Christian Parenting

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately and with my children being so young I often wonder how in the world I'm suppose to start teaching them about God. I ran across a book at Lifeway called Leading Your Kids to Christ and it is a 30 day devotional with ideas of how to introduce your children to Christ. So far I'm only on day 2 but it has really got me thinking about my own relationship with Christ. I know I have to set an example for them and my realtionship with Christ has been distant lately but how am I suppose to set them up to have a strong faith if my own faith is weak at the moment?

I always thought I had a great relationship with God but of course everybody can always use some work in that area. I still rely on God a lot and pray all of the time but not as much as I use to. I feel so distant from him at the moment but I also know it's my own doing because God never goes anywhere. He doesn't turn his back on me, I'm the one that has pushed him away and I have no clue why.

The second day of devotions opens with this verse from Matthew 17:20 "For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." This is one of my favorite bible verses and everytime I hear or read it I remind myself that I just need to trust in God and have a little faith and give every little thing to God. In this day and age I think it's hard for anybody to do that because we live in such a world where we all feel as if we have to be in control. When something isn't entirely in our hands we just don't think it's right, but we seem to forget that as Christians nothing is every entirely in our hands. God is in control of everything and we just have to have faith and believe that the right thing will happen. God knows what's going to happen before it ever occurs.

My devotion for today is to examine my own faith and I'm finding it very hard for some reason. So, after reading the devotional several times this morning and attempting to reflect on it a few lines stood out to me. I want to share them with you. On page 17 it says 'Thomas Brooks spoke for believers of every generation when he observed, "Christ is the sun, and all the watches of our lives should be set by the dial of his motion." Christ, indeed, is the ultimate Savior of mankind and the personal Savior of those who believe in Him. As his servants, we should place Him at the very center of our lives and at the center of our households. When we do, we are blessed today, tomorrow, and throughout eternity.'

That statement by Thomas Brooks is so very true and I have never thought about God that way. The only difference that I see is that God is like the sun and the moon because he's always around no matter what time of the day or night. Philip Yancey once said "Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse." Boy is that true! So, I'm going to reflect on these two thoughts for the day and evaluate my own faith. I've got to focus on myself and my relationship with God before I can help my children develop a relationship with God.

Days 4 & 5

On days 4 & 5 I'm so thankful for my husband and children. Without them I'd be a nobody.

My husband is my best friend, my other half. He is the only thing that keeps me sane on a day to day basis. If I had a dollar for every time I called him during the day just to hear the voice of another adult I'd be rich. Somedays he's the only adult I interact with but somehow he manages to keep me sane.

I'm still completely amazed and gracious that God blessed me with not one, but two healthy children. My children are my world and I've always said that I was put on this Earth to be a mother. I'm lucky enough to be a full-time sahm and spend all of my time with my munchkins. Like every other kid out there my kids can make me smile, laugh, and pull my hair out all within a 2 minute span of time but at the end of the day I know I have the right job.

Of course I need a break from time to time, and between my husband and other family members I'm lucky enough to get that break, but my kids absolutely bring a ton of joy to my life and I am so thankful for that.

I know this was a short post but I've had a long day and we're all exhausted. I'm calling it a night but we've had a great weekend, hopefully I'll get a chance to post about it tomorrow.

Day 3

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday afternoon because I was helping my beautiful little cousin get dressed for her winter formal. So, today I will post days 3 and 4.

For day 3 I'm thankful for my best friend, Samantha Cooley. Once a month we have dinner, just the two of us. Not only is it great because I have a chance to spend time with another adult but I use the time we spend together to kind of bring things back into perspective.

I definitely need to do that more than once a month but she just has a way of helping me do it very easily.

We've known each other for what seems like forever but in reality for over 10 years. When we were 13 and 14 we started taking dance together and did so throughout high school. I graduated a year before her and went to college while she finished her senior year of high school.

I hadn't talked to her in probably a year or more until my second year of college when I almost literally ran into on the sidewalk. We talked for a bit and I went on about my business. Then I walked into one of my classes I think it was my second semester and she was in my class. Come to find out we happened to be going to school for the same thing. That was 2007 & we've been best friends ever since. Heck, she was the second person to know I was pregnant with Ave...she was second only to Brent.

I don't know what I'd do without her.

Now, she's about to become a member of the motherhood club and I'm thrilled. I might possibly be more excited about her going through labor and delivery than I was for myself...that's probably because I won't be experiencing contractions or pain or an epidural or any of the other lovely things that come along with l&d! Of course, all of it's worth it when the reward is a beautiful, healthy baby!

Ok, I have to finish getting ready for a Pampered Chef party tomorrow...I'll have to double up on posts tomorrow. Goodnight peeps and God bless!

Day 2...

Today, like so many other days I'm incredibly thankful for my family. Both the family that I was born into, the family I married into, and my "adopted" family. We have our trials just like every other family out there but where would we be without hills to climb in life?

I have a HUGE family and I love it. My older brother and I are the only children that my parents had but our extended family is big. My mom's parents have five children, seven grandchildren, and 16 great grandkids. My dad's parents have two children, six grandchildren, and I'm not sure how many great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. Brent's family is bigger than mine.

