Praise the Lord

There's just something about being in a beautiful place that makes you stop and praise the Lord. When you know the One that made that place and who He made it for, it's all the more overwhelming. We were flying over the Caribbean the other other day and as I looked out my window at how absolutely beautiful everything was, I couldn't help but praise the Lord. It was such an awe-inspiring experience.

Now, as I look out the window of my hotel onto the Caribbean ocean, I am again awe inspired at the beauty of His creation. I am so thankful that my God is one who cares about the details, like what bird should have which call, or what fish should have what color, or what each leaf should look like.

Nothing goes unnoticed by our Maker. Even as I lie here with the flu on this trip I have been looking forward to for 10 years...I could complain...ok, yes, I have complained, but I'm realizing that that is not the point. Can I praise God even when things don't go my way? Can I praise God when I wish things turned out differently? Can I praise God even when the whole world seems to be crashing in all around me? YES! The good news, is YES, I can praise God. I can look around and thank Him for His awesome creation. I can hear the waves crashing onto the shore and praise the Lord, for He is good!

I can get stuck in my complaining mode, or I can choose to take my eyes off of myself and look out. Today I choose to look out and praise the Lord!

Supermom

There is a common misconception out there that a mom must be supermom. This often leads to feelings of frustration and guilt as one is trying to gain the supermom status. Sometimes this supermom expectation could be the idea that one must have the hour-long quiet time with the Lord she used to have in order to be the godly mom and wife she’s been called to be, but she is so up to her elbows in diapers, refereeing, and house duties, that hour of quiet with her Lord is quite impossible.

There are also supermom expectations that include: a spotless home, a healthy organic dinner being ready on time every evening, you must look good for your husband at all times or he will stray, and it’s your job as supermom to keep your family happy at all times. No wonder it can be overwhelming, isolating, and lonely being a mom! If I have to be the definition of supermom to be a good mom, I have failed miserably and God, help my kids!

If we allow supermom to define how we’re doing as a mom, something is going to fall through the cracks, and that usually ends up being our very own sanity! I have seen this happen too many times...to myself. I have gone many-a-days without a shower, throwing my hair up in a ponytail to hide the grease and tangles. I have gone many lunches without eating because I’m too busy getting my kids’ lunches together then cleaning up the kitchen and moving on to the next activity. I have had countless sleepless nights as babies and older kids learn to sleep through the night or get sick. I have eaten many cold dinners after the kids are done because I’ve been too busy trying to wrangle the kids during the meal to eat it when it’s hot. Taking care of our family is not a bad thing…it’s actually something we are called to do as wives and mothers. It’s when being “mom” replaces who we are in Christ, or when mom is only mom and nothing else. This is when a mom can easily burn out and not be the woman, wife, and mother God intends for her to be.

If you have been feeling guilty or frustrated because you can’t accomplish as much as you think Supermom Sally down the street can, stand up and say, “SUPERMOM DOES NOT EXIST!” Because, guess what? She doesn’t. There is no such thing as supermom. It is a figment of our imagination. It is something our society and/or our imaginations have made up to live up to something that is completely impossible. It is discouraging and unattainable.

Now that we know that supermom does not exist, we can begin to shred off the lies and misconceptions that come with the term “mom” and we can begin to walk in the truth and freedom that Christ brings. We can become the women, wives, and mothers that Christ has created us to be, and we can have more grace with ourselves when we feel we have messed up. 

Choosing Thankfulness

I'm writing this more for myself than anything, so bear with me.

I'm finding it very hard to be thankful when all I can focus on is the lack of money in the bank account, how freezing cold it is outside, and the lack of energy I'm feeling right now. It's funny, because this morning I kept complaining to the Lord about all my woes, and sure enough I open my Bible up to Psalm 147 and the first words I read are "Praise the Lord!". Not only does it say that in Psalm 147, but that is how Psalm 147, 148, 149 AND 150 all begin. Do I think the Lord might be trying to tell me something? Yes...but do I chose to listen? No.

