The top three pictures were drawn by my daughter Linnea. The bottom one was done by my daughter Megan. These pictures brighten my day. I'm glad they share them with me still, and that they allow me to post them on this blog.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
The two major areas of my life that need the most help right now are learning how to be a good wife and learning how to be an effective mother. Keith and I have gone through “Growing Kids God’s Way” twice, but I haven’t been very good at implementing the principles from that program. I’m too lazy, too undisciplined and too unsure of myself.
In spite of my obvious failings, until this recent season of self-examination, I had deceived myself into thinking I was a relatively good mother. Several years ago, my work offered a series of classes on the book “Parenting with Love and Logic.” People I knew attended the classes and were delighted with the effective practicality of the principles taught there. They shared their delight with me and others and told everyone they knew that they thought the class would be valuable for any parent to attend.
The class was offered again and I was personally invited by a friend. While my voice was “graciously” declining the opportunity citing the reason as not being able to attend after-work functions because of daycare time constraints, the reality is that the pride in me rose up and thought “I’ve been through ‘Growing Kids God’s Way’ twice! I don’t need another parenting class. I’m doing just fine, thank you.”
I shudder to think how much damage I have done to my children because of not making use of that valuable opportunity when God laid it directly in my path.
At our church’s women’s retreat this year, one of the workshops was about parenting, and the speaker spoke from the book “Parenting with Love and Logic.” Thankfully, my heart was definitely far more receptive this time, and the whole time I was sitting there nodding my head because I could relate to nearly everything that was being said. After the workshop I asked the speaker if I could borrow the book, and she graciously allowed me to.
I’ve been reading it ever since and have had some chances to apply what I’m learning, with encouraging success. What a gold-mine of practical truth! I am enjoying being in this season of receptive teachability, and am praying that by God’s grace, He will continue to soften my heart.
Pride is still a huge (HUGE) stronghold in my life. I hope and pray that He will keep me from regressing into old thinking patterns, and feeling patterns, and will teach me new ways of thinking, and that He will embed in the depths of my heart the truth that “…I am less than the least of all God’s people…” (Eph 3:8). I want to live in that reality, to be wholly and completely dependent on Him for all things.
In spite of my obvious failings, until this recent season of self-examination, I had deceived myself into thinking I was a relatively good mother. Several years ago, my work offered a series of classes on the book “Parenting with Love and Logic.” People I knew attended the classes and were delighted with the effective practicality of the principles taught there. They shared their delight with me and others and told everyone they knew that they thought the class would be valuable for any parent to attend.
The class was offered again and I was personally invited by a friend. While my voice was “graciously” declining the opportunity citing the reason as not being able to attend after-work functions because of daycare time constraints, the reality is that the pride in me rose up and thought “I’ve been through ‘Growing Kids God’s Way’ twice! I don’t need another parenting class. I’m doing just fine, thank you.”
I shudder to think how much damage I have done to my children because of not making use of that valuable opportunity when God laid it directly in my path.
At our church’s women’s retreat this year, one of the workshops was about parenting, and the speaker spoke from the book “Parenting with Love and Logic.” Thankfully, my heart was definitely far more receptive this time, and the whole time I was sitting there nodding my head because I could relate to nearly everything that was being said. After the workshop I asked the speaker if I could borrow the book, and she graciously allowed me to.
I’ve been reading it ever since and have had some chances to apply what I’m learning, with encouraging success. What a gold-mine of practical truth! I am enjoying being in this season of receptive teachability, and am praying that by God’s grace, He will continue to soften my heart.
Pride is still a huge (HUGE) stronghold in my life. I hope and pray that He will keep me from regressing into old thinking patterns, and feeling patterns, and will teach me new ways of thinking, and that He will embed in the depths of my heart the truth that “…I am less than the least of all God’s people…” (Eph 3:8). I want to live in that reality, to be wholly and completely dependent on Him for all things.
(photo from the internet)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Fighting off the bad guys…
I was a kid when Atari first came out, and have been a video game junkie ever since. A few years after the first Nintendo console was released, Super Mario Brothers III captured my attention. I asked my dad if he’d be willing to buy me one, and he said that if I would agree to never ask for a horse again (I was also obsessed with horses and was constantly asking for one, even though we had very little money and lived in the city) he would buy me a Nintendo system, TV and the game I wanted that very night. I readily agreed and was soon set up with a 19-inch color TV and a Nintendo system in my bedroom. (I never did ask for a horse again, either, holding up my very easy part of the bargain…) My friends and I camped out there pretty much every second we weren’t in school for the next 3 or 4 months. We played Mario III until we knew every detail of the game and could pass the whole thing in a matter of hours without dying once. I stopped counting after we had passed it 64 times.
