a pathetic sight. Believe me.

But moms, the thing we need to realize is, they ARE going to grow up.
There's nothing we can do about THAT.

What we CAN do something about, is finding so much joy in the everyday
 chaos so that we get the very most out of the time we are given with
 these precious little gifts.

If you would have asked me as a newlywed how I would feel about pancake
 pieces with syrup on my kitchen floor, I would have shuttered at the
 thought. Ha! Not in my immaculately kept home. {or so it was in some
parallel universe called my imagination} But I've found that as a mom, you just
 can't worry about those things. If you do, before you know it, you are running
 to grab a wet cloth all while scolding your child and drowning out the sound
 of his laughter and missing the big beautiful smile on his face. Do I mean
 not to teach him table manners? Well, of course not. If your child catapults
 food at every sitting, I'd say it's probably lesson time. But if this is a one time
thing and you can find it within yourself to play along for just a minute, I urge
 you to find the joy in it.

I use this as an example because it happened this morning. As I was teaching my
 son how to hold the spoon and put the pancake in his mouth, he grabbed a
 hold of the end of the spoon, pulled it down with all his might and let go -
 causing the pancake to rocket across the room. My eyes got big and my
 mouth opened wide and he started laughing the sweetest laugh I've ever
 heard in my life. My first reaction was to say "No, Connor!" in my annoyed
 tone and get up to grab the flying shrapnel off of the side of the cabinet.
But I remembered part of the quote I had heard days before - the things
 you can't get back ... and that moment, was something that I could
never be given again. 

-So I embraced it.-

I laughed and laughed with him. I took another piece of pancake and shot it
 over his head. He died laughing. He kicked his legs in his little highchair
 and snorted. Sure, I might have a mess to clean up later. I might have to
 make one more pancake so that he has enough to eat. And no, he will
 never remember that fun morning with Momma when we
 shot pancakes across the kitchen, ...

BUT I WILL.

Yesterday we had to run some errands at the mall for a wedding I am
 in this weekend. I was a little nervous about how the day would go because
 I knew it would take me some time to find all of the things I needed,
and though my son is probably the friendliest kid I've ever seen - saying
 'Hi' and waving to everyone we pass and even blowing kisses to complete
strangers - he is still only one, and he still gets tired and irritable. 

We just made the most of it. I tried to find joy in the chaos all day, despite
 how tiring and stressful and hectic it all was. Though I needed to pick up
 most of these things for adults, I vowed not to make the day just about
 me while I had "a child inconveniently tagging along". We played in the
 fire trucks and cars. We met the Easter Bunny. We took photos in the
 photo booth. We ate lunch together and shared a fruit cup.

I could have just run in on a mission, got what I needed, shushed my
child with every person we passed and headed back home. It probably
would have been easier. But instead, we made memories.

It wasn't anything special. It hardly took any effort. But it was one of the
best days of my life. I know that's going to sound odd to some. Especially
 those whose lives are so exciting and adventurous and magical and don't
 include snotty noses and green beans spit into your hand.

So my advice to every mother-to-be or momma whose baby is still little
and has yet to learn to walk and talk and get into literally
 everything they see ....

Is to take a deep breath. To find joy in every moment.

 It's going to be a lot of work. You're going to have to do more physical
 labor than you want. You're probably going to break a sweat more
 than you hoped. You'll have to repeat the same silly things or
annoying songs over and over again just for a half of a smile.
 It means taking a detour on your shopping trips to let your kids
 just be kids. It means cleaning your kitchen (and your entire
house for that matter) more than you expected. And moms,
we're going to HAVE to get off of the internet and our cell
 phones. We're going to have to get off of Pinterest, and
Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and our email, and our text
 messages and all of the other things that distract us during the day
 when our kids aren't napping and we should
be playing with and teaching them.

We aren't guaranteed another child. I think about that every day.
 And we surely aren't guaranteed another day with our little one.
This is the only one we're certain of. So I suggest we make the most of it.
We embrace the mess. We find joy in the chaos.

We send our children into their futures, knowing they are valued and loved.

...and if that means I have to clean up a few pancakes ... bring it on.

Children are the living messages we send
to a time we will not see.  ~Neil Postman

Our Week In Pictures.

 I snapped a couple of shots during some of our activities this week so that I could share! We had a blast. :)

Weekly Activities For Stay At Home Moms

If you are a stay at home mom and are anything like me, you wake up in the morning, look at the face of your beautiful infant/toddler and think to yourself ... "Hmm. What are we going to do today?"

