Tips On Tuesday: Worship Time

This tip was shared by my friend Kim (one of our Moms Like Us), who has incorporated it into her daily worship time to the great benefit for her and her family :)

Kim suggested taking a church hymnal or devotional song book and to place it where you can see it throughout the day while doing chores. She has her's placed on the back of her sink, just beneath her kitchen window.

She says ...I propped mine open, and had an amazing time of worship while doing the dishes!  There are so many old songs that I had forgotten or that I didn't know all the verses to, and it was so wonderful to sing those old songs while I did the dishes.  At first, I looked up my favorites, but that took too long, so I just started at the beginning and sang all the verses to the songs I knew.  And I knew more than I thought!  Plus, the first section was praise songs, so they were all really upbeat.  I would sing every verse to a song and then turn the page.  I was actually disappointed when all my dishes were washed because I wanted to sing some more--and I'm not even that big of a singer!  

I think this is a great idea! I dont have a kitchen window, but I do have a place near my sink where I can incorporate this tip. I thought about using a recipe book rack as a prop for the book, so I can glance at the book without having to get the book wet or messy.

I love it! ...what ways do you incorporate worship time into your day?!

Moms Like Us: Molly

I have been getting some great feedback about this weekly feature! I think you all are right with me when it comes to loving being able to see how we are not alone, or our struggles unique in this crazy job of wife/mom/daughter of God :)

This week ..

{Meet Molly}

A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BROOD
I’ve been married to my best friend Kevin for 5 years and am mom to two sweet, spunky, and hysterically funny girls, Charlotte (3) and Katie (almost 1). Kevin is in the Army and has spent half of our marriage (including most of Charlotte’s first 17 months) in Iraq. We moved last year to find a job that would keep him a little closer to home for a while. While he works, I stay home with my girls and our two cats, volunteer with the National Guard’s family programs, and ponder learning the craft of woodworking. 

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST STRUGGLE AS A MOM/WIFE?
To balance all of the roles I play. I was Molly long before I was a wife and mom, and I struggle to maintain the delicate balance of dying to myself while still holding on to my identity outside of those roles.  I think it’s easy to swing too far in each direction – to demand that I be put first to the detriment of my family or to always put myself last, also to the detriment of my family. I’m learning that it’s in embracing who God made me to be that I can best fulfill the roles He has blessed me with.
 
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE YOU FEEL GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO?
Blessed Theresa of Calcutta once said “What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me can ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.” I believe that God has called me to live my very simple life with great love and in doing so to show the world His heart.

WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU FEEL GOD HAS GIVEN YOU ON A DAILY BASIS, THAT ARE UNIQUE TO YOU?  
There are so many resources God has blessed me with, but so few are unique to me. It’s really the combination of all of them that make my life what it is. But for the sake of the question, one aspect of my life that I am blessed with is having an open mind, with the desire to continually learn more and to challenge myself. I am unafraid to question my deeply held beliefs and to change my understanding of things as I learn new things. I know that if I am truly seeking God, He won’t ever lead me astray. Another resource that I consider invaluable is my education - I have an undergraduate degree in psychology, focusing on interpersonal relationships, and a Masters in child development, focusing on applying current research to inform your work with children and families. For me, that means continually educating myself on what we know about how kids develop – right now I am reading Girls Will Be Girls (JoAnn Deak) and The Philosophical Baby (Alison Gopnik).

A YAY ME! FROM THIS WEEK
I have almost lost all of my weight from the second baby. As of this morning, I only have 5 more pounds to lose!

DO YOU MAKE YOUR BED EVERYDAY?
No. About 1 o’clock in the afternoon, an overwhelming urge to sleep combined with a nicely made bed makes me crazy. It’s just easier to never make it and then curl up in it guilt free while the kids sleep.

ARE ALL YOUR DISHES DONE RIGHT NOW?
ha. are yours?{ha. NO.}

 IS YOUR LAUNDRY CAUGHT UP RIGHT NOW?
I wish. Laundry is the bane of my existence. I inevitably miss stains that then set in, and I always sneeze uncontrollably whenever I fold it. And as soon as I breathe a sigh of relief, my family brings me the 17 outfits the 3 of them decided to wear that day and I’m starting all over. I’m making steps to get it under control, but I'm finding it really comes down to willpower, which I strangely seem lack when I need it most.

