Savor the Season

Time is short and forever is eternal.

It constantly reminds me that we need to spend the time we have left on earth accomplishing things for the Lord Jesus. We are here for a purpose. It also is a constant reminder to me that I don't know how long I'll have with any of my kids. Let us remember that relationships we build here with our kids will last forever as we spend it in eternity together. When you're tempted to be upset about temporal irritations, remember, the heart of your child is so much more important and we need to invest our time in building little lives that will honor and serve their Savior.

Savor the Season

~Marilyn Boyer

www.thelearningparent.blogspot.com

This paragraph stood out to me in THIS blog post from the Boyer's blog. I am constantly encouraged by the Boyer's reminders from parents who are further along the road of parenting then I am.

You will also be encouraged by THIS article with the reminder of keeping an eternal perspective as a mama and housewife.

thoughts for today

"If I learn to be content, joy will naturally follow. Like thankfulness though, I have to choose to be content before I can know joy. It's an act of faith......... The only way to attain true contentment is to rest in God and depend on his grace. It is a spiritual issue, not a practical one. Contentedness will not come from being more organized, sleeping longer, being a better wife, keeping a nicer home, using higher-quality materials, taking more time for yourself, or what it is you think might help. Contentedness is learned by accepting life each day as God gives it to you, and adjusting your expectations to life's limitations. "

~from Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson, pg 37

Are you content?

I've been busy....

.... but isn't he so sweet?

Yes, I am still alive and around, just a bit pre-occupied and adjusting to life with 4 little ones 5 and under! Somehow the laundry keeps piling up, and the kids seem to want to still eat 3 meals a day..... and Tadhg enjoys his nursing time and loves to sleep on mama....... we are getting back into a routine this week and hopefully I will get back to more regular posting soon!

thoughts for today

"I am more convinced then ever that even in the midst of the mundane, burdensome and oftentimes frustrating tasks of life allotted to me as a mother, God wants me to find His joy. He want every single day of my life to be a celebration of his blessings, whether large or small. He want me to celebrate life - the life he has given me...... the joy-filled life is not found by diminishing my God-given responsibilities as a women, wife and mother, nor can I find joy merely by refusing to face the hard realities of life in a fallen world. There is a tension between ideals and realities. True joy is found by living somewhere between the ideal life and daily realities. That is where Jesus meets me, where his Holy Spirit empowers and where I learn how to live the Christian life with supernatural joy. To celebrate life is simply a choice. Every day, God extends his hand to offer me the gift of another day to live. I have the choice to take that gift and turn it into 24 hours of real life in Christ, or just let it become another 24 hours endured in a broken world. If I choose to accept it-to transform those minutes and hours into life lived for and with my Savior- I have the opportunity to see God at work, enjoy his presence, wonder at his creation, appreciate the expressions of beauty and love and touch the minds and hearts of my children with his reality. That's certainly what I desire, but it is a choice I have to make daily"

~from Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson, pg 33-34

Are you making the choice of JOY today?

thoughts for today

"This is the Lord's doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it."

~Psalm 118:23-24

Six years ago today I married my husband.

The above verses were on our wedding invitations.

It is wonderful to look back and see how the Lord was the one who brought us together, and even more so, HE is the one who has continued to knit our hearts and lives together more and more each year. I cannot express how much I have changed in the last 6 years and how marriage can truly be a wonderful refining process. When we allow struggles and difficulties to be viewed through an eternal perspective we can use them rather then tearing us down and discouraging us to grow us into the likeness of Christ.

But, lest you wonder if the last 6 years has been all struggles :-) It hasn't.

We have been blessed with 3 little children and another one due any day now. Our lives are busy, sometimes crazy but full of joy. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

thoughts for today

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

~ Hebrews 12:1-2

Thoughts for today

Some people say it so well!

I read a couple other blog posts this morning that I just had to post the links too because they were wonderful reminders to me and I hope you enjoy them as well.

Savor the Season by Rick Boyer

The Learning Parent

Choosing to Love

from At the Well