Momma's Little Helpers

I pull open the diswasher door and my two older children (4 and 2 years old) gather around and hand me the dishes. Sounds sweet doesn't it? It actually is, in retrospect, but when I am in the midst of it, I get a little frustrated. Maylee starts picking up dishes that are way to heavy for her and usually fragile. Then she proceeds to carry them across the tile floor and flop them up on the counter, which she can't quite reach. Aiden has figured out that he can almost reach the silverware drawer so he picks up a butter knife and a fork, carries it around to the opposite side of the dishwasher, pulls open the drawer and tosses the utensils in. Then he closes the drawer and walks back around the diswasher to start the process over again.

Before I know it I can feel my blood pressure rising as I am rushing to catch falling dishes and dodging flying butter knives. My selfish nature would rather scream at the kids, yank the dishes away and plop them in front of a video while I finish my chores for the day. It definitely would be easier for me.

Then God sends His peace and reminds me to look at the eternal value of teaching my children to help me and help others. Even more so, He reminds me that He doesn't need my help and often times I am the child slinging the knives or picking up more than I should. Yet because He loves me and wants me to be in His presence He chooses to involve me. I don't have to help Him in order for His work to be accomplished, and actually I can make things tougher. But, in the end, the task is completed, and I am refreshed because I have a purpose and Someone who loves me so much.

Momma Bear......... let your children help you. Take the time to show them how and praise them for the precious heart behind it all.

I gave birth to three blocks of wood.........

Well not technically but let me explain. Psalm 127:3-5 says

" Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them!"

Basically children are arrows in our quiver ( the pack a warrior slings on his back to carry arrows).

This is such an awesome scripture that God keeps placing on my mind. I am a warrior inChrist army. God has given me arrows for my quiver. The thing is they don't start out being arrows. He gave them to me as blocks of wood that need to be shaved, cut, and molded into arrows.

What??????

Well do you know anyone that has given birth to a child that came fully equipped with the blessed character qualities needed to navigate through life? No? Me either. Pretty much all the kids I have come in contact with radiate with sin...sin and more sin...

With my first block of wood I thought I was doing pretty good. I was taking great care of it, bathing, feeding, entertaining, disciplining and keeping it safe. Then one day I read Ps. 127:3-5 and came to the realization that I was not doing with the wood what God intended for me to do with it. You mean I have to make an arrow out of this. I don't know how to do that. I am clueless. I read a few books, looked on line, read some more, reflected on my parents technique, and tried out the concepts on my blessed block of wood. Before I knew it the block was looking rather mangled. I shaved parts that I shouldn't have and then tried to put them back. You get the picture.

Surprisingly God gave me another one. Two blocks of wood.... One looks much better than the other of course at this point but being the strong-willed person that I am, it didn't take long before I managed to put marks all over the new one. It wasn't until I saw the magnificent arrows that someone else had that I realized that I needed God to show me how. In all brokeness of heart I cried out to Him.

Slowly He is teaching me how to shape the third block of wood and how to repair and reshape the other two. Fortunately for me my blocks of wood have not come to the point of where they have actually taken the shape of an arrow yet but my first one being four years old is pretty close. I strongly believe that we build their character in the first 5 to 6 years of their life (shaping them into an arrow). It is in the next few years that we actually learn how to shoot the arrow; placing it in our quiver, loading it in our bow, guiding it in the right direction, aiming it at the target and eventually letting go.

What do your arrows look like? How many do you have? Is it enough? Do you have mangled pieces of firewood?

God I pray that the little ones you have given me become wonderful arrows that will soar through this world and head straight to the target and not miss the mark. Use me Lord in any way to continue to mold them into what you want them to be. Teach my stubborn heart.

Convenience
I am really starting to hate the phrase, "It's convenient." The older I get the more I realized that what seems to be faster and more efficient really is extra work in disguise. Plus the "easier" things get for me the more I come to expect it and the angrier I get when they are not easy.

Here is a convenience exercise. You pull up to your favorite fast food restraunt and of course go through the drive through. You select a predesigned meal from the menu. In the name of convenience you accept the fattening french fries, hamburger and large drink. You order a kids meal with a cheap toy of course to entertain them because you need them to be quiet as you keep yourself busy. Last pay for it with the credit or debit card which now you don't even have to sign or wait on a receipt for then pick up your food.

Sounds great right? We know the truth....

First that meal you just ate is loaded with lots of yummy "no! no!" stuff that will soon make its way to spread or damage some part of your body. The drink will perk you up for about thirty minutes but leave you hanging dead tired from sugar overload. Then before you know it is demanding that you drink another by triggering thirst. This will all drive you to they gym where of course you will work your "rear" off.
After a long day you finally get home with the kids and wrestle them out of the car and in the process the toy you paid way to much for falls apart. This creates an array of emotions in your child from anger to tears to falling apart. Of course you over react because you can't understand why they are behaving such over a toy.

When things finally settle down you go to the computer to balance your account and find out that the restraunt charged you three times for your meal. You call the next day only to discover the cashier had just been fired for stealing debit card numbers and over charging while conveniently take money from the register. You notice other charges on your account that aren't yours and now you have to go to the bank and explain what happen.

*** All of this is not sounding so convenient any more*****