Summer is here..........

Fun time, lazy days, reading, and relaxing, enjoying my kids. I plan on making every day count.  Whether we go to the park or library or have a pajama day; I want them to have the best summer.  The economy says we can't do much, but I can make what we do fun.

I hope to keep a record of our summer here on the blog.

Today we went to the library, attempted to go to the Trail of Tears but there was a fee I wasn't prepared for today. We will do that another day. The people at the Trail of Tears were so nice. The lady said she will take my kids on a hunt for critters and such when we come back.  She will show them all sorts of nature and make it a fun time for no extra charge.  I plan to take her up on it with a camera in tow.

Then we went to the park and had some fun. Although we had to end it a bit early due to disobedience. This lady at the park heard me speaking firmly to my children. I took one of them by the arm. I did not grab her or yell or pull on her. I took her arm and moved her. The woman glared and gave me the evil eye. I thought, what would you do if I were yelling or being mean?  It is sad that we live in a world where if you properly correct your children you are seen as an ogre. That you are expected to let your children explore their feelings regardless of what those feelings happen to be. So they are being sassy or not listening, let them express it. Not in my house. Yes, you have a right to your feelings but you will learn to be obedient and sassiness is never excused even if you are mad.  Anger is normal but there is a right way and a wrong way to express it.  My kids consequence was to leave the park early. They are fine and no one is harmed or scarred. However, they do know, that disobedience and not listening will make you lose out. There are reasons parents want their kids to listen. Sometimes it is about safety. Sometimes is is about needing to make a point or getting your kids to do something that would be fun if they'd listen.

I have good kids. They are normal and need correction. It was a good day despite the early leaving from the park.  There is still more planned for this day, so I may come back and add to the post later or do another one.

Have a great summer peeps. Make it a fun one and a safe one.

Sealed with a promise.......

This week I was reading the story of Naomi and Ruth and the kinsman redeemer. It is such a beautiful story. My study took me to Ephesians 1:1-14 in the  Bible study  book I am doing.  Brave Honest Questions women ask by Angela Thomas.  I am not doing the video part, simply because I could not get the DVD/CD. However, God is still speaking to me through this study.

Okay back to the topic in Ephesians. Now I have read this scripture countless times over the years and I know I belong to the Lord and He is mine. I understand He is my Kinsman Redeemer. Yet this scripture stood out to me like a beacon this time:

Ephesians 1:13-14 "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory". NKJV

That seal placed by the Holy Spirit is like the promise the bride groom makes to the bride on her wedding day.  He places a seal on her finger to let the world know, she is his and he is hers.  It is a promise to protect, her, love her and cherish her.  In by gone days the bride groom paid a dowry for his bride and redeemed it through his bride and all the rights of the bride groom.  We are sealed with a promise.  A promise much greater than even the picture of a bride groom and his bride can even portray. God, our God has marked us as His.  We belong to Him. We were purchased at a high dowry price, of the Savior's blood.  All we have to do is accept His "proposal". When we accept Him as ours, He marks us with His precious promise through the Holy Spirit.  Now,sometimes words fail me and I can't explain what is in my head. I can't put it in written word like it is screaming out in joy in my head.  But do you get this..........God MARKED us as HIS.  He promised to care for us, provide for us, cherish us and love us. We can't always see how it is being done. We don't always understand why things happen or why life goes the way it is going. However, we are marked with a seal of His promises and HE will never let us down.
I belong to JESUS, totally, completely and undeniably.  He is mine and I am His.  I am marked as HIS.

The day I got married, I took on my husband's name.  I not only wear his ring but I bear his name. Jesus marked me as His the day I accepted Him and I accepted His name, so to speak. As a follower of Jesus I am expected to bring honor to his name. Just as I would not want to shame my husband's good name, I do not want to shame the name of my Jesus. I am His, He is mine and I am marked as His.

I have no idea why this is speaking so to my heart today. But I DO know His promises to those who belong to Him are Yes and Amen. I can trust my Kinsman Redeemer to be working on my behalf in ways I can not see nor do not feel.  I can rest upon His promises......I can take Him at His word and trust "thus sayeth the Lord" as the song Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus says (lyrics by Louisa M. R Stead). I love how the Lord takes His word and shows you something in it, He wants to whisper to your heart. He says, I see you, I hear you, I know what you are going through. Don't doubt, don't worry because you belong to me and I love you.

