God's grace is new every morning

Yes. Today was the morning that I blew it. Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, had lots of expectations about how my day was to go with no regard to anyone else in my family, and I expressed those expectations when things didn't go my way. I expected my husband to do things "just right", my son to be as independent and motivated as a 16 year old at 6 years old, and I expected my 8 month old to not be fussy -AT ALL- because he slept pretty decently.

Yes, this isn't just this morning, but EVERY morning. I am a selfish human being who needs God's grace and mercy each and every moment of each and every day. I constantly need correction and reality. I constantly need love and patience. I constantly need a re-do. I try each day to be a little better and most days, I succeed at being a little better than the day before, but other days I totally blow it and seem to go back to where I was 5 years ago.

Today, I cling to the plea and the promise found in Lamentations. Lamentations 3:22-24 says, "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' "

How beautiful is God's love and grace! We are not consumed by our evil and by our sin because his COMPASSIONS never fail! Wow - what a generous God we have! He has compassion when I have none. He has no expectations of others when I have too many. His faithfulness to have new compassion each and every morning, even when I don't deserve it, is what gives me my portion for each day.

Wow - if only I could be a fraction of what God is.... I will have felt like I didn't blow my day totally. This, though, is what keeps bringing me back to the foot of the cross - his forgiveness and grace to allow me to get up and try again, keeps me in His arms and in His hand. If i didn't need him, I wouldn't keep Him in my life. He is my portion - forever. Allow Jesus to be your portion forever, too, and find yourself at the foot of the cross each day when you are not enough because Jesus is enough!

Being a mother is hard enough...

I sometimes find myself being the harshest judge of myself as a mother. Pinterest becomes my biggest enemy when it comes to my expectations I have of myself. My house is a mess, my children's hair isn't always brushed, my make-up is RARELY done, my laundry is in a pile in my bedroom - ON THE FLOOR - and that doesn't count the fact that I don't make a Leprechaun trap, Stephens didn't have a Christmas stocking until Christmas Eve this year, and the Elf on the Shelf pushes me over the edge.

Being a mother is a hard task. Being a stay at home mom is a hard task. Being a stay at home homeschooling mom of a first grader, a breastfeeding stay at home mom of an 8-month old is H. A. R. D. It is the most difficult thing I have ever done in my entire life. But I must say that at night, when we are saying our prayers and Chip thanks God for having the best teacher ever, my heart re-fills a little. When it is 2:00 in the morning and Stephens is awake and crying and Tony takes the time to get up and help settle him so that I can catch a little bit of an extra rest, my heart re-fills a little. When I see that Chip doesn't have the biggest and newest video game system but he and Tony are playing a mad game of Yahtzee and having a blast doing it, my heart re-fills a little. And when I feel like I am drowning in piles of laundry and dirty dishes, a house that needs vacuuming, and a bathroom that needs scrubbing, I cut myself some slack.

I see my days with my children as fleeting and brief. I know that these days will quickly be gone and I will be dealing with girlfriends, college applications, drivers' licenses, etc. Those days will be great, brief, and fleeting also, but they are not here yet. Today is before me as an opportunity to make a difference in Chip and Stephens's life and today's opportunity will only be available for today! Tomorrow will be another chance so when I mess it up today, I know that I will get a re-try when the sun comes up, but while I am at it today, I will try to do my best.

We are our own worst enemy. Mom's are hardest on other moms. DON'T BE!!! We are all fighting our own battles, have our own piles of laundry and dirty houses. Before you take the moment to criticize another mom or even yourself, consider your job your own. Consider their journey their own and one that they could use some encouragement on. I can use encouragement some days, I appreciate the compliment every now and again about how my children behave, and I try to pass those compliments and encouragement on to another mom. More than anything, consider that today is the only opportunity you have a guarantee of to be the best you can be today.

Be a blessing today - and be blessed!
Rebecca

Philippians 4;6-7

ok, so I am really not good at this. Being a parent of two, a stay at home mom, a homeschooling mom, a ministry wife, and just being me is really difficult to do on its own, more or less add blogging in there! EEK. Anyway, my Facebook time and posts are beginning to become limited and a little more reserved and so here is my 'post' for today.

Just being is hard. Being and having purpose is even harder. However, God's grace is sufficient for today, tomorrow, and His forgiveness and compassion for the things of yesterday are incomparable to anything else. Find yourself relationships that matter, time to refuel, and a covering from God that is impenetrable. Philippians 4:6-7 has been on my heart since last night and it says this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

So often times we read this as God telling us to not have heavy hearts or weary minds. However, last night, God showed me that he isn't telling us to never have anxiety, BUT to replace that anxiety "in every situation" with prayer. So when anxiety seems to be overtaking you, present your requests to God. Tell him what you are anxious about and share with Him what your heart needs to find peace. He isn't a made to order chef, but He sure cares and wants you to bring it to him.

So today, friends, take your cares to the cross, and with thanksgiving of who He is -the God of the Universe- share with Him your requests and let the peace of God guard your heart and mind from the anxiety and care of this world.

a lot happens in a month

Gosh how many things happen in a month with a newborn! He has found his voice, he has found his feet, he has found his laugh, he has found his smile. We have fallen in love with him more and more each and every day of his tiny little life. We have also somewhat gotten to the bottom of his skin and tummy issues. We saw the allergist today - Chip's same allergist - whom we LOVE and he thinks that we have a dual issue going on. He thinks his skin issue is a sever case of seborrhic dermatitis and that his tummy issues seem to be just an immature digestive system. Most cases of seborrhic dermatitis are limited to just what everyone knows to be 'cradle cap' but ours was quite severe. **OF COURSE IT WAS!!! LOL HE'S A SHARP!** So all of that to say, we have a very healthy, happy, and super long 3 months old. He was 61 centimeters and weighed in at 12 lbs 1.4 oz. GREAT KID. Here are some of our most recent photos. We hope you enjoy them and we pray you are all well!!!