Sidetracked Contentment

I am very blessed to actually have a separate room for all of our school stuff.  We have a split level home with a second living area on the bottom level.  This is our schoolroom.

 

My favorite kind of day is when it's chilly outside and we can have a nice, roaring fire in the fireplace.  Okay, you can now quit imagining The Great Smoky Mountain Fire of 2005 or even the Gena-type fire.  I know you are!  Back to my schoolroom...  The kids and I think it is a greatly fabuloso day when we can take a couple of breaks and roast marshmellows!  Yuppers, I let the kiddos consume these monstrous puffs of pure sugar in the morning and then expect them to sit quietly and do their work.  What is more fun than stabbing some fwuffie puffs and cooking them to a black, carcinogen-laden crisp over an open fire?  Yummmmmy!

 

These types of days are absolutely perfect!  What is not to love about roasting marshmellows during school?!  I would dare say that I am one content woman.  Now it's not CONtent woman, but conTENT woman...

 

Well, I thought I was content until I started a new read last night-- Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment by Linda Dillow.  It got me thinking about how I am a relatively happy person, but I do complain sometimes both out loud and in my heart.  I'll start thinking about things that are not to my liking-- like the laundry (again!), the people zooming down our street at all hours, how I wish we didn't have stairs, how I wish my husband would eat a vegetable...any vegetable.  Sure these are just little things, but a lot of little things can add up to a sour countenance and an ungrateful heart-- and I don't want either!

 

In this great book, Ms. Dillow tells about her friend Ella in the first chapter.  Ella was a missionary in Africa for 52 years.  She not only endured, but found contentment and joy in this foreign land with no electricity and 120 degree heat! 

 

Here is Ella's prescription for contentment:

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  Never allow yourself to complain about anything-- not even the weather.
  
  
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  Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
  
  
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  Never compare your lot with another's.
  
  
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  Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
  
  
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  Never dwell on tomorrow-- remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

She is SOOO right!  And if I were truly content with all of God's gifts and blessings to me, I would NOT be doing any of the above!  Yes, I am a happy woman and I do feel very blessed...but I should strive to be truly content...completely appreciative in my circumstances, in God's place for me right now.  I plan, I worry, I do this, I do that...completely forgetting that GOD loves me and promises to take care of me.  He certainly doesn't need my help or guidance to do that!  The apostle Paul is a great example for us to follow.

 

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 

~Philippians 4:11-13

 

I can't wait to start reading more of Calm My Anxious Heart-- it is such a great book so far.  And instead of thinking about all the things that bug me this week, I will meditate on:

 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

~Philippians 4:8

 

 

Little Voices of Praise

At church this morning, I decided to actually listen to some advice that I read from Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleberry.  As our songleader told us to take out our hymn books and turn to page 20, I whispered to my 6yo that I would teach him how to read from the hymnal.   I was very excited when he was actually receptive to my instructions (quite the opposite of just a few months ago!).  I explained to him how the verses run across each line and how we repeat the chorus each time.

 

I can't even begin to describe the joy in my heart to hear his sweet voice singing "Saved!  Saved!  My sins are all pardoned my guilt is all gone!...Saved by the blood of the cru-ci-fied one!"  And I was also impressed when my smart little man started singing the alto/tenor part of "Glory I'm Saved!" the second time through the chorus...all on his own!

 

He's come a very long way from the dark night a few years ago when he proclaimed to me, "Mommy, I hate God."  I had no idea why my sweet, loving little boy would suddenly say that!  I'm sure he didn't really know what he was saying back then...especially since he was normally so full of love for Jesus and all of God's creation.  But it DID get my attention!  It was then that it really hit me that my son would soon be of the age of accountability...and that he would have to make his choice whether or not he would accept Jesus Christ or follow the world and Satan.  What a responsibility to prepare the ground and plant the seeds!  

 

I can tell you that I was one praying momma after that!!!  After all, little children see God through their parents!  So if they don't see the love and grace of God, then we as parents aren't doing a very good job of letting the love of Christ shine through us and to our children.

 

Anyhoo, I can't wait to hear his sweet voice again tonight!    He hasn't asked Jesus into his heart yet but singing praises to God is definitely a good way to water the seeds!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My hope is for you each of you, my dear friends, to have a joyous Thanksgiving with your families.  May your day be filled with fun, laughter, lots of food and a good afternoon nap!

