A Birthday Surprise!

I love birthdays but not necessarily my own!  I like making cakes for my kids and trying to find the perfect gift for my husband.  The more birthdays I have, the less of a big deal they need to be.  However, now that my kids are old enough to really appreciate birthdays, ALL birthdays are a big deal in this house!  There is nothing sweeter than the sound of your family waking you up to the tune of Happy Birthday with a plate of fresh, warm donuts.  This year, Kris and Kieran spent many hours (Kieran even gave up outside time with his friends) working on a birthday present for me.  I wanted to share it with you all.  I am so blessed.

Why I Love Being a Mom

New Mom to our precious boy!

I remember the moment like it was yesterday.  Kieran was 2 weeks old, and my mom convinced me that Kris and I needed a date night before she headed back to Florida.  We got in the car to grab a quick dinner, and I started to cry.  It really was uncontrollable.  Kris tried to comfort me and tell me that the baby was going to be okay.  I told Kris that I knew that and I trusted my mom 100%.  Then I looked at him and said, "You don't understand.  That little baby has been with me 24/7 for the past 9 months.  I feel empty without him inside me or in my arms."  I'm sure there were more than a few hormones bouncing around that night, but there is just something about being a mom.

Sweet baby girl brings our family to 4

Most nights neither one of my "babies" want to go to bed without me snuggling with them.  Even though our days around here are getting more and more hectic with classes, homeschool, karate, and ballet, I treasure those precious moments at night when my 6 and 3 year old snuggle up into my arms and take me back to those sleepless nights of rocking chairs and diapers.  I remember reading a quote after Elyse was born that said, "Being a mom is like having your heart walk around outside of you." That quote takes a whole new meaning when the pieces of your heart are walking, running around the neighborhood, and then heading off to school.  I know my kids aren't perfect and I'm not the perfect mom, but I am so thankful that God so perfectly put our family together. 

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

The Monster at the end of this Book

“What did that say? On the first page,  what did that say?  Did that say there will be a monster at the end of this book?  It did? Oh, I’m so scared of Monsters!" Do you remember that Little Golden Book with the lovable, furry, old Grover from Sesame Street?  If not, go to your library and check it out.  It was one of my most favorite books growing up, and both my kids still love it today.  There is just something about the combination of suspense, overreacting, and irony that makes it so funny. Grover goes on to beg and plead for us not to turn the pages of the books so we will not get closer to the Monster at the end. 

As I was looking at the calendar the other day, I started to feel like Grover.  What does that calendar say?  January 2012??  Wait, you turned another page!  Now, it says February 2012!  What?  Now is it March??  Okay, if you’ll stop turning pages then we won’t get any closer to the end of the calendar. Do you not know what happens later this summer in 2012?  We are packing up our family and moving to Mexico!  Don’t you know how much needs to be done before that happens?  So, STOP TURNING PAGES!!!  

Okay, so maybe it isn't that dramatic!  We are very excited about taking our next step to serve God.  Our hearts yearn to return to Mexico and begin working there.  However, the tasks that need to be completed between now and then often seem monstrous!  We have taxes to do, documents to “make official” according to international standards,  luggage to buy, airplane tickets to purchase, classes to finish, packing to do, and friends and family to visit.  Like the end of the Sesame Street book, when our time comes to step off that plane, we will realize that it wasn’t so scary after all, and, at the end of the day, thanks to your prayers and God’s unending Grace, all these details will get done.  We’ll look at all those items crossed off the to-do list and realize that it was our fears and stress that were the real monsters in this story.  Of course, we know that God can easily turn those monsters into lovable, furry, old Grovers any day! 

Is Your Hut Burning?

I'm not a fan of email forwards...no offense to those who are.  However, many years ago (in those early days of email), I printed out a forward I received because it really spoke to my need to trust God with everything.  While digging through boxes this morning to try to find yet another document which we need for our move, I found this small little print out.  Every now and then, God puts this little piece of paper in my path to remind me of His sovereignty.  Maybe it will speak to you as well.

Is Your Hut Burning?

The only survivor of a ship wreck was washed up on a small uninhabited island.  He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and everyday he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.  Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.  The worst had happened - everything was lost.  He was stunned with grief and anger.  "OH GOD, HELP ME!" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island.  It had come to rescue him.  "How did you know that I was here?" he asked the weary rescuers.  "We saw your smoke signals," they replied.  

