Monday, February 28, 2011

Prayer...

Tonite I was convicted about how little I pray for my children. I feel like I work so hard to teach them and train them and be a good examle to them. It's not that I don't ever pray for them, but I have been struggling lately with just being a mom and I have rarely lifted my little ones up in prayer. I was reading the book "The Stay At Home Mom" and the chapter I was reading was talking about praying for your children and I read a quote that hit me hard: "The only assurance I have of access to my children's hearts is through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit." How have I missed this? I mean I know it but how have I let it slip passed me? I love them so much. And I have been looking to my own strength to raise them and I am realizing that I can only do it through the power of God's Holy Spirit. The book gave a list of things to pray for your children about and I found it very helpful:
1. Pray that your children will fear the Lord and serve Him. (Deut 6:13)
2. Pray that your children will know Christ as Savior early in life. (Ps 63:1)
3. Pray that your children will hate sin. (Ps 97:10)
4. Pray that your children will be caught when they are guilty. (Ps 119:71)
5. Pray that your children will have a responsible attitude in all their interpersonal relationships. (Dan 6:3)
6. Pray that your children will respect those in authority over them. (Romans 13:1)
7. Pray that your children will desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong kind. (Prov. 1:10. 15)
8. Pray that your children will be kept from the wrong mate and saved for the right one. (2 Cor 6:14)
9. Pray that your children and their prospective mate will be kept pure until marriage. (1 Cor 6:18-20)
10. Pray that your children will learn to submit totally to God and actively resist Satan in all circumstances. (james 4:7)
11. Pray that your children will be single-hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus. (Romans 12:1-2)
12. Pray that your children will be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or wrong places and that wrong people cannot find their way to your children. (Hosea 2:6-7)
13. Pray that your children will have quick, repentant hearts. (Ps 51:1-3)
14. Pray that you children will honor their parents so all will go well with them. (Eph 6:1-3)
15. Pray that your children will be teachable and able to take correction. (Isaiah 54:13, Prov 13:1)
16. Pray that your children's lives will bear the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23)
17. Pray that your children will live by the Spirit and not gratify their flesh. (Gal 5:16)
18. Pray that your children will trust in the Lord for direction in their lives, including their occupation.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Struggling

My title says it all. I'm not one to pour my heart out on the internet for the whole blogosphere to see. But I feel like I just need to share. I just finished reading a book and have started another regarding orphans. They are both fiction but based on real life. They are by Tom Davis..."Sacred" and "Priceless." I accidentally read them out of order but that's ok. "Priceless" is about sex trafficking in Russia and how little girls are abandoned when they are too old for the orphanages (14 years old.) My heart aches for these girls. "Sacred" is about the AIDS epidemic in AFrica and the orphans that are left as a result of it. I'm only about 7 chapters in and I can already barely read it yet at the same time I am sucked into it. What I am struggling with is what to do with it. What do I do with this stirring in my heart. My heart says to adopt. But from where? And when? I had had my heart set on China but we would not be able to adopt from there until we are 30 (which is closer than I would like it to be...) But there are so many children out there that need homes...how do you choose? And what about our children we have now. Some days I feel like I barely make it with the 2 that I have. They are great kids but can I really mentally and emotionally handle another child and the adoption process that goes along with it? I mean, I know that if it's what God wants then it will work out. That's what everyone tells me. And I believe it. I am just having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. I want so badly to have reckless faith but right now it really is the size of a mustard seed. Maybe we aren't supposed to adopt but I feel like I need to do something. But what? Anyway, that's where I am.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

She's Growing Up...

My baby girl is going to be three years old tomorrow. Where has the time gone. It seems like it has gone by so fast but, at the same time, it feels like we have had her forever. I don't really remember what life was like before her. There are a million things I want to say to and about her this day before she turns three. She has been such a blessing. She is a little ray of sunshine when the day seems gloomy. She loves to sing and dance and just be goofy. About ten times a day I hear her say, "Mommy, hol'me, hol'me, hol'me." Usually because I'm holding Caleb and she wants my attention. But on the rare chance she just wants to snuggle, I cherish it. Her favorite activities these days are being "mommy" to her babies, playing hide-and-seek, pestering her little brother, having "Bible study" which consists of her sitting down with her Bible, crayons, and her little notebook and asking me if I have anything I want to talk about, eating, watching Kipper, and piling everything she owns in her little baby stroller so she can go to the "grocery store" which is the spare bedroom downstairs (which she still calls "Uncle Seth's room). She has developed a rather argumenative nature lately. Not exactly with an attitude but she questions everything and she has an answer...or should I say excuse for everything. We are working on that...although I'm not really sure how to.
Her Daddy is her favorite person on the planet. She adores him. I don't really get jealous because my dad was my favorite person when I was growing up too. The relationship between a Daddy and his daughter are very special. She loves going on dates and sitting on the couch eating snacks and watching Kipper with her Daddy. It's amazing to see her grow and mature. It makes me want to grow in my relationship with my Heavenly Father because I know I can not be a good mommy without Him. I know she is going to make a great Mommy some day and I strive to be a good example to her. She is so precious to me and I have thoroughly enjoyed these last three years I have had with her.
Happy Birthday my sweet Hailey!







Sunday, February 13, 2011

Caleb is 9 months!


Our sweet little Caleb is 9 months old today. He is definitely proving himself to be a little boy. He is wilder than Hailey has ever been and he isn't even walking yet. He is all over the place. He doesn't really like to sit still. And he is LOUD. Not necessarily a bad loud. He just likes to squeal and talk when he plays. His favorite place to play is under the kitchen table. He always manages to find himself under there. He loves playing ball and he likes anything that is round...hailey's baby stroller wheels, Hailey's grocery cart wheels, the treadmill wheels. He loves wires. He is always trying to get under the computer desk to get the wires. He has had his fair share of hand-pops so far, and he is learning not to touch things when we tell him not to. And i think I should start saving now to feed him through his teenage years because he already eats like a horse. He is all boy and I love every bit of him!




Waving "BYE, BYE"