 

I've got the truck packed up and ready to go-- just have to wait for dh to get off of work at 10:15pm.  So we'll be heading off to his folks' house in Newton, which is a very short 2 hour drive (Praise the Lord!).  We've already forewarned grandma and grandpa to take a nap today since the kids will most likely be revving to go by the time we show up on their doorstep at half past midnight!

 

We're especially excited about this trip because dh NEVER gets Thanksgiving off of work!  As in n-e-v-e-r ever!  We usually end up celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas early since dh is not senior enough to get the coveted holidays off.  This is definitely a very pleasant surprise.

 

Oh, if you haven't noticed, please check out my cool flickr badge on the sidebar.  You'll get to see the pics from our vacation to Tennessee a few weeks ago.  It was absolutely beautiful over there-- I couldn't have imagined more vibrant colors on the trees!  Too bad I didn't get a pic of Gena...maybe next time.  And there are a couple of pics from my littlest man's first birthday as well.

 

And thank you Beth for the suggestion of putting my b&w pic on the sidebar...I don't know why I didn't think of that.  You are one smart cookie!

 

God bless y'all!

Marsha

 

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

~Hebrews 13:15

 

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

~Psalm 48:1

 

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 

~Psalm 92:1

 

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.

~Psalm 107:1

Twins

Sorry to disappoint y'all but I am NOT prego!  (Don't even think about calling mom, Coco!)  However, my two older boys have been cutting out leaves from construction paper this morning.  We're going to do something with them, just don't know what yet.  Anyhoo!  This is the conversation that I overheard this morning.

 

4yo: Hey, we're both cutting out our second leaves at the same time!

 

6yo (with a big grin on his face):  We're twins!!!

 

4yo:  Yup, we do everything together.

 

I am sooo thankful for moments like this!  There was a time when they couldn't even be in the same room together...they would always fight and scream at each other.  I prayed for them...a lot...

 

I honestly thought that they didn't love each other and I was a horrible mother.  Because mothers are supposed to control these things, right?  Then one day another kid hit my younger son (2yo at the time).  My then 4yo yelled at the other kid to go away and then attended to his younger brother.  *LIGHTBULB*  Ohhhhh...They can hit and beat up each other, but no one else can...They DO love each other!!!

 

Eventually, they started playing together more and actually sought out each other's company...without fighting too much.   They have come such a long way to THIS MOMENT OF TWINDOM!  What a blessing!  They still fight sometimes and aggravate each other, but most of the time they play merrily together and have lots of adventures and say weird, funny things that I can post about here.

 

Thank you, dear God for your love and blessings upon my family!  And thank you for a family that loves to spend and is able to spend both quantity and quality time together.

 

PS Check out this new contest and nominate your fav friends here at HSB!

 

My Thinking Thoughts

I think my boys watch too much Thomas the Tank Engine

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  My 4yo said tonight: Well bust my boilers!  I can't believe there's a hole in my sock!

I think my husband is trying to tell me something

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  We recently purchased a set of golf clubs for yours truly.  I've decided to learn how to play golf so I can "tie those strings" with my boys and spend some extra time with hubby.  He is waaaaay excited!  Let's see, I got my clubs Friday night and since then he has purchased over 1,000 used golf balls from eBay!  I think he has some preconceived notions about my golfing skills...or the lack thereof.

I think I'm getting old

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  I'm a bit saddened to see the current crop of fashions out there.  I cannot believe some of the '80s things that are out right now...and I really cannot believe that I'm starting to sound just like my parents did back in the day... I would never pay that kind of money for jeans that already have holes in them!  If I'm getting only half a pair of jeans, I should only have to pay half price!

I think that we should take after Amy Beth's town

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  I can't believe it's almost time to put up the Christmas decorations!  In Pigeon Forge, TN they have a Winterfest every year where they have the whole town lit up and decorated for Christmas...they do this at the beginning of November!  A little weird but it does make sense...if you have the decorations up for 2 months instead of just one, then it's worth the hassle!

I think I'm losing my crafty-edge

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  Normally I have absolutely no problems coming up with a fun craft for my kiddos.  My current quandry is the search for a nice Thanksgiving table centerpiece that my kids can make as a gift for my mother-in-law (where we'll be spending this Thanksgiving).  Any suggestions?  And I've already looked at the stuff from Enchanted Learning but wanted some other ideas please.