Oh how I love my Jesus.  He is so good.

picture credits:www.freedomtrainministries.com

Distraction............stumbling blocks and coffee

Today as I listened to Imperfect Wives Radio and this show:

Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones: Praying for YourselfDo you ever find it easier to pray for other than to ask for Gods blessings for yourself? Or maybe you've felt stuck and aren't sure how to pray for yourself, even when your prayers for others flow easily. Have you ever felt selfish when you pray for yourself when you see so many others with such great needs? Do you wonder what God has promised for YOU in His Word? No matter what has been your...

Imperfect Wives Radio-Stumbling Blocks, Praying for Yourself

It really spoke to me and made me aware of some of my stumbling blocks. One of my biggest offenders is D I S T R A C T I O N.  I felt the Lord whisper to me how I let myself get distracted too often and my time with Him gets shortened or on some days, even left by the side of the path.  I am resolving to do  better.

However, God gave me an object lesson immediately after I finished listening. I was talking to my mother in law, trying to get the kids started on chores and making coffee all at the same time.  I put water in the coffee maker, scooped in my generous amount of coffee and put my coffee on to brew. Oh how wonderful it smelled, like morning and possibilities the day will hold.  I talked with the kids, corrected some behavior and they even prayed on the phone with Oma since she has the flu. All good things.

Then I went to pour my cup of coffee to find it full of grounds.  YUCK......blech.....nasty.
What happened?  IN my distractions I FORGOT to put in the filter and had put the coffee in just the basket. Had to start the coffee over.

So that is what we get when we go to our God distracted, we give Him our gifts of prayer and attention full of the "grounds" of our lives instead of filter out all the distractions, we give Him only bits and pieces of ourselves. Our attention can't focus on Him and we give Him less than our best.  This spoke to me and I realize how many times I do not give Him the best of me and I let life distract me from the purpose He has for me.
Lord, help me not give you the "grounds" of my life but let me let YOU be the GROUND that I stand on, firm and strong. Amen.

Faith and cotton

I have a friend I grew up with whose family grows cotton among other things. Recently her family was featured in an article, on a website called 24/7 Cotton (read article here).  I read the article because it featured her family in it.  It was talking about Cotton, crops, yields, weeds and the like. However there was one phrase that stood out to me.

“This past year, we’ve tried to go back and keep everything clean,” says Mike. “We know that it doesn’t take but two weeds in a field to have a mess on your hands the next year. We want to get them out of the field and don’t let them go to seed.”

This speaks to me because it is like the soil of our heart. We can't wait for weeds to go to seed or even  let weeds to grow in our soul. We need to go in, and get those weeds out by hand, by the rood before they spread. Weeding the garden of our heart takes submission to the Master of our hearts, our Lord Jesus. It takes the painful process of letting go of things or giving up things that are not good for us. It means praying and asking Him to shows us any roots of unforgiveness , bitterness, gossip, whatever the weed. One weed, two weeds, they multiply quickly and if they grow uncontrolled the crop of our heart can not bring good crop or high yields.  If we let the Lord get out the weeds and we do the hard work it takes to keep our lives in tune with Him, then not only will the fruit of what the Lord has sewn in us grow it will yield a good and fruitful crop that touches the lives of others for Him.

Lord, help me do the hard work it takes to keep my heart weed free. Let me yield the good fruit that you have called me to yield so that my life can bring glory and honor to your name.

Who new a simple article about cotton farming could have such a deep meaning, but it does.  Think about it, what weeds are in the garden of your heart that you and the Lord Jesus need to weed out before it goes to seed?

I hear His Voice.....

(taken on a recent walk at the park)

I hear His voice in the rushing of the stream

I hear His voice in a hope filled dream.

I hear His voice in the melody of the bird that sings

I hear His voice when laughter peals out of my children in endless rings...

I hear His voice in the softness of the dawn

I hear His voice as fireflies flit over the lawn

I hear His voice in the whisper of the rain

I hear His voice calling me to draw nearer still

to lean upon Him and trust His Will.

