Keeper of the Home & Little Hearts

It's the first official week of summer vacation. While I'm happy to get a break from the daily grind that school brings, the boys are happy to get away from the s choolwork. The school year brought with it a steady stream of homework, tests, projects and memory Bible verses. 

Just last week, I told myself I wanted to keep up the scripture memorization for them this summer. But wasn't sure how to incorporate this...until my sweet friend Kelli posted a photo on Instagram this morning. Family scripture memorization. Duh! Why didn't I think of that?

Right now I have them posted on my picture frame turned "hand-made" dry erase board. But I like her idea of putting them on index cards that way I'll have a record of what scriptures we have memorized this summer and be able to review them. 

As a busy mom, it's so easy to get in the rut of being a keeper of the home and make sure they have clean clothes, food to eat and a tidy home, but I have to remember that I'm also a keeper of these little hearts as well. What a disservice to them if I didn't train them in the ways of the Word and left them to decide on when they wanted to learn God's Word. My greatest desire is not to just point the way but to be a living truth of the lessons I'm trying to teach them. 

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says:

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 

9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

We are to diligently teach the scriptures to our children. Not casually or as an afterthought. That's some hefty stuff right there!  And it's a continual teaching so that the Word won't just be in their mouths, but will transfer to their hearts as well. It's one thing to offer lip service but quite another for that Word to be rooted and settled in you.

In the Message Bible Psalm 119:11 says: "I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt." I've seen far too many people sin themselves bankrupt because they weren't well-versed in the Word and weren't equipped to fight temptation. The more Word they have stored up, the more ammunition they have to pull from to battle the enemy of their soul.

So we are starting the summer off with an awesome promise from God's Word. I'm praying they claim it for their future families and generations to come as well. 

Got any tips? I'd love to hear them. 

Makes Me Happy Monday: 5 Links That Brought Smiles

Monday...not exactly the most popular day of the week.  

But I'm going to try to brighten them a bit with Makes Me Happy Monday where I'll share some of my favorites spots along the web that I've stopped at during the past week. 

1. I've been loving Crystal Lewis since the 1990s. Back before Kirk Franklin made her hip to the gospel community. Her blog is such a contemplative place full of wisdom and musings on life and God's Word. Her post "lines and spaces"  hit a chord with me because living outside of the lines is not my cup of tea. Check it out and read about how sometimes empty space helps us to see God as we never saw Him before.
2. Loved this post on black daddies who live in the home with their children 24-7. We know the staggering statistics of black absent fathers or those who don't live with their children. So refreshing to see those who are leading their families celebrated. 
3.  Year books for the family. I cannot say how much I love this idea. It will give all those photos stored on my external hard drive a home!
4. Been looking for some online devotionals to do with the boys. Thinking I'll start with this one for the 9 year old. 
5. And ending on a high note with this video.  If you don't laugh or at least smile something is definitely wrong with you!

Building Prayer Warriors

“Prayer is more than a wish; it is the voice of faith directed to God.” ~Billy Graham

Bedtime usually consist of the boys wrestling, arguing, asking for snacks and water or just trying to avoid bedtime. So imagine my surprise when I walked in on my two boys kneeling in prayer the other night. And praying together...with no yelling or fussing. Talk about a happy heart!

It's my heart's desire that they learn how to be prayer warriors early. Not only for themselves but everyone they encounter. I'm always reminding them that one day they'll be heads of households and leading prayer will be one of their greatest weapons.

I grew up in church but never really grasped the power of prayer until I was an adult. I surely don't want them to have to wait that long.  So here's what I'm doing to help train them in the ways of prayer.

•  Be The Example

Children learn what they live. So instead of just telling them to pray. I do my best to pray for them and with them so they can hear me pray and see me laying hands on them. Every morning, I pray over them for protection and that they'll do their best. How else will they know to do this if they never see it?

• Talk To God About Everything

Whenever the boys see a problem, have a need, concern or worry, I urge them to go to God in prayer about it. Prayer is not just for bedtime and mealtime. I want them to know that we need to go to God on behalf of others because intercession is a powerful tool. I think I'm going to pull out a map and have them start praying for other nations as well so they'll see that there are wants and needs outside of themselves. 

• Educate and Train

It's not enough for them to just see me pray. Learning about prayer warriors in God's Word is crucial as well. And teaching them how to pray God's Word is of utmost importance and one that I'm going to focus on more this summer.  I also want them to respect prayer in general. For example, when someone is praying, we don't talk while they're praying; we don't walk in church while prayer is happening and we kneel to pray when needed, we can raise our hands during prayer if we feel led.

