Time with 2 boys

-It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men

Frederick Douglass

I remind myself often (some days several times a day) that today does matter.

 Joyfully changing the diaper of a kicking screaming toddler, matters. Joyfully getting on the floor to help build up a block tower just to knock it down with in 1 second, matters. Joyfully listening with intent as the make believe story line is going NOWHERE slowly, matters. Joyfully cleaning up toys that have been brought into one room from every square foot of the house and then piled into the shape of a pyramid, matters. 

Basically, joyful time spent with my boys matters. I'll try to show that I like to listen now when the conversation is not so interesting to me, so hopefully later when he's a teen he might know that I like to listen to him and that what is happening in his life is interesting to me.

 I'll try to clean the toys up in a way that shows I'm happy to help him out, so that hopefully he may later help me with out complaining or grumbling. 

I'll try play the things they want to play, even though I'd rather be doing something else (c'mon ladies, let's be real, Lincoln Log building gets OLD) so that Lord willing they will come over for coffee to visit their  old mama even though they would rather be doing something else.

Can you see where I'm going with this? While I'm very thankful for these rowdy boys, God is burning the selfishness out of me......being selfish with my time. I've been denying my little boys time that they want with their mommy, all because I have this running list in my head of what needs done or what I would rather be doing. I've learned that even excessive studying of God's word over spending time with them can be selfish. It would be like learning a skill, getting the highest training for it and then never even working in the field that I was trained.

James 1:-23-24 (the NET)  For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone  who gazes at his own face  in a mirror.  For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets  what sort of person he was.

We recently went to a "wild west fest" and the boys got to pet a lot of little animals their size. They loved this little donkey

Written better elsewhere..

My writing skills can get caught up in my emotions. Let's start it off with "i'm a girl", and end it with "processing can be confusing". In my blog post of liberating myself from a social addiction I had, "drying out" if you will, I don't think I could have expressed it in a more Godly focus than how it was done by a acquaintance who is a much more clearer writer than I.

 My hope is that this is not a problem for you and by reading this it just guards your eyes and heart even more, but if it is, please be honest with yourself and with the One who made you. I'm not pleading with you because I "have it all figured out now!", NO WAY do I even come close. There are some things that God is burning out of this heart that would make me blush if you knew about them....PRAISE GOD that I can still feel remorse today after all those years of letting my sin be justified through the worlds standard. My honest prayer is that as a body of believers in Christ we don't fall into the traps that Satan lays out for us and we so blindly walk into. Our time can and will be multiplied, just by making sure that the times of rest we take is what really feeds our need for "rest". As a girl that fell prey to this, it's my plea to others that they don't end up in the "drying out" period that I had to go through.....PLEASE, guard your heart and mind, cause He has something greater for you. As I've discovered the hard way, this world will never be able to give back the time you invest into it, only what you put into learning His nature and taking in His rest will it NEVER return void.....oh, how I have learned far too late in the game.

To see what I'm rambling about click this link:

And Facebook will give you rest.....

And now he's 4

That little boy that made me a mommy, turned 4. I'm speechless. 

I'll leave you with a couple of verses that we have dedicated to J since he was 11 days old. Please pray them with me over him, that's the best wishes you could give to the birthday boy!

Colossians 1:9-10

Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God