I also have another family, God blessed me with an awesome younger brother from another mother & a little sister too! My dad's girlfriend has a son who's not much younger than me (but I still pull the big sister card...just ask him) and a daughter who is 11. I have adopted them as my little brother and sister also and am blessed to have all three of them in my life.

My older brother, Nicholas is a Lieutenant in the Army National Guard. He finished basic training in September of 2010 and went to OCS over the summer of 2011. Right now he is in Fort Benning, Georgia doing more training. He'll be gone until April of 2012. I can't say that we're as close as I'd like to be but he's my big brother and I wouldn't know what to do without him. He's always there when I need him and would do anything for myself, my husband, and my kids.

My younger brother, Eric is an amazing "kid" (yes Eric...if you read this I just called you a kid because whether you like it or not you ARE my kid brother!!!) he lives in Dallas and works for Apple. He's an "Genius" and I have to agree with that title, he's pretty awesome. We just seem to click and I can tell our relationship is only going to grow and I have a feeling we're going to be close.

My sister, Breauna is much younger than the rest of us, she'll be 12 in a few weeks. She's the little sister I always wanted but of course I never got...thanks mom & dad! She lives in New Braunfels with my dad and her mom. I believe she's in fifth grade and she's pretty smart. She's great with the kids and she's going to grow up to be a beautiful young lady.

I'm thankful for my brothers and sister and every other person in my family. I'm blessed to have them in my life each and every day.

Day 1...365 Days of Thankfulness

Some people use November as a month of thankfulness, but what about the other 11 months? Each and every day of our lives we are thankful for something, it might be the same thing everyday but it's something.

So, instead of just November I've decided that each day of this next year I'm going to post something that I'm thankful of. Lets hope my kids and my days don't get the best of me and I get sidetracked and don't do it. In that case, I'll just have to double up some days.

Today is day 1 of my 365 days of thankfulness!

On this day I am thankful for my amazing and giving God above. God, who let his only son die for our sins, who gave his son so that we might have life. Our God is an awesome God and his glory shines every single day. Every day when I look into my beautiful children's eyes I see God in their innocence.

We are so blessed to have such an awesome and forgiving God who does so much for us every day. I see his work everywhere and I hope you do too.

God Give Me Strength

Why does it seem like when one thing gets you down it ends in a landslide?

I've been struggling a lot lately with different things and I'm just done in every single way possible. I have to remind myself constantly that God is in control but that doesn't always help, even though it should. Over the past few years my faith has weakened and it definitely has had an affect on my life that I hate.

There are days when I feel really close to God and others when I feel very distant.

We often forget that God is always around and always knows what's going on without ever having to be told. When our house was broken into I questioned why he let it happen but I failed to thank him for the fact that nobody was home when it happened. I thought to myself if only I had been home it wouldn't have happened but I didn't think about the fact that I wasn't home for a reason and if I were home there's a possibility that I could've been badly hurt.

Right now, there are several things going on in my life that I need the strength to deal with and I'm sure it's going to be a constant struggle like life always is but I will remain in prayer about everything and try to remember that God is in control. No matter what I pray that God gives me the strength to get through it and guides me every step of the way   

I'm a slacker...

Whew, a lot has happened since I posted the last entry.

A few days after I got home my sister in law came down for a few days to do some wedding planning. Then both kiddos ended up sick.

Monday morning both kids went to tge doctor, Avery had croup & Peyton just had a cold. By Friday Avery had been running a fever since Wednesday without it breaking. It was fluctuating between 101 & 103.5 so I took her back to the doctor and she was diagnosed with pneumonia and put on antibiotics. We left the pediatricians office and she literally went limp. I figured it was from the shot she had just gotten so I decided to keep an eye on her for a while. By 3:30 it has been 3 hours since we left the doctor & I realized she hadn't spoken more than 2 words. I immediately called the doctor and talked to a nurse. At 5:45 she called back and said it was "normal" but I knew my and this was not normal for her. So at 6:15 my couIsin, Marisha and myself loaded Avery into the car and headed to the hospital. We got there just before 7 and her temp was 103. We were in the back within 20 minutes. We ended up getting chest xrays, bloodwork and 2 bags of fluid because she was dehydrated. Thank goodness I listened to my motherly instinct and took her in. That definitely wasn't fun for anyone. I felt terrible for my princess. She was miserable.

We were in the ER Friday night from 7pm until 1am Saturday morning. Monday morning she went in for a recheck and was doing a lot better. Peyton however had a cold. He was doing ok until Sunday night when he started running a fever and couldn't sleep because he was so congested. Monday morning I took him back to the doctor and he now has a sinus infection and croup. He is so miserable and it's killing me knowing we're doing everything we can for him.

His antibiotics have messed up his stomach and he doesn't even want his diaper changed and just screams when you touch him. Ugh!

I'm also sick with a sinus infection and am trying to get myself better. Needless to say, I've been very busy for the past few weeks and haven't had much time to think, let alone write anything.

Hopefully I can get back in the rhythm and write regularly again. It's my stress relief. Plus I got a new phone and am trying to get use to it. So, excuse my typos.