The Most Stubborn Person in all the Land?

Lately, my husband and I decided to get serious about our son's pickiness when it comes to eating. He is almost 5. We decided that that is old enough to eat what mama fixes. He is good with fruit, okay with meat, but put a noodle in front of him, and he comes unglued. He will eat apples dipped in ketchup, but ask him to eat a plain, buttered noodle, and he thinks you're are trying to poison him. (No, I did not make that last part up. He actually says that they are probably poison!)

Our plan to attack the pickiness is to set a time for supper. I usually give him about 45 minutes to eat whatever food I have put on his plate. (Note: we are not trying to make him eat weird foods. We have yet to push green vegetables and foreign cuisine. We are just talking spaghetti, folks! )We found that the time factor is necessary because he would sit there until it was time for bed, no matter what fun thing the rest of us might be doing. Nope, sitting there all night did not phase him.

So, in the time allotted he is to eat a small portion of whatever I have made for supper. If he does not complete the task, he gets it for breakfast. Basically, he won't get anything else to eat until he finishes the food he was given.

We have had to enforce this two times now. Both instances have concerned noodles. Day 1, he finally finished his 6 penne noodles at 12:50, right before nap time. Day 2, he finished at 11 a.m., just in time to get to help dad with some farm work.

The goal of this is to take the pressure off of my husband and I. We were getting so worked up because our son was not eating! It drives me absolutely crazy! I cannot understand the sheer stubbornness of the kid!

Yes, friends, I have the most stubborn kid in the world!

This is the kid that will forego eating noodles, even if that means he misses out on a brownie with ice cream. This is the kid that would rather sit at the table, not eating, and therefore not get to eat pancakes and bacon. This kid would rather sit at the table all morning than eat 5 bites of spaghetti!

My husband keeps saying, "Just relax. He'll get hungry soon enough. He'll eat it. Let the hunger do the work."

I cannot hardly stand it! First of all, I have to make sure he stays at the table all morning. Secondly, I can't take the sheer ridiculousness of it all! Plain noodles! I'd be like, "A brownie sundae? Sure, I'll eat 5 bites of noodles. That's easy!"  But no, not this kid. I can't even stand the whole ordeal!

He'll learn, right?

While this is a good lesson for me on patience and the trial and error nature of parenting, it's also a good lesson on being spiritually stubborn.

I immediately thought of Moses and the children of Israel.

God had done so much for these people! He performed miracles before their eyes. He rescued them from a life of slavery. He traveled with them to the Promised Land. He had chosen them for His own.

Instead of being grateful, the people complained. They even claimed to miss their life of slavery! They refused to fully trust in God. God himself told Moses to tell them, "You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you" (Exodus 33:5). Some versions say the people were "stiff necked."

As a mom, I can relate! I mean, I just wanted to scream into a pillow all morning. But, as I was thinking, I wondered, "Does God ever see me as stubborn or stiff necked?"

When I have a stiff neck, it is painful to turn my head from side to side, or even up and down. Have I been spiritually stiff necked? Have I been unwilling to turn my head and change my ways?

• How many times have I clung to my own plan, only to end up hurt, disappointed, confused, or frustrated?
• How many times have I missed out on a blessing because I refused to be obedient?
• How many times have I chosen to sin and therefore, had to reap the consequences?

Ok, I guess I have been stiff necked too. Like my son, there have been times that I have chosen to miss out on the brownie sundae.

Later in Exodus, after Moses pleads for God to continue with them through the desert, a new covenant is formed. God reveals some things about His true character. He passes in front of Moses saying:

"Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin" (Exodus 34:6-7).

With a God like this, we have no need to be stiff necked. He is trustworthy. He is merciful. He is forgiving. He is slow to be angry. And, He is generous with His love.

We all have choices to make. We can choose to hang on to our stubborn
 ways, refusing to partake in what is good for us. Or, we can choose to do things God's way. I pray that I will let go of my stubborn tendencies and embrace God's plan. I don't know about you, but I'm going for the brownie sundae.

(NOTE: No child was harmed in the process of this new eating plan. My son engulfed a huge lunch and took a nap, happy and full!)


