A Prayer for Parents

I wanted to share a prayer with you that has been dear to my heart over the last few weeks. I actually keep it posted in my planner and I carry it around in my purse, because it seems as though I have to refer to it quite often, especially when I start to feel like a failure as a parent. I don't know about you, but often I beat myself up over how I continually mess up as a parent. Sometimes it seems as though we are swimming upstream when it comes to parenting our kids in today's culture. I am realizing how I need to stay on my knees in prayer and rely on God.

As I was reading Focus on the Family Magazine the other day, I came across this article. It was taken from the "Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide" by Dr. James Dobson.

There's hardly a parent alive who does not have some regrets and painful memories of their failures as a mother or a father. Children are infinitely complex, and we can no more be perfect parents than we can be perfect human beings. The pressures of living are often enormous.

We get tired and irritated; we are influenced by our physical bodies and our emotions, which sometimes prevent us from saying the right things and being the models we should be. We don't always handle our children as unemotionally as we wish we had, and it's common to look back a year or two later and see how wrong we were in the way we approached a problem.

All of us experience these failures! No one does the job perfectly! That's why each of us should get alone with God and say:

Lord, You know my inadequacies. You know my weaknesses, not only in parenting, but also in every area of my life. I did the best I could, but it wasn't good enough. As You broke the fishes and the loaves to feed the 5,000, now take my meager effort and use it to bless my family. Make up for the things I did wrong. Satisfy the needs that I have not satisfied. Wrap Your great arms around my children, and draw them close to You. And be there when they stand at the great crossroads between right and wrong. All I can give is my best, and I've done that. Therefore, I submit to You my children and myself and the job I did as a parent. The outcome now belongs to You.

I know the Father will honor that prayer, even for parents whose job is finished. The Lord does not want you to suffer from guilt over events you can no longer influence. The past is the past. Let it die, never to be resurrected. Give the situation to God, and let Him have it. I think you'll be surprised to learn that you're no longer alone!

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phillipians 3:13-14).

Words of the Wise

Proverbs 22:17-19

17 Listen to the words of the wise;
apply your heart to my instruction.
18 For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart
and always ready on your lips.
19 I am teaching you today—yes, you—
so you will trust in the Lord.

Dear Friends,

As I continue to memorize Romans 12, God is showing me on a daily basis what it means to be a living sacrifice. These scriptures are becoming engraved on my heart as I have had several opportunities to share and teach these scriptures to my children in our day to day living (sleeping, eating, going-to-school, being on the basketball team, hanging out with friends, family life, chores, ordinary living). That is what it means to have it in your heart and ready on your lips. I especially love verses 9-21 in the Message version.

Romans 12:9-21 (The Message)

9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.


Have a Blessed Day!!

Prissy's First Day of Puppy Preschool

Today was Prissy's first day of Puppy Preschool.

This was just a bad hair day! We all have them.

Suffering for Doing Good

Doing the right thing is not always easy. People are not always going to agree with you or understand why you have to do what you do. But always keep your conscience clear by your tongue and your actions. Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

1 Peter 3:13-17 (New Living Translation)

Suffering for Doing Good

13 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

"Chicken Livers"

I found this poem the other day that I wrote when I was in highschool. It was a true story. When I was growing up I can remember my mom cooking chicken livers. I hated those things. Still do. So here it goes...

"Chicken Livers"

I hate their smell.

I hate their taste.

I hate the way they look.

I close my eyes and hold my nose

when they begin to cook.

I cry and fuss

and am threatened with a whippin.

But I stand back and shake my head.

It is a terrible waste of chicken.

I know that there are some of you out there that like those things and that is great. I am happy for you, but this is one thing that I won't make my kids eat.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails....that's what little boys are made of......hmmm! There may be a little more to it than that.

The other morning when I walked by my little boy's bedroom after he had headed off to first grade for the day, I was so impressed with his bed making skills. I stepped into his UK Kentucky Wildcat bedroom to admire how clean it was. But something that was sticking out from under the bed caught my eye. So I decided to do some motherly investigating to check out what was actually under there. Well low and behold....it wasn't just one thing, but several. Check out the pictures below. I just had to laugh and go get my camera to take some pics so that I could remember these little things.

His clean bedroom....not bad for a six year old.

This was everything that I raked out from under his bed.

Mr. Piggy Bank and His Player of the Game Ball

His Bible, Puppy Dog, and Superman Coloring Book

Sports Cards

One of his books

This is his blankey. It is in threads. Looks pretty bad. It has to be washed on a delicate cycle.

Remote control car and other stuffed animals

Left over mini muffins bag where he ate muffins and threw the bag under his bed to hide the evidence.

His first love... UK basketball. A magazine that his grandfather gave him so that he can learn the history of the Wildcats. Very important stuff.

Empty Nerds box....his favorite candy. Also some leftover Christmas candy. Note to mom...must not be his favorite or it would be gone. Miscellaneous sock....I find these all over the house. Doesn't surprise me.

Batman Laptop. Never know when you might need this in the middle of the night.

Money jars for his allowance.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes Magazine that features Sam Bradford
and a lightup matchbox car.

Just thought I would share. Can any of you moms out there relate?

A Cup of Tea, Please!

I wanted to share this little analogy with you about the Tea Cup by Donald S. Whitney. Since I collect tea cups and love drinking hot tea, it really helped me understand why scripture memory and meditating on God's Word was so important.

You are the cup of hot water and the intake of Scripture is represented by the tea bag. Hearing God's Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea's flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag. In this analogy, reading, studying, and memorizing God's Word are represented by additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more effect it has. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly tinctured reddish brown.