I hear His voice.

copyright Thelma Strobl 2/9/2013

Cocoons

I was talking with a friend and we were talking about our kids and the struggles of teaching and raising them.  Our kids feel the growing pains of learning and growing and discovering independence. It got me to thinking as tweens they are like the caterpillar getting ready to do into it's cocoon. They still depend on us but try to test the boundaries and resist the cocoon as it begins to form. They don't want to be restricted or held back. However, the cocoon of their family and the rules of their home are necessary so that they can grow right. Without that cocoon they could not grow in a healthy way. Now one family's cocoon is going to be different than another family's cocoon. However the basis is love.  Unconditional love is the cocoon that keeps that child safe and warm even when the child pushes against the rules.  It is in that, the child learns to make their way through life.

When the child emerges from their cocoon in their teen years, their wings are wet and fragile. They must be careful with their new wings, test them out slowly and learn to fly.  But as they do under the love and control of their parents, they become stronger so that one day they will be ready to SOAR.

I pray that as I do as the Lord called me to do in parenting that my lessons are filled with love and mercy. That I will live before them the way to fly, the way to handle independence and the rules of the world around them, and the edicts of God's word.  I want my children to soar but I want them to know that without the Lord, they would not have a cocoon, nor wings with which to soar. I want them to know that God has put in each of them a purpose, a plan and a destiny.  I do not know what God has called my children to be, but I must nurture and teach them to live true to who God is and true to who He has called them to be. But in the living, and the flying, they must be aware that their Creator, their Lord, their Father is their source and strength. As we wait upon the Lord to see His will and way, we are being created and fashioned and formed into a beautiful person who can impact the world.
As adults sometimes God puts us through the transformation of our lives again and again. Not because we didn't get it the first time, but because He is bringing out something new in us, adding to the beauty He sees in us. Submitting to the change is not always easy. Sometimes is is not comfortable.  However there is one promise that holds true:

Sometimes I submit well to the tests and trials of life. Other times I whine and cry or fuss. No matter what I do, just as I love my children, no matter what, my Father in heaven loves me, just as I am. Patiently He waits for me to learn to wait upon Him, to be still and know that He is God.  

I pray that I will listen to His voice as He continues to transform me into who He wants me to be.

Lessons of obedience

As we walk this road of parenthood we learn many lessons. God has to be our guide. It isn't always easy to know when to step in and when to let your child learn a hard lesson on his or her own.  Hannah is having struggles with school because she doesn't focus. Then she has to rush through and makes careless mistakes. She is also trying to be independent at times she should be doing what is asked by her teacher. Today she was deliberately disobedient and did exactly what the teacher said the kids should not do. She has been disciplined. I told her teacher that I expect Hannah to listen and obey.  That I am behind the teacher 100 percent as she tries to help Hannah in class focus and do what she is asked. Hannah isn't doing it to be malicious but out of the need to lead and be independent. Her teacher even sees it that way.  I have to help Hannah channel this.  The only way to do so is with the Lord.  It is times like this, you do wish kids came with manuals.

The old me, would have taken this as a strike against my "mommy hood". That it proved I was doing it wrong or was a failure. However, because of God's healing in my life, heart, and mind, I know this is something God is working out in Hannah. He has a call on her life. I believe one day she is going to lead something that helps others.  However, she has to learn to balance independence with obedience. Don't we all have to learn that lesson.  

When God asks me to do something, do I strike out on my own and do it my way or do I obey?  Do I wait and listen for the still small voice to follow His lead or do I get ahead of Him? 

As a wife, I vowed to love, honor and obey. Now this obedience is not like a parent and child but as the leader of a Godly home.  Do I give my husband the lead or do I try to persuade him to do it my way? Do I let him do something and then redo it or do I just let it be the way he did it? These are all lessons I have been learning over the years in marriage. Sometimes, I do it well. Other times, not so much because like everyone else, there is a part of me, that wants it my way.  

Is my way the best way? Sometimes,sometimes not, but God's way is always the only way.  So as I think about our struggles with Hannah, I say God make me the way I want Hannah to be. Guide my steps Lord, and let me be who you want me to be, so that I can teach them to want to be who you want them to be. 

I will trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.