I know I don't tell you this enough, but I truly love you. In fact, I don't think I could exist without you. My life would be miserable if I didn't get to be with you every day. I love the way you keep your cool when things start to get heated. I love that you work all day and all night and never complain. Thank you for always being there for me. I know times have been hard lately. I know that many of your friends and colleagues have given up and quit on their families. But not you. No matter how bad things get, I can always count on you. You make our home a place that we love to be. I thank God for you every day. You are the best air conditioner a girl could ask for. Thanks for all you do. Hang in there...fall is right around the corner!
Love,
Jessica
"But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure." Psalm 71:14-15
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
For Your Amusement
Do you ever read people's facebook posts or blogs and think, "wow, what a great mom." Or, "they really have it all together." Or, "where do they find the time?" That will not be how you feel after you read this post. Please feel free to laugh at me about what I'm going to tell you...I've been laughing about it since it happened! This is real life from the trenches! Ha!
Last week I offered to help Aidan's teacher put together some folders for her class. She said she would leave all the materials for me in her rolling cart in the office. So, Friday morning, I picked up the rolling cart from Aidan's school, brought it home and assembled all the folders. That afternoon, I was ready to take the cart and the folders back to school, but the kids were exhausted, and were quietly watching a movie on the couch. Plus, it was 150 degrees outside, roughly. Since the school is at the end of our street and all I had to do was drop the cart off in the office, I told the kids they could stay here. It was going to be less than 5 minutes. So, I gave Aidan my cell phone number and cautioned him to not answer the phone or the door, NO MATTER WHAT. So, I locked all the doors, rolled the cart out to the van and prepared to put it in the back. Then, I realized I had left my keys inside. Locked my keys inside. So, I went to the door and started knocking. No one answered. I tried calling on my cell phone. Again, no answer. What obedient children I have! I kept knocking, and was about to give up and go around to the back door so they could see me (if they weren't hiding!), when I hear this little voice say, "who is it?" Aidan had looked out the window and realized our van was still in the driveway. He was so scared when he opened the door. He had tried to call me on my cell phone but couldn't get through, because I was trying to call him at the same time. I felt really bad for him, and frustrated with myself. But, it gets better.
So, I got my keys, and told the kids to REALLY not go to the door this time. I was flustered and in a hurry, and I think it was now 175 degrees outside. I quickly jumped in my car, trying not to fry my legs on the hot seat, threw it into reverse and backed up. Then my heart fell into my stomach as I heard, "Bam!" followed by "Crunch." I had left the rolling cart behind the van. I had flattened the rolling cart...the rolling cart that belongs to Aidan's teacher! It was completely flat in the driveway and one of the wheels was broken off. Ugh. I tried to fix it, but it was beyond repair. All of my aspirations to be Room Mom of the Year died with that rolling cart.
So, my quick 5 minute trip to the school turned into quite the fiasco. It seems to be a talent of mine! Can anyone else relate?
Last week I offered to help Aidan's teacher put together some folders for her class. She said she would leave all the materials for me in her rolling cart in the office. So, Friday morning, I picked up the rolling cart from Aidan's school, brought it home and assembled all the folders. That afternoon, I was ready to take the cart and the folders back to school, but the kids were exhausted, and were quietly watching a movie on the couch. Plus, it was 150 degrees outside, roughly. Since the school is at the end of our street and all I had to do was drop the cart off in the office, I told the kids they could stay here. It was going to be less than 5 minutes. So, I gave Aidan my cell phone number and cautioned him to not answer the phone or the door, NO MATTER WHAT. So, I locked all the doors, rolled the cart out to the van and prepared to put it in the back. Then, I realized I had left my keys inside. Locked my keys inside. So, I went to the door and started knocking. No one answered. I tried calling on my cell phone. Again, no answer. What obedient children I have! I kept knocking, and was about to give up and go around to the back door so they could see me (if they weren't hiding!), when I hear this little voice say, "who is it?" Aidan had looked out the window and realized our van was still in the driveway. He was so scared when he opened the door. He had tried to call me on my cell phone but couldn't get through, because I was trying to call him at the same time. I felt really bad for him, and frustrated with myself. But, it gets better.
So, I got my keys, and told the kids to REALLY not go to the door this time. I was flustered and in a hurry, and I think it was now 175 degrees outside. I quickly jumped in my car, trying not to fry my legs on the hot seat, threw it into reverse and backed up. Then my heart fell into my stomach as I heard, "Bam!" followed by "Crunch." I had left the rolling cart behind the van. I had flattened the rolling cart...the rolling cart that belongs to Aidan's teacher! It was completely flat in the driveway and one of the wheels was broken off. Ugh. I tried to fix it, but it was beyond repair. All of my aspirations to be Room Mom of the Year died with that rolling cart.
So, my quick 5 minute trip to the school turned into quite the fiasco. It seems to be a talent of mine! Can anyone else relate?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Power Not Fear
School is back in session! I miss my boys. :( I feel so blessed that our whole family gets to be together for the summer. I know most families don't have that luxury. It is such a great time for our family. I especially love how Aidan and Ella get to bond more with their daddy, and how closely bonded they became over the summer. They were thick as thieves, playing in their bedrooms every day. Some days they were campers and hikers, some days they were orphans (living in a closet), some days Ella was the mommy and Aidan was the baby...they built a fort almost every day. I love that they are making sweet memories that will bind them together throughout their lives. I got really sad last week thinking about Aidan going back to school. It just seems so odd for him to be somewhere else all day long. He's my helper, and I miss him when he's not here. Ella misses him too. She cried when we dropped him off yesterday. And for most of the day she kept saying, "I want him back." Me too! I know we'll get used to it, but it seems pretty awful to get used to someone not being here. I'm missing Mark too. I am so blessed to have the kind of husband that takes great care of me. He kept things running smoothly at the house and helped me keep it "show ready" all summer...not an easy task when we're all here ALL day. Mostly, I just miss having a grown up to talk to!
