Sweetness & Sunshine

Ah!  Lovely sunshine!  We are all enjoying this lovely spring-like weather.  Our boys love to go outside to play and will play almost all day, if allowed.  Even when the temperatures were frigid, the boys would spend hours outside.  They pretended to boat by standing on the sled and then using shovels as paddles to “paddle” up and down the yard.  That of course worked when we had ice-coated snow.  Now, they are loving the mud and happily spending hours digging holes in it.  If you visit our house, you’ll think I have some huge ground-hogs or something because there are some large holes in our backyard.  Maybe, the boys are trying to experiment with geography and hope that if  they dig deep enough they’ll discover the countries on the opposite side of the globe.  You never know…

I just added to my laundry pile another load by having extra muddy clothes and coats, which have now been discarded for sweatshirts and those have been discarded for changes in shirts.  Oh well!  I don’t think that it’s possible to get caught up on laundry anyway so I might as well decide that laundry is my new hobby.

I am so glad that we only have 59 days of school left to do because I think we are all looking forward to even more play time outside and more time to try out our area parks.  In the meantime, we continue to fill our mornings with school-work and then our afternoons with lots of quiet and play time.  The quiet time is for me; the boys get the play time.

Sometimes you don’t realize how starved you are for quiet time until you are given the opportunity to enjoy it.  Jonathan and I were able to enjoy a lovely date recently.  Thankfully, we have been collecting gift cards at Christmas and for birthdays so that we can enjoy a meal out that doesn’t involve any work on my part.  I truly think that is my favorite date.  It was so nice to just sit down and enjoy eating a meal without having to get out of my chair countless times because a child dropped a utensil, spilled a drink, needed a refill, etc…  Our meals was peaceful, soothing, tranquil — just plain lovely!  Jonathan and I enjoyed a time to talk interrupted and to simply enjoy interludes of blissful quiet too.  Oh, we love our kids, and we even love some of those chaotic meal times.  Once in awhile though, it’s nice to simply enjoy eating — the texture, fragrance, and flavors of food and time to digest it.

Last week, I overheard Drew say a number of really sweet things so I thought that I would quote him.  The following quotes are a few of things he said:

“I want to see what I can do to help you.  That’s why I helped with lunch (dinner really).”

“Don’t squeeze too hard, or my hearts will come off.”

“I’m being good because I took a nap.  I want to be good so I don’t need a correction.”

“I want to tell others about God so that they can believe in Him.”

“I’m glad you corrected me because I don’t like it when I’m bad.”

Mommy of Grace

I was asked a few months ago what I would call my blog if I had a girl.  At the time, I said, “MommyofGrace.”  I still say that and the reason is because the lesson of God’s grace has been resounding in my heart repeatedly this year.  I have come to the understanding that I can’t be the mommy and the wife that God wants me to be without His grace pouring in and through my life.  I have come to see that any good that comes from my efforts will only be a result of His grace.  I am a product of His grace.  I try to so hard to be a good wife and mommy but never attain perfection.  My own efforts are paltry and inefficient without His grace, working through me.

The question that has often come to my mind is “How do I walk in His grace?”  I believe that the Lord has been showing me the answer to this.  A good analogy came to my mind while taking a shower one day.  God showed me that just as the warm water is pouring over me, cleansing and refreshing and thereby strengthening me, so His grace is abundantly being poured out upon me.  I keep getting this visual image of opening my hands to him and throwing back my head and letting the “warm water” of His grace just pour over me, simply enjoying it and allowing it to cleanse away the filth and stench of my own sinfulness.  It is abiding in His grace.  It is recognizing that grace.  It is understanding or coming to a clearer comprehension of that grace and then allowing the presence of His grace to transform me and my life and then everyone with whom I come in contact.

I NEED His grace — every day, every hour, every minute, every second of my day.  While I live and breathe, I am a testament of His grace.

Every rainbow in my storm… every song in my sorrows…  every drop of lemonaide from my lemons… every time I look beyond myself and my circumstances to the One Who continues to pour out His love and grace upon my life, I have begun to understand and to walk in His grace.

 

He’s Going To Be A Sweet Big Brother!

I just love it that every morning, Lukey thinks to greet our baby by pressing his mouth to my belly and saying, “I love you, baby dwirl.”  Every time I hear his sweet words, I tell him that he is going to be a great big brother and his sister is going to love him.  Words of kindness, coming from my children, never cease to warm my heart and to give me a huge dose of encouragement!

Thinking of Marriage

My boys are already thinking of marriage — at least the oldest two are.  The other day, I overheard them talking to each other that God has someone special for them to marry.  I know this mommy definitely prays along that line.  So, ladies, if one of your daughters marries my son(s), there are lots of prayers on her behalf already.  🙂

Awesome God!

I just love it when I hear the boys say something that means they have been listening.  The popular word around here has been “Awesome!”  Jonathan decided to start addressing this — not that it’s a bad word — but to also add some wisdom.  He explained to the boys that really only God is Awesome — meaning “awe-inspiring.”  So following those gentle Daddy reminders, I heard the boys say, “That’s not awesome.  It’s cool.  Only God is awesome!”  You go, boys!