I think I need to go to bed now.  My head hurts from too much thinking.

The unthinkable...I'm writing about homeschooling!

Contrary to popular belief, we do homeschool in this house!  I know y'all must think that my days are only filled with strangely funny little sayings and antics from my kids, but I do learns 'em a little bit around here!

 

We just finished the absolutely best read-aloud EVER-- even better than The Boxcar Children (which my boys thoroughly enjoyed).  Anyhoo, this cleverly enchanting book is My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (you can click on the link to it on my sidebar).

 

Each chapter of this book ends with a cliffhanger (or as much of a cliffhanger as a children's book can have).  The best part is that it left the kids begging for me to keep reading!  It actually took us 2 nights to finish it since my voice just was not up to reading more.  My 6yo and 4yo both loved the story, characters, pictures and map...and I did too!  They are usually so restless if I read more than one chapter of a book at a time, but this time they were just excited about each chapter and wondered what in the world would happen next.  I've never seen them get so wrapped up in a story before.

 

So if you've never read this book to your kids, especially if you have little boys, I highly recommend it! 

 

And since I'm in a recommending kinda mood, I've really been impressed with our current devotional/Bible time book we're reading through: Leading Little Ones to God.  It is muy bueno and very captivating for the kiddos.  They already know many of the "traditional" Bible stories from Sunday School and church, but this book teaches them how and why it is important to KNOW God and it does it in a friendly, interesting, and kid-friendly manner.  It gives you a story to read, the Bible passage, an appropriate song to sing, and a prayer at the end.  I LOVE IT-- but we've just started it so I can't vouch for the last half of the book...yet...

 

Okay, that's enough schooling for one day.

My kids are doomed

They are doomed to be goofy for the rest of their lives...from both sides of the family...they just can't escape it.

 

What I overheard my 6yo say to my 4yo at the table today:

 

6yo (reading the writing on a pair of scissors):  Oh no!!!  "Stainless Steel China"... Someone stole these from China!

 

4yo:  Oh...that's VERY bad!

 

6yo:  I can't believe someone stole these!

 

4yo:  Yeah, that was very naughty!

 

 

I'm not a single mom anymore!

Dh has been complaining about the fact that my avatar does not include him.  I guess he thinks I'm trying to make everyone think that I'm a single mom or something.  So, to appease the king of this castle, here's a pic of hubby and me taken last year.

 

This new pic is in honor of you, baby!  Hope you like it.  I'm going to miss the regal pose of me and my little men.  The black and white was quite flattering, wasn't it?  Oh well.

 

Now people are going to wonder if we have any kids or not...

If this were true, I'd be stealing my kids' piggy banks

What my 4yo told me yesterday:

 

Guess what mommy?  Daddy gave me all of the stuff from his pockets yesterday.  Ummmm...quaaarters, pennnnnies, diamonds, nickels...  And I put it all in my piggy bank!

 

Kids are great, aren't they?  Even for their entertainment purposes alone. 

Toddlers and the forbidden fountain-- blech! :-p

What is it with the fascination of the forbidden, especially for toddlers? 

 

Well, my littlest man had his first birthday this past Saturday...   ...so I guess that means he's a toddler now instead of a baby--even if he doesn't quite walk yet (although he's taken a couple of steps recently).  Anyway!!!  It began this morning.  I was walking to the kitchen when I heard the merry sounds of splashing water. 

 

Hmmmmm??? I shouldn't be hearing water splashing.  No one is taking a bath right now...and the big boys are in the living room...

 

I see that the bathroom door is open and my littlest man is up to his ELBOWS in toilet water!!!  YUCKY-PUCKY-GROSS toilet water!!!  He'd thrown the toilet bowl brush onto the other side of the bathroom and then proceeded to dunk the toilet brush holder in and out of the toilet!  Ewwww...wet almost-a-baby covered in toilet water...  I cannot begin to describe how gross that is...and I pray that he only threw the toilet brush and did nothing else with it or to it...

 

So I scooped him up and anti-bacterial soaped him.

 

Then a couple of hours later he was once again playing in the forbidden fountain.  *sigh*  That boy will never learn...and the bigger boys keep forgetting to keep the door shut.

 

Ewwww....you know, make that double-ewwwww...and DON'T tell my mom because she would totally freak out!