A New Perspective

This past Saturday, I went over to a friend's house and watched the Thrive Moms Retreat. The theme was "Warrior" based on Ephesians 6. 

I was excited about some girl time away from my toddler but, I hadn't really had time to prepare my heart and mind for anything more than a casual conversation. 

The week prior had been kind of tough on the home-front. I had been struggling with letting the little things get under my skin and then I would get angry with my sweet boy. I was finding myself getting very upset with him for stepping on my foot and causing me a small amount of pain or getting upset when he would stand near me and say, "Mommy, mommy...etc". I started to realize that I was being very unrealistic and ungrateful with an almost 2 year old. This made me very sad and concerned about my heart. I prayed that God would help me to have the self control that I needed so that I could handle these miniscule frustrations.

This retreat came at a fantastic time....

Heidi Weimer spoke about the "battle" we as moms face. The question she asked was "What is the battle?" She gave a few answers but the one that I knew the Lord wanted me to hear was, "the battle that we face is the one against our sanity (as moms)" She went on to say that "if Satan can get us to blow up and get very angry, he has won the battle." 

DING! DING! DING!  

The light bulb went off and I knew that God was telling me that I need to listen up to what else this awesome woman has to say because, the answer I was praying for just a few days prior was about to be revealed in the next few sentences... Heidi said, "We must choose to let the little things go," because, if we "are wasting our time dealing with and getting frustrated about those small things, we can't deal with and learn through the big things." 

Wow! I needed that. I needed to hear it put so plainly. 

She then went on to give a few examples in her own life about some of the bigger things she was referring to. She has 11, yes ELEVEN, kids. If she focused on all the little things and got irritated because it took 30 minutes to get shoes on one kid, she would go crazy by hour two of her day. Instead, she suggests that we focus on the important battles that have deeper roots, possibly even spiritual ones. 

She went on to say that God is our peace. In rough times, in easy times, He is the only One who can comfort us and give us a peace that passes all understanding. He is in control of our lives and knows the plans He has for us (Jer 29:11)

Heidi also said "God is not calling you to be a perfect mom, He is calling you to point your kids to a perfect Christ." 

Towards the end of her speech, we re-read Ephesians 6:12-13. She then pointed out that God calls us to continually put on the whole armor of God, throughout the day. Pray, repeat scripture and worship so that when you are attacked with the little things, you have the armor to fight it off.

I left my friend's house with a new perspective. I'm not going to tell you that I will NEVER get upset with the little things again but, I can tell you that I am going to try my best to show my child(ren) the love of Christ and that He is the only way I can get through anything. I want them to see Christ in my life. Praise God that He is in control and not me!

Baby, Life and Changes Part 2

So part 1 I talked all about our newest member of the family. Part 2 is about what happens next.

When my husband and I got married, we decided that I would be a stay at home mom. So I definitely looked forward to the day I would become pregnant. Well that day came and I was so excited to tell my employer that I would no longer be working for them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my job and my co-workers but, I had been looking forward to being a mom since I was a little girl. So we decided on a date for my last day and I thought I would be a lot more sad than I actually was. I had a little over a month to prepare for the baby and man did I have a lot to do! (Don't wait until your 9th month to start working on the nursery.) For the last month of my pregnancy I mostly slept and ate and ate some more... :) Then our boy was born and I had something to do during the day. It is so wonderful. I cleaned a lot before he was born and got organized and I am slowly getting back into that (2 months later). I was not prepared for how hard the sleepless nights were/are. (I really enjoy my sleep.) We are blessed with a really good baby. He is just learning to talk and laugh and, despite what the doctor says, I believe he is teething at 9 weeks. We started cloth diapering at 1 month old and I really enjoy it. We are also using cloth wipes part time. I am trying to use more natural products rather than ones filled with all kinds of chemicals. So far, 2 months into it, I am REALLY enjoying being a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong, I have some days where I want to pull my hair out, but most of the time it is truly wonderful.

Baby, Life and Changes Part 1

So it has been quite a while since my last post. In the last year, I have had a baby, quit my job and began a lifestyle change. I'm sure you want to hear about all of these things so I will start with the first thing...

Baby: Let me start this topic from the "top". October 31,2011 I found out that I had some very large ovarian cysts. Endometriosis runs in my family and it was only a matter of time before I would get it. So the next step was to monitor the cysts and get rid of them (they were causing a lot of pain). So Feb 9 I had surgery to remove them. 4 weeks later I had an ultrasound to see how I was healing. When they looked at my ovaries, the Doctor saw 2 cysts bigger than the ones they removed. So I went to a specialist and they recommended I go on a drug to suppress the production of estrogen in my body for a while. My husband and I prayed about it and didn't feel real comfortable with that option. I was scheduled for a pre-op appointment toward the end of May. On May 26 I took a pregnancy test and found out we were expecting. That was an AWESOME feeling. This little child would help my body heal and get rid of the cysts. So, they monitored my cysts in the beginning and saw that they were going away. Fast foreword 9 months... On Jan 29 we welcomed our sweet boy to this world. When they were delivering the baby, the doctor noticed that my cysts were completely gone. I was so happy to hear that. My husband and I cannot be more excited and happy about our new status as parents.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3...