Thursday, May 26, 2011

Today

"Lord, you know my inadequacies. You know my weaknesses, not only in parenting, but in every area of my life. As you broke the fishes and the loaves to feed the five thousand, now take my meager effort and use it to bless my family.

Please make up for the things I did wrong. Satisfy the needs that I have not satisfied. Wrap your great arms around my family and draw them close to you.

And be there when they stand at the great crossroads between right and wrong. All I can give is my best, and I, today, choose to do that. Therefore, I submit to you my family and myself and the job I have done and will do as a wife and mother. The outcome belongs to you." (Author unknown)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Needed

I am so struggling with this parent thing, that when I read this, I knew that God wanted me to see it. So I thought I would share it with you.


Today’s Truth
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary (Galatians 6:9 NASB).

Friend to Friend
For years I told people that I was in labor for 23 hours. However, the truth is more like 21 years. Being a mother has been the most fulfilling, frustrating, exciting, exhausting, mind-boggling, hair-raising thrilling tiring, stimulating, soul-stirring, delightful, difficult, consuming, laborious, uplifting, inspiring, challenging, captivating, and rewarding job I’ve ever had. Did I mention difficult? I should have gotten a clue when I was told that having a child begins with a word called “labor.”

I’ve had times when I felt like throwing up my hands in frustrations and saying, “I quit!” Is what I’m doing making any difference to anyone? I want results! Show me results! Then I think about the bamboo tree.

When the Chinese plant bamboo, first they plant the seeds, then water, and fertilize them. The first year, nothing happens. The second year they continue to water and fertilize the seeds, and still nothing happens. The farmer continues this process for a third and fourth year with no visual results. Then sometime during the fifth year, in a period of approximately six weeks, the Chinese bamboo grows ninety feet.

The question is, did it grow ninety feet in six weeks or did it grow ninety feet in five years? The obvious answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years. If the grower hadn’t applied water and fertilizer every year, there would be no bamboo.

It is the same way with raising children. We pour into their lives. We plant seeds of character, pull weeds with discipline, water with prayer, and fertilize with encouraging words. Then one day, if we are persistent and consistent, we will see beautiful results.

If you are in the midst of raising your children, or even a parent of grown children waiting to see the results, I want to encourage you to press on. Don’t give up! Keep praying! Keep encouraging! Keep loving! And one day, when you least expect it, your child will “rise up and call you blessed.”

Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, sometimes I get really tired and frustrated as a mom. When I grow discouraged, will You help me to keep the goal before me … to raise a child who is a man or woman after God’s own heart? Help me to remember that You, as my Heavenly Parent, never give up on me. Even when You don’t see the results that You desire, You continue to love, nurture and teach me. Thank You for being my example of persistent and consistent love.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Just thinking....

I have been having a bit of a time of late with all the preparations for Graduation. I have been working hard on finishing the scrapbook for Bugg's life. I do recommend that no one wait til the last 3 months before graduation to start one! Her new relationship that is "promised", her idea of moving to Eugene with a girlfriend and going to school there, the whole graduation thing....

It just has overwhelmed my thinking these last few days and weeks. We attended the Mother~Daughter Tea last night for Senior Girls. Mrs. Hall, the hostess, was funny and engaging of the audience, but she brought up a point about what graduation really means. It is that push/pull that we do to our girls at this age. We have prepared them for the world, go out and conquer it! BUT, don't leave me, stay right here by my side as you do it. She used the analogy of the Velveteen Rabbit, which most of us have read a time or two. It was so thought provoking...becoming real. To each other and to ourselves. I thought about what I want for my daughter as she prepares for this final "rite of passage" and I thought about what I didn't do for her. What things I should have done better or could have changed. What I wished would have been but wasn't. What I wanted for her and what she received.

Did I do my best? I did the best I knew how to do. The rest,I leave to God. Which from the beginning I thought I had promised Him that He could have her, but I wonder if I ever did let go, so that He could. Now, it's His turn. I have no other options, but to leave her in His arms and know that she will always have my love.