Especially if they are still unable to walk and unable to talk back to you, I'm pretty certain that you can only talk like cookie monster and sing One Two Buckle My Shoe so many times in one day.

Though it's nice to have endless possibilities, I've been thinking lately about how I can add in some learning activities while we are doing these other things like playing at the park and swimming in the back yard. Plus, if I gave myself some structure (a schedule), I might actually be able to stick to a routine and can already have activities planned for that particular day without having to waste time looking up things to do or getting together the materials for our projects.

I've compiled a packet of weekly activities. Each day of the week is different subject material based on the first letter of that day. I've even added in Saturday for those of us who have amazingly hard working husbands who sometimes spend that day at work. Feel free to use some of these activities in your week, or if you would like to try the entire schedule, feel free! I will have activity documents available for print down below.

Remember that I didn't factor in feedings, naps, snuggle time in the mornings (gotta have that!), our house work, Bible study, dinner prep, our own lunch time (do we eat?), and anything else that might take time away from these activities. If you are a busy wife at home as well as a mom, you might be able to stretch this packet into 2 weeks. Have fun, and let me know what you think! :)

Music provides opportunities to practice patterns, math concepts, and symbolic thinking skills, all in the context of joyful noise - which makes it an attractive, engaging activity for very young children. There are many ways to participate in musical experiences. Plus, they are easily adapted for a range of developmental levels and abilities making it perfect for your own unique family schedule.

First I would suggest if you don't have your child in a Kindermusik class, find one near you!

For a list of Activities & Songs for MUSICAL MONDAY (also printable) click HERE.

Reading aloud to your baby is a wonderful shared activity you can continue for years to come — and it's an important form of stimulation.

Reading aloud teaches a baby about communication, introduces concepts such as stories, numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way, builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills, and gives babies information about the world around them.

When reading, your child hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds, which fosters social and emotional development. Reading also invites your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions — all of which promote social development and thinking skills. And your baby improves language skills by imitating sounds, recognizing pictures, and learning words.

But perhaps the most important reason to read aloud is that it makes a connection between the things your baby loves the most — your voice and closeness to you — and books.

Acting out these stories with your little one will help build their imagination and creativity, so be as silly and animated as you can!

For a list of Activities & Songs for TELL - TALE TUESDAY (also printable) click HERE.

Wednesday is all about being outside in the sunshine!

Babies are naturally curious. They are driven to explore to learn and to practice new skills. They need constant, safe opportunities to move about and try things for themselves. Infants are in the sensory motor stage of development and therefore learn by exploring and receiving feedback from their entire body. Infants and toddlers learn through all of their senses by touching, smelling, hearing, seeing and tasting the items in their environment. They gain valuable information about their world. This interaction with materials offers experience and knowledge upon which to build later experiences.

List of Activities & Songs for WORLD EXPLORER WEDNESDAY (also printable) click HERE.

Thursdays will be dedicated to thinking of and doing for OTHERS!

How can children benefit from knowing about charity? Recent literature states that it’s one of the key ways that can help children develop into caring, well-rounded people when they get older. And in a world so full of violence and apathy, raising concerned, empathetic children is a necessity for the future.

Many researchers have stated that charity work can enhance many personal, professional and social skills of a child. Literature suggests that the personal benefits of doing charity work for children of all ages are vast and invaluable. Some of these personal benefits include the growth of precious characteristics such as sympathy, empathy, compassion, kindness, generosity and humility. Resulting in the development of children that are aware of their surrounding environments, are able to compare theirs and others life and have a sense of their place within the world. Ideally maturing into responsible and mindful member’s of society.

For a list of Activities & Songs for THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY (also printable) click HERE.

Colors, shapes, animals, letters and numbers are abstract concepts that require repeated teaching for infants and toddlers to recall them. However, rather than rely merely on flashcards or other teaching strategies, you can use rich, diverse experiences that appeal to children's learning styles. By using such techniques, you keep your children motivated, focused and happy during the learning process. Further reinforcement activities help children transfer the new information learned from short-term to long-term memory.

For a list of Activities & Songs for FUNDAMENTAL FRIDAY (also printable) click HERE.



Studies show that young children should learn science through active involvement - that is, through first hand, investigative experiences. Infants and toddlers should be involved in "sciencing" verses the learning of scientific facts presented by others. Such involvement should be both hands-on and minds-on in nature. Your child is never too young to start learning how science works!

Here is an example of one of my favorite songs from Science Saturday! Such a cool way to learn the planets!

For a list of Activities & Songs for SCIENTIFIC SATURDAY (also printable) click HERE.