This Is It!

 

     Grass scatters across the not-so-gleaming hardwood floors, wet towels pile up faster that the washing machine can manage and sunblock applications are vying for becoming a full-time job.  The days can seem long, until suddenly I am pulling the sheets up to the chins of my little ones once AGAIN and I realize another day has passed, and it hits me . . . this is it!  This is summer, the season that makes all others pale in comparison and I am letting it slip out of my fingers.

     The danger of any season can be the temptation of letting our hearts glance ahead to what comes next, instead of savouring what is right in front of us . . . but summer?  I dream of warm days and free time with the ones I love most in the world, all year.  So much so, that I have to catch myself periodically on the snowy, white days and remind myself to stay in that moment too.

     Joy-filled moments seem so easily threatened by dark clouds that would like to blow in and cover up our sunshine experiences.  

     This is it -- when I choose joy!

     I tell my eyes to look away from the mess on the kitchen floor and look to the joy of my children tossing water balloons in the backyard.

     I tell my hands to relax on the dirty laundry and go snuggle my waiting child.

     I tell my feet to stop the hurrying with all that surrounds and take a walk with my loved ones.

     Regardless of what month is displayed in bold print on the kitchen calendar -- this is it!  The month, the days, the hours and the minutes we have to bask in the moments before us . . . to unearth the treasures that are right here in these glimpses of time.  "This IS the day that the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it."  I don't want to forget that!

"My heart is glad and my

tongue rejoices; my body

also will rest in hope."

Acts 2:26



Big "LITTLE" Choices

     I would love to eat another cookie!

     Everything within me wants to "let loose" on my child in this moment!

     I want to give up -- there isn't any hope this will get better!

     Do any of the reflections above resonate in your weary being from time to time?  Are you amazed at how hard it seems to be to live out life well here on this green earth?  Don't you find it is easier to give in than press in?

     The older I grow, the more I realize it is the LITTLE choices that make the biggest impact in life!

     I desperately long to choose well in the small areas because I have come to see how greatly they impact the big areas of my life.  That, in turn, is like a row of dominoes standing tall -- one touch and many fall -- so similar to life as a mom.  Whether we like it or not, what we do and what we say is being carefully monitored and imitated every day!  No pressure.  Smile.

     As humans, we seem to quickly complicate the space we live in with big goals and high hopes and forget that it all stems from the small decisions that constantly glare at us.  While big goals aren't wrong, we have to bring everything down to the level of life where we daily dwell . . . moment by moment. 

     That is why a great big goal of losing twenty pounds has to be viewed through the LITTLE choices of whether to have one freshly-baked, warm chocolate brownie or whether to have three. 

     It is also why a great big goal of living on a budget of $"X" a month has to be viewed through the LITTLE choices of whether to buy one silky, bright shirt or whether to buy four.

     We are surrounded by choices every day and not all of them are right and wrong -- ultimately those are the easy ones -- it is the small ones that govern the big picture that need more value given to them.  Think about these comparatives:

• It's easier to turn on our TVs than to pick up our Bibles
• It's easier to give into frustration with a child than to keep our emotions in check
• It's easier to defend ourselves and blame others than to take responsibility for our own actions

     Why do LITTLE choices have to feel so arduous? 

     Because God is calling us to higher heights and greater depths, but we won't be ready to travel there until we have grown in self-discipline and self-control in the LITTLE things. 

     The Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25 reminds me of these truths . . . Jesus told the story of three men who were all entrusted with talents, but in varying quantities.  When the Master returned, the concern on His heart was not who was the best, but whether they had been faithful with what they had been given.  Those who were found faithful even with little were given even more!

     A famous quote calls out - Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, but I would challenge us to, in a way, sweat the small stuff and watch the big stuff get easier!  God is our ever-present help and as we press into Him, He will walk us through each moment with His strong arm to lean on.

"For everyone who has

will be given more, and he

will have an abundance."

Matthew 25:29

    



Do I Have to Share, Mommy?

Have you ever heard those words? "Do I have to share, Mommy?" I have heard them countless times in numerous situations, but I must say they don't bother me anymore. There is a reason for this, of which the credit belongs to the Ezzo's - years ago when our first two children were very young, I heard what the Ezzo's had to say about sharing and it made me laugh out loud until I tried it and found it worked.

The basic premise of their theory is this - If you force your children to share with one another they will resent it. If you tell your children that they do not have to share with one another, but it is their choice, for the majority of the time they will choose to share out of their own free will and enjoy it. Out of our five children, we have some who share so easily that I have to stop them from being so generous - otherwise there would be nothing left for themselves. Then, we have those who have to be reminded that sharing is a kind thing to do. Either way, when they have acquired something special - if we offer them the choice of whether they want to be generous by their own choosing, they will usually choose to share.

There is an important note that needs to be added onto this though - I believe that, as parents, it is our job to be modeling sharing for our children. We need to be sure we are living out our lives in such a way, that they see we want to be found sharing and being generous too. It is good to give our children reasons that sharing will benefit them in the bigger picture of life, for example in Proverbs 22:9 it says, "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." It may be hard for younger ones to know what it means to be blessed - but it shouldn't be too hard to think of examples to share with them...the saying, "Pay it forward" really works in all aspects of life.

There is also a beautiful verse that encourages us, as well as our children, found in Hebrews 13:16, "Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." The use of the word sacrifice tells me that it may stretch me, or our children, a bit to do it - but if God is pleased then we can be sure there is a blessing that will be returned...probably pressed down, shaken together and running over. We love and serve a God who cannot be out given...He is generous to all who are found faithful following His ways.