I have mentioned a few times that I have been working on the Good Morning Girls Bible Study. It is my first time participating in an online Bible study and I have loved it for the most part and I look forward to the next one. It is hard to believe there is only two weeks left! It has flown by so very quickly…too quickly.
I have shared only a few things but this week, I thought I might share something that hit me. We will start at the beginning of the week with Monday’s verse:
Proverbs 31:30 – Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (ESV)
The very first thing is the little phrase, “is to be praised”. Notice it’s not “will be praised”. King Lemuels mother is telling her son to praise God fearing women…particularly his wife, after that what she is teaching him to look for is a God fearing woman.
Then as the week progresses we hit the passage that challenged my heart…actually the very next day: Tuesday!
I’m not really sure why, but people often feel free to share their thoughts on how many kids a person should have! It has been that way for us for quite some time. I think that it started after our daughter was born. She was child number two and we had a bunch of people say “so are you going to stop now? You have the perfect little family, one boy and one girl!”
Over the years it has been more of the same….”When are you going to stop?”…”Aren’t you glad you can’t have anymore kids?” “I bet there are some days when you wish you didn’t have so many?” (for the record that has NEVER crossed my mind for a minute!) and the list goes on and on and on! I think people don’t understand just how hurtful these things are.
The perspective of this world is all messed up. Ashton Kutcher’s character in the new Cheaper by the Dozen movie defined the world’s way of thinking about children best by saying: “children are inevitable, like death and taxes”. REALLY?
And when people find out that we want to adopt the response is ALWAYS less than favorable. I continually hear “you have you hands full already”. Yes yes I do, but my heart is full too! FULL OF JOY that only children can bring. Yes raising kids is one of the most difficult tasks a person can ever undertake, but because it is so very difficult it is also one of the most rewarding things!
Hubby and I knew before we got married that we would adopt someday…God calls us to take care of orphans and we both feel like this is something that God is calling us to do! We know that we have two empty spots at the table and two empty beds upstairs just waiting for us to show God’s love to the inhabitants. To be completely honest it makes me sad thinking I could be missing out on something with them right now!
My kids are not the best at anything, they aren’t perfect. I don’t know anybody who is! They don’t have a perfect mom or dad, but two out of the four have confessed to a perfect God as their Savior. I couldn’t ask for anything more yet God still blesses. Our 7 year old son is determined that he is going to a missionary and that just brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. He has a long way to go but that is why God doesn’t send 7 year olds alone to the mission field!
I have exactly what I wanted…people focused kids. They might not be the best behaved but my kids sure love on people unconditionally. They are service minded! My kids weep when someone in our church passes! They touch some of the older people by their smiles and love. Yes I have four VERY strong-willed children and yes they are assertive and yes they are persistent and determined. All things that will help them go far in life, if trained properly! So yes it is hard and yes I fall into bed exhausted and yes I LOVE every minute of it….LOL…MOSTLY!
…with my children’s lives BUT I have had enough! I’m talking about about my children’s doctor!
I really appreciated them at first but that was until a few things happened.
The first incident was with the P.A. who after my daughter had been sick and vomiting for two weeks and was now screaming in agony told her to “stop wasting her time”. Lady bug was and still is very shy and wouldn’t let her look in her mouth!
The second occurance came when I was with our youngest who was having weight gain issues. My hubby had taken little bean many times for appointments but on one specific occasion I took him. While I was there the doctor insinuated that I did not feed my child. I described in length that he ate like a horse: 30 ounces of formula a day three full bowls of cereal plus fruits and veggies. What he failed to listen to was that Little Bean promptly puked up every ounce of formula I put into his body! We saw specialists and dietitians, we tried everything. Finally the gastro doc listened! It was the formula! Yet in the process they taked about cystic fibrosis, and blamed me for abusing my child!
And we come to today! I never in my life have been so frustrated. For the last three weeks have watched sweat bead up on Little Bean’s forehead, face, and his entire body. With no fever! He has been fighting a cold and it gets worse! The temps have been high but last night was different! It was freezing in our house and every one was huddled under blankets. Little Bean was in a diaper, however, and he wouldn’t hear of having a blanket and was covered in sweat with no fever. So this morning I called the doctors office. All I did was pose the question as to what could be causing this and what could we do about it? The receptionist said “you know hes going to want to see him”. I said “ok” and hung up. I checked our schedule and then called back and said today would be best if possible. I have a major project that needs to be done on Saturday for a parade and today was rainy! No biggie right? Well, when I get to the doctor’s office the doctor comes in and says. “Well i hear you have quite the story to tell”
I to say the least was flustered and the appointment went poorly. There was no story to tell. All it was was a question, blown out of proportion. A simple response via the phone would have been fine, but I followed what the receptionist said! Won’t do that again!
Calling all moms with children, who have both boys and girls, and specifically all of one and only one of the other. I need some advice! I have three boys and one daughter…no problem right????? Wrong!!!! Lady bug does NOT like to share her stuff. She will turn 6 in a few months and is completely capable of sharing her things BUT they are all girly things…dolls, pinks and purple things. You get the picture. Her brothers love to play with her but she just won’t let them any longer. Should I let this continue because this is “girly” stuff OR should I make her share everything?…Just curious what your thoughts are and how you handle such things!
It will be Three years this spring since we have moved to this area in New York. It wasn’t long after we moved inI was unpacking somethings and Tornado had disobeyed me so he was sitting on his Top bunk bed on time out. A few minutes later he calls me…he wanted me to see this very large crow playing in the road. He was very concerned that it was going to get hit by a car. We talked about how crows will Most of the time get out of the way and how No one should play in the road when all of a sudden he spots another critter heading our way. He said ” Mommy what is THAT?” I looked and said “oh just a cat” But as the critter got closer and checked BOTH ways BEFORE crossing the street I realized it was NOT a cat BUT a HUGE groundhog and he was headed right for our house!
He (or she) ran right under our front porch! It was the biggest groundhog I have ever seen and that’s saying a lot since I am a country girl! Now I realize that all of this just a story BUT the hilarious thing I am getting to…After the groundhog ran under the front porch, my oh-so-smart children booked it for the back door to see him come out the other side! When i explained to them that the groundhog couldn’t go through the basement they ran there next. It took a while to explain to my then my almost 4 and almost three year old that ground hogs cannot come through cement walls. To say the least they were disappointed BUT i will forever have a very funny story to make me smile!