WHAT IS THE VERSE THAT BRINGS YOU BACK TO THE GROUND WHEN YOU FEEL OUT OF CONTROL?
Honestly, it depends on the moment. My needs are constantly changing, and God speaks to me through different verses at different times in my life. Right now, God has been speaking to me most clearly through great Christian thinkers; the following prayer is by Thomas Merton and no matter where I am in life, I always return to it in times of distress:

MY LORD GOD: I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

{Thanks so much, Molly!}

Operation: SELF CONTROL

Last week, as part of our Kids of Integrity character training lesson,  we talked about Self Control.

We talked about how we are responsible for our hands and our bodies, and how we need to use control and be responsible for how we use them.

We used the verse, "resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  ....for the first time really talking about temptation, and what that means. We hadnt really talked about Satan alot, I guess, because there were alot of questions in that area. They loved the idea of "resisting" Satan.

We made a lion, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 ..I am really amazed with how all our character qualities have been so tied together. We obey because we love God, we are alert/attentive so we know how to obey, we are are alert and self controlled so that we do what God wants and not what Satan wants.

Here is Ty "resisting" the devil, portrayed as a lion...he suggested a game where we offer scenerios and try to decide if it is from God or if we are being tempted and need to resist Satan. If our answer was to resist, we put our hand over his face. I was impressed :)

It was alittle more difficult to reward self-control because it was something they didnt do, instead of something they did. We put the nickles away this week, but we will use them again next week when we focus on Respect.

Oh..one more thing that we used alot of ..we had "forced self-control" when they were being out of control with their mouth (yelling inappropriately, talking ugly to siblings, etc) or their hands (hitting, hanging on someone, etc.). They would have to lace their fingers together for a time as a "hand time out" or put their pointer finger over their mouth for a "mouth time out". It worked really well, especially in the car.  We will keep using this one.

Good stuff, I cant wait to keep working obeying, being attentive and having self control. I can see real changes in these little men :)

Tips on Tuesday..er, Thursday

Okay, Okay..I am way behind all the way around this week..BUT..I had this great inexpensive tip I wanted to share!

I found these great giant push pins at Walmart, $3 for 8. I am LOVING them as a place to display all of our great art projects, color pages and some such stuff...

We just used two of the pins, tied a strong string of some sort (I had jute, so I used it) and clips ..I have aspirations of painting the clips different colors to represent each kid but hey ..we wont pressure ourselves too much for now, right?

This is a time line we made for school ..it is Ty's time line, which we started in 2001 when Mommy and Daddy got married :)

I Heart Power Tools

I like a good power drill. I dont mind at all putting furniture together, putting shelves up, hanging pictures and stuff ..but I wouldnt want to do any of that without a power drill.

I admit, though, I do get a little scared of most other power tools. I dont like the saws, or most of the really loud ones. They have so much power, and I dont really know what to do with it. I envision myself doing more harm than good (much harm, in fact :).

But, put into the right hands ..these tools can do amazing things! They dont even compare with their non-powered counterparts, even though they are created and designed for the same purpose.

A screwdriver can screw a screw ...which is what it supposed to do, very well.  You can hang pictures, put shelves together and hang them up too.  But, add some power to that humble tool, and you have just increased both your productivity and your efficacy x100.

Isnt that true of us as well?

We are created for a purpose, and promised to be given "everything you need for a life of godliness through the knowledge of him who called you."  (2 Peter1:3) ..so that you will be kept from being "ineffective and unproductive" vs.8.   

God has equipped us ..."to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."  1Peter 4:10 ..."all these are the work of the one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one (of us) just has he determines." 1 Cor 12:11

He gives us what we need to accomplish the tasks to which he has called us. He gives you to be a mom, another of you to be a wife or a grandmother. He has called you and equipped you with the tools you need to do what he wants you to do for the benefit of His glory and His plan. He has given us everything we need to accomplish these purposes.

Yet, without the full power of his Spirit ...we are just a screwdriver.   A tool still designed for a purpose, still made to do what we do ...but lacking in what we need to be fully effective and productive.

Yet, the power is there ..."God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love and of self-discipline."  2 Tim 1:7

He has not just made us a screwdriver ...but a power drill! His spirit is that super lithium battery pack that just keeps going..and going..and going.

Are you, like me, guilty of doing the job God has called me without using the Spirit to help power it? Are you trying, like me, to sometimes do the job he has given you with an antiquated tool instead one powered by the Spirit who gave you that tool?

I pray for myself, and for you today that you will tap into that Spirit of power! That we can be effective and productive in the things he has called you to today ...but be careful, he may start working in you to create one of those scary power tools that seems too powerful to handle! (wouldnt that be great?!) :)