Linking up this week at: #soulsurvival,  #intentionalTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #dancewithJesus, #fellowshipFriday, #graceandtruth, #coffeeforyourheart, #TellHisStory, #Reflect

Why Vacation Bible School is not for the Weak

My church just finished our Vacation Bible school today. It was a great success, I'd say, with 187 kids in attendance, give or take.

I volunteered and was put in charge of a group of nine kids, ages 2 - 6. Yikes!

First of all, this age group is way out of my comfort zone. I taught English to high school aged kids in my past life. If I was asked to teach below 9th grade, I was unsure. I mean, those 7th graders are like another species!

Secondly, not only was I with my 9 kids, but we traveled from station to station with 3 other groups. Little kids were everywhere! I was slightly overwhelmed. Thank God for my 3 helpers! We all needed each other, that's for sure!

Within minutes of the start of day 1, I knew I was going to have to suck it up. These kids were here. They were expecting fun. Their parents were expecting them to learn something. Ready or not, I was on!

Why Vacation Bible School is not for the weak...

• Some crafts can take a high level of concentration. It's hard to make binoculars, ok?
• Game time may or may not involve rubber balls bouncing off your person.
• The visiting animals may become violent and spit or kick.
• Food allergies are real, folks. (What is really in green Jello?)
• Story time with young children is a battle of wills.
• Songs have enough actions to qualify as a Zumba workout.

I came home every day this week and practically beat my kids to nap time. I was exhausted!

What I Learned from Vacation Bible School

Of course, when I participate in something that God wants me to do, I learn something from Him. This experience was no different.

I woke up Wednesday morning feeling tired and not all that excited to begin day 3. God quickly put me in my place!

I was reading in my First 5 devotional for the morning (from Proverbs31), and the verse jumped out at me. It was taken from the passage of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Quite an unpleasant job, yet here was Jesus, the Son of God, doing it anyway out of love. The verse was, "I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you" (John 13:15).  This passage reminded me of another.

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others" (Matthew 20:28).

Yep, I was humbled. I didn't think I was above helping with VBS; I just had a stinky attitude about doing it. But, as Philippians 2:5 reminds us, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." So, I knew what God was calling me to do. He wanted to me serve the kids in my group out of love and with an attitude worthy of a Christ-follower. Even if some of the kids in my group were difficult, it didn't matter. Because, by the way, Jesus even washed Judas's feet. The man that He knew was about to betray Him.

I can say that I am blessed to have served so many kids at VBS! One of the kids in my group even prayed the prayer of salvation! It was a great, busy week.

At the end of the day today, I found myself wondering, 'how did Jesus do so much ministry? Wasn't He exhausted? Wasn't He worn out mentally, physically, and emotionally?' I knew I was!

God again gently reminded me of something that I had been missing this week. In Luke chapter 5, we learn that "Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer" (verse 16).

Jesus often needed to be alone to pray. He knew that communion with God was the key to refreshment and renewing.

Why is it that when we are busy, the first thing to go is our quiet time with the Lord? Busyness and stress should prompt us to burrow deeper into God, to spend more time with Him to be refreshed and ready to face the stress or the demands of our busy schedule.

So, while my kids learned some great Bible verses and completed some cool crafts, this lady learned some things at VBS too. Isn't it amazing how God works on each one of us exactly where we are at? While kids learned the basics about God's love and Jesus's work on the cross, this mama learned a thing or too as well.

Linking up this week at: #soulsurvival,  #intentionalTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #dancewithJesus, #fellowshipFriday, #graceandtruth, #coffeeforyourheart, #TellHisStory

The Blessing of a Mess

We just arrived back home from my sister's wedding and a vacation. We were gone for about 2 weeks. It was a wonderful time with family and a relaxing time at the beach with our own little family.

Almost immediately, I was shocked back into the realities of life.

My husband became busy the very next morning. We didn't even get the car unloaded. The entire duty of unpacking was left to me. Plus, after being gone that long, I felt like the house needed to be cleaned.

I don't mind cleaning, but it's the attitude I take on when I do it that I dislike. I'm not sure why it happens. It can only be described as a cleaning frenzy. It's like I'm on a mission, and if my kids get in the way, whoa, watch out for the fury! So, I try to clean where they are not. This results in even more messes. I always laugh (a little hysterically) when my husband comes home to a messy, toy cluttered house, and I tell him I've been cleaning all day.

Is there anything more frustrating?

