Big Blessings From Little Things

Each of my children are so very different. Where there's one who is interested in reading, there is another who doesn't care much for it. Where there is one who is interested in making sure not one ounce of bad bacteria lives in the kitchen and bathrooms, there is another interested in baking every sweet thing in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. This morning, I experienced opposites in a way that completely blessed my heart.

As we watched snow fall, my boys (ages 4, 7, and 12) got a notion to go outside on their first lesson break. I watched the excitement grow as they talked about tossing the football in the falling snow. My oldest son was probably the most excited about playing football in the snow but it didn't take long before he was able to draw the other two boys into his excitement.

Before our lessons were underway, I made my usual speech about sitting and listening attentively to earn their break after the lesson. Everyone sat up eagerly awaiting the lesson with great anticipation of going outside. Sure enough, about halfway into our lesson, I had to give my seven year old his first warning. Two minutes after, there came a first warning to my four year old and, within a twenty minute period, I had to take the break away from both boys.

Oh how my seven year old cried. I explained to him why I had to take away his break and he continued to whine in protest to my decision. He became more adamant that he didn't deserve the punishment and that he would never get to go outside. Quickly, I assured him that he was on his way, early, to losing any opportunity for the second break. The crying continued. On the other hand, my four year old looked at his older brother with a smile and said, "Well, Jordan, at least we have a chance to go outside the next break." He sat up with a bright smile and looked over at me.

What a refreshing opposite that was. Sometimes we need to have someone give us a brighter side to look at. We can get so wrapped up into the way things may look that we forget to see what good there is around the corner. I'm so thankful for these little boys. It's such a blessing that their differences can be such a blessing to one another, and even to the hearts of their mother.

How Could I Hate My Teenage Daughter

If you've ever seen the show, 'I Hate My Teenage Daughter,' you know it pretty much lives up to its title. The problem is that its filled with distasteful presuppositions that allude to mother daughter relationships being, well, hateful. The parents are all divorced, the teen children are completely disrespectful, and the parents appease the teens as though they're afraid of losing their children's 'friendship' for lack of better words. Relationships are challenging enough without the complications that come from shows such as 'I Hate My Teenage Daughter.' I'd just hate to imagine the impact that the show could have on impressionable young girls. This is far from what we should cultivate in our homes by any means.

And since when are we supposed to be friends with our children? We are first to train our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Training them in such a way yields children that we can one day befriend in their maturity. However, we cannot be expect to be friends with our children when they are still relying on us to train them to become the mature individuals they need to be as adults. Trying to mix a friendship and a parent/child relationship can easily result in very confused children who have trouble understanding when (and what) things are appropriate. It can explode in our faces as it may breed a lack of respect for authority.

I must say that I appreciate my teenage daughters. They have taken the best care of me since my c-section nearly three weeks ago. Between doing all the laundry, managing the cleaning, prepping meals, helping with the little ones and serving me hand and foot, they have been a true blessing. I have to include my almost teen son as well. They've all been so awesome. How could I possibly hate such precious blessings? Sure there are times when they make me want to scream but hate them? I appreciate them and I thank God he blessed me with them.

One day my relationship with my teenage daughters will change. They will become adults and will no longer need me to train them in diligence. Although I'm not rushing time, when it does come, our parent/child relationship will have the opportunity to blossom into an adult, mother/daughter, friendship but for now, I must be a parent to my children and train them to be what God says they should be.

I sure wish there could be more shows that reflect respectful, kind, and helpful children. Maybe it would encourage more children to view parental respect as more of the norm and not something out of the ordinary or dreadful. Maybe it would also discourage the disrespectful, abominable behavior such as what is portrayed in 'I Hate My Teenage Daughter.' Maybe it would (even slightly) impact the view of dysfunction and parental disrespect as the status quo for the parent/child relationship.

And Baby Makes Eleven

It's not always easy to listen to the negative comments of family members when you're expecting a baby that will exceed their idealistic view of what a proper family size should be. According to the 2011 census, the average home has 1.8 children, so I suppose I met society's quota 8 children ago. However, I've learned that these opinions are just opinions. We all have them yet some express them more than others.

After having been rushed to the emergency room facing the loss of my eighth child, I promised myself (and the Lord) that I'd never allow the opinions of others to dictate my feelings about bringing forth another child. I believe a child is truly given to us by the Lord, that the fruit of the womb is His reward, and that each child is like a mighty arrow in the hands of a warrior (Psalms 127:3-5). So when I birthed my eighth baby, I did so with an abundance of joy in the face of negative comments.

Not long after, I was blessed with another blessing from the Lord. What a wonderful blessing that was to find out, eight months later, that God saw fit to give us another child. All of the children were excited and I spent most of the nine months preparing for our newest arrival this month, knowing that it would be quite busy with a toddler and a newborn in our home.

Our baby Celina was born on January 9th by my first cesarean section (ouch). She was breech and rather than risk her health by doing a more complicated breech natural birth, my husband and I opted for the c-section. Celina was born healthy, praise God, and I'm happily recovering.

When I look at the joy that these little ones have brought to our lives, I can't help but get excited. God has blessed us so much in our undeserving natural state, and I have to be thankful to Him for choosing to bless us in this way. The comments that other people make are overshadowed by the joy of knowing that God has touched our lives with nine blessings, making our family a whopping 11 people. Looking at each one of them reminds me of what's more important and I'd have to say, it's not the opinions of others but the blessings of the Lord.