As I was processing all of these "going back to school" emotions last week, God laid something on my heart that has really changed the way I think about sending Aidan back to school. I wanted to share it with you, maybe it will give you some insight too. See, we had trouble with Aidan at the beginning of summer. He was getting a little bit of a smart mouth on him, and not always obeying the first time. It was nothing terrible, but more than we were willing to accept from an 8 year old for sure! But, as the summer progressed, he matured so much. He turned back into the sweet, loving boy we adore. He started helping out more without being asked. He started treating his sister kindly and really having fun with her. I feared that when school started again, we would lose all the progress we made over the summer. I've also been discouraged lately about all the influences in the world that we have to protect him from...tv, movies, music...they all seem geared at making kids grow up too fast. I was really struggling with this and fearful about it. I was feeling overwhelmed.
Then God started speaking. Isn't it funny how when God starts speaking all those feelings of being overwhelmed and afraid, just fade? It started when I read a quote online somewhere (I will try to find who said it...but it escapes me at the moment). It said, "I don't want my kids to just survive the world. I want them to change it." God whispered to my heart when I read that quote. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to help my kids survive this world...watch out for this, don't do this, do this...and not nearly enough time teaching them how to change it. And when I really started thinking about it, I realized that most Christians are not aware of the power we have available to us. Why would we ever be worried about anything? God really started dealing with me on this idea. Protecting our kids and warning them about potential pitfalls is important. After all, we have an enemy that prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour(1 Peter 5:8). They need to realize that. But we need to also teach them that this shouldn't make them feel afraid. Because while the Bible does talk about what we need to watch out for, it spends a lot more time talking about what we should be doing...how we should be using God's power that lives inside us to change this world. When I read my Bible, there are warnings there about what to be careful about, but there are also verses like this:
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor. 10:3-5
and this one:
"Pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength." Ephesians 1:18-19
and one of my favorites:
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
I don't know a lot of Christians that live like they have a spirit of power. I think the world has beat it out of us sometimes. I want my kids to be different. Because the other thing that God revealed to me was that if I teach them about that power...teach them how to tap into it...they'll be hooked. And all that other stuff...the inappropriate music, the tv shows, the friends that try to lead them astray...they won't want anything to do with it. Once you've felt just a little bit of that power...the power of really loving someone, the power of making a difference for someone, the power of overcoming fear and insecurity...you don't ever want to walk away from it. I want my kids to be so busy doing what God has for them, that they have no time for anything this world may have to offer. Then, they will be fulfilled. Then, they will change the world.
"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
As I was processing all of these "going back to school" emotions last week, God laid something on my heart that has really changed the way I think about sending Aidan back to school. I wanted to share it with you, maybe it will give you some insight too. See, we had trouble with Aidan at the beginning of summer. He was getting a little bit of a smart mouth on him, and not always obeying the first time. It was nothing terrible, but more than we were willing to accept from an 8 year old for sure! But, as the summer progressed, he matured so much. He turned back into the sweet, loving boy we adore. He started helping out more without being asked. He started treating his sister kindly and really having fun with her. I feared that when school started again, we would lose all the progress we made over the summer. I've also been discouraged lately about all the influences in the world that we have to protect him from...tv, movies, music...they all seem geared at making kids grow up too fast. I was really struggling with this and fearful about it. I was feeling overwhelmed.
Then God started speaking. Isn't it funny how when God starts speaking all those feelings of being overwhelmed and afraid, just fade? It started when I read a quote online somewhere (I will try to find who said it...but it escapes me at the moment). It said, "I don't want my kids to just survive the world. I want them to change it." God whispered to my heart when I read that quote. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to help my kids survive this world...watch out for this, don't do this, do this...and not nearly enough time teaching them how to change it. And when I really started thinking about it, I realized that most Christians are not aware of the power we have available to us. Why would we ever be worried about anything? God really started dealing with me on this idea. Protecting our kids and warning them about potential pitfalls is important. After all, we have an enemy that prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour(1 Peter 5:8). They need to realize that. But we need to also teach them that this shouldn't make them feel afraid. Because while the Bible does talk about what we need to watch out for, it spends a lot more time talking about what we should be doing...how we should be using God's power that lives inside us to change this world. When I read my Bible, there are warnings there about what to be careful about, but there are also verses like this:
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor. 10:3-5
and this one:
"Pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength." Ephesians 1:18-19
and one of my favorites:
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
I don't know a lot of Christians that live like they have a spirit of power. I think the world has beat it out of us sometimes. I want my kids to be different. Because the other thing that God revealed to me was that if I teach them about that power...teach them how to tap into it...they'll be hooked. And all that other stuff...the inappropriate music, the tv shows, the friends that try to lead them astray...they won't want anything to do with it. Once you've felt just a little bit of that power...the power of really loving someone, the power of making a difference for someone, the power of overcoming fear and insecurity...you don't ever want to walk away from it. I want my kids to be so busy doing what God has for them, that they have no time for anything this world may have to offer. Then, they will be fulfilled. Then, they will change the world.
"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Do You Remember?
Do you remember this day? It was exactly 6 months ago...it was 13 degrees...almost a full 100 degrees cooler than today! What a difference 6 months can make! Remember that.
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