MOMMY IS MY OFFICIAL TITLE

 ^"And whatever you do, do it heartily" - Colossians 3:23

 

I am amazed at how quickly these little hands and little feet that I adore grow. Even with all the warnings, "They grow so fast!", "Enjoy these moments" and so on and such forth. This little guy, that I still affectionately refer to as my baby, is not really a 'baby' any more. Still, he will have to forever put up with me calling him my baby, even when he's 63 and protests. But I am mommy. I am mommy and that's what we do.

 

Most days I am so busy focusing on the day to day rituals, feed them, bathe them, clothe them, play with them, repeat. I can quickly get into a mommy-rut. Now if the above scripture simply stated, "whatever you do, do it." then I would be good. I mean, I do it...I do mommy-hood. However, it says "...do it heartily" and I think these 7 words speak multitudes. So I evaluate myself, and I look at the cracks and holes and I see, I am not always doing it so 'heartily'

 

When I put my heart into this job I am called to do, when I do it 'heartily' I see that it does not end when Steve comes home. It is more than just feeding them and clothing them and getting them to sleep through the night. It is about loving them, and cultivating them into the wonderful people God has made them. When I do my job 'heartily' I understand why it is so beneficial for us, not only does it please the Lord, it blesses us, it strengthens us and it opens us up for God to move with us and the work he has given us.

 

Plus there are perks...like coffee and movie dates with my little man...

Today's Reflections:

I hope that whatever you and I are called to do, whatever job we are assigned, we can do it heartily. That we can please our Lord and open ourselves up and allow him to do great things with the work he's called us to do.

GUEST POST: 3D LIVING

Today's Guest Post is coming to you from my Husband...enjoy!

I'd like to thank my beautiful wife for the honor and privilege of guest blogging. I am proud of the work she puts into her blog and only hope I can hold a flame to her candle (or something like that).

 

We went to the movies the other day, myself, Serena, Henry, and Rome. It was a great time seeing The Lorax in 3D. It was a good movie and the 3D effects were spectacular. Henry and Rome did not want to keep their 3D glasses on and it frustrated me.

Having the glasses on made the movie come alive and put you in the movie rather than being a mere spectator. Without the glasses, Henry and Rome just saw a blurred screen in which images were very unclear. Despite my best efforts, they did not want to keep their 3D glasses on. They missed out on seeing the movie for all it could be. In the same way, God gives instructions on living a fulfilling life, yet I choose to ignore and do things my own way. I often go through life seeing things with a blurred point of view, rather than a perspective that is clear and focused.

Today's reflection: I trust you God. I know that your ways are higher than my ways. I know that your understanding is far superior to mine. Help me to have a heart that is submissive because I know that you have my best interest at heart.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight

DATE NIGHT

The first time Steve asked me out he asked if I wanted to go thrift store shopping with him. Ten years later, I am still a cheap date and he is still not the most romantic when it comes to planning our dates.  No matter what the date though, I still get excited to just be with him, I still love the way holding his hand feels and I still will change my outfit three times so that I look pretty for him.

I never would have guessed that it would become hard to date my own husband, but since having kids going out has been a challenge.  Some of you may remember it's a resolution for me to go on a date with Steve at least once a month. I have a hard time letting go of the reigns and feel extreme guilt leaving my children, even though they practically push me out the door every time I say goodbye!  I know most of you are much better at this than I am, and I wish I could, but it is my struggle so all I can do is work at it.  I do very much love that man of mine, so I give it an honest try.

This weekend, that honest try worked out and we had a successful date night! Like many years ago, it was still a simple inexpensive date....Movies

and a drive-thru,

but you know what, he could take me to the mail box and I would still try to flirt with him, I would still laugh with him and talk his ear off and of course still hold that giant hand of his. Anytime we can just be Steve & Serena we jump for joy!

(Thanks to Marvin Maldonado for the great photos!)

Today's Reflection:

Lord, I will honor the commitment I made to you and my husband.  Forgive me when I put other things above that commitment, things like my pride, my foolishness, my stubbornness, my selfishness, my own agenda.  Forgive me, and help me to become the wife and woman you created me to be. 

I am meditating on the scripture below, Lord help me live this!

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
-Colossians 3:12-14