Well, it's Valentine's Day and I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. As much as I like celebrations and what-not, I wasn't feeling it today. Not only is Bobby out of town, but we had a ROUGH day yesterday. From a miserable little girl who wouldn't let me put her down and cried all night, to a certain child extremely mad at me that I don't believe mermaids are real---seriously, to a 3 year old who was on top of his game and an overly sensitive/grumpy older child. 5 of the 6 decided it was Gang Up on Mom Day... and my exhaustion and "so over this" attitude carried to the morning.
This morning I thankfully realized that I could control my attitude. I could choose to be sad and bummed that I couldn't speak to my other half on this day. I could choose to carry yesterday's mess to this new day. OR, I could choose to find joy in the new day the Lord has given me.
By no means was it easy for me, but between a close friend going out of her way to give me some encouragement (AND CHOCOLATE) and through our class singing "One Thing Remains" during our morning worship time, I was encouraged to choose JOY through God's love.
To remind them of the love I have for them AND as a reminder to myself of the love we have for one another, I prepared a surprise dinner tonight. I don't think any of our children had ever had crab before and they were beyond thrilled and thankful for this meal! (We topped it off with one of my favorite desserts--thanks Grandma---"Strawberries on a Cloud")
Yes, an unnamed 3 year old (after being told to leave it on the table) dropped a bowl of melted butter on the floor---do you know how far melted butter can fly?!?!?!? But as I got a bucket and began to scrub the floor/table/chairs, I heard Nahagi tell Ayla to come to the laundry room....
Seeing him wash the butter out of her hair brought me to tears.
We ARE growing.
This house IS filled with love.
I just have to choose to embrace it!
This morning I thankfully realized that I could control my attitude. I could choose to be sad and bummed that I couldn't speak to my other half on this day. I could choose to carry yesterday's mess to this new day. OR, I could choose to find joy in the new day the Lord has given me.
By no means was it easy for me, but between a close friend going out of her way to give me some encouragement (AND CHOCOLATE) and through our class singing "One Thing Remains" during our morning worship time, I was encouraged to choose JOY through God's love.
This path of our family "Growing as Eight" is not always easy. And through my growing I've realized I must focus on the positive and be encouraged by the growth I see, even when it seems small.Nehemiah 8:10 The joy of the Lord is your strength
But do you know what, the small things are often BIG things in growing of our family...
- Like when I see the way they work together, often without prompting.
- Or when a child says, "I love mom because she loves us enough to discipline us."
- When I walk around a corner to unprompted views like this....
- In the first "out of the blue" hug I received by my eldest.
- When I found out that Nahagi goes in and wakes Ayla up with a hug every morning.
- By their tear filled prayers for each other and our family.
- In the close brotherly relationship Eli and Detcho have grown.
- In the way Nahagi steps up to help, almost always without being asked (and especially while Bobby's gone)!
To remind them of the love I have for them AND as a reminder to myself of the love we have for one another, I prepared a surprise dinner tonight. I don't think any of our children had ever had crab before and they were beyond thrilled and thankful for this meal! (We topped it off with one of my favorite desserts--thanks Grandma---"Strawberries on a Cloud")
Yes, an unnamed 3 year old (after being told to leave it on the table) dropped a bowl of melted butter on the floor---do you know how far melted butter can fly?!?!?!? But as I got a bucket and began to scrub the floor/table/chairs, I heard Nahagi tell Ayla to come to the laundry room....
We ARE growing.
This house IS filled with love.
I just have to choose to embrace it!
1 John 4:7-21 God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[a] love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
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