Well, doesn't that title sound like it's going to be a great post? I should tell you, that the way today has been, I DO NOT feel like I can blog about this! But, I can't seem to get away from this idea that's been hanging around, and that usually means I need to blog about it, because that's what direction God wants me to head! So, even though I am feeling frazzled, rushed and laundry is calling my name, I'm going to blog about good days and a love for life. Ha! Here goes...
I guess the idea showed up yesterday in church. My pastor/dad mentioned a verse in passing in his morning sermon. It wasn't even his text verse, but for some reason it stuck with me. It was 1 Peter 3:10-11. "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him seek peace, and ensue it." (Emphasis mine.) There it is, right there in black and white, how to have a good day, and love your life! I'm not sure why this verse had never struck me in this particular fashion before: I know I've read it several times. But for some reason, it just jumped out at me this time. I told Hubby that I was going to type it up, print it out, and post it all over the house!
This verse is actually Peter quoting from the Old Testament--Psalm 34:12-14. So, in reality, God has given us two separate places in which we can find out how to have a good day & to love our life! Maybe in case we didn't catch it the first time...
So, what's the formula? Well, the first part of the verse deals with our mouth, where--let's admit it--most of us have some pretty big issues! It says to "refrain (hold back) your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile." What I found especially interesting about the word "evil" was that, in the Greek, (ha, I've always wanted to say that!) it doesn't necessarily mean wicked or bad in this instance. It has the meaning of "worthless." Stop and think about the verse in that context! We should hold back our tongues from saying worthless things! Whoa! How many times a day can I think back about something I said that had no worth? This idea pretty much takes out gossip, complaining, whining, petty arguments, and there's no telling what else!
The next part of the verse is more pro-active concerning what we can do to have a good day. We must "seek peace and ensue it." This seems to me to be saying that we have to take an active role in searching for peace. Yes, in the midst of whining children, leaking freezers, mountains of laundry, sinks full of dishes, and who-knows-what else, we are to be looking for peace! Now, on the surface, this seems impossible! Especially if you're like me, and life only feels peaceful when everything is caught up and completed! So, how can I seek peace in the midst of chaos? Well, there's really only one answer...in the presence of Jesus Christ. Seeking after Christ must be a priority in our lives. Spend time in His Word, and in the quietness of prayer. Then, when life is spiralling into chaos, you can retreat in your mind to the refuge of your Heavenly Father and ask for His peace to fill your mind and heart.
I guess that's about all the "preaching" I'm going to do for tonight! Read the verse for yourself and see what God has for you...and maybe, just maybe, your tomorrow will be a little more peaceful! :)
Musings on the little things in life that surprise us and remind us that our Heavenly Father cares for us.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Weekend Wrap-up
So, it's finally Saturday after a long week of work for everyone! We've had an enjoyable day so far, with a little work this morning, and some visiting with family this afternoon! Just thought I'd take a few minutes to update you on our week!
This was the first week of school where we went until 3:00 every day, and the first week that we had P.E. for the last hour of the day. Yours truly is the P.E. teacher, and let me just tell you...the 20 minutes of yoga I have been doing in the morning after I get up has been missing a few muscles! I was a little sore after playing kickball (!!) with the kiddos at school, but it may have been the "claustrophobics" (one student's word for "callisthenics"!) I had them doing...
First-Born had his first official piano lesson this week as well. He really enjoyed it, but it was less enjoyable when he realized he would have to practice a little more than he has been, and that it would take a little longer! He really impressed me today though. We had to clean up a tree that had fallen on our shed during all the rain we had here on Labor Day. So, this morning we all got up and headed outside to work on getting it cut apart and hauled away. Daddy was wielding the chain saw, and I was driving the tractor pulling the wagon to carry the limbs away to the brush pile. (Hee-hee, Mommy gets the easy job!) First-Born got his gloves on and started filling the big wheel-barrow with limbs, and driving it to the brush pile all by himself! He made 5 or 6 trips down the the brush pile and back with a full wheel-barrow every time! The best part of this was that there was not one word of complaint or whining the whole time! Believe me...this is a marked improvement! He will be 7 next week, and I have been telling him recently that it is time for him to act less like a baby and more like a young man. Maybe it's sinking in...
Middle Biscuit is thoroughly enjoying K5 too. He will be starting piano lessons this week, and he is looking forward to that too. He is my more musically inclined one, and I think he will do great with them. He is becoming more open with others too, which is good. He has always been my "loner" child; playing for hours by himself with his Legos. School is encouraging him to play with everyone, and do things with a group, even if he's not good at them. He has definitely been blossoming out so far. But he still heads right to the toy room after school to work on his latest Lego creation!
