Cartersville Family

What an amazing day. I know that all over the world, there were wonderful Easter services held to praise our Lord. I am always overwhelmed by the number of people who come to church on Easter Sunday when they don’t usually attend. I hope that today that has changed for them. I hope they experienced a life change and will continue on the path that God has for them. I am blessed to be a part of an awesome church where God is working. Several people prayed and trusted Christ to save them. All I can say is that we have an incredible Savior and i am privileged to be called his child.

I was thinking today about all the things we as moms give up for our children. I know I get tired of listening to kiddie songs in the car, cartoons on the t.v., chicken fingers and french fries for dinner and having almost no time for myself. Putting our own desires and dreams on hold and having to die to self sometimes.  Sometimes i get caught up in being selfish.  I get stuck in rut of feeling like i deserve more time or that I deserve a break.  I was abruptly reminded that if God felt that way, we would never have a shot at heaven.  Jesus gave up EVERYTHING.  He above all deserves to have what He wants; instead He died to self to save us.

I tell you, i have learned more about God’s character since becoming a mom.  Loving my children and wanting the best for them has often reminded me about God’s love for me.  Even at the end of one of those long days when I had no time to think, I love my children more than anything.  Thank you God for loving me.

Hello to anyone who actually reads my blog.  I have been absent for a while, but I have been saving up some great things to write about.  Our lives are probably no crazier than most of yours, but getting on the computer without a toddler on my lap is rare these days.  Most of the time I start to write, I think, “does anyone actually care about this?”. I usually answer “no” to myself and then I get called away to handle another “crisis” in the house.  Boy and am I glad that God is not like that.  He never takes a break from listening to us and His Word never takes a break from speaking to us.  No matter what we are going through or how trivial we may feel our lives are, He cares.  He cares when I have a hard day with my 2 year old; He cares when my 6 year old is upset becuase of what someone on the bus said to her; He cares when my husband and I argue and I get my feelings hurt.  He cares.  I can rest on that every day.

So anyway, hopefully I’m back for now.

Michael talked in church today about the importance of being in a small group. I have to agree 100%. We have been a small group since January and I look forward to it every week. It is such a great time with friends. We even pay a babysitter to watch our kids so we can go. I have learned so much about my group and we have prayed through some tough stuff. I know that I have people out there that will miss me when I’m not there. Michael explained that not working on your personal/spiritual life makes everything else out of balance. Our journey group allows us to keep that balance. I encourage everyone to become a part of a journey group. Make is a priority. God will bless the sacrifice and pretty soon it won’t be a sacrifice. You will wonder how you every got along without it.

I am so amazed each week at the volunteers who work with my children at church. My three kids love going to Kidventure. My little Emma is 2 and she is heartbreaker. She has such a sweet spirit and anyone who knows here just falls in love with her. The ladies who work with her on Sunday morning are exceptional and they really invest in her life. They teach her about Jesus and how much He loves her. Emma doesn’t realize what a blessing that is yet, but I do. Recently one of her teachers was on vacation and saw an exit sign with her name on it. I guess there is a city somewhere named “Emma”. Anyway, the teacher took a picture and sent it to me with a note to say that she had prayed for my Emma and that she missed her. WOW. I love that we have such dedicated people working with our children. Kudos to all the Kidventure volunteers.

Yea!  My little boy, who is 10 months old, has finally figured out how to crawl.  What a frustrating journey for him.  He has been working on this for a while now and had finally figured out how to use his hands and feet together in sync to move forward.  He still gets confused sometimes and just rocks back and forth, but he is getting better at it.  He gets so proud of himself and just laughs. You know, our Heavenly Father must watch us the same way.  Being a mom really helps me understand more about the heart of God.  I know that when my children are learning something important or trying to figure out something new, that I try to help them, cheer them on and rescue them when they fail.  I celebrate with them and I cry with them.  I sometimes let them fail and get hurt, but pick them up and hug them afterwards.  I try to give them space, but keep them close in my thoughts and prayers.  It gives me great comfort and peace to know that my Heavenly Father does the same for me.  He is always teaching me to be more like Him.  When I fail, He comforts me.  When I mess up (which I do more often than I like to admit) He gently redirects me.  He celebrates with me and lets me cry on His ever sustaining shoulder.  He allows me to fail in order to learn a lesson.  He keeps me close, in fact, He holds me in His hands.  What a great Father.  If I used as much patience, long suffering, mercy, grace and love as He does, imagine what a great parent I could be.  He is the ultimate example of parenting.

I just love any show that has a before and an after. One of my favorites is TLC’s What Not to Wear where the “fashion victims” are subjected to constructive criticism of their entire wardrobe. The show’s hosts throw out all the offending clothes and the individual is left basically with the clothes on their back. New fashion rules and guidelines are created specifically for them and then they are given $5000 to shop for a new wardrobe; clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories and I even saw a show where the girl bought a computer. There are stylist who of course give them new hair styles and makeup. The transformation is usually quite drastic. At the end of the show, the contestants confess that they didn’t really want to come on the show and they were very resistant to the changes. However, they find themselves happier and more confident because their outsides match their insides and wouldn’t change the experience. This reminds me of how Christ changes us when we choose to follow Him. In our sin nature we resemble everything that Christ died to set us free from. We are spiritually “wearing all the wrong things”. When Jesus sets us free and saves us by His grace He gives us a makeover. He throws out all of our old “clothes” and He gives us new rules to live by. The makeover process is not always fun or pain-free, but the after is always worth it. Jesus is in the business of changing the “before” to and “after”. 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”