The Untitled Blog Post January 22, 2009

A lot can happen in three months – WordPress changes its format, you find out you’re pregnant, your son turns 3 years old. So, what’s the natural response? Blogging hits the backburner. At least for me.

But amidst the craziness and chaos of life, one thing has remained constant. There will always be more craziness and chaos. That’s life with a toddler-turning-preschooler who demands his way is the best way. Wait ’till he meets Jesus.

Or maybe I should say wait ’till Jesus meets him (and hopefully transforms him SOON!). But that wouldn’t be correct because my son is already known by Jesus, already known by His Heavenly Father, who fashioned him in the secret of my womb before I even knew he existed.

And God my Father has done it again – has allowed me to become the carrier of another miraculously-created life who I will bring into the world in less than six months. If only I could pray away the labor pains. Not likely.

But what I am praying for is that this unborn child will personally know and trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The same prayer prayed daily for my firstborn. That Jesus will be first place in his life, that Jesus will remain the one constant thing amidst the craziness and chaos of life.

Of course, telling my son that will work wonders because he listens oh so well I believe it’s called selective hearing and thankfully he has heard my conversations about Jesus because he already knows Jesus loves him and died for him and that Jesus is alive. He at least can recite this at 3 years old and I’m praying these truths will become written on his own heart soon.

No, I think the better way for my son to learn that Jesus is first among all things is to see that portrayed in my life. In my crazy and chaotic life. For him to see that no matter what financial difficulty we face, no matter how many repairs Dada’s truck needs, no matter how many times I’ve repeated the statement that pee-pee goes in the potty not on the floor, that Jesus is still King of all. Because no matter how I treat my Lord, He is still Lord. No matter how unfaithful I am to Him, He is still faithful to me. It is undeserved love but as my husband would say, “It is what it is,” and it is grace.

Oh Lord, if only our hearts would cling to You with unfaltering faith, if only we could take You at your word and know beyond our doubts that You desire to bless us beyond belief, then we could truly rest in Your peace here on earth and exchange our chaos for your calm. For your death and resurrection have given us the right to become children of God, and as an earthly father desires to give his children good things, You, Lord, desire to give us even more.

JOY = Jesus, Others, You March 10, 2008

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) and therefore it should be something that Christians pray for. We pray for patience and peace all the time (at least I do, as a mother of a toddler) but I rarely find myself praying for joy. Actually, almost never.

But, joy is something that God promises to give us as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our life. As we submit to Christ and allow Him to live through us through the Holy Spirit, joy will be evident. Sometimes, this is not easy to do because of our circumstances but we can always pray for it and allow God to work in us what we can’t do on our own.

I’m not sure why joy has sprung up recently – I guess because I see too many Christians (myself included) not joyful even though the God of the World, the Creator of all things, has come to dwell in them through His Spirit. We have forgiveness, we have unconditional love, we have acceptance from God because of what Christ has done for us. Because of this, we will have eternal life. So, why aren’t we joyful?

I believe the acronym for JOY that I ran across several years ago while reading a commentary on Philippians can help. I had forgotten it until I read an article about former model Kathy Ireland (I had no idea she was a Christian!) and she mentioned that this acronym for JOY immediately helps her put her priorities in place. JOY = JESUS first, OTHERS second and YOU last.

As any born-again believer knows, this acronym is Biblical. God in Deuteronomy tells us to put Him first, Christ tells us in Matthew to seek first His Kingdom. Paul in his letters to the Philippians and Galatians tells believers to consider others before ourselves. And what does this lead to? TRUE JOY.

Does this mean we allow people to take advantage of us and run all over us? No, we still set up healthy boundaries that allow us to put God first (for example, if we say yes to every volunteer and service activity, there will hardly be time to put God first and we can stressed and strained. Not to mention grouchy and unjoyful.)

Try it for yourself – see how things change on a daily basis by just focusing on this simple thought. Jesus, Others, You. I promise you’ll see that God will meet all of your needs in the time that He’s given you if you simply trust His plan.

The homeschooling vs. private school vs. public school debate January 4, 2008

My son will turn 2 years old next week and I’m already considering what to do about his schooling. Actually, other people are wondering what I’ll be doing about his schooling. They ask if I’ll be sending him to pre-school (I’m not sure). Does he need pre-school at 2, and a better question is, can I afford it?

A couple weeks ago, I read an interesting blog post about homeschooling vs. public schools and was intrigued by the comments. It was almost split as to what people preferred and which was, without documentation, the best approach to educating children.

