Patience

Before I was a mom, I had LOADS of patience :)  After having my first baby, I realized, that I was not as patient as I had always thought.  Now that I have three children, I KNOW that I am not blessed with patience.  Thinking about this though, I have realized that we start out life as impatient beings...patience is something we need to develop over time.  My almost 10 month old baby is the perfect example : )  When he wants mama, he wants mama RIGHT NOW!  And he'll let me know.  There is no telling him, "just a minute, mama is just finishing up the dishes."  Nope, he needs to be picked up and soothed before the screaming gets so bad that he's hyperventilating, and then it takes even longer to calm him down.
Thankfully, God is not an impatient God.  Despite our impatience with Him, He loves us, answers us patiently, not yelling - "give me a minute, I'm dealing with the rest of the world."
Something to hold on to, is that God is faithful to those who are patient:

Romans 2:7 (ESV)

to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality,

he will give eternal life

Full Hands

The other day after dropping Mackenzie off at school I was trying to get myself and both boys inside.  Thomas loves to open doors for me (well, for everyone :)  ) so he wanted me to hold his Eeyore, sippy cup, and whatever else he was carrying at the time.  Well, being mom, I already had my hands full - baby, purse, diaper bag, keys, etc...I told him that I couldn't help him, "mommy's hands are already full."
You know, my hands are full just about all the time.  Sometimes it's literal and sometimes it's figurative, but as "mom" my hands are definitely full. 
When we finally did make it inside, I realized that God's hands are never too full for us or our problems.  Just thinking about that truth made my full hands seem lighter.  If I ever feel like my hands are too full, I just need to remember that I have a God who is bigger and can handle anything!
How amazing is that?!

Another Day

Just wanted to stop in real quick.  My life has been a blur lately.  I've been running almost non-stop. 
So this morning I wanted to stop and take a moment to thank God for today.

Have you thanked God lately?  I know it's so hard sometimes to take the time to really S T O P and sit in a quiet moment of prayer and thank God for all of his blessings, but if you do, it'll be so refreshing!

God knows our hearts, but the act of stopping for Him, I think, is so much more.

Hope your day today is blessed and full of thanks!

Not of the world

God tells us to not love the world or anything in it.  I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  I am in a daily struggle to become more like Christ.  To do this I have tried to surround myself with people I admire and respect and who have a strong faith and walk with God.  So this turned into thoughts of the world.  1 John 2:15-17 says:
Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
I know that I am not supposed to be of this world, but I need to witness to the world and be salt and light to the world.
Matthew 5: 11-16 says:
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  You are tge salt of the earth.  but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
So, I still want to surround myself with strong christian examples and friends, but I also need to be "in" the world sharing the love and grace of God. 
I hope that I make some sense : )
So my challenge to anyone reading this and to myself - go into the world with the love, truth and grace of God.  And friends who can encourage you, strengthen you, pray for you, and challenge you.

Anxiety

Aaahhhhh...mommy's stomach is all in knots!  Tomorrow is my baby's first day of kindergarten.  I was talking to her all day today about her first day.  I asked her if she was excited, nervous, scared, happy...she told me that every time I say "school" she gets excited!  I love that she is excited.  But I, on the other hand, am a little anxious.  Don't get me wrong, I am excited for her, but I'll be missing her every second.
I know that the only thing that will calm my anxiety is prayer.  So I am praying.  I'm praying for Mackenzie, her teacher, the other kids in her class, and the other kids in the other 2 kindergarten classes. 
And I am also going to try and get a good night's sleep.  So i'll leave with this:
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Who is your guide?

Mackenzie starts kindergarten on Friday!  I can't believe that my baby girls is going to be in school ALL DAY 5 days a week!  This has gotten me to thinking about all the fun we had this summer.  We went to parks, the library, the museum, the zoo, water parks, and lots more.  I can't believe that it has gone by so quickly. 
One particular park trip stands out in my mind.  We went to a park in Waterford that had this really cool maze.  It was made out of chain-link fence and there was a bridge that you could stand on and see the whole maze.  I let Mackenzie and Thomas go through the maze while I stood on the bridge watching them.  It was so fun to watch Mackenzie try and figure her out through and watch Thomas follow happily behind her.  They eventually made it through and immediately wanted to do it again.  This time Mackenzie kept going to dead ends and was getting a bit frustrated (Thomas just kept running and laughing).  Since I could see the maze, I started giving Mackenzie directions - "turn around, go left, keep walking straight..." Sometimes she listened to me, and sometimes she would tell me to stop "I can do it!" 
This situation just made me stop and think that this is sometimes how we react to God.  God can see (and He knows) where we are going in the maze of life.  He wants us to succeed and is always willing to help us.  God tells us in Matthew 7:7 "ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."  All we have to do is ask for help.  "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your righ thand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13.  And in Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."
My prayer is that I will always remember these verses and the picture of Mackenzie running through that maze.  I need to remember that even if life seems to be going perfectly fine and I'm making my way through the maze without hitting any dead ends, I still need to ask God to be guiding my life and helping me.
I'm so thankful to God for that little maze and the huge picture it painted for me.

A new chapter

So, I have decided to keep off of facebook for the month of September. Simple, right? It's only day four and I have to say, no. It was okay for the first two days, but now, I find myself wanting to click on that little blue "f" on my tool bar every time I log onto my computer. It's silly how difficult a task it is to keep off of a certain website. But this time off of facebook is supposed to be spent strengthening my relationship with God and my prayer life.

So, not only am I off of FB for a month, I am also taking part in a challenge. It's called Maximize Your Mornings. It's a challenge to get you (me) to get up early each morning and be intentional, wake up FOR my kids and not TO my kids, spend time with God, spend time exercising, and spend time planning the day. This particular challenge actually starts on the 12th, but I'm working on it now.

My prayer is that God not only gives me the strength (and energy) to get up each day and spend quality time with Him, but that my children will see a heart change in their mama.

So, here's to early mornings and maximizing my mornings!

Being a God pleaser vs a people pleaser

Just about all my life I have tried to make sure that the people around me are happy and like me. I have tried to live up to what I thought other people wanted from me. For some reason, I think 30 changed me. Something inside of me said "hey, wake up, you're a grown up now!" I've always known that it's not what other people think, but what God thinks. But knowing and doing are two totally different things.
God tells us that we can not be a part of this world and even though that is a difficult thing sometimes - it is His command to us. I am trying daily to acknowledge that people may not like me and that it's okay. As long as I am striving to please God, it's okay. I don't need to have a lot of friends (although it's nice to have friends : ) ) I have a God who adores me!
So, I have learned that God is enough for me, and I have decided that I am no longer going to be a people pleaser.

Introduction

Hi!  Welcome to my blog!  I have started this blog as a way to keep notes of my devotional life and my life as a wife and mother.  But, let me introduce myself:
I'm first a daughter of The King (which makes me a princess : )  ) and then I am a wife to a wonderful man, and a mother to three beautiful kiddos: 5yr old M, 2yr old T, and 7mo old J. And I am a friend.  So, that's me.  Simple.  This blog is a glimpse into my life.



Mackenzie just got a new devotional book (from the 'tooth fairy') and we have another devotional book for children. I am going to pick a book in the Bible and start to read through that book.

Mackenzie and I did our first devotion together a few days ago. It was about who God is. God wants us to know Him and He lets us know His name in the Bible. Mackenzie said that we can tell other people about God by letting them know that God loves them and He tells us that in the Bible. There was also a page for Mackenzie to write down names of people she wants to pray for. She listed Thomas, Joseph, Mommy and Daddy, all her cousins and a few of her friends. We are going to start praying for these people every night before bed.