Am I ready?

My Dear Husband gave me a night to myself.

A night to write.

A night to get things done.

And this is where I sat:

He even took my children to my In-Laws to really give me peace and quiet.  

(The last time he tried to do this, I went to take a bath and I had one boy in the tub with me and one pooping right by me.  Not a very relaxing bath...)

So I wrote.

And tweeted.

And wrote.

And night came.

And I wrote some more.

And morning came.

And I wanted to write more, but they were home.  

Giggles and shouts.

And snuggles that I needed to have.  I hadn't had any bare tootsies in my cozy spot for a while...

But I wasn't ready.

I wanted to write more.

I wanted to get three loads of laundry done.

I wanted to clean up the pantry.

I wanted to organize my closet.

I wasn't ready.

And although I long for the day when I see my Jesus face to face....

Am I ready?

Have I met each day with the desire to show His love to everyone I meet?

Have I set aside time to be with my Lord in order to learn to love him more?

This is not just a list of "good enoughs."

I will never be good enough to get into Heaven.  That is what grace is for.  Jesus loving me,  

a sinner, enough to die for me.

In order to give me eternity.

In order to give me full life here on earth.

In order to make me ready.

I guess I am ready...

but my prayer is that everyday: 

He strengthens me more,

He teaches me more,

He uses me more.

And He continues to allow me to encourage others to be ready too!

Blessings,

The Tornado I Try to Control

I love a good bath!

I mean I really love a good bath!

So do my kids.  I think it is because I make such a big deal out of bath time.  We have special toys we use.  We play music sometimes.  And if they are really lucky, they will get candles and a foot rub after!

One day when one of my sons,  the Bug Whisperer, was done taking a bath, he was letting the water come out.  All of the day's playing and questions soaped away with the sinking level of the now 

semi-cloudy water.

And right at the end...in between "not quite" and "all done"... came the tornado.  

That little swirl of light and liquid that squiggles and dances on the edge of the drain.   Barely visible, then bigger than the drain itself.

And my son called out,  "Mom, look at what I made!"

And he proceeded to stick his finger in the swirl.  But when he did this, the tornado then disappeared. 

 When he stuck his finger in, he could not make it.  He thought he had made it, 

but in fact, he ruined it.  

But when he sat back and just watched for it.  Waited for it.  Looked for it.  The tornado was created with the sinking water.

Not with his hand, but by the Mighty One who created the water, created the pull, and created the physics that explains it all.

Isn't that so much like us in our everyday life as moms?  The minute we get ourselves to stir up something that is not in His plan, it somehow gets ruined.  Goes wrong. Gets misunderstood.  Gets broken.

Whether it is a relationship that you tried to mend with excuses and the passing of blame.  Or the decision you made without the time going to God in prayer for his wisdom.  Or maybe it is just the day that did not start off with prayer and turned into a day of lost tempers and sad sighs.

As moms and daughters of the king, we need to sit back and watch the tornado.  Watch His mighty work being done and meet him and come along.  He allows us to be a part of His plan, but only if we know His plan by reading His letter and be guided by His words.

He created the tornado and He will bring us through it, guide us around it, or watch it go away.  No matter what,His plan is, we are not in control of it.  The minute we stick our hand in it, it will go away.  And we might miss out on the coolest dance of light and water that we could be blessed with!

And if we do wait.  And watch.  We will call out, "Look Daddy!  Look at what you made!"

 Praise him, you highest heavens 

   and you waters above the skies.

  Let them praise the name of the LORD, 

   for at his command they were created 

Psalm 148:4-6

Blessings,

WELL, TODAY IS BACKWARDS NIGHT!!! 

Well, at least it was at my childrens' AWANA night at our church.

Everyone dressed with backwards shirts, caps on backwards and even pants on backwards!

I looked up what Backwards means

Backward or back·wards means

1. To or toward the back or rear.

2. With the back leading.

Or

3. Done in a manner opposite than a previous way

That’s the one we are going to focus on:

3. Done in a manner opposite than a previous way

Does anyone know what this is?

ZYXWVUT

SRQPONM

LKJIHG

FEDCBA

Looks pretty weird, huh?

But if we sing it backwards, you could all sing it with me.

Let’s try it now.

ABCDEFGHILJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

You knew that was coming, huh?

Nice job!

It is hard to do a lot of things backwards:

Walking backwards is tough,

Running backwards is even tougher.

Reading backwards is really tough unless it is a word like:

MOM.  

Or

WOW.

Or 

RACECAR.

But you know what, friends?

God asks us to live backwards.

He does!

In the Bible, it says:

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

Basically He is saying live in the world, but not of the world.

To be transformed is to live backwards by the world’s standards.

TO the world, it seems backwards for a Christian to get up on Sundays for church!

TO the World, it seems backwards to spend time praying and reading the Bible instead of watching TV.

TO the world, it seems backwards to go on mission trips and maybe live without running water or never seeing your family on holidays…just to tell others about God. 

TO the world, it seems backwards to give your money away to Jesus.  Like we do for our offering.  

TO the world, it seems backwards when people are kind to other people who some people think are unlovable. 

When I was in first grade…I had a friend... Maria Pitssario.   Some of the kids would make fun of her, calling her The Pitts.  Now, I did not make fun of her, but I did not stick up for her.  I was not backwards like I should have been.  I still think about that.  I know I am forgiven for that, but sin has consequence and that one has remained in my mind for a long time.  I should have been backwards for Maria and Jesus!

Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VtiHkkbq18

DO you see how it all looked wrong and backwards until he turned it upside down and we could see Jesus?

That’s what will happen if we live backwards for Jesus.  We will see Jesus more and more in our lives!

When we are kind, people will see Jesus in us and we will be living backwards for Him.

I would encourage you to think of ways you can be backwards or act more like Jesus today:

Backwards and being patient with your little ones when you are tired.

Backwards in snuggling 5 more minutes even though you have laundry to do.

Backwards in playing a card game with you child instead of checking email.

Backwards in letting her bed look like that because she made it herself.

Backwards in giving up the extra flat screen and sponsoring a child overseas.

Being backwards and saying, "I am sorry" first.

How else can you be backwards today?

Thanks for your time...

And Hello!  It’s backwards night…get it…Hello?  :)

May you be a backwards mom for your kids today!

Blessings,