What will today hold?

As a parent there are those days when I go to bed at the end of the day feeling like "wow I'm finally figuring this out.  My kids were great today and we all got along.  Tomorrow will be a great day!"

Then tomorrow comes.  All of a sudden my amazing parenting doesn't seem to be working.  I try the same thing I did the day before, but for some reason it doesn't go as smoothly.  

Why?  Because we are human and we aren't the same from day to day...and wow that makes this an adventure with so many trials along the way.  Change from day to day is so difficult and at times, frustrating.  Then other days change is exciting and fabulous.  But knowing which will be which is next to impossible.  Not only do I not know what to anticipate from day to day, but neither do my kids...and I can surely change easily from day to day, which I'm sure is unfair and frustrating for my kids at times.

So I'm sure God sees the same thing in me as His child.  He probably looks down and thinks "how can she be so different today when it seemed like yesterday she was figuring it out?"  

But unlike my parenting changing and my kids trying to figure me out, I Luckily don't need to try and figure out how God will be from day to day.  Because we are promised in Hebrews that "He is the same yesterday, today, and forever."  

In a changing world where I never know what any second will hold, I am clinging to that promise today.  I am finding peace in a Father who never changes and loves me with a constant unchanging, unending Love.  

Thank you, God, for being my one constant in this world.  Let me cling to you today when I start to feel uneasy about so much change.  Help me walk in your peace and share that with those around me.  Amen.

Come home before dark

We just moved to a new neighborhood, which has been a real blessing for our family.  One of the biggest blessings has been the numerous children that my kids now have to play with.  My daughter is especially excited!  

So today she asked if she could ride to a friend's house.  I allowed her to without reminding her to come home when it started getting dark.  As the sun began to set, I kept peering out the window looking for her...but she never came.  

My mommy worry got the best of me so I went out to find her and lectured her the whole way home about coming home before darkness sets in.  She didn't seem too bothered, but I certainly was!

As I thought about it more this evening,God poked me gently and said, "Isn't that what I tell you all the time?  Don't I remind you not to wander too far away, not to get lost in the darkness, to come home to me when you wander out of the light?"  And what do I often do...the same thing that Katie did...I try to convince God that I'm just fine, that I'll return before it's too late...hmmm, but do I?  Not always, but I'm certainly going to try.  

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." I John 1:5

Perspectives in Parenting...Clean Your Room!

I am what some would call a "neat freak."  I stand by the mantra that everything should have a place and everything should be in its place.  

Probably out of nothing more than His sense of humor, God has blessed me with a very free spirited daughter.  In her free-spiritedness, she did not get my neat freak gene.  And because of this, there are many days/nights when we don't quite see eye to eye.

Almost every day begins and ends with the same speech..."how is your room so messy?  Didn't I ask you to clean it?  How can this be cleaned if there's still stuff all over the floor?  Wouldn't it be easier just to put things away?"  I'm sure you've all been there.

Well as I walked away tonight thinking about how I can approach this in a different way, God's gentle prodding said, "Tammy...don't you get it?  I give you that speech each day too.  You know that I've told you that your body is My temple, yet you often get it all messy.  Whether it's unkind words, thoughts that aren't pleasing, gossiping, or even filling it with junk food; all of it makes a mess day after day.  Maybe it's time you clean your room and keep it clean..."

Ugghhh!  He's right.  So in the parenting struggle, I've been convicted about how I am as child of God.  While I'll no doubt continue to give Katelyn speeches about cleaning her room, I'm going to do my best to keep my "room" clean too.  

1 Corintians 6:19

Putting parenting in perspective

As parents we all go through those times where we are thinking..."Yes, I've got this!"  Then there are the days when we wonder if we are doing anything right...you know, the days when we only hope that our kids are better behaved at school than they are in a particular moment, or the days when we wish we invested in soundproof walls do the neighbors wouldn't hear us.  In the midst of some of those times lately, I've found myself praying that God will use those times to teach me and help me make the best of those struggles.

While I thought in my own feeble mind that those prayers would somehow turn me into Supermom and life would be smooth sailing, I'm Instead finding these moments to be more of a reflection on who I am or how I am as a child of God...boy, I still have a lot of "growing up" to do!  

So I am going to start sharing the lessons God is teaching me as I pray each day to learn from the parenting struggles.  And I'm also continuing to give myself grace, both as a parent and as a child, because I'm confident in knowing that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.  And finally, I'm celebrating my role as a mom (both on the good days and on the tough days) because it truly is a blessing.