Birthday to me today. Since I am turning this blog into my photo album for the year, I decided I better include these pictures from the little party my family and mom and mom-in-law threw for me this past Sunday. This is the first family photo we have had taken in awhile.
This is definitely a memorable birthday. Having older kids who are aware of your birthday adds a little excitement. Jason took the girls shopping last week for a few gifts for me. The girls also made me cards and both of the cards said "I love you, mom," to some affect. Having not yet ever heard them say "I love you" to me, their cards meant a lot to me.
We (and mom and Rhonda) gave the kids some gifts for Easter - all having to do with gardening. Here are the boys in their rubber boots with their gloves, buckets and shovels. They are LOVING these things still today.
We all spent all day Sunday in the backyard planting herbs and flowers. Jason and the kids have been working in the back yard on the weekends lately, tilling up a spot for us to have a garden so there was an easy spot to get dirt from.
Back to my birthday . . . This morning my sister and a couple friends came over to celebrate my birthday with me. I'm grateful for the window of grace God allowed for that to happen. Remember my post yesterday when I said we haven't had a raging episode in a month? I kid you not, not two hours later yesterday I was in the midst of a raging episode with one of the girls and had to call Jason to come home from work.
I'm not terribly surprised since I have tightened up the boundaries lately (thanks to the conviction of God and His power and grace to do it). I don't dislike the raging anymore because I know that it produces good fruit. (The raging always comes in response to me/us holding our daughter to a firm boundary and that firm boundary produces the fruit of felt safey - we are then strong enough to be trusted in her mind).
It is just rather comical that I posted yesterday about how things have been going better and gotten to a new normal and within two hours . . . WHAM! The last 24 hours have been full of lots of challenging behaviors from all four kids. But, this is my new normal and God's grace is sufficient. So sufficient.
For example, my sweet friend, Jill, sent me this verse below yesterday. It was in the context of something else, but I felt like it was exactly what God is calling me to in regard to my kids. It was a bit of a kick in the pants that I needed to keep going in parenting and disciplining my children.
I am sending you to them (in my case, He sent them to me) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Acts 26: 17-18
Through cooking my kids meals and reading them books and providing nurture and giving them chores and letting them play, etc., God is primarily calling me to help turn them from darkness to light in their hearts and to ultimately receive forgiveness of sins. This only happens through not letting them to themselves. ("The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother." Proverbs 29:15). In all honesty, up until this week, I had been slacking on this, letting my kids to themselves in different ways. I strayed away and made my task list (and who knows what else) more important than parenting my kids' hearts. I'm glad Jesus still loves me when I stray and loves me enough to discipline me and bring me back to Himself.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11
I wasn't exactly planning on going from my birthday to Easter to all that . . . but that is what is going on in my heart and home.
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