Hello to everyone!
It's been awhile since I've written. In case you don't know, in just over a week we are traveling to Russia to visit our daughter that we are adopting. This is purely just to visit her. We will not return home with her on this trip. That glorious day will be 2-6 weeks after we return from this trip. So as you can imagine, it's a flurry of activity around here as we adults get ourselves ready and also getting our 4 kids ready to stay with a friend.
At this point, unless I get a break from adoption flurry, I will put my posts "on hold" until we return at the beginning of March. Who knows? Maybe I'll have time to write in a Word document while on that long plane flight. See you back here in March!
Nates5bs
Friday, February 15, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Something to Chew On
"Life doesn't get easier, it just gets different."
I ran across this quote today and now I'm chewing on it. Some older, wiser mom said it to me back when I was in that phase of life where I was swimming in diapers and wanted nothing more than to be done with it all. It made me do some thinking then and now I'm meditating on it again.
There's quite a bit of truth in it. We move from diapers, the dumping of toys and picking up little shoes everywhere to other things. We move from crying to whining to children who have minds of their own. Now they try to negotiate and sometimes talk back. Or maybe they just don't ever stop talking...
We move from pitching fits to attitudes to heart issues. The more I think about, I'd have to say that I absolutely agree with the quote above. Some days it makes me want to go back those days when they just cried and all I had to do was "fix it."
Hmm...so if it really doesn't get easier, it just gets different, how can I change my attitude about today? I have this quote in my kitchen that says, "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it." So if we are waiting for it to get easier and it really isn't going to get easier, how can we find a way to be grateful for the way it is--exactly as it is today?
I ran across this quote today and now I'm chewing on it. Some older, wiser mom said it to me back when I was in that phase of life where I was swimming in diapers and wanted nothing more than to be done with it all. It made me do some thinking then and now I'm meditating on it again.
There's quite a bit of truth in it. We move from diapers, the dumping of toys and picking up little shoes everywhere to other things. We move from crying to whining to children who have minds of their own. Now they try to negotiate and sometimes talk back. Or maybe they just don't ever stop talking...
We move from pitching fits to attitudes to heart issues. The more I think about, I'd have to say that I absolutely agree with the quote above. Some days it makes me want to go back those days when they just cried and all I had to do was "fix it."
Hmm...so if it really doesn't get easier, it just gets different, how can I change my attitude about today? I have this quote in my kitchen that says, "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it." So if we are waiting for it to get easier and it really isn't going to get easier, how can we find a way to be grateful for the way it is--exactly as it is today?
Friday, February 1, 2008
Setting the Stage
Instead of re-inventing the wheel and trying to craft a story to pass on this information, I thought I would just share the real question from a mother of preschoolers that was asked of me this week and my response.
Question:
Lately, I've been thinking of a way to be more transparent with my kids about my faith. How do you do that exactly? I tend to do my Quiet Time or Biblestudy when my kids are napping or sleeping at night and I'm not quite sure how to carve out that time when they are awake.
My response:
At the age your kids are, there is not a ton you can do but to begin setting the stage for what you want to build into them in the future. I understand your need to do your Biblestudy while they are sleeping. Been there! However I've found that I was struggling to get my Biblestudy done during their "down times" because I was falling asleep myself. So I had to come up with a new plan.
Basically, I began having my "quiet time" when I got up in the morning, but before I took a shower. I established with my early birds that this was Mommy's time to read her Bible and they were welcome to play quietly around Mommy or go to play elsewhere. I put a basket of Bible story children's books near my quiet time area and encouraged them to read their own Bible. Obviously, your children's attention span at this is going to be short, but it's a start. I also put quiet things to play with near my area. Puzzles, lacing cards, stickers, paper, crayons or markers--things like that.
