He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. ~Psalm 1:3
"Mommy, one time we were at Grandma's house. And it was so much fun to play with her tractor."
"Mommy, do you remember when Daddy had poison ivy? It's all better now! Jesus made it better!" "Mommy, look! Jesus put water back into Grammi's stream! Just like we asked Him to! He came down, and then he went back up!" After each of these quotes from my 3 year old, I just shook my head in amazement. So happy in her simple faith. So shocked at her memory. Some of these events happened almost a year ago! As Moms, we all know that the toddler years are some of the most critical development years in a person's life. These little people are constantly gathering more information and data than we will probably ever even know. And if we are not purposeful about it, then the information and thought process that is cemented in their minds is going to be useless, at least in light of eternity. 
But that is not what any of us want for our children. We are raising soldiers for Christ, and soldiers need to be able to dig deep and know what they stand for.
Just like the tree in Psalm 1. We need to fill our children's river {mind} with life-giving water. We need to give them what they need to dig deep and find nourishing strength in the Word of God. And it's never to early to start! It is not enough to tell a child how they should act. We need to be training their little hearts in "why" they should act. We need to teach them to delight in the word of the Lord, and to meditate on it day and night. And then when they are older, they will be that blessed person that "walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, not stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful." I have not got this all down yet. I miss days of reading the Bible to my kids. Life as a Mommy to a 19 month old and a 3 year old is busy and hectic. But I am asking God to put it on my heart more and more. To make it a priority in my life, above laundry, dishes, sweeping and facebook. Yes, sadly, facebook. We Moms of today have a lot to fight against to stay on track with Jesus, and on track with being present for our kids and training their hearts all day long. Right now my Bible time "strategy" looks like this: Reading Psalm 23 to my kids every morning, singing a couple songs and praying. After a week and a half of reading the same passage almost every day, Jakki can quote parts of every verse with me as I read. I was amazed! Toddlers are so much smarter than we give them credit for. Playing Bible CDs to them at nap time and/or bedtime. My parents did this for us and I'm so glad they did! Not only does it help with memorization, but just hearing the same passages of scriptures, and hearing whole books of the Bible in one reading, instead of little verses here and there is so enriching. Sometimes I need a little help in remembering to teach my kids from the Bible every day, and that's when this verse is so good in reminding me of the importance of it. It is after all, a command of God! 
I have it framed in my house, beside a collection of family pictures. It is a good verse to see every day, over and over again! {If you would like to buy a print click here and enter coupon WALLSOFHOME to get 40% off. }
Blessings to you as you strive to train up your children to love Jesus!
6 Comments
Dear Exhausted Mom,
You take a minute to scroll through Pinterest and several "Energetic Mom" posts show up on your feed. You switch to Facebook and the most popular post today is an article your friend shared: "8 Reasons to Keep a Neat House" And you sigh. And you exit out of it. And you want to throw your phone across the room as the guilt and condemnation piles on you and you feel like crying and giving up. You feel alone, like you can never be quite good enough. You can never measure up to other Moms. Because: You. Can't. Keep. Up. Because you have an unseen, exhausting sickness 
There are so many posts, blogs and articles about being a Proverbs 31 Woman. And there needs to be! They need to be written and shared and read and shared some more!! We need that encouragement to be our very best. It is good to be challenged and inspired by Godly and energetic women. But there are times that some of us can not be that virtuous woman. Not when it comes to the "rising while it is still night" and "she girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms." Because you simply do not have the energy or the strength to do those things. Because all day you are making choices - do I use my energy to clean or make my kids feel loved? Should I cook a fancy supper for my husband or get all the laundry folded? Should I take a nap so I can feel good this evening or spend that time washing the floor? Because you know that you are limited in what you can get done. And it's ok. We are not here to be measured by other people's standards, but by God's. So, when your living room looks ready for company because the entire mess is hidden in your bedroom because all you had the energy to do was feed your family and dress your kids this week, it's ok. When you only have what it takes to make the simplest meals, it's ok. When the only thing you get done in a day is cuddling your kids and the most basic house maintenance because you hardly felt like you could get off the couch, it's ok. When you see your friends being frugal and pumping out the DIY projects and you can only think of your dozens of undone DIY Pinterest pins and sigh, it's ok. My dear friend, when you're giving your all and it doesn't look like anything, it's ok. Please, do not feel discouraged. Do not feel like you are not good enough. When you are too exhausted from chronic fatigue or some other sickness like that {or morning sickness!