Because I had been out of my normal writing routine for so long, I felt like all my thoughts were jumbled with no organization. So, yesterday morning, I prayed that God would give me some organization and direction. Then I did my devotionals and read a chapter in the book The Best Yes.

And God did speak to me.

The first words in my devotional were, "You are living in a time of abundance." Huh, I thought, really? Well, I know that is true, so why don't I feel like that?

The chapter in The Best Yes continued this theme. It was the chapter entitled "The Joy of the Unrushed Yes." It was all about leaving space in our schedules and lives to enjoy and work on relationships.

Ok, Lord, I get it.

I often let myself go head over heels into a frenzy. I realized I had not been enjoying the gifts I had been given, and was being given each day. I was allowing myself to get caught up in the unpacking, the cleaning, the stress of the upcoming school year and MOPS year.

I was not allowing myself the time and space to see the blessings around me. I thought of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I love this book and agree with its message of counting our blessings to experience joy whole heartedly. I had just let myself get too busy to put it into practice. And by doing so, I was missing out on the joy of life. I have been missing out on abundant life.

When really...

"My cup overflows with blessings" (Psalm 23:5b).

"What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

"O Lord, my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them" (Psalm 40:5). 

"You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of Your presence" (Psalm 21:6). 

 So, even though it is against my personality, I am going to fight the frenzy with thankfulness. I pray we can all allow ourselves time to notice the blessings and gifts around us.

Lord, help me to stop and realize the blessings that my children are--that the mess means I'm blessed.

 

Oh, yeah, and this little song too. Totally applicable to a busy, rushed life. "Slow me Down" by the Robby Seay Band. Click to enjoy!

Linking up this week at: #soulsurvival,  #intentionalTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #dancewithJesus, #fellowshipFriday, #graceandtruth, #coffeeforyourheart, #TellHisStory 

Jesus, Firm Foundation

Shootings in a military town. Friend's father-in-law dies. Children suffering with cancer. Sister diagnosed with blood clots. STRESS. Life. Chaos.

And we find ourselves shaken.

If you've read my last few posts, you know that I have been dealing with a busy schedule and a busy, messy household.

But yesterday in church, my struggles came face to face with an important truth. We sang a song in church called "Jesus, Firm Foundation." Click here to listen to it. It is fabulous and reminiscent of an older hymn.

There is nothing old about the truths of this song, however. The chorus says:

"How firm our foundation, How sure our salvation.

And we will not be shaken. Jesus, Firm foundation."

 

What words! The stress and chaos of my last few weeks grew dim. I felt challenged. I had been letting my circumstances shake me up. I had not been clinging to Jesus, the very cornerstone chosen by God to be the foundation for my life. 1 Peter 2:4 says, "You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor."

 

In case you didn't know, a cornerstone was the largest, most solid stone placed first when constructing a building. It set the landscape for the entire structure. Jesus is that for us. He is our cornerstone. He is the rock we can build our lives on. 

 

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corninthians 3:11).

 

 

I had been placing my sense of security in how much I was able to accomplish on a given day, how well my children behaved, and how clean my house was. But when we remind ourselves of this truth, every issue fades away.

 

We have a solid rock that anchors us. We can be confident that our future in heaven is secure. Nothing should shake us. We have Jesus, the cornerstone, our firm foundation.

 

 

Linking up this week at: #soulsurvival,  #intentionalTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #dancewithJesus, #fellowshipFriday, #graceandtruth, #coffeeforyourheart, #TellHisStory



 FYI: I'll be taking a little vacation from blogging! See you at the beginning of August!

 

Transforming my Mess

Lately, I have felt like such a mess! My house has been a mess, and so has my attitude! I've been having some pity parties too. My daughter had an accident and peed on the bathroom floor. I was doing the dishes (one of my least favorite household chores, second only to cleaning showers) and how to stop and attend to the more urgent matter at hand: the wet floor.

I thought to myself, "Man, I really don't feel like I ever get to have fun!"

The truth was, I was just overwhelmed. We had a busy weekend with a birthday party and our town festival. It seemed like we were always just home long enough to make a quick mess and then leave. I never had any time to clean up the little messes because we were always moving to the next event. I really don't like to be left out of fun because I'm busy cleaning up after everyone. One of my least favorite times of the day is when I have to clean up after supper, and my husband gets to play with the kids.

