recent devotions that hit home

I love you for who you are, not for what you achieve.

 

Pitfalls of self-pity, self-preoccupation, giving up are all around you in times of struggle. Avoid the pit. It is infinitely more difficult to get out of the pit than it is to keep a distance from the edge. The edge gives way easily; keep your distance. Find praise even in the struggles for the more preoccupied with thankfulness you are the less time you have to feel sorry for yourself. “Thank you Jesus for this opportunity to trust you more.”

 

I am with you. You may feel you’re in a freefall or can only focus on the negative in your life but look to Me for help. I am your shepherd. I make all pieces work together for My good but only to the extent that you trust Me.

 

You will not find lasting peace in objects, in money, in circumstances or in human relationships. Do not compare yourself to others. Each person has their own path in life designed just for them.

 

Walk purposefully with the Lord each day. Do not bolt into the day like a racehorse suddenly released. Allow God to take charge of the day, follow His lead. Multiple times each day make the choice to trust Him.

 

Future things belong to the Lord. Do not worry about tomorrow. Do not try to fit today into yesterday’s mold. Live within the boundaries of today. Worry is an act of rebellion, doubting His promises to guide, care and protect. Return your concerns to Him and rejoice when the next step forward is revealed, and the one after that, and the one after that. He is faithful.

 

Not why? but what now?

Proverbs 31 ministries post yesterday:

 

I’ve realized that trying to figure out why God allows certain things to happen is a bit like chasing the wind and trying to turn it into something visible. It’s a chase that will simply wear you out to very little avail.

 

So I’ve just about decided asking ”why” is the wrong question. Instead, I ask “what now?” Now that this is my reality, what would You have me do…learn…glean from this?

 

“What now?” is a much better question to ask. If we make the choice to let it lead us from our hurt to positive changes, it will! God will.

Continuing to ask “why” will leave us stuck and frustrated. And really, even if God gave us the answer to our why question, it probably would never satisfy us. We would probably weigh out God’s reasons against our hurt and still be hurt. Our human perspectives simply can’t process God’s multi-dimensional, eternal reasons.

 

Isaiah 55:8-9 confirms this, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Bare bum (story from April)

I woke up and hit the button on the monitor to check on the kids like I usually do before getting ready; make sure they’re not already awake and just hanging out. And when the monitor flips to Rawley’s room I see him sleeping on his belly, curled up next to his monkey but he’s got no pants or diaper on. “Huh, Rawley knows how to take his diaper off.” So I rushed to get myself ready anticipating he’s wet the bed and will need a bath. Nope, completely dry. The front of the diaper stayed in place so there was no mess….until I picked him up. He didn’t want to cuddle so I set him down on the floor to stand. I walked to his closet to pull out some clothes and hear that unmistakable sound. He was standing there peeing on the rug…and Madi’s medal from school which also happened to be on the rug.

 

The look on his face was priceless. I lost it then because he was so confused about what was happening. “What’s that Mom?” would’ve been his question had he been able to talk. I think I laughed the entire time I was getting him dressed.

Rug and medal to be washed this evening.

 

Madi's first school field trip: Country Pumpkins

Friday Madi had her first school field trip. The 4's class was going to Country Pumpkins in Zionsville from 9-1p. We started the day with doughnuts at home then went to school to drop Rawley off and meet up with Aunt DeeDee.

 I was supposed to drive another boy from her class but his Mom decided to drive so it was just Madi, Aunt DeeDee and me. After talking with Miss Stacey she said they didn't plan to get to the pumpkin patch until close to 10a. It was 8:30 so Aunt DeeDee, Madi and I took off for "adult coffee" (Madi's choice).

 At Starbucks I had a migraine hit (getting those a lot lately) so instead of driving separately we left my car at Starbucks. I fired up the GPS so Donell would know where to go and sat in the passenger's seat with my eyes closed waiting for the fuzzy vision to stop. We got to the pumpkin patch, parked by everyone else and made our way to the tent for orientation. There was a little presentation about what grows on the farm, what's friendly and what to expect during our trip. Then we made our way to the animals. Madi wasn't into touching the animals. We saw chickens, rabbits, turkeys, goats, pigs, sheep and ponies. 

Next stop was the play zone. There was a corn kernel "sand" box and swing set but Madi spent pretty much all her time roping cows or running bales of hay. Look at this cow girl!

Our third stop was a hay ride...yay!! All the kids loaded up towards the back (side) and the adults sat in the "loading" area. It was a well thought out process to put the kids in the safest spot of the wagon. We went around the farm and stopped at the honey bee station. The kids learned that bees are more scared of us, fly close to us looking for things that are sweet and if we see a bee by us we're to Freeze! As one who's allergic, definitely agree with the Freeze! concept. 

Next up was the corn maze. Had we known what it entailed I think the adults would've chose to skip it. There was straw down the first 1/3 of the maze but then it went to straight mud. Kids were slipping, parents were slipping. It seemed the end would never come...but it did! Here's some shots of "children of the corn." Ha! I crack myself up!! 

Madi & Raphy. Best friends since the 2's class. Raphy's Mom is 6-mos pregnant with a girl. Raphy's Dad was telling us that Raphy's decided the baby's name is going to be Madi. Donell sat near Raphy on the hayride and was asking about him becoming a big brother and whether he knew if it was a boy or girl. After he said it was a girl she asked what her name should be and he said "Her name's Madi." Dad was right!!

After the maze we had our picnic lunches, picked out a little pumpkin to bring home and then said our goodbyes. Madi, Aunt DeeDee and I went up to the general store to search for gourds and pumpkins. Ever since the kids and I painted pumpkins Madi's wanted pumpkins for Daddy's house. Since he didn't have any yet she picked out three little pumpkins/gourds to bring that afternoon. One for her, Daddy & Rawley. It was very sweet.

...and that's the story of Madi's first school field trip.