At first, my expectations were not high in terms of a long attention span so I would take whatever I could get and maybe finish some of my study later in the day, but over time, my children have just come to understand that this is Mommy's time to read her Bible and they don't really bother me. Now they either play quietly or just crawl right up in my lap and talk to me while I talk to God. Sometimes I'll read them what I'm reading or we'll sing a song together.
As they've gotten older, they have increased their ability to take care of themselves in the morning so I've set up things to allow them that freedom so that I can have that time to myself in the morning. The night before, I set out what they should eat for breakfast. They get themselves up, turn on the TV and then eat their breakfast on their own, but they know that my door is always open if they need me.
Another thought with the stage you are at is that maybe you could get breakfast prepped the night before so that it's easier and faster in the morningfor you to make and then do your Biblestudy at the table while they sit at the table and high chair to eat their breakfast. Chances are good they'll ask you what you're doing and you can share with them what you are doing and why. My kids understand, because of our conversations, that if I do not "fill my cup" each morning then I am not able to be a very good Mommy.
Another thought is that as they get older, you can also create a time in your schedule to allow them to do the same as you...read their Bible and pray. I had kind of forgotten about how I was trying to help them establish their own habits--it just got lost in our busyness. We're not perfect, but we are working on making prayer together each morning a habit of ours. My next goal is to re-establish that Bible reading time for them that we've lost track of. The main reason I haven't done that yet is that I find it hard to find Bibles or Bible stories that are written at a level that they can read it themselves. Maybe I should work on writing some of my own...hmm...that's a thought!
Question:
Lately, I've been thinking of a way to be more transparent with my kids about my faith. How do you do that exactly? I tend to do my Quiet Time or Biblestudy when my kids are napping or sleeping at night and I'm not quite sure how to carve out that time when they are awake.
My response:
At the age your kids are, there is not a ton you can do but to begin setting the stage for what you want to build into them in the future. I understand your need to do your Biblestudy while they are sleeping. Been there! However I've found that I was struggling to get my Biblestudy done during their "down times" because I was falling asleep myself. So I had to come up with a new plan.
Basically, I began having my "quiet time" when I got up in the morning, but before I took a shower. I established with my early birds that this was Mommy's time to read her Bible and they were welcome to play quietly around Mommy or go to play elsewhere. I put a basket of Bible story children's books near my quiet time area and encouraged them to read their own Bible. Obviously, your children's attention span at this is going to be short, but it's a start. I also put quiet things to play with near my area. Puzzles, lacing cards, stickers, paper, crayons or markers--things like that.
At first, my expectations were not high in terms of a long attention span so I would take whatever I could get and maybe finish some of my study later in the day, but over time, my children have just come to understand that this is Mommy's time to read her Bible and they don't really bother me. Now they either play quietly or just crawl right up in my lap and talk to me while I talk to God. Sometimes I'll read them what I'm reading or we'll sing a song together.
As they've gotten older, they have increased their ability to take care of themselves in the morning so I've set up things to allow them that freedom so that I can have that time to myself in the morning. The night before, I set out what they should eat for breakfast. They get themselves up, turn on the TV and then eat their breakfast on their own, but they know that my door is always open if they need me.
Another thought with the stage you are at is that maybe you could get breakfast prepped the night before so that it's easier and faster in the morningfor you to make and then do your Biblestudy at the table while they sit at the table and high chair to eat their breakfast. Chances are good they'll ask you what you're doing and you can share with them what you are doing and why. My kids understand, because of our conversations, that if I do not "fill my cup" each morning then I am not able to be a very good Mommy.
Another thought is that as they get older, you can also create a time in your schedule to allow them to do the same as you...read their Bible and pray. I had kind of forgotten about how I was trying to help them establish their own habits--it just got lost in our busyness. We're not perfect, but we are working on making prayer together each morning a habit of ours. My next goal is to re-establish that Bible reading time for them that we've lost track of. The main reason I haven't done that yet is that I find it hard to find Bibles or Bible stories that are written at a level that they can read it themselves. Maybe I should work on writing some of my own...hmm...that's a thought!
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