DIRT!!

When Things Don't Go As Planned

We have been here at my parents house for about 2 weeks and we have loved every bit of it. The hubby was back at home taking comprehensive exams. Whew! They are over and we are heading back to him. We have really had a great time but we are ready to get back to hubby/daddy!

My parents have a pool and we have had a blast in the warmed up water of the hot tub! I was reminded today of God's grace in Daniel's life as I saw the scar that he has on his left shoulder blade area. He had surgery to fix a coarctation of the aorta when he was about 12 days old. I wrote a lot about this and actually his birth in the scrapbook that I have made for him, but I think that for the next few weeks I'll write some thoughts on the things that I learned during that time and some of the things that I have reflected on now--3 years since that time. I want to do this in hopes that my experiences may help someone else to hope more in God.

So, stay tuned!!

The Long View

It's been a little over nine months of adjusting to two kids. The longer I am a parent the more I realize that parenting is just one of the many things that require one to take the long view of things. Babies don't just eat solid foods well overnight. Kids don't learn to sleep in a big bed overnight. Kids aren't potty trained with the snap of a finger(ok there are some exceptions out there!). And all of those practical things which are important for me to teach my kids just scratch the surface. My kids don't learn the truths of the gospel quickly and they certainly don't come out of the womb knowing how to obey. So taking the long view of things means keeping at it. It requires endurance to do the same things over and over and over and over. It requires patience. It requires reliance on God. It requires wisdom. For the most part it requires not taking the path of least resistance. I have found that what requires less work now does not take the long view into consideration. When I am tempted to just "ignore" the temper tantrum or the "No way, did he just say that to me!?" moments, I have to remind myself that 1) If I don't do something about it now, I will miss many opportunities to point out the sin in my kids and the reason they need the gospel. 2) I will miss the opportunity to establish that God has given me authority of their lives for a season, that will be really important when they are older---the teenage years come to mind! 3) I would be sinning by not doing now what God has given me as my responsibility in nurturing and training my kids.

Is taking the long view hard? Yes. It takes more work. Is is worth it? Yes, but boy am I glad that I don't have to do it alone!