It is easy to get discouraged when things are not going your way, but we shouldn't lose heart because God is at work in our lives even in the midst of pain and suffering.  Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground...it just may be God answering your prayers!


Proverbs 3:5  "Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

Have You Been Hugged Today?

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

Last night I ran in the Dollar Tree to get some lollipops for the kids' Valentine cards.  I felt like I was walking into Walmart on Black Friday!  There were people everywhere grabbing up anything pink or red in the store.  I even saw one guys with about 5 Valentine cards in his hand (I can only hope they were for sisters, friends, and a mother and not all his girlfriends)!!  Needless to say, I walked out with no lollipops.  Have no fear though.  I wondered next door to Party City and found what I needed 15 for $1!  As I looked around at all those people buying gifts for the ones they loved from the Dollar Tree (I'm not knocking the Dollar Tree, trust me), it made me think about the kind of "love" we have come to know in this day and age.  To me, it seems like love has become a "dollar store" kind of love.  It is very different than the perfect Love that comes from our Heavenly Father.  If we do know that kind of love, we should be overwhelmed with the desire to share it and to give people the chance to grasp the depth of His love for us.  If someone offered you the choice between a dollar plastic ring or a diamond one from Tiffany's, which would you choose? 

A couple of nights ago, I was putting Kieran to bed.  He was giving me one of his many bedtime hugs and he said, "Mommy, don't you just love when God hugs you?  I can feel when He hugs me.  Actually, He's hugging me right now."  Wow!  What a blessing to feel the arms of God wrapped around us.  Isn't it time to put aside the cheap, Dollar Tree love and reach for the One who can give us something so much better?

"How Deep the Father's Love For Us"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmY2ztb5xc 

One Lost Lego - A Modern Day Parable

One Sunday evening, a young boy and his mom decided to do a craft project that she had found on a website.  It was a liquid soap container with Lego blocks suspended in the soap.  Since her son was such a huge fan of Legos, she knew he would love it.  So, she washed the empty soap container, and he went to gather a hand full of blocks.  He was a little concerned about giving up some of his treasured toys to put in soap, but after seeing the picture again of the final product, he decided it would be worth it.  In the bathroom, the two started assembling the masterpiece… first a few blocks, then some soap.   The boy picked up his next piece to add to the container when it slipped out of his hands and went down the sink drain.  A look of fear came over the boy’s face and then the tears started to flow.  His mom tried to comfort him by saying it was just one Lego piece and that he had plenty more.  However, nothing could console him as he stared down the drain.  So, the mom went and got the boys dad.  His dad crawled under the sink with his tools.  He tugged and pulled, twisted and turned, but the drain would not budge.   

He thought of giving up several times, but every time he saw the look on his son’s face, he tried again.  Finally, he tried another part of the drain and it came apart.  Out popped the small, green, Lego block. Cheering and laughing echoed through the bathroom!  The once lost Lego was now found and the craft could be completed!  

Whether it be a lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), a lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), a lost son (Luke 15:11-32), or a little lost Lego, God reminds us over and over again that we are all special to him.  He doesn’t want any of us to be lost.  Even though there are billions of other people on this earth, he wants to have a special relationship with each one of us.  

“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Luke 15:10 

In His Eyes

I don't know when it happens.  Maybe we can blame Barbie or the models on the front of magazines.  Everywhere around us we are bombarded with images of perfection that make us feel...well...imperfect.  Once we get a little older and more mature, we accept the fact that our hair will never look like we think it should look and most days we're just happy to get a shower.  Once we reach that stage, then we start reading blogs written by those super moms.  You know the ones who get showers, put on make up, do incredible crafts with their kids (who never watch TV or play video games), and make all their meals from scratch.  No offense, super moms!  Suddenly, we are drawn back into that feeling of inadequacy. 

Tonight, when I was putting Kieran to bed, I learned a lesson.  After singing Kieran his lullabies, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, you sing the most beautifully I have ever heard.  You have such a beautiful voice.  I wish you had a show where you could sing so that everyone could hear you.  Everyone needs to hear your beautiful voice.  You're the best mommy in the whole world."  I may not be a super model or even mother of the year, but I know that in his eyes, I'm perfect.  That's all the recognition I need.