It's hard to be thankful and praise the Lord when I set my mind on all the things that I see are wrong around me. When I focus on the negative, the world looks darker, more ominous, and it seems like everything is too big of a mountain for me to climb. I moan and groan; I complain; I'm not a very nice mom, wife, or friend; nothings gets done around the house; and I am just miserable. The last thing I want to do is sit down and praise the Lord.

Funny thing is though, it's the same the other way around. When I am choosing to be thankful and praise the Lord, the world looks brighter, those "mountains" look a bit more like rolling hills, I'm able to shift my focus off of myself and see the blessings around me. I'm a bit more joyful; a much nicer mom, wife and friend; things still may not get done around the house, but at least everyone is fed and happy.

I can see that even though there is no money in the bank account, there is food in the cupboards and refrigerator, we have heat in the house, and the kids are all healthy. I can look out my dinning room window at the amazing view of the mountains and be thankful. I can be thankful for the white snow that covers the ground, the animals we have, and that we just so happen to have a full tank of gas. I can be thankful for my amazing husband who is so patient with me and loves me through my weaknesses and failures. I can be thankful for my four amazing children who have taught me so much about the love of Christ. I can be thankful for the job my husband has and that he gets to come home this evening, the community we are a part of, and our wonderful church family. I can be thankful for the small things too, like hot coffee, Coffee Mate French Vanilla creamer, and the two new Curious George movies that are on Netflix right now. 

Yes, I can choose to be thankful. I can set my heart and mind on things above (Colossians 3) and I can praise the Lord (Psalm 147, 148, 149 AND 150). Today I choose to be thankful.

Lessons Learned as a PK

I was born and raised in the church. Born to missionary parents and then raised most of my life as a PK, I lived, breathed, bathed, ate, and slept church. I loved most of it, but there were also some pretty hard moments. Some of which included feeling like I needed to live to a higher standard and always feeling like someone was spying on me trying to see if I would fail at something I tried.

Looking back I think a lot of people just thought I was the naive little pastor's daughter, but in reality, I learned a lot by watching and observing people. When I saw someone get into trouble, I made a mental note that maybe I should not do that either. I always had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong.

As I grew up and became an adult I began to notice how some things just didn't sit right with me. There were times when I didn't feel people were treated fairly and there were times when I thought things were dealt with  in an unjust way. This really bothered me because I thought the Church was supposed to be a place of forgiveness, acceptance, healing, restoration, love, mercy, etc.

Through my roller coaster ride of anger, bitterness, resentment, prayerfulness, repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance, I learned some things. I learned that people tend to judge others by their actions but they judge themselves by their intentions. I learned that God is God and I am not. I learned that when I am not looking to Jesus, I see the world through my own narrow lenses. I learned that there is no room for resentment and bitterness when I am truly walking with Jesus. I learned that the best way to overcome bitterness toward someone is to pray for them ... really truly pray for them. I learned that this world is not perfect, the Church is not perfect, and I am by far not perfect. I learned that I cannot control other people's actions, but I can control my own. I learned that the Church is made up of imperfect people trying to serve a perfect God.

I know I'm still in the process of learning and re-learning some of these lessons but I wanted to share these because I think they're important. It's hard to point the finger at someone else when you truly believe that Christ died for everyone including yourself.

Lightning McQueen Cake

I made a Lightning McQueen cake for my son's 2nd birthday this year. I started off with 2 boxes of cake mix, which made one 9x11 sheet cake, one 8x8 square cake and 4 cupcakes.

After the cakes were cooled, I took the 9x11 sheet cake out of the baking dish and placed it upside down on my decorating sheet. I then placed the 8x8 sheet cake (upside down) on top of the 9x11 using chocolate frosting to stick the two cakes together. Next, I used a picture off of the internet and a toy car we already had to carve away at the cakes to create my cake-mold. For the wheels, I cut off the bottoms of the cupcakes, and carved out round areas where I thought the wheels should go. Using chocolate frosting I glued on the fenders, foil and wheels.

