Watching my boys be boys!

I love watching the Gadsdens first crushes.  They are so disciplined in their lives and yet there is a carefreeness that they seem attracted to in the girls who are more often in trouble.  Perhaps it is the attention that their trouble creates for them or something else, maybe.

 I watched William's short stint of a crush with Rhema and that has fizzled and now it is Joshua and Kaylee.  There is something freeing that he seems to find in playing with her.  She has absolutely no consideration for rules, whatsoever.  She lives as though no person should or has the right to direct her steps.  She never sits or stands when the class is directed to and if there is a directive given to everyone, she is sure to go the other way. 

Thursday morning Joshua sat next to her, looked up in the air as he always does and said I am Joshua and then they proceeded to play together without another word said between them until breakfast.  They were dressing the paper dolls.  A game that few of the threes engage in.  It takes some observation and hand skill that isn't cared for by most of the children, but they found a common thread there and it was curious to me how two very opposite children could find commonality.

I am prejudicely suspect of only children by bias.  I hardly think them able to learn to really share, whereas children in a larger family have no choice but to share from their earliest moments of life.  I realize that my bias is wrong and baseless, but I haven't seen it really work out that only children don't take advantage of what is a rule of law for children in larger families.  All children are selfish, but it has long been my opinion that only children can only be understood by only children and multiples, the same.  The family dynamic draws out personality traits that are best kept to themselves, as I see it.  The concept of cherishing and mine alone is sometimes lost in a big family and needs to be learned and the concept of sharing and community like to the only child, in my opinion.

In any case, I was liking the personality sharing that was happening between Kaylee and Joshua.  He was feeling free in her freedom and she was learning disciplines she hasn't exercised before.  All over a couple of paper dolls!

Although we didn't celebrate Santa at Christmas, I can see how he could fit into the festivities

How Christmas might be a good assistant in child rearing?

I don't remember Christmas being held over our heads as children.   We watched the children specials and memorized the Santa Clause jingles in every form.  Somehow it doesn't seem to stick in my mind, a time that I said to myself, I won't do this or that naughty thing because Santa won't remember me.  We did believe in Santa and we did get good grades, but we also did naughty things at all times of the year, Christmas notwithstanding.

Since working in childcare, I have seen parents starting in September reminding and pulling out Santa as an impetus to progress and better behavior.  I didn't even think about that with my children.  I thought about truth and a lie.  

I thought if I tell that lie about Santa, they may not believe me about Jesus.  That was my only reason for not invoking his name.  We read his history, like Christopher Columbus and Miguel Cervantez and Horatio Nelson.  I forgot to tell them not to spill the beans to the believers in Santa cousins.  We felt sorry for the deceived children who couldn't find it in their hearts to try to behave for Galatians 6:1 sake.  God said it. There is forgiveness with Christ that He may be feared.  They didn't mean harm in sharing with cousins that Santa was a historic figure and that He wasn't actually coming down the chimney on Christmas.  They thought that truth was obvious.

Well there is something very sober about rearing children to try to be good for goodness sake and to expect good from God and ignoring the Santa motives.

Still, I feel I missed a great opportunity of investing in the imagination of my children in that season.  We have many special memories, but Santa was an aside.

I love what Santa represents in this time in my life.  I love the trout that we all know that children need multiple motives to behave and one of them is imaginary and special and all kind, unless you are naughty.   It draws out their own attempts at finding good and kind motives for younger people and maybe it could snowball into great imaginations of better and better motives to do good.  God should be enough, we know.  But, sometimes people need great imaginations of better people than the ones that they know to guide them to a good imagination of God.  That is what I have grown to believe about Santa.

"Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love Him."

Thursday and Friday I saw Lauren's name in the sky...

Mu was on cloud duty again. I always am sure it is her, because she writes Lauren's name, very clearly for me. Just in case, you forgot to pray for Lauren I am spelling it out for you! I didn't forget, Mu. I am praying for Lauren!

This time the U in Lauren was leaking. I said why is the U leaking? I just kept it in my heart and mind of the U in Lauren leaking. Sunday was the answer to the question. Acceptable and Unacceptable was the answer to my question and the choir was totally in sync with Heaven, helping me work on my puzzles. That is how God works all the time. He places a question in your mind in the week and then He answers Himself on Sunday and you say, what if I didn't go to church, wouldn't I ever know the answer to the question and the answer is probably no. I can't tell you how many questions in my mind are unanswered because I wasn't in church that Sunday to get the answer to it. Some things you can't receive if you are not there. It is God's you had to be there moment with us. This time I caught it. I hope I remember not to miss it next time.