Keith wasn’t in to video games at all when I first met him, but after we bought a Nintendo 64 console, we played through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is in my opinion one of the greatest games ever written. It opened the door for us to be able to do something together (besides watching movies) that the kids could also participate in. They didn’t usually want to play… They were usually content to watch us play and cheer us on.
I was a kid when Atari first came out, and have been a video game junkie ever since. A few years after the first Nintendo console was released, Super Mario Brothers III captured my attention. I asked my dad if he’d be willing to buy me one, and he said that if I would agree to never ask for a horse again (I was also obsessed with horses and was constantly asking for one, even though we had very little money and lived in the city) he would buy me a Nintendo system, TV and the game I wanted that very night. I readily agreed and was soon set up with a 19-inch color TV and a Nintendo system in my bedroom. (I never did ask for a horse again, either, holding up my very easy part of the bargain…) My friends and I camped out there pretty much every second we weren’t in school for the next 3 or 4 months. We played Mario III until we knew every detail of the game and could pass the whole thing in a matter of hours without dying once. I stopped counting after we had passed it 64 times.
Keith wasn’t in to video games at all when I first met him, but after we bought a Nintendo 64 console, we played through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is in my opinion one of the greatest games ever written. It opened the door for us to be able to do something together (besides watching movies) that the kids could also participate in. They didn’t usually want to play… They were usually content to watch us play and cheer us on.
Now we’ve graduated to Twilight Princess on the Gamecube. I am enjoying it tremendously, and Keith seems to be, too. I am so grateful to him for picking up this new pastime so easily, and grateful to God for allowing me to be married to this amazing man.
One of the things I love about Twilight Princess, besides the beautiful graphics, is that the game really makes you work for what you’re trying to earn. The other night we had to escort a covered wagon from one town to another through enemy-infested lands, and by the time we got there my heart was pounding and I was sweating, but I felt a sense of accomplishment. Much more so than I would have after having just spent two hours of my life on a chick-flick, anyway. At least this way we’re spending time together, talking to each other and cheering each other on, and even developing some hand-eye coordination in the process.
The internet is such an incredible tool. In addition to checking all of my favorite blogs every two or three days, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the “Taste and See” portion of the “Desiring God” website, and reading through the words of and about a 17th century monk called “Brother Lawrence.”
On Tuesday my back injury made a reappearance. I have no idea what I did to excite it, but it started with a dull ache which I noticed for the first time when I was driving to work, and by the end of the day I could hardly walk. After leaving work ½ hour early, I went home to bed where I laid on a heating pad and made the best use of time I could by listening to some things online that I’ve been wanting to listen to for weeks but haven’t had an opportunity to.
One was a very cool Christian rap song with amazing words that I would love to memorize. The others were John Piper’s message from Sunday (which “just happened” to tie in beautifully with the massage that was preached at our church on Sunday), and a message from a pastor in California about Christianity and politics. I’ve also been checking out “Cyberhymnal,” looking up the hymns I enjoyed as a child and reading the stories behind them.
Several weeks back I uploaded a post about some things God is doing in my life and heart during this season of my life. It’s been a season of prayer, introspection and self-study, as I’ve endeavored to determine which parts of my outward life are real, and which parts are phony. Of course only God knows the full answer to that question, but as far as my limited understanding can tell, most of the characteristics that were at one time something I “put on” to gain the acceptance of my peers have somehow by God’s grace become woven into the fabric of who I really am.
My biggest struggles are: sharing my true feelings (allowing other people to see and hear when I am in pain, frustrated, discouraged, annoyed, disappointed, or whatever else) and, being disciplined. There are so many things I think I want for the future (to be in shape, to be out of debt, to develop my skills as a musician, etc), but am not choosing those outcomes with my day-to-day actions. It’s so easy to endlessly be saying “I’ll start working towards that tomorrow.”
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Feast Day!
Well, by God's grace, I made it another week without blogging. So today I'm looking forward to catching up on my favorite blogs. Woo Hoo! :)
My back is tremendously improved, far better than I deserve it to be so soon after injuring it. Thank you, Lord! (And please help me to be far more careful in the future!)
I'm definitely still going through "the fire". I'm trying to take one day at a time and learn to live out Micah 6:8.
I'm working on a few blog posts (in my head at least) that could take a while to compose. But they're thoughts that have been simmering in my heart and mind for quite some time, thoughts that I definitely want to share with my family and friends, so hopefully they'll materialize into something understandable sooner than later.
God is good and faithful, always. He sees the big picture, He has a plan, and He's working it out in all the details, big and small. I pray for the grace to lean on Him more fully every day.
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