Just got back from a great day at the beach with the kids!  We didn’t plan to go.. the first thought was just hit up a park in the area, grab lunch and get back in time for their naps.. then when driving .. we just decided to go.  It was soo much fun!  And for me to be so unprepared on any other day would almost make me nauseous and throw up in my mouth a little bit.. but I didn’t care.  We had drinks for the kids, a change of pants and sun block.. really what else do you need.  This day was such a blast!  We played at the park for a little bit.. threw some rocks into the ocean for almost half an hour.. then decided it was time to go and play in the waves!  We had the latest lunch ever and no naps. (except for the drive over when Nehemiah did sleep for about 20 minutes)  I am usually over prepared when we go anywhere.. and if for some reason I forgot something.. it can pretty much ruin my day if I let it.  But today I chose family fun over stressing about stuff that really doesn’t matter.  Because it really didn’t matter.  The boys didn’t care that they were wearing clothes instead of their swim suits and didn’t have a towel to dry off with.  They were more concerned with the seaweed that Dadda was tossing at them, the sand that was sticking to their hands and seeing how far they could get before we called them back. (:

Don’t let the little things hold you back and ruin a day that could be one of the best memories you create with your children.

On a side note though, I will now almost always have bathing suits and towels in the car at all times during the summer. (;

Family Day

I love date night with my husband!  His parents make sure that we are able to get out once a week if they can.  I think that it is such a need for marriages to have this date night.. it’s so easy to get lost in the work week and the craziness of life that you forget to pursue each other.. you end up becoming roommates rather then lovers.

I love my husband more then anything and never want to hurt him or our children.  And the best way to hurt them both is to stop pursuing him.  Remember back to when you first started to date your husband/wife.. the butterflies when they would touch your hand.. the excitement of maybe getting that kiss.. life around you would just freeze and nothing else would matter because you were with the one you loved.. it is so easy to become entangled with the children, bills, house hold chores, keeping everyone else around you happy.. and when you or your spouse gets home you have nothing left… you are exhausted and just want to rest.. why should you have to be the one pursuing when really if they loved you enough they would show some effort..

I think this comes down to pride..for me anyways.. I know that I expect more from Joshua when in reality I have done nothing towards him.  I expect him to make the first move.  If he shows no effort then why should I.. and right there is the death of the marriage if I let it go..  Its not that I am not attracted to him or don’t want to make out.. my pride literally holds me hostage.. when I let it..

What is holding you back?  What can you do to bring back the romance?  When the kids are in bed change your evening routine.. I believe that routines can smother out the flame.  Don’t let your pride, or what ever it is that holds you back, be the reason you go from lovers to roommates.

Romans 12:10: Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

United: Tear down the walls

I was just thinking about how blessed I am with my family.. pondering what to blog about.. and then this phrase popped into my mind.  We see it stitched on pillows, hung up in picture frames, or decorating a warm smelling candle.  “Home is where the heart is”

Proverbs 27:19 “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man”

Matthew 6:21 “Where ever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be”

What does my heart reflect?  Where is my treasure?

This past weekend Joshua had the honor of performing a funeral or what we call a celebration of life..  As this phrase “home is where the heart is” came from my lips, I couldn’t help but think about how Chris is now where his heart was… home.

When my time comes to and end here on earth.. what will people say about me?  “She really loved her children.”  “She was a great wife.”  “She was a wonder friend.”  Sure those are great and something every mother, wife, and friend would want to hear.. But is that where my heart was?  Was my family my treasure.  Does my heart reflect the love of Jesus?

As I sit this morning sipping my coffee, having an english muffin with peanut butter, and the boys fighting, laughing, crying, and playing in the other room, I think of all the things I have been blessed with… not just the “regulars”… but the things that one would not think of unless faced with a trial or tragedy.

I was looking through photos of friends and and their families…seeing how each family had different trials they had to work with or recent tragedies they have faced… and just got hit in the gut at how ungrateful I am sometimes… for the little things

The frustration I get when Malachi, our oldest, climbs over or opens a gate and gets into things he shouldn’t.. I’m thankful that he can climb.  Or when he just keeps asking and asking and asking for the same thing over and over and over again.. I am thankful he can talk.

How many times are we just so ungrateful for the things that would change our whole world if it were different…

You speak down to your wife/husband constantly bickering and degrading them…then you find out they have a life altering illness.. how do your words change?

You are constantly annoyed with your children… then a horrible accident happens and they are no longer with you… who are you annoyed with now?

Its true that trials and tragedies are going to come your way…but before they do.. think about what you do have…and be thankful for them now…

So I just face booked a thought on how my mind is flying but I’m really just running in circles.. nothing is getting accomplished…idleness…

Amos 6:5  You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp…

Proverbs 12:11  Hard work means prosperity; only fools idle away their time.

Matthew 12:36  And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak.

After I wrote what I thought was just a silly thought… I got hit with that stomach in your throat feeling… I am being idle…

I have a purpose… God wants to use me for something other than just standing with my husband, raising our children and keeping a home… I have lost my vision… I have found it so easy to hide behind my “responsibilities” and to some how dodge the ministry aspect of my life… I’m hiding behind our children… their schedule… cleaning the house… and really anything I can subconsciously think of, to not have to stretch myself further in Christ.  I’m not saying that being a wife and mother isn’t a ministry… I’m saying that I am knowingly ignoring the fact that God wants to use me further.. and I am scared to let him in and expose who I really am on the inside…