}, to be the Proverbs 31 Woman, you are still good enough. You are loved - you are loved with the all encompassing and gentle love of Jesus, who sees your heart perfectly and knows who you long to be. He is not watching you, thinking you should be doing more, waiting for you to achieve. You are perfect in His eyes. And you are worthy. Just look at what Jesus says about us - about you: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." Romans 8:1 {You are perfect in Jesus.} "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" {You are God's child!} "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:27 {You are part of the body of Christ!} "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 {God's got this! Everything you're going through right now is a part of His plan!!} "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3 {This is what is truly important!} "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. . ." Ephesians 1:3-6 {God choose you. He knew everything you would be, and everything you would accomplish and He choose you! He has adopted you and made you His child!!} "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:6 {In God's eyes, you are one with His royal and glorious Son!} But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 {Our own strength - anybody's strength, no matter who they are- is nothing next to Jesus's strength anyway. Let yourself be strong through Him!} "...because God has said 'never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5 {God is here with us, always. He sees our hardships that may seem insignificant to some people, and "His heart is touched with our grief."} Dear exhausted friends, it's ok to not be the Proverbs 31 Woman. You are enough, through Jesus!! I created a printable for you to download and print out with all of these verses. Hang it up somewhere you can see it often, and when you feel the guilt and condemnation piling up, when you don't feel like you're enough, take time to read them and remember... You are perfect in His eyes! 
Cupcakes are one of my very favorite things to make...and eat! But they can be so time consuming that I don't make them very often. A friend invited us to their place for supper kind of last minute the other evening and I offered to bring dessert.
I didn't have very many ingredients in the house and wasn't sure what to make. And then I saw a chocolate cake mix and remembered some delicious chocolate coffee cupcakes I had made once. I decided to simplify it x10. They turned out really great and everyone thought they were great! So I thought I would share them with everybody else that is busy but still likes yummy and gourmet looking things! I hope you love them as much as we did! 
Chocolate Cupcakes
You will need: 1 Cake Mix Eggs Milk Butter, melted Vanilla Each cake mix is different, so the amounts of ingredients will vary according to your cake mix. Simply use milk instead of water, 1 extra egg and melted butter instead of oil, doubled, plus a tsp of Vanilla. My cake mix called for: 1 cup water, 1/2 cup of oil and 3 eggs. So, I added: 1 cup milk, 1 cup butter, melted, 4 Eggs and 1 tsp. Vanilla. Mix it all together and put into your lined cupcake pans and bake according to the package instructions. While its baking mix up the frosting. I used my Mom's trusted buttercream frosting recipe with just a few tweaks to add a mouthwatering coffee flavor. I freely admit I would rather eat the frosting by the spoonful than a cupcake. ;) Coffee Frosting 4 cups Powdered Sugar 1/2 cup + 1 1/2 T Shortening 1/8 tsp. Salt 1 tsp. Vanilla 1/4 cup Hot Coffee Start mixing everything but coffee - add the coffee in very slowly. Whip it up really good and it's ready to go! If you like as much frosting as cupcake {like me!} then you will want to double your frosting recipe. Here is the recipe for that: Coffee Frosting {Frosting Lover's Version} 8 cups Powdered Sugar 1 cup + 3 T Shortening 1/4 tsp. Salt 2 tsp. Vanilla 1/2 cup Hot Coffee Mix the same as above and pile it high on your cupcakes! I used a Wilton 2D tip to get the look I wanted. Garnish with a coffee bean or little bits of chocolate if you like. Now enjoy!! 
P.S. You can use this recipe on any cake mix to give your cakes and cupcakes rich and delicious "from scratch" flavor!
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with His hand. - Psalm 37:23 & 24
God bless your day, my friends!
|
I am on a journey to know Jesus better, and be the wife, mommy and friend that God created me to be, all within the walls of my own little home. <3
Read more... Archives
September 2019
Categories |
||
RSS Feed