I guess that bring us up to Stitch. And what else is there to say but...he's Stitch! He's been working hard to adjust to his new life, and he's definitely always on the look-out for an extra hug or cuddle from Mommy or Daddy! But I think he's doing fairly well, all things considered. He enjoys going into the K5 class for the first hour of school. He has picked up several things already, and can say parts of Psalm 100 and sing most of "Onward Christian Soldiers"! He was thrilled to bring his Bible and help lead the pledges in the class on Wednesday! He may be able to skip kindergarten altogether...!
Well, that about wraps up this "weekend wrap-up!" It's getting to be bath time around here and tomorrow's Sunday! Have a great Lord's Day, and remember to say a prayer for our country on Patriot day! :)
This was the first week of school where we went until 3:00 every day, and the first week that we had P.E. for the last hour of the day. Yours truly is the P.E. teacher, and let me just tell you...the 20 minutes of yoga I have been doing in the morning after I get up has been missing a few muscles! I was a little sore after playing kickball (!!) with the kiddos at school, but it may have been the "claustrophobics" (one student's word for "callisthenics"!) I had them doing...
First-Born had his first official piano lesson this week as well. He really enjoyed it, but it was less enjoyable when he realized he would have to practice a little more than he has been, and that it would take a little longer! He really impressed me today though. We had to clean up a tree that had fallen on our shed during all the rain we had here on Labor Day. So, this morning we all got up and headed outside to work on getting it cut apart and hauled away. Daddy was wielding the chain saw, and I was driving the tractor pulling the wagon to carry the limbs away to the brush pile. (Hee-hee, Mommy gets the easy job!) First-Born got his gloves on and started filling the big wheel-barrow with limbs, and driving it to the brush pile all by himself! He made 5 or 6 trips down the the brush pile and back with a full wheel-barrow every time! The best part of this was that there was not one word of complaint or whining the whole time! Believe me...this is a marked improvement! He will be 7 next week, and I have been telling him recently that it is time for him to act less like a baby and more like a young man. Maybe it's sinking in...
Middle Biscuit is thoroughly enjoying K5 too. He will be starting piano lessons this week, and he is looking forward to that too. He is my more musically inclined one, and I think he will do great with them. He is becoming more open with others too, which is good. He has always been my "loner" child; playing for hours by himself with his Legos. School is encouraging him to play with everyone, and do things with a group, even if he's not good at them. He has definitely been blossoming out so far. But he still heads right to the toy room after school to work on his latest Lego creation!
I guess that bring us up to Stitch. And what else is there to say but...he's Stitch! He's been working hard to adjust to his new life, and he's definitely always on the look-out for an extra hug or cuddle from Mommy or Daddy! But I think he's doing fairly well, all things considered. He enjoys going into the K5 class for the first hour of school. He has picked up several things already, and can say parts of Psalm 100 and sing most of "Onward Christian Soldiers"! He was thrilled to bring his Bible and help lead the pledges in the class on Wednesday! He may be able to skip kindergarten altogether...!
Well, that about wraps up this "weekend wrap-up!" It's getting to be bath time around here and tomorrow's Sunday! Have a great Lord's Day, and remember to say a prayer for our country on Patriot day! :)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Random Observations
It's been a while since I've done a random observations post, and I enjoy challenging my writing style, so here goes...(I hope you enjoy this style too...if not, I'll write a "normal" one next time, haha!)
Random Observation #1: Why is it every time I go to the store, I get everything on my list except one thing? It doesn't seem to matter if I keep a mental list, or take the time to write things down on paper, something always gets forgotten. And it will invariably be the one thing Hubby asks for the next day! Him: "Do we have any Raisin Bran?" Me: (with a sinking feeling in my stomach) "Let me look." Him: (after I don't find anything) "Didn't you just go to the grocery store yesterday?" Me: (mentally-"GRRRR!") "Yes." Maybe it's the "Murphy's Law" of the grocery store. Does this ever happen to anyone else? If not, don't tell me...ignorance is bliss. :)
Random Observation #2: As I was cleaning the house a few days ago, I noticed that the house seemed remarkably cleaner than on a typical house-cleaning day. I wondered if it was a fluke, or if maybe, just maybe, now that the boys were getting older, some things I have been drilling into their heads were finally sinking in. But then it hit me...the reason the house was cleaner was because...we don't live here any more! Our whole family is away from the house for a good portion of the day, and for the time we are home, we're pretty busy with work, so there's not a lot of time to get anything dirty! This seems to be a mixed blessing...on one hand, there's less cleaning for Mommy (yay!), but on the other hand, we need to guard against getting too busy.
