Slow Down!

I tell my husband that a lot when he is driving. "Slow down, you don't want to get a ticket!" (I don't want you to get a ticket) I have rushed through days, rushing here, rushing there. I have always been in a hurry when pregnant to get the delivery over quickly, something my body has never helped me with :) I have rushed through saying goodnight to the children. I have gulped down my food at meal time, for what I can't remember. I have rushed out of bed, rushed into bed. I have rushed so we wouldn't be late, snapping at the children while my patience wore thin. I can probably think of times I have rushed much more easily than the times I have slowed down. Our society has geared us to rushing. Believe me, I have rushed!

But today, on a cool summer afternoon I am Slowing Down. I feel very thoughtful and reflective today. Thinking about my life, what I take the time to appreciate, to think about, to fill my hours and moments with.
As I was nursing my baby I thought about my future...right now it's unknown. I was tempted to rush to feeling anxious, something that is too easy to do. Just as quickly, I heard the birds singing outside, my eyes fell to the precious face so close to mine. I breathed in the sweet baby smell, caressed the tiny fingers holding mine and asked God to help me SLOW DOWN!

To slow down before I get anxious. Slow down before I get impatient. Slow down before I have missed what my little one is trying to tell me. Slow down before I miss a moment to gaze at my husband and remember why I love him.
Slow down to feel and cherish these fleeting and all too quickly passing moments of young motherhood. Slow down before I miss a moment that I can never regain.

Today I am thinking of the verse in Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.

Too True Tuesday

Today, this week I have been struggling to TRUST the Lord. Many of you know what an uncertain future means, and the worry that goes along with it. I have been battling this daily. Today I am choosing to Trust God, and look to him to still the troubled waters of fear in my soul.
That's the truth!




Share something that's true about your life right now. It can be anything, funny, sad, a picture a poem. Something that you would not normally share. : ) Link your blog so we can visit you for Too True Tuesday!

One Thousand Gifts

Beginning My Journey To 1000 Thanks

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 28:7

1. My husband

2. Karagen

3. Vaughn

4. Emmaus

5. Silas

6. Jachin

7. Trials that turn my heart towards the Lord

8. Forgiveness of Sins

9. A longsuffering Saviour

10. The sunshine

11. The rain (we have had both today)

12. Air conditioners

13. A nursing baby (still going strong)

14. Baby smell.

15. A messy house (thank you my little mess makers)

7 Goals Today

Due to our family being sick the past several days, I don't feel like doing much! And I think everyone knows that when your body isn't well, your spirits sag.

I have 7 goals today...important ones for me.

1. Hold Silas to help me (I mean him) feel better. : )

Have you ever noticed how holding and comforting a child makes you feel warm inside? It ALWAYS does for me! (this is listed first because it was one of the first things I did this morning)

2. Read my Bible and pray, I feel very needy right now Lord!

I hope no one thinks I'm a super saint (not that it wouldn't be nice)

3. Do a little bit (of everything, laundry, dishes, housework, lovin on the kids) I am pacing myself today.

4. Talk to my husband Connecting with him gives me a boost for the whole day.

5. Take a nap A good nap does the mommy good.

6. Focus On the blessings in my life and who is really in control.

7. Give it to God Even if it has to be a second by second thing, I am going to give all my worries and fears to God.

Treasures of the Heart

Being a mom can be DRAINING.

Being a wife can be DEMANDING.

Being a christian can be TIME CONSUMING.

Being a female can be ANNOYING.

Ok, that sounds negative right? Well, these are things I have thought a time or two. Good or bad it's true. I realize these negative thoughts can rule my actions a determine how I live my day, how I go about my daily routines. How I execute the daily grind really shows what kind of person I am.

I have struggled for awhile to fit in my personal time with the Lord. I KNOW this is not something to neglect, but it is so easyt to! There was a time when I could not feel "free" to do anything else until I had had my morning devotions. That has long slipped away and I find myself too easily engaging in laundry, or dishes, or whatever before devotions.

As I have begun my blog, the leaness of my soul stood out starkly to me, especially while reading other blogs with deep spiritual content. I have a faithful husband, he reminds me, he asks me : Did you read your Bible today? If I find that question annoying you can clearly guess what the answer to it is. NO. The Lord has so clearly brought to my mind the verse For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34. Why would I get angry at him for asking me about my spiritual welfare? Because there was nothing going INTO my heart from God's Word. I have not been taking time to SLOW down and take in. Not just God's word, but Godly, christian books.

So I asked myself, "what have you been taking in?" Nodda. Nothing. I had been waking up, starting my day, murmuring a few prayers here and there and sparadically reading my Bible. Any other reading was zilch.

I have begun placing treasures in my heart. What I put in to my mind affects what I think and feel as a woman and a christian. If I watch the news, it's negative! If I spend a lot of time online and do nothing else, it is empty. Pretty soon my lack of Godly input makes itself known by a leaness of soul! I can feel it and sense it in every area of my life. That's when the first statements become so real to me.

Being a mom can be DRAINING.

Being a wife can be DEMANDING.

Being a christian can be TIME CONSUMING.

Being a female can be ANNOYING.

It is then I realize things HAVE to change! Let's try this:

Being a mom is the most rewarding job ever!

Being a wife is an honor and a blessing!

Being a christain is VITAL and Crucial!

Being a female is what God created me to be! (even the annoying parts)

I am laying up treasures in my heart. I am Guarding my heart, watching cloesly the things I allow to come in, and being careful what is allowed to come out. I know from experience though that when I take in what is right, the "out put" is much different!

To Be or Not To Be

For a long time my husband and I have debated whether or not to home school. And it sometimes seems expected that if you really love your kids and want them to be Godly you WILL homeschool.

I have wrestled with the issue for several years. I have a HUGE fear of homeschooling from not being homeschooled right myself. I have given up on the subject, pushed it away and really tried hard not to think about it. I have even gone so far as to avoid fellow bloggers who homeschool (hey, I'm being honest here!)

But God has other ways of getting a persons attention. I found a blog by a mom who has been married 8 years and has 5 kids and loves the Lord, just like me. So of course I followed her : ) Her blog Our Family for His glory is in the beginning stages (like mine) but after looking her blog over I found....she also homeschools! Uh, oh! She lists her Top Ten Reasons for homeshooling in her blog post Why Homeschool?? Her reasons really got me thinking.

And finally we are facing major changes this year. It is very likely we will be moving (again) and it will be during the 2010/2011 school year. My husband's job (he is a city bus driver) has cut hours way back, so much that we will be unable to live off of what he will earn. New York state's budget is over 85 days late and they are making major cuts everywhere, including our area's transit system. We were already working on finding a church group to join so when we found out about his hours being cut we knew it was time to return to the ministry. Our hearts have longed to be back in ministry anyway. I do not have any idea of when we will be moving, what kind of schools will be at our new location or how our children will deal with our moving. Homeschooling really seems like the ONLY way to go to give our children the stability they need right now. And my mommy heart can rest a lot easier knowing they will be close during all the changes.

I know this is a long post, but my heart keeps returning to these issues. Where will we be going? I don't know. When will we be moving? I don't know. How will everything work out with our finances between now and then? I don't know. Where will our children go to school?
At home. I think God is wanting me to step out in faith for this one. Am I ready?

Funny Friday