How do you Love?

Our very rainy Spring...

I promise I haven't forgotten about blogging, but (can you believe it??) sometimes life with three little ones leaves very little time to sit down!

There have been several thoughts floating around my mind which I would love to sit down and work through and think about more.

I had one of those "woe is me" days a couple of weeks ago. I found myself thinking, "man, I'm so tired of being a Pollyanna. . . Always looking on the bright side is exhausting." And just as quickly as I thought that, a verse came to me. (Courtesy of the Holy Spirit, I'm sure.)

Galatians 6:9 (NIV) "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

2 Thessalonians 3:13 (NIV) "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right."

As I was finishing up a week of study from Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself" it *just so happened* to be on love and *just so happened* to coincide with Easter. One thing that I love about B.Moore's Bible studies is that she uses a ton of Scripture. I'd like to share some with you. Keep in mind that these verses, when using the word "love" is referring to "agape love".

From page 67 of the study guide: Agape is
~a divine capacity to love. Only God is capable of agape.
~more a response than a feeling.
~fueled by the needs rather than the desires of self or others.
~expressed through me when I surrender to the empowerment and temperament of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

Psalm 145:8 "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another"

Remember, this is not love of the romantic nature or love of the friendly nature, but love that humans are not capable of unless the Spirit is empowering us to love.

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us." (emphasis mine)

1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

John 17:4 "I brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do."

There are several more verses that struck a chord with me that I would share, but I can't at this time.

I wanted to end with the Scripture from John 17. Look at it again.

This passage is Jesus praying/talking with God.

It made me think about my own life. How am I bringing glory to God? What work has He given me to do? Am I completing it? How am I demonstrating love for my brothers?

It's something I'm still working through. I'd like to leave you all with a challenge to think about your own lives, ask yourselves the same questions. I would love to hear how you demonstrate love for your "brothers". One example could be preparing a meal for a person who just had a baby or is ill. I have had the pleasure of doing this several times in the past 5 years, and am looking forward to bringing a meal to a family with a new baby this week! =)

And just for fun... a couple pictures.

Abbey in boots.

My mom "Mema" and Magdalena at my sister's bridal shower.

Life Through Annie's Eyes

Two precious girls all ready for Sunday School.

In honor of Mother's Day next month, all of the young mothers at church are being asked to finish this sentence:

The most challenging part of being a mother is. . .

To me that seems like book material, not sentence material. But here is my best go at it. The most challenging part of being a mother is finding the balance between love and discipline.

**These two will never need disciplined, right??**

I find that I am often very strict with my daughters. I have high expectations for them. Sometimes I need to remember that they are only 3 and 2 years old. (Maggie doesn't really need disciplined yet!)

As I considered this thought more and more, I realized that is why grandparents enjoy their grandchildren so much. They can allow themselves to be swallowed up by the joy that young children bring and aren't burdened with the responsibility of training them up and disciplining them.

Have you heard this quote before? "If I knew grandchildren were so much fun, I'd have had them first!"

It's amusing and cute and witty at first glance. But why should parents miss out on all that fun?

I am trying very diligently to find that balance. To truly enjoy the special, simple, fun moments with my daughters. I don't want to wait until I'm a grandparent to experience that life and fun that young children bring so naturally.

**Enjoying a warmer day with a picnic on the deck**

So just for fun, I'm going to share some photos that our Annie has taken. She loves to use the camera, and actually takes some great pictures. Sure, some are blurry, and some have heads cut off, but she is a joy to watch. She will run in place and jump and do all sorts of crazy things to get her subjects to smile! I love watching how she processes life. It was fun for me to look through the pictures she has taken over the past couple of months to see what she sees.

So with out further ado, here is "Life Through Annie's Eyes".

*I love this one!*

*artsy elmo*

*dork*

*gross! she shot this at just the 'right' time.*

*pretty good, right?*

*best dad in the world*

I guess she wanted to see what it looked like up there?

*Maggie looks shocked!*

I told you, she's good!

Can you tell who Annie's favorite "subject" is? Clearly Abbey is not nearly as cooperative as Baby. Hope you enjoyed!!

Humbled through Children

Have I mentioned on here before how God uses my children to teach me?

Regardless of whether the children know it or not, they are God's messengers to me.

For the past almost 3 weeks Magdalena has been crying. A lot. A lot as in sometimes 3 hours at a time. Now, those of you who had babies who cried may or may not be sympathizing with me. Because Magdalena hasn't always been a crier. She was doing quite well sleeping through the night, going to bed at a reasonable hour, and all that jazz. I thought I had it all together. Until she started crying.

Would you believe it took almost 2 weeks of her crying before I told anyone (other than Trent, of course)? Why wouldn't I tell anyone?

P-R-I-D-E! I didn't want anyone to know that I was losing sleep at night and couldn't get my own 7-month-old child to stop crying for long stretches of time. I truly was feeling like I was not a good mother, that I was doing something wrong, that I (dare I even say it) needed help!!

Pride.

PSALM 10:4 NKJ "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts."

I got behind in my daily Bible readings, and the crying got worse. Perhaps not worse, but at least less-easy to handle.

PROVERBS 11:2 NKJ "When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom."

So I "gave in" and told a few girlfriends, and asked for prayer. I took Maggie to the doctor to make sure she wasn't ill. I asked for more prayer. I prayed and prayed. I napped when the kids were napping. I slacked on my devotions and Bible reading and would sleep instead.

I prayed often for strength. As I was praying a couple evenings ago I was reminded of how Jonathan encouraged David and helped him to find his strength in the Lord. This started me thinking.... If I am not in the Word of God on a daily basis, how can I find my strength in Him?

So back to my Bible I went. I'm getting caught up on the days I missed. I am back in my Bible study. I am so encouraged by the Scriptures. If you ever want to read an awesome "sermon" about our flesh versus the Spirit, just read Galatians chapters 5 and 6 out loud to yourself with passion in your voice.

And Maggie slept through the night last night for the first time in weeks. Thanks to all of you who have been praying. And thanks to my little girl, who through not sleeping for a few weeks taught her Mama that she is not perfect, far from super-mom, and needs Christ more than she needs sleep or a cup of coffee.

Now I just pray that the sleeping continues and I'll be thankful that I'm not walking through the desert with a crying baby like the Israelites, or worrying about high fevers and no doctors like mothers had to do 100 years ago (and still do in many third world countries). It's all about perspective, isn't it?