What I want for my kids....

"I don't just want my kids to be moral. I don't just want them to know all of the biblical rules for behavior. I don't just want them to make it through my home with good grades, no drug addiction and no premarital sex. I want them to leave my home with a hunger and passion to know God personally and to be used by Him to accomplish GREAT things for his kingdom. I want them to personally hear God's voice and have His Spirit's gentle touch and impression on their hearts as they read the Scriptures and struggle with the issues of their lives."

~Sally Clarkson, pg. 80 "The Mission of Motherhood"

Great questions for all Mom's....

I subscribe to this blog and find their posts to be very uplifting, encouraging and thought provoking. Today, I found this one that I somehow missed when it was posted (I don't read blogs every day so that's probably why)....check it out...it could also relate to how you spend your time as a wife if you do not have children for whatever reason.

Read it and be blessed. I think I will post my answers sometime this week..

Love,

Julie

Beautifying Life....

If you want to read something lovely and uplifting, read here. Sally Clarkson, again inspires me. :)

Love,
Julie

Claire & my many blessings....

I am so proud of this little girl. I am so blessed to be her Mama and watch her learn so many new things and grow into such a sweet and beautiful young lady.

She received a baby doll the other day that looks like a real live baby and squishes its face up and cries and makes sucking noises just like a real baby. She calls it her "baby bruddher (brother)" and takes such wonderful care of it. She "changes" it's diapers and feeds it a bottle and rocks it and sings a wide variety of songs to this little baby doll. It's so precious to watch.

She is counting really well and learning her letters. It is so much fun to work with her on all of those things. We love it! She is also learning to swim a little at a time. You can't push Claire, she does everything at her own pace and I so love that about our oldest girl! =)

Claire is very focused on her sister. She adores sissy and adores being the older sister. She is also very good at bossing sissy and correcting her (I have to remind her that I am the Mama, lol). She always worries about sissy and talks to her in the cutest ways.

Every morning she comes into our bedroom and gets in the bed with me to snuggle. She lies there and talks to me nonstop until we get up and get ready for the day. We blew bubbles this morning and giggled in the bathroom so we wouldn't wake up Sis. She is quite the master bubble blower! She is amazed that you can make bubble solution with dish soap and her shampoo! =) That was SO much fun and a great memory!

I love the way she sings to Sissy at night and when sissy is fussy or sleepy. She sings "Jesus Loves Me" and "Everybody ought to know". The other day she was trying to sing, "Wonderful words of life" and Lily kept fussing so Claire said, "Sissy, hush! I try sing wonful words to life but you make me not know words to life, Care not happy with you, sissy!" See why I LOVE being their Mama!!! =) They are unbelievably precious!!!

We have also learned a new thing to help Mama make: Brownies!! She loves to make brownies! It was cupcakes for a while and she still loves to do that but for now her most favorite is brownies. She is going to be such an unbelievably great cook !!! She does good! She already knows all the ingredients for sweet stuff! She knows eggs, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and her fave right now, COCOA!! =)

I felt like bragging on my Care-bear today and I am thanking God for my sweet little girls. Claire is such an incredible gift in my life and her Daddy and I thank God every day for the chance to be parents to her and her sister and brother. Claire made us a Mama & a Daddy. She made us a family of three and today I am savoring the gift and the feeling of being her mama and also of being a mama to another precious little girl, Lily(thank you God!) and baby Drew (what a blessing!).

I love you, Lord Jesus and please make me worthy, mold me and make me into the wife and mother you want me to be. Thank you for this awesome chance that I never thought I would have and the amazing blessing of Charlie, the greatest husband and the most loving, kind and gracious Daddy to our children. I love them (Charlie, Claire, Lily & Drew) SO very much and you, Lord, are SO very good to me! Thank you for my family Lord and all the blessings that you have rained down upon us. What a marvelous God is our God!

Courage for your task

Joshua 1
The LORD Commands Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"

*I have been struggling with various things lately. A lot of it is just getting ready for this little one and the anxiety that comes with having a new baby and all that it involves. Maybe it is just me but I put so much thought into "How is this decision going to affect the kids?" "How do I teach them to have certain values and morals?" "How do I live my life to model what I know they need to be seeing in me?"

Needless to say, it is overwhelming to think on these things constantly. But, that is being a parent. And, there is no task that I would rather be entrusted with!

I found this scripture in my PawPaw Treat's list of how to use your bible. It is listed under "When you need courage for your task". And, I have needed a hefty dose of courage for my tasks lately so, I started reading this last night and shared it with Charlie. The one thing that stood out the greatest in this passage was this, "BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS" and in verse 7, it is stressed like this, " BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS". I love the VERY right there, it just really stresses how courageous we are supposed to be!

This is just a journaling kind of entry. Just my thoughts lately. Thanks for reading.

Teaching children to serve and give

I know that I have said this many times before, but Sally Clarkson's writings challenge and refresh me as a mother on SO many levels. I absolutely LOVE her blog and hope to some day soon own all of her books. Please read this and let her words minister to your heart. The view she presents here is refreshing, to say the least.

"When we dote on our children to be sure all of their needs are met and to see that they don’t miss out on any opportunity, we can be in danger of making them self-centered and self-absorbed. Giving our children opportunities to serve and give (at church in the toddler’s classes, baking cookies or bread for neighbors, visiting the local Home for the elderly (we used to give a once a month birthday party for all the elderly people in a home near us with a friend and her children–her idea–we made cards, a cake and created a party for all of them to attend.) Hosting teas in our home, collecting clothes and toys for families who are needy and then spending time as friends with them, serving at conferences, (our children started out very young giving chocolates to the moms who came to register at the conferences–our boys carried luggage.) Taking meals to a new family on the block. Visiting in the hospital and bringing flowers–all help our children learn to be thoughtful and to perceive themselves as givers. When we include them in the work, and let them have ideas, and bless them afterward, they gain a self-image of themselves as a person who has something to give–and whose giving makes a difference in the lives of others. Learning to serve and give is one of the most important character practices we can give to our children in a narcisstic culture which promotes selfishness of every kind."