I know. I'm being a tiny bit dramatic. But sometimes, it just stinks to be an adult! If I had not let everything accumulate, the house would not have looked like an abandoned, disgusting, foreclosed upon house! And my attitude would have been a little sweeter too!

 

Our God can take a life in shambles and piece it back together. Our God can transform a heart black with sin into one that is whiter than snow. Our God can modify a bad attitude into a joyous disposition. We just have to be willing to let Him do the changing.

So, how do we allow God to makeover the mess of our lives?

1. Admit that we need Him. We must tell God that we are a mess. (He already knows anyway.) God is patient with us, never pushy. He will not step in unless we ask Him to. In 1 Peter 5:7, we are invited to "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." We can go to God with anything that we are struggling with. Anything. Big or small. This is part of the beauty of the relationship God wants with each of us. He wants us to communicate our need to Him. He always wants to hear.
2. Pray to be filled with the Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we immediately receive the Holy Spirit as our helper through this life. When we are filled with the Spirit, God can work in us and remove those messy, ugly attitudes. "The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). When I pray, especially if I'm having a bad day, I ask for the Spirit to help me be more patient and loving and kind. (That tends to be the areas I struggle the most.) All we have to do is ask for the Spirit to fill us, to fill in the gaps of where we are weak.
3. Be obedient and allow God to work. When that Spirit does start to move in our lives, we need to be open and obedient. We all want to be better, less of a mess. Better moms, wives, dads, husbands, etc. God is the only one who can make us better. We cannot do it on our own. I know I fail daily if I try to do life without inviting God to work in me. "Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Phil. 2:12-13). Thank God for the truth of these verses! When we work to obey Him, He works in us! He gives us the power and the desire to obey Him and please Him more. I just love this verse. It is kind of my "mommy support verse."

Yes, God is in the business of cleaning up messes. He is so many things, isn't He? He is our Rock. He is our Shield. He is our Refuge. He is our Savior. He is our Father. And for me today, He is my Transformer, the Re-maker of my Mess.

Linking up this week at:  #intentionalTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #dancewithJesus, #fellowshipFriday, #graceandtruth, #coffeeforyourheart, #TellHisStory

Time to Clean House

Today was just one of those days. I absolutely had to spend time cleaning my house. The showers were beginning to take on an unholy shade of gross. The carpet appeared to be growing popcorn. Laundry was overflowing, both dirty and clean and in need of folding. Yep, cleaning just had to be done.

It is so easy in the summer to let the cleaning slide. If you're like me up here in Minnesota, we take full advantage of the warm summer months. We know that all too soon, the winter will come, trapping us all indoors. The summer is a time to be outside. In fact, it seems like a crime to spend an afternoon in. So, because we are always venturing outside, the typical daily cleanup gets pushed aside.  I had to give in. Today was a rainy day anyway, so I decided to embrace the cleaning.

Just like our houses, our hearts can be in need of a good scrub. If we are not intentional in our walk with the Lord, setting aside time to daily "clean up" with Him, the walls and floors of our hearts can get dingy with sin and sadness, sorrow and guilt.

I was reminded of Psalm 51 as I was vacuuming today. This is a Psalm of David who was no stranger to sin. And not just a little sin like yelling at your kids. No, David had conspired to have a man murdered so he could marry his wife. He had some issues. Psalm 51 is David's cry to the Lord to come and clean his heart.

In Psalm 51:2 it says, "Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin." The cries continue on, and in verse 7 he says, "Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow."

Only God is capable of such cleaning, purifying power! We have all sinned. Sometimes, we daily sin. If we don't approach God and ask for Him to clean our hearts, we will not be able to live the full, abundant life He promises. Life in Him is joy. Life in sin is sorrow, guilt, and shame.

Besides the purification from sin, David realized something else about asking God to clean up his heart. In verse 11, he pleads, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you." David knew that a clean heart leads to true joy. And joy in the Lord, true happiness in God, prompts obedience. And we are obedient to God, His blessings can freely flow to us. This equals abundant life!

So friends, it is so important to clean house. We must be intentional about spending time with God. We must also be intentional about asking Him to purify us and cleanse us from our sins. We cannot allow our hearts to become dingy. For just as a dingy, dirty light does not shine as brightly, neither can we shine brightly for Him if we are hanging on to the dirty, dusty cobwebs of sin.