Random Observation #3: On the topic of being a lot busier, I have a confession to make. I am having guilt issues about the fact that I am not home more with Stitch. I know this is something other moms who work outside the home have to deal with even more than I do because they have to put their kiddos in day care. I am very thankful that Mimi (my mom) is willing to give up her time and energy to watch Stitch while I'm at school. But that doesn't stop me from feeling guilty about it!! (I think moms might be hard-wired to feel guilt...if they can't find something, they'll make something up!) I know that we're doing what the Lord has led us to do, and that Stitch isn't suffering any trauma over this. (Actually, it's probably the opposite situation...he has lots of one-on-one attention now since he's the only one at home!) But that doesn't stop me from having mental conversations with myself about the fact that I was a bigger part of his brothers' lives at this age, and I won't be able to do his workbooks with him like I did with them, and I will miss some of those funny day-to-day moments that are a part of being a SAHM. Sigh...I guess I'll have to squeeze in extra cuddles here and there...
Random Observation #4: On the 3rd of this month, the Hubby and I will be celebrating 12 (!!) years of marriage! I am so grateful for him, and the example of leadership he is in our home. We've had our good times, and our hard times, but we're committed to sticking it out together. And in this day and age, that seems to be something unusual. So, Friday night is anniversary date night...dinner and a movie! :)
Random Observation #5: This is actually a "guest" observation from a student earlier this week. It struck me as funny, so I had to share! This student was writing sentences for his spelling words. One of his words was "state" with the definition being "the condition someone or something is in at a particular time." The sentence he came up with was: "Most people don't have a state of mind." If you look around, you'll notice this is a truer statement than you think!
Or maybe it's just that everyone is in a state of confusion! :)
Random Observation #1: Why is it every time I go to the store, I get everything on my list except one thing? It doesn't seem to matter if I keep a mental list, or take the time to write things down on paper, something always gets forgotten. And it will invariably be the one thing Hubby asks for the next day! Him: "Do we have any Raisin Bran?" Me: (with a sinking feeling in my stomach) "Let me look." Him: (after I don't find anything) "Didn't you just go to the grocery store yesterday?" Me: (mentally-"GRRRR!") "Yes." Maybe it's the "Murphy's Law" of the grocery store. Does this ever happen to anyone else? If not, don't tell me...ignorance is bliss. :)
Random Observation #2: As I was cleaning the house a few days ago, I noticed that the house seemed remarkably cleaner than on a typical house-cleaning day. I wondered if it was a fluke, or if maybe, just maybe, now that the boys were getting older, some things I have been drilling into their heads were finally sinking in. But then it hit me...the reason the house was cleaner was because...we don't live here any more! Our whole family is away from the house for a good portion of the day, and for the time we are home, we're pretty busy with work, so there's not a lot of time to get anything dirty! This seems to be a mixed blessing...on one hand, there's less cleaning for Mommy (yay!), but on the other hand, we need to guard against getting too busy.
Random Observation #3: On the topic of being a lot busier, I have a confession to make. I am having guilt issues about the fact that I am not home more with Stitch. I know this is something other moms who work outside the home have to deal with even more than I do because they have to put their kiddos in day care. I am very thankful that Mimi (my mom) is willing to give up her time and energy to watch Stitch while I'm at school. But that doesn't stop me from feeling guilty about it!! (I think moms might be hard-wired to feel guilt...if they can't find something, they'll make something up!) I know that we're doing what the Lord has led us to do, and that Stitch isn't suffering any trauma over this. (Actually, it's probably the opposite situation...he has lots of one-on-one attention now since he's the only one at home!) But that doesn't stop me from having mental conversations with myself about the fact that I was a bigger part of his brothers' lives at this age, and I won't be able to do his workbooks with him like I did with them, and I will miss some of those funny day-to-day moments that are a part of being a SAHM. Sigh...I guess I'll have to squeeze in extra cuddles here and there...
Random Observation #4: On the 3rd of this month, the Hubby and I will be celebrating 12 (!!) years of marriage! I am so grateful for him, and the example of leadership he is in our home. We've had our good times, and our hard times, but we're committed to sticking it out together. And in this day and age, that seems to be something unusual. So, Friday night is anniversary date night...dinner and a movie! :)
Random Observation #5: This is actually a "guest" observation from a student earlier this week. It struck me as funny, so I had to share! This student was writing sentences for his spelling words. One of his words was "state" with the definition being "the condition someone or something is in at a particular time." The sentence he came up with was: "Most people don't have a state of mind." If you look around, you'll notice this is a truer statement than you think!
Or maybe it's just that everyone is in a state of confusion! :)
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