Tales of a Thankful Mom

Proverbs 16:3 Amplified Bible (AMP) 3  [ a ] Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance].      I admit that at times I don't feel very sucessful. As a mom, sometimes my measure of success is whether I get my children through bedtime stories, prayers, and tuck ins without any of us having a melt down (myself included.) I read something interesting this week though. A hard day doesn't necessarily mean that I failed. My evaluation of success or failure should not depend on my circumstances. Rather the question should be have I walked with Jesus today? Did I remember that I am not alone? Did I remember that He loves me? Did I fix my eyes on Him? Did I share his love with others that I encountered during my day? Did I ask God to lead, guide, and direct me? This is the true measure of success.

I have found that it is sometimes a challenge to be thankful. It is hard to remember to be thankful on the rough days when things just seem to be going wrong. This is when I need to remember that there is always something for which to be thankful. It is in these moments that I need to cry out to God asking him to help me be thankful. Recently each evening I have been writing down three things that I am thankful for that day. What are some ways that you embrace gratitude in your daily life? Please share your ideas in the comments.

     I am a big fan of happy endings, of coloring inside the lines, of recipes that are tried and true. Life is not often picture perfect. Life is messy. Situations can get confusing and complicated. For many years I thought that the time to share my testimony was at the end of seasons in my life when I saw how God had worked things out. It is hard for me to testify when I am in the middle of the mess. I want to see how all the pieces fit. I have seen dear friends praise God and testify of God's goodness in the middle of life's sticky situation. I want to live like that praising God in the middle of the hard, in the middle of the questions, in the middle of the mundane. So what do you say? Can I get a witness?

      I am easily distracted. As a mom of three children under the age of 10, I am interrupted by the word "Mom" being called out daily, I admit that I do not always react pleasantly to these daily interruptions. Many times I need to change my perspective and my attitude. I need to place my focus back on God, instead of focusing on my circumstances, or even my to do list. I need to remember to be thankful for the many blessings in my life. I need to remember to turn to God when life doesn't go how I planned. I need to take the broken pieces of my life to God, and ask Him to make something beautiful out of my brokenness. My Little Man's Birthday was this week, He said it was the best birthday ever. I am thankful that my boy's idea of a fun birthday is pizza and birthday cake. I am so thankful for my talkative, creative, energetic boy. I am thankful that my sister called my son to wish him a happy birthday, and that he had the opportunity to celebrate his bir...

        One of the reasons that I love having a blog is that it gives me a place to record the many reasons that I have to give thanks. Each weekend I like to pause and look back over the previous week and share my gratitude list. Here are a few of the things for which I am thankful. My Princess received her standardized test results from the last school year. She did very well on her English Language Arts test. She was very excited about the test results, and I am so proud of her. We went swimming yesterday. My children love a day at the pool. I had a nice talk with a dear friend earlier this week.  My brother and nephew spent a couple of days with my family and me. I am thankful for opportunities to talk with my brother. I love hearing my brothers perspective on things. I have begun taking walks with my children. I think we are going to like this new daily habit. My son is really looking forward to his birthday coming up next week....

     My youngest daughter moves at her own pace. I tell my friends and family that she is my stop and smell the roses child. I will admit that sometimes going through life at my Cuddle Bug's  pace makes me feel like I am losing my mind. (Will you please put your shoes on already?) I do notice that when I slow down and see the world through her perspective I notice beauty that I may not have seen if I was going through my day at a more efficient pace. May I remember that the next time I tempted to rush my noticer. Each week I gather with my friends over at Five Minute Friday to write for five minutes on the topic of the week. This week the word was pace. You can learn more about this wonderful community at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com.

     I have been greatly encouraged by being a part of the launch team for #ConfidentMomsandDaughters by Maria Furlough. I love that she was a straight talker, truthfully conveying the challenges that our daughters face growing up in today's culture. I also appreciated Maria's encouragement that we need to fight for our daughters. The Holy Spirit is with us, and He is with our daughters. As the below quote states He is our biggest hope in being a good example for our daughters, and for having empathy for her situation, whatever situation that may be.                              Speaking of setting an example, how can I expect to teach my daughter that she is God's workmanship, if I do not remember that the same is also true for me. I want my daughters to know that God loves them so much, and that creating each of them pleased him greatly. Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made...