I'm also working on teaching them different kinds of prayers and that prayer is a grocery list of wants. We have been going over the elements of prayers using the ACTS acronym:

• Adoration: Praising God for who is and what he has done!
• Confession: Telling God about the wrong things we have done and asking for his forgiveness.
• Thanksgiving: Thanking God for all he has done for us.
• Supplication: Asking for things for ourselves and others.

God is raising up young prayer warriors and I want these two little boys to be well-versed in how to fight on their knees.

What's been the best piece of advice you've been given regarding prayer? 

Surpises Sometimes Come In Bundles of Pink

Life takes us by surprise and orders us to move toward the unknown -even when we don't want to and when we think we don't need to.”

― Paulo Coelho

I like to call this little pink bundle the child of our “Abraham and Sarah” years.  I was not expecting to be pregnant again. Definitely not at my age even though I had a handful of friends who had just had babies.

I have to admit, at first I was angry. Scared. Nervous. Sure, I’d already had two boys and was stepmom to a teenage daughter, but a baby? And I was sure it was another boy. I wasn’t sure I had enough energy or strength to deal with another one of them. Plus, I'd hit a groove with parenthood and a baby would upset all that.

Then the news came (after two ultrasounds) that there was a baby girl on the way….and my heart softened…and I got excited. And what was a surprise turned into a gift that came right on time.

With her, I feel like the parent I wish I would have been the first time around. I don’t feel swayed by what other people think I should do and I had no problem telling the doctors and nurses what I wanted when I went into labor.

During my first pregnancy, I reluctantly had an epidural only to be so numb I couldn’t even feel myself pushing.  (My 2nd came so fast there was no time to be admitted into the hospital, much less get any drugs). This time around, I refused an epidural. While the pain was intense, I felt much more in control and feel that things went much faster.

This little baby girl confirmed that I can trust my gut even when others are questioning it.

Our pink-bundled surprise has softened hearts, brought joy we never knew was missing and turned the boys from two wrestling maniacs into protective, caring, sensitive big brothers.

The thing about life’s surprises it that it forces you out of cruise control and makes you start driving. They can drive you to your knees or cause you to confront yourself as you never have before. 

Life's little surprises can unfold a new journey that we didn't know was possible.  

I’m loving the mother and person that this little baby is growing in me.

On Making Alterations and Stumbling Upon Happiness

“The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.”

— Linda Hunt in Silverado

Oh blogging, how I've missed thee! 

I'm feeling like the new kid at school right about now. New blog. New blogging platform. Still trying to find my way around, but eager to dig in and get involved. Feels so weird to be blogging somewhere new after 7 years of blogging.

A few months back, I created a book from my old blog for history sake and hesitantly pushed the delete button. Hard choice, but necessary. 

Sometimes we grow out of things & that's where I was.

Sometimes parts of life become like old clothes. Too tight. Too loose. Or simply not our style anymore. At any rate, a change has to be made when we find ourselves in that situation. 

Truth is, there are some ill-fitting things in my life right about now and there are adjustments in the works. But it's great to make a decision for change and come out on the other side of that decision. Hard choices sometimes bring on different kinds of happy.  A happy caused by relief of just getting through it. A happy from being free of whatever is ill-fitting or simply a happy from just having the courage to make a new choice.

So on the blog I'll be sharing about different forms of happy that I've been stumbling upon (as well as little things that make me smile) . They're everywhere now that I've opened my eyes up to them. 

The blog is based on the song "Different Kinds of Happy" by Sara Groves. And the back story on the song echoes my sentiments: getting to the other side of something and finding an unexpected happiness waiting there. 

She says: "There’s the happy of my wedding day, which is sort of what all the movies are about, the sweetness of standing up with my family looking on and all the beauty of that.  And then there’s the happy of a day in the counselor’s office where we’ve just ripped our guts out and laid them on the table, and I’ve told him, “This is who I really am.  Are you going to stick around?” and he just showed me, “This is who I really am. Are you going to stick around?”  And we walked out of there with a joy; I can’t even explain the happy of that day.  It’s just unspeakable.  Our marriage now is the fruit of that better foundation being laid.  That was like at Year Seven.  Of all the marriages that I know, the best ones have just gone to hell and back.  Not that you have to do that; I know some marriages where that having just disemboweled each other, but pretty much the best marriages I know are just beautiful because they’ve had to work it out.  That’s what “Different Kinds of Happy is about.”

Okay now your turn. Have you recently run across a different kind of happy that you didn't see coming? Please share in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you.