When the tried and true methods of napping them prove unsuccessful, what do you do?

I remember with an odd fondness, the tremendous sense of ineptitude that I felt with my Emily at naptime.   Each day was a wrestling match which I rarely won. When prayerful walking and rocking and cooing and cajoling didn't bare the fruit I expected my only recourse was to pray and play with her.  You lose, mommy she laughed as she saw me succumb to her antics. She insisted on tag, or hide and go seek in the house.  She wasn't a child that I could play the memory game with.  It was a challenge everyday and she kept me in the best shape of my life...   Some family exorcisms are successful and some are not.   My mommy had her hands ful with me and I received my remuneration with interest in my Emmy.   I am grateful to know that God saves to the utmost, whether you get them to nap, or not...

what happens when somebody picks up the can instead of kicking it?

what happens when somebody picks up the can instead of kicking it?Much conflict, but much accomplished as well.

how's your eye make up?

Put on the cosmetic of a meek and quiet spirit? Can I do that, Lord? Is that for me in this season of my life?

I will start with my prayer over my eye make up. Dear God, please help this make me look to you for my sustenance. Dear God, please help me adorn the Gospel with my behavior and what I look at as well as how I look. When I am made up, help me to be transparent and aware of the darker circles around my heart because of my sin, which no one can see. Help me to be more aware of not covering my sin before you than I am to cover those circles on my face. God, you know my heart is wicked and I would use the coverings for much more. Help me to be true to You! For the sake of Christ. Amen!

Motherhood 101: I am not a professor, but I have a few things to say!

What my Daughter, what, daughter of my womb, what daughter of my vows!

Motherhood is essentially weaving!

Weaving dreams and hopes and desires into purpose is the consequential life of mothering. You give of yourself and you give up yourself into the loom of developing community, first in your home and then in your world. What can you do? What are you good at? Where can you use it?

Cleanliness is next to Godliness, but godliness is next to God. Are you next to God, or are you twice removed?

Some of us say, I have studied about God in church and temple and school and others say, I know God. Be the latter and teach from knowing God and not just knowing about Him! We are not dogs we are humans and there is a mental and emotional component of human instruction. when we divorce that from the equation, we create a species that God doesn't know of. They are human creations, just like many of my crocheted cloths. They can go in the garbage, and I would be sad, but no human should be in that category!

I really enjoyed our little chat, this morning.

Discussions that lead to talking about "Jane Eyre" are rare these days, with Elyse away. I was surprised that we were able to have a scripturally aware discussion about issues of supreme importance to our feminine ways without even opening the Bible. I love our relationship.

God loves women and He has a wonderful plan for us, even when we aren't aware of all of the hard trials that we may endure. That is what I got from how we traced the line of Jane Eyre's hard providences. It helps me see my own providences in a better perspective. That is always hard at Easter Time for me. I am grateful for your patience with my hard feelings in this season.

Praying from the sideboard!

I feel like I am learning from the dutch women that I have observed to do my prayers as "Pray-Do's". A specific set of prayers that are in conjunction with the chores that need to be completed. ie. Prayers for cleansing, while cleaning, prayers for each child while handling their clothes and items, prayers for specific groups of people in the rooms that represent them. I am not always organized in my delivery of these prayers as they come and go, but I know that God knows my heart. The prayers from my sideboards are sometimes as neglected as my sideboards are. But when I get to them, they are a "doooozeee".

Today, I am praying for you, while I cut the ingredients for the soups that I made today. I pray that you are fulfilled and eagerly anticipating this wonderful new season that you are launching into, as you turn in your resignation from the movie theater. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life and happiness. We are on your team and here for you, if you need to talk about it! Amen.

Oh dear, Emily the Hobbit has me bogged!

Everytime, I try to read it it makes me sit in one spot! I know you can't understand this bogging! Chapter 3 it is the heather references. I am sitting in the heather. I want to buy a field of heather to read chapter three in. I want to sit there and look the elves in the face and say, what are you laughing about? Why are you so giddy, today? The movie shows a sober group of elves. They seem so wise and serious in the movie, but perhaps Tolkien was referring to heather to mean that they were drunk in that scene. I simply am stuck there. Why do I see a bunch of drunkards, Gandalf and the elves popping five and singing bar room songs? I am just sitting there.

Is Heather an intoxicant? Were they drinking among the heather? The dwarves had just overcome the Trolls and found some amazing swords among their spoils. What's with the laughing?