God's Timing, Waiting on the Lord

 It is not always easy to wait. Its like being a kid when your birthday is coming and you know you are going to get presents and you just can not wait to find out what they are. Or maybe, its like being an adult going through a time where you know the Lord has a plan and you are doing everything you know to do but the light at the end of the tunnel seems to still be far away.

It can be hard to wait.

Take to heart the promise given to us in Isaiah 40:31, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." Wow! what a promise.

With a promise like that, it is worth waiting on God's timing. I know when I do not wait on God I feel run down and wore out. And let me tell you, it is hard to be mom when you are wore out. I do not know the trials that you are going through, but I do know that God is always faithful. Get up and do what is required of you and He will meet you.

Be Blessed!

Taking Care of Mom…

It is very easy to focus all of your attention on the kids. Wanting the kids to have the best and most opportunities happens in all homes, it doesn’t matter if the focus is on God or football.

As a mom I have reached burnout a few times in this 17 year career. It is not pleasant feeling hopeless and having anxiety attacks when things do not go “just so”.

It was not until I finally was in a healthy relationship that I realized I have to take care of myself in order to be able to be the parent that my children deserved. It is not a matter of putting yourself first, but it is a matter of taking care of your needs.

The most loved way I was able to do that when my children were little was by attending a moms group that is faith based and with the goal of being there for moms that may not have anyone else. A marvelous organization for Mothers of Preschoolers is MOPS. Our local group was a God send for me. I met ladies that were close to my age and had children the same age as my young ones. The mentor moms brought messages of hope and it centers on God.

Mom needs a sweet treat eaten during a few minutes of quiet, that doesn’t involve locking herself in the bathroom and crouching in the shower. Ha-ha!

Check MOPs.org for a group near you! And even if your children are older than kindergarten, MOPs groups always can use volunteers to help with the kids of the moms that go to the meetings.

Your Children... chores or no?

I was having an interesting discussion with my kiddos the other day. It seems that many of their friends do not have chores, or at least they don't admit to it. So I asked my kids what they thought about having chores.

My honest answers were that it stunk, they would rather be outside playing, on the phone or video games.

So.. I thought I would bring the question to you, my readers.

Do your children have chores? What kind of chores do they have? Do you count their bedroom as a chore?

In our house, everybody is responsible for cleaning their rooms and making their beds daily. Then they have chores. Given that we have six precious ones, I have to get creative, and add sports/band schedules to it, it gets a bit hairy. Since our girls are the oldest at 15,13, and 12 we rotate between the kitchen, bathroom, and living room with them. The boys at 8,6, and 5 rotate with setting the table, cleaning the hallway, and being mom's helper. Once it warms up we throw in outside chores too.

My other thoughts is one of the girls told us that it wasn't fair to have to do the chores and that since we are the parents, we should do the chores. I can understand this thinking, after all parents are suppose to meet the needs of their children. To answer her, I turned to Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it. If we don't teach them to do chores, how will they know when they are independent adults?