I will be attending a meeting this weekend about “Homeschooling How-To’s” at my local library.  I am leaning toward homeschooling my son because 1) I love to teach and what better student than  my own child; 2) I want my son to learn about Christ in his education and not just after school or in Sunday school; and 3) my son seems to be a fast learner and I’ve been told homeschooling can take students through a faster-paced curriculum.

But I have yet to make a decision and have some hesitations – I work part-time from home as a writer, I would like to have a second child soon, is homeschooling cost-prohibitive, will my son be on an equal playing field for college, will I remove my son from the world where he can be a light for others and will I destroy his “grammar school” experiences (buying milk at lunch, playing on the playground) by homeschooling?

Of course, there’s no way to answer those questions. But the one thing I am sure of is that as his mother I am commanded to teach him about God’s Word and ways and have been doing this since he’s been born. Either way we decide to go for his education, Christianity and the Bible will always be core parts of his curriculum as long as I can help it.

Feel free to share any tidbits, tips or advice on either of these types of education.

Looking for tips from clean-freaks! October 16, 2007

Moving consumes hours upon hours and leaves little time for blogging.  But now I’m back in the seat and ready to go!  So, we’re in a house now (today’s our fourth day in our first home) and we’re excited.  But I’ve noticed areas that I need to clean.  Thanks to God for His servants, a woman from church helped me clean the entire kitchen and bathrooms.  Such hard work!

I still have nooks and crevices that need a good wiping so here’s what I’m looking for – what are your best cleaning tips and remedies?  How can I strive to keep my home dust-free (I’m allergic to dust but who isn’t?)  Is there a good all-purpose product or should I just bite the bullet and buy individual cleaners?  Here’s a tough one – how to get rid of musty odors?  Our home was vacant for several months and some of the bedrooms have a strong musty smell.  We’ll be getting rid of the carpet soon but until then any ideas?

I am determined to keep this home clean and germ-free (I’m thinking that’s not really possible) and appreciate advice from veteran clean-freaks!

Pursue home with faulty foundation? August 28, 2007

Blogging has taken a back seat in the last week or so since we started house hunting.  It has become a dreaded task, at least for me.  Learning the lingo, knowing the numbers and determining the designs we truly want is not easy.  Sometimes it can be fun – looking at all different kinds of houses.  Until the 95-degree weather causes sweat to drip down your back every time you get in and out of the car and walk through homes with with no AC.  Yes, loads of fun.

So, I’m going to use the blogosphere as a forum to seek advice.  A pretty decent, yet older home, is available at a good price.  We will go check it out in person tomorrow.  It’s about 25 years old and has been almost completely remodeled within the last year or so.  It looks nice from the pictures but looks can be deceiving, as I have found.  One glitch – the former owners had the foundation repaired seven years ago.  Hmmm….

In speaking with my realtor, I was reassured that it’s better that the problem was detected and repaired (and now the warranty can be transferred to us, if we move forward with the home) rather than us finding the problem after we close on the deal.  But is it still worth it to purse a home (a first-time home) that had foundation repair within 20 years of being built?  I know near to nothing about foundations so maybe I’m being a bit too apprehensive about this.  Perhaps it is normal in certain parts of of the country for foundations to be repaired and obviously homes are still livable.  My concern is that I don’t want to have to pay exorbitant amounts of money if the foundation needs continued repair in the future.

Any tips or advice?  Anyone ever have their foundation repaired and all has gone well?  Is it normal for a home within its first 20 years to need foundation repairs? Looking for some thoughts…

Looking for tricks to tame toddlers August 14, 2007

Since hundreds upon hundreds of moms are also bloggers and therefore read blogs, I’m hoping to get some response to this one! I am looking for fun, educational and inexpensive activities for my 19-month-old son. He is a fireball of activity but lately the more than 100-degree weather has kept us indoors. Naturally, he gets bored with all his usual toys and tired of making blueberries out of Playdoh. And when he gets bored, he becomes destructive. Not good.

So, I’m wondering if any mommies of toddlers have ideas for activities or games that have worked well for their kids. I’ve done some research online but haven’t found much. My son really isn’t into crafts yet but I can certainly give them a try. He likes listening to music (the same Bible songs CD is usually played six times a day) so we do some singing along. Mostly, I’d like to find creative things for him to do that won’t cost me an arm and a leg, or my sanity.

Any ideas?