Mentoring Mom

I have been asked to speak at our church to our moms group! A great group of ladies abiding in Christ to be keepers of their homes, raising their children and loving their husbands. I'm always honored, humbled yet feel so inadequate when I'm asked. I'm just a mom on the journey abiding in my Father, striving and making the most of every opportunity with my five sweet children... because our days are numbered. I am reminded of this when I look into the face of my twelve year old daughter, try to fight back the tears, and smile. She is precious to me, as are all of my children.
"she's slipping through my fingers"

When we became parents almost thirteen years ago, we began to realize the enormous task the Lord had entrusted to us. So many questions. How do we discipline, How do we instill values, How do we train our children to have a heart for God, How do we educate them...and then tell me how to do it at home??? We immediately began to seek the Lord, asking for His wisdom. Little by little, the Lord has given us so many bits of His heart in the wonderful journey. I am so excited and so humbled to be able to share with these women.

Dan and I pray and work diligently as parents but ultimately realize it is He who gets the glory and is in in control. The hard part comes because we want control, instead of giving it ALL over to Him, a hard lesson for parents to grasp! We think of children as ours... but really, they're His, entrusted to us for a time. Notice I did say work, parenting is work, but in order to reach our goal of training our children to be "image bearers" of Christ we must work and pray, pray and work! Which brings me to my point... I'm so excited to be talking about the way the Lord has moved in my life, so I'm going to be sharing things that have helped me! "The Mentoring Mom... modeling behavior your children deserve!" Here are some thing of those I'll be sharing.....

To hear you pray earnestly and often
To spend time with you as you talk about the things of God
To hear you talk to others about becoming Christians
To see you put God first in your giving
To watch you live a consistent Christian life
To go with you to visit the unfortunate
To hear you say good things about people
To be exposed to experiences that will bring Christian growth
To see you love your spouse
To be taught how to know the Savior in a personal way...
what this looks like day to day and so much more.

Please pray for me as I speak on March 2nd. Pray as I seek the Lord and His heart! May the outpouring of the Holy Spirit abide in me and take root! May my words be His words. May He and He alone be glorified. Amen!

A WONDERFUL THING

Been having the winter blahs! So depressing! I'm soooo needing some warmer weather about now! I sprained my ankle yesterday morning, and in the midst of school, ball games and my complaining (in my heart) I was reminded that I AM on a mission.
Read this yesterday and it blessed my heart. If you're a mom, I hope it will bless yours too!

Being a mother is a wonderful thing,
My bedside alarm, it never need ring,
I'm awakened each day with bright cheerful faces (except for my middle schooler)
And soon 'round the table they've all taken places

Our meal is seasoned with plenty of chatter,
The fruit and the muffins fly from the platter,
There are stories to share and a Bible verse too,
We "sometimes" pray _ it's not always a zoo.

The day is so full of a number of things,
Chores, then schoolwork, then ball practicings.
Cooking and cleaning and book-reading too,
A mom of many children has plenty to do

I've heard busy times end as quick as they start,
So I'll treasure these days, store them up in my heart,
Small children grow up - the time goes so fast,
The business of mothering soon will be past

Be cheerful (STEPHANIE) and thankful each day that you've got,
Greater joy anywhere, there surely is not,
As you work through your duties may God hear you sing,
'Cause being a mother is a wonderful thing

Nine months and crawling!

Ella turned nine months last Friday. She's a whopping 20 pounds! (the smallest of all of my children) She's crawling like crazy! What a added blessing she has been these last nine months! Looking forward to the next nine with much anticipation! I shot this video on her nine month birthday! Ella is crawling and stops in excitement. Also, notice the dog, hilarious!