What was I thinking?

I have always scoffed at the kind of women who leave their children because they want to live their own lives or who demand "me" time on the weekends or go on Girls Only cruises with their BFFs. Just seems so egocentric and narcissistic to go to such extremes and negate the duty of family. Yet as I going my journey on Spark People, I realize that I am just as bad but in the opposite direction. In an effort to serve and love my family, I have completely ignore my daily needs as a mom and I didn't even know it!

When I first began keeping track using the Nutrition Tracker, I was shocked that I was not even eating 1000 calories a day nor was I getting the protein, fat and carbs my body needs. I would have never believed it had I not done the work myself. I was shocked. I have a friend that gets so busy that she forgets to eat and I always thought that was nonsense. But I was doing the same thing! I would eat the crust of the bread left over from the kid's sandwiches but forget to make my own. I would start drinking a bottle of water and then forget where I put it and end up not drinking any water at all. I also would make snacks for the kids but never eat with them because I was the story reader and couldn't have my mouth full. None of these are bad in and of themselves but when they become a part of the routine and a part of life, the consequences are dangerous. In my case it has lead to extreme fatigue and crankiness and my body holding onto as much weight as possible instead of the normal process that it needs to go through.

I am proud to say that this Mamma has learned a huge lesson and will be portraying a healthy lifestyle for my kids from here on out. A lifestyle that promotes the importance of spiritual, mental and physical health.

*taken from my blog at www.sparkpeople.com

Josiah and Naomi on marriage

During lunch, Josiah declared that he has chosen to stay with Mom and Dad forever and thus he will not be getting married. Naomi very quickly and quietly replied, "Mommy told me a secret once. Little boys that say they are not going to get married, usually end up marrying anyways."
End of conversation.

Auto Troubles

I haven't written in quite a while although I think about writing often. The events of the last two weeks just seem too overwhelming to actually write out. For several months we have been living with one car and it hasn't been that bad. There are times when we have to schedule things down to the minute but for the most part, we have managed. And then our sole care tanked. The pistons blew and we needed to pay for about $2000 worth of repairs. Not only that but the repairs would take roughly a week and a half so that meant the kids and I were home bound. Gratefully we have some generous friends that let us use their car for a couple of days and my parents were visiting so we piled into their truck. The hardest part was figuring out what to do and whether we should buy a car. We have only had car payments once in our 10 year married life and we paid that off in half the time. We have generally paid cash for our cars but that meant not having anything fancy. (which is fine by me.) I was feeling a bit dejected by the whole thing and it was my husband that spurred me on to trust that God has it all under control. To add to his faith, God graciously provided a second car for us through some friends. I find it particularly funny that it is a 1992 Ford Thunderbird! The fact is that God provided something we were not expecting and we are rejoicing and praising Him for His undeserved goodness.

Whipped Cream Lesson

I have been a bit discouraged at the attitude of Josiah this week regarding his birthday. No matter how much we talked to him about the importance of celebrating God's creation and being thankful to God for giving him life, all he seemed to be focused on was presents and having friends over. None of which are bad in themselves but he just had an aire of expectation of presents. Needless to say next year we are going to do a quiet event with just the family. In any case I have been looking for teachable moments that would help Josiah understand that it is not about him.

During his birthday supper, Josiah mentioned that he gets served first because he is the birthday boy. So I purposefully served Naomi a bigger slice of pizza first and reminded him that the first shall be last. For desert, we had some left over cake and I topped it with raspberries and melted dark chocolate. I also table served a dollop of whipped cream on top of the individual slices. It was as I began this process that God used it to share a big lesson to all of us.

I took Josiah's fork to retrieve a nice size dollop of whipped cream and put it on Daddy's cake first and then mine and then Naomi's. As I was doing this I was talking about what it means that the first is last and the last is first. How God honors us when we think of others before ourselves. How we need to deny ourselves even in the smallest things lest we become too prideful and because that was the example Jesus gave us. And by doing so, we honor our Heavenly Father who sees and knows all things. By this time the whipped cream was almost out and I began to scrape the container with Josiah's fork so that I had a double portion of cream and placed it on his cake. And I ended by remarking that the when we apply God's principles and remember that the last is actually first, we will probably be surprised that it isn't the worst place to be after all and I gave Josiah the fork I had been using which was covered with whipped cream on all sides from all the scraping.

Almost immediately, Josiah returned to my humble, thoughtful, kind boy. He even thanked us and hugged us like one who truly was grateful and joyful. What a great God we serve that He helps us to understand His Ways when they are so counter to the culture we are in today. That He does not keep HImself as an enigma but rather is a Father that takes delight in His children.

Word Problems

We had a spontaneous round of word problems during lunch and I had to write my favorite one down. Josiah kicked it off with Jim had 5 presents and his daddy gave him two more presents. How many presents does Jim have in all? He continued to rattle off another 5 problems when Naomi started to beg for a turn. So we paused to let the little one have a turn and she gave us this problem.
Jim had ten pets and one of them died. How many pets does Jim have now?

After-Math

Now that my grandma is back with my parents and all the company has left, I find the house quiet and calm. A little too calm. We still have remnants of the birthday bash strewn about and my goal is to finish cleaning it all up today because having a messy house gets me frazzled. Frazzled enough to be a bit grumpy with the kids and grumpy with the lack of progress on my gigantic to do list. In the midst of all of this, I hear God telling me to calm down and take stock of what is really important. Not to ignore responsibilities but to be aware of opportunities to invest in my children and others.

So when Josiah asks this morning why we have to learn about God, I need to stop what I am doing and explore this with him. When my brother needs some company because his friend just died in a car accident, I need to stop, go visit him and listen. And when I am repeating myself for the umpteenth time on the same subject, I need to remember and apply Proverbs 31:26b, "...she gives instructions with kindness."

We have finally arrived at rest time and I have three rooms cleaned up and a gnarly soiled kitchen awaiting me but all I want to do is crawl into Jesus' lap and learn from Him. What a great God we serve. Not only does He walk with us in our frustrations but He is ever-present to listen and instruct and pour His love into us so we can love others. All the mess and the aftermath of celebration can wait...I need to be with my God. Hallelujah!

More tales from Great-Grandma

Today I got the privilege of hearing a lot of family history which I don't always know if I can believe but it is entertaining in the least. I learned that my great grandfather saw my great grandmother across the street and declared that that woman would be the mother of his children. He then befriended her dad and I think worked for him. (Not sure; some things get lost in translation.) ANyways, he wanted to ask for permission to marry her but he needed to see her legs first. He wanted to make sure she had a good figure under all those petticoats and material from those old fashion touch the floor dresses. So he devised a plan where she would have to step over a "obstacle" of some sort and be forced to lift her dress. The plan worked and when he saw her gams, he thought to himself, "Oh! Mama Mia! She is wonderful!" So that is the story of my great grandparents courtship.

I enjoyed hearing that story but there are more dramatic ones regarding spousal abuse and debauchery, murder and adultery. I could write one heck of a novel if I incorporated all thee stories together. Sometimes I think she confuses the talk shows she watches on TV with family history. In any case, my grandmother is quite the character. It still shocks me when she calls people sons of b***** and the other rude language she uses. I don't remember her using language like that when I was little. But coupled with her heavy spanish accent, it is quite funny.

She finds most of the cultural changes today disgusting and I have to laugh when she points out people on the street and says, "Look at that. Do you see her tattoos? (or piercings or immodest dress....etc...pick one.) That is disgusting! These people have no respect for themselves. No shame."