When we bring our dirtiness to God, He is so gracious with us! He removes are stains and remembers them no more! David experienced this. He also wrote of this grace in another Psalm.

"He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

God doesn't remember the sins that we have asked Him to forgive. While I still remember the doozy of a mess my kids made this morning, those past sins are gone from His memory. Praise the Lord for His great mercy and grace! We are made clean!

So, while our houses will always need cleaning, our hearts can be spot free. God forgives, cleanses, and remembers no more. Thank you, God!


Linking up this week at: #Soulsurvival, #intentionalTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #dancewithJesus, #fellowshipFriday, #graceandtruth

Managing Meltdowns like a Wise Woman

Does anyone else just lose it? Does anyone else feel like the grip you have on control sometimes slowly (or sometimes quickly) just slips away?

My daughter is now three. What a joyous, delightful age while at the same time being a totally horrendous, difficult age!

We (my kids and I) were eating lunch at an Arby's on our way back from Kansas. Everyone was tired from our fun weekend with family. I was trying to hurry the kids, making them eat quickly so we could get back on the road and finish the last leg of our trip. My daughter was upset by the fact that I was sitting by her brother instead of her. It was, after all, his turn. This did not matter to her. She let a shrill scream fly out of her mouth, expressing just how she felt about this unfair situation.

The lady in the booth next to us actually gasped. I heard it over the scream. Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed.

I also have something embarrassing to admit. At some moments, I am just a snap of the fingers away from a reaction similar to that of a tantrum by a three year old.

Can you relate? I hope you can. Not because that would be funny, but because it sure would make me feel better!

I'm on a quest to live life abundantly. Meltdowns and tantrums do not equal abundance in my mind. So, what's a girl to do? It's so easy to get frustrated, especially when we let our circumstances determine our reaction.

In Proverbs 14:1, I found a verse to ponder. It says:

"A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands."

I want to be a wise woman. Of this I am sure. So what does this verse mean? To me, it states that a woman can intentionally build up the people in her home. She can encourage and support her children and her spouse. When we do theses things, we build our homes to withstand meltdowns. We build our homes to be strong units, able to weather any storm.

At the same time, we can be foolish. A foolish woman can destroy her home with her own two hands. She can let her attitude get out of control. She can let feelings and emotions rule her words, instead of  peace and truth. When we allow ourselves to come unglued and to have a meltdown, we destroy the peace of our household that we work so hard to build. We destroy the peace in our marriages, and the example we want to set for our children. (Man, I am totally preaching to myself today!)

What can we do to be a woman who builds her home? We can...

•  Work for peace. In 1 Peter 3:11, Peter writes, "Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it." Did you catch that? Peace is not something that just happens. Life is often busy and chaotic. Children are unpredictable. We must work to find a peace that works for our households, and we must intentionally maintain it. We must protect it if we want to build up our homes.
• Harness our feelings. Even though it is hard, we must keep our feelings in check. Proverbs 29:11 says, "Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back." I'm not saying we should keep all of our feelings inside. That is not healthy. But think about it. When we foolishly vent our anger and frustration, who is the recipient of it? In my case, it is usually my children or my husband, the people that I love the most. This is not what I want. We must stay in control. We have help! In 1 John 3:20 it says, "God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything." God knows our struggles, but he is bigger than our emotions. Any emotion. We can go to him and vent to him. He can handle it!
• Know when to take a break. We were not made to handle everything that life throws at us on our own. Everyone needs a break from life sometimes. Acts 3:20 says, "Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord." We have to get away and get with God! Psalm 23 echoes this same sentiment. "He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength" (verse 2, emphasis added). Psalm 119:50 also explains that "Your promise [God's Word] revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles." Let's face it, our families can give us trouble. We must take time to be refreshed by God and His Word. A woman cannot build her house if she is running on empty.

With God's help, we can all get ourselves in the category of "a wise woman." Feelings and frustrations can be controlled and redirected. Meltdowns can be prevented. Peace can be maintained. Let's set our aim high. Let's set our focus on God and go for it! Be a wise woman!

Linking up this week at: #soulsurvival, #intentionalTuesday, #RaRalinkup, #threewordWednesday, #livefreeThursday, #belovedbrews, #fellowshipFriday, #dancewithJesus,