Love Him Like Jesus

It was the start of a normal day today...we got up and the rush began, as usual. Trying to get three...make that four people dressed every morning with the hair done (and a bow neatly in place for at least the first few hours of school) is quite a challenge. Its a challenge that I enjoy..but a challenge just the same. I dropped my daughter of at school with the same heartfelt advice that I share everyday,"be good, and have a great day...I love you!" I decided that I would treat myself, so I drove a few miles to the nearest Starbucks for a vanilla latte (yes, I ordered skinny). On my way there I decided to listen to Casting Crowns. The words of a particular song really struck a chord with me today. It was talking about the grief that people experience with the loss of a spouse, or child, and how there are so many questions...and our response as Christians is to love them like Jesus. As the tears welled, I really began to ponder what it means to love someone like Jesus. What does that mean? Does it mean that we not only give money to the homeless, but we take them into our homes? Does it mean that we sit and eat a meal with them instead of giving them a hamburger and a Coke and driving away, our guilt appeased for a moment?
On a more practical note, what does it mean to love our spouses like Jesus. I was really thinking about this today...for me I believe it means to serve him without the expectation of being served. For those of you who know me, you know that is impossible...impossible without the Holy Spirit, that is. I want to love my husband like Jesus has loved me. I want to serve him with abandon, to be patient, kind, understanding, and supportive. For me this doesn't mean losing my identity as a woman, it means gaining a new identity in Christ. What a challenge God has placed before me today...one that I'm sure I will be working on until my hair turns white, or completely falls out..but I want to be the woman that God has made me to be, and with His power (the power that raised Christ from the dead, no less) I can accomplish all that he has set before me, and believe me girls, that same power is what its going to take! :)

Pinkalicious

Today was the day that I went to my oldest daughter, Emeryn's, class to talk about my job...being a stay at home mom! I decided to put together a little presentation about all of the different jobs moms do...I brought band-aids because sometimes I am a nurse...a rolling pin, because sometimes I am a baker...a hairbrush because with three girls, I am obviously a hairdresser...a needle and thread because I am definitely a seamstress...anyway, I shared with the class that my favorite part of being a mom is having the time to read to my girls. I brought Emmy and Jaidyn's new book, Pinkalicious, and read it to the class...and I served them pink cupcakes with pink frosting. If you have read the book, you understand! Anyway, the class loved it, and we had a great time! Preparing for my "lecture" (such a lofty term for a talk with Kindergarten and First graders), I really started thinking about all the things that we, as moms, have the privilege of doing. At times driving to every event, and baking for all the class parties can seem overwhelming to me...exhausting, but I really want to focus on the awesome gift it is to have these three little ones to raise. God has given me the most precious thing in my girls! He has put these wonderful creatures in my hand..for just a while...to mold and shape, care for, love, play with, drive, nurse, teach, guide...the list is endless. I am so thankful that he has chosen to entrust these three, in particular, to me. I always thought it funny that the Lord gave my husband and me a family of girls! It is not what I had planned, and definitely not what my husband thought of when he dreamed of his life! However, we are enjoying every moment, cherishing every laugh...hoping that God will use us to raise our girls to be Godly women who love Him with all their hearts, and to love each other. We pray that God will give us all the love, the patience, and the courage to raise our girls the way He wants us to!

New Fruit

Well, to be honest my favorite part of the year is gone now. The final Fall leaf has fallen, and the Christmas Decorations are down...well mostly (give me a break, I have three children...lol). I love the Fall...everything about it makes me happy. The start of a new school year, school supplies all shiny and new, the warm colors...orange, brown, gold, and deep red...the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg coming from the kitchen...its all so inviting. It makes me long to be at home, curled up with my favorite blanket, drinking a steaming cup of coffee (mostly creamer,of course), reading a good book. This past Fall was an especially wonderful season living in the country. It was incredible to gaze on God's creation without having to go anywhere. The leaves on the vines were perfect, I even saved the first crimson beauty in the pages of one of my cherished cookbooks.
I usually don't look forward to the new year, the crispness of January, the resolutions that I usually fail within the first few days of making them...but this year is different. I am looking forward to the fresh start. I am inspired to be more organized, to take some time to better myself spiritually and physically, and to be more like Christ. The vines out my kitchen window are perfectly pruned, lined up, positioned to begin producing the fruit they are created to produce. I want to be the same way. I want the old, dead parts of me to be pruned (gently please, Lord), and I want to be in the position for God to grow new fruit in me. Just like the vines, I want to be open, bare before the Lord, ready for Him to prune away all the clutter that keeps me from being who He wants me to be. I know there are so many things that God needs to change in me, and I know that He is the only one able to do it. I just want to be willing for Him to do in me what he needs to to produce kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control...

Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.