Next, I wrapped the cake in plastic wrap and froze it over-night so it would be easier to frost.

What I should have done after freezing the cake was to just frost the whole thing in red and then do the decorative frosting, but I didn't because I was lazy. This created some difficulty with trying to get the decorative frosting to stick. So, next time, I will take the extra time to frost the whole cake with a flat layer of frosting first. I did, however, frost the very front of the car and the windshield with a first-layer of frosting, which made that part of the cake easier to decorate.

Here is the final result. As always, I warmed up the frosting in the microwave in a separate bowl before adding the coloring. I find that this makes it easier to squeeze the frosting out of the tube.

For the eyes, I just bought some fun candy eyes at our local grocery store. They are a bit small for the cake, but they worked.

You Know You're a Mom When...

You know you're a mom when all you can find to write down important information is a crayon.

You know you're a mom when you walk out the door unfazed that you have spit-up on your shoulder and boogers smeared on your pant legs.

You know you're a mom when your keen sense of smell detects that your child has pooped in the other room

You know you're a mom when you can recite in correct time and order the order of PBS Kids shows

You know you're a mom when you're in the store and realize you forgot to change out of your slippers

You know you're a mom when your child hands you a booger and you calmly walk over to the garbage to throw it away and then proceed to do what you were doing before

You know you're a mom when you're sick and still have to do the laundry, change diapers, do the dishes and make dinner

You know you're a mom when you can't remember the last time you were able to sleep through the whole night without having a child wake you up or you yourself needing to wake up to go to the bathroom

You know you're a mom when sleeping in means being excited that you were able to stay in bed until 7am

You know you're a mom when you can remember the first moment your child did NOT throw up on you

You know you're a mom when privacy goes out the window and peeing and pooping and showers are shared by the family

You know you're a mom when you know when a dance party is necessary

You know you're a mom when the moment the precious bundle was placed on your chest your heart was filled with an intense love you've never experienced before

You know you're a mom when you can see past the fighting and arguing and still love your kids as much as the day they were born

You know you're a mom when the little things your kids do melt your heart

Remember to love much, laugh lots, and be goofy

Internal Struggle

I am struggling today. There's this tug-of-war going on inside of me where part of me wants to wallow in my self-pity, the other part of me is trying to see everything through the "glass half full" perspective.

Sunday, we said goodbye to daddy for his work-week away, knowing we'd see him Thursday night when he got home. Monday we found out that once he got to work, it had been decided that he is needed through the weekend and through the following week. It would have been nice to know before he left that we wouldn't be seeing him for 12 days instead of 4, especially since he only packed for a 4-day work day. So, here I am wanting to wallow in my own self-pity making things even more miserable for everyone. 

I know I have two choices: I can be selfish and choose the easy way and nurse my wallowing, or I can step it up and choose to be thankful. I can be thankful that my husband has a job. I can be thankful that I can stay home with the kids. I can be thankful that we have food to eat, warm beds to sleep in, and that everyone is healthy. It's easier to stay positive when you start thinking about the things your thankful for.

Also what is helpful for me is thinking about verses such as: 

"You say, 'I am allowed to do anything,' but not everything is good for you. You say, 'I am allowed to do anything,' but not everything is beneficial."

                                                                                                                                1 Corinthians 10:23

"So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

                                                                                                                                2 Corinthians 4:18

"Be thankful in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

                                                                                                                              1 Thessalonians 5:18

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His Name."

                                                                                                                                 Psalm 100:4

"Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts."

                                                                                                                                Colossians 3:16

Don't get me wrong, I sure like to focus on the hard moments in life, but it's definitely not good for me or beneficial to those around me, especially my kids. They need to see that even when life is hard, I have a stronger anchor through Jesus. I will probably continue this struggle throughout my life-time, but knowing that choosing to focus on the One who is my Anchor will keep me looking up through the storms.