Just The Beginning

It's Christmas time, so we love to talk about Jesus' Birth-Let's start by reading that story in the Bible

Jesus’ Birth:

Read Luke 2:1-20

Jesus is the ultimate gift-Why?

            -B/c he is fully God and full man!

At Christmas we focus on His birth, but that’s just the beginning of the story.  His perfect life without sin, death on the cross, and resurrection are what make him our Savior.

Read Mark 15:22-37

If His death was the end of the story, Jesus wouldn’t be our Messiah, so let’s see what happens next.

Read Matthew 28:1-10

So you see, that sweet baby in a manager was just the start of the Christmas story and miracle!

People often say that Jesus is the greatest gift of Christmas-that is true, but what He gave us by being human, dying on the cross, and raising from the dead, those are the real gifts we should be sharing with others at Christmas: Forgiveness and Eternal Life

Coffee Filter:

Here’s my soul-it starts out clean and fresh, but soon I start sinning

What are some sins we all do on a regular basis? (Write the sins they name on the coffee filter in WASHABLE marker)

Now it’s dirty and I can’t wipe these off myself (get out a rag/napkin and try to wipe the words off)

The only thing that can truly get these sins from my soul is the blood of Jesus (take cup with red-food coloring dyed water and pour it over the filter slowly)

(Hold up the coffee filter) See, the sins are gone! Also, if I were to dry this filter back out, would it ever be white again? Why not? B/c once you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and have faith that He will do that, you belong to him forever.  AND you will have eternal life with him forever. 

Closing prayer.

What is that Brown Stuff on your hand?!

 

We LOVE Nutella in our house-it borders obsession really, so we eat it in some form or another pretty much every day! I don’t pretend to believe that’s good for me, but man, it just tastes SO good no matter what you put it on!

Anyway, it was a normal Tuesday morning-getting up early to get Natalie ready for school.  She asked for Nutella with toast on it-yea, I wrote that correctly, after all, it’s the Nutella that’s the important part! So I get her the Nutella with toast on it and give Annie, my 2 year old, a bowl of cereal, as per her request.  I always wanted to be one of those “hot breakfast every morning” moms, but well, cold cereal and toast is where we’ve landed, and I am totally fine with that-oh the grand ideas you have BEFORE you actually have kids!

The girls finish their breakfast and we’re off to get Natalie to school.  On the way, I hear the girls giggling in the backseat b/c Annie keeps “Ripping-one” (thanks Grandpa for teaching her that!) and is going poop in her diaper-For my regular readers, I told you I’d end up back in the bodily fluids genre sooner or later! They’re laughing at every little noise that Annie is now making a good effort to squeeze out.  I had to laugh along, kid’s giggles are just too sweet, no matter what their reason!

As we pull in to Natalie’s school, she begins to yell “EWWWW!” I asked what was the matter and she explained that Annie somehow ended up with poop on her hand.  I get Natalie out of the car and investigate this brown substance on Annie’s hand-just as I turn to grab a wipe, she shoves her hand in her mouth and says, “It’s OK, Mommy, No, poop, just Nutella like Natalie’s breakfast!”.  I am paralyzed with disgust, but before I can yank her hand out of her mouth, the mysterious brown substance is already licked clean, with Annie making a weird face, but still saying, “YUUUUUMMMM!” 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Kids are GROSS!! If it was Nutella, how on earth did Annie get it on her hand? She ate cereal, so that means she would have been playing with Natalie’s mouth? I guess, I don’t know.  If it was poop-Nope! Can’t even go there with my brain! I guess we’ll never know if it was poop or Nutella-the evidence seems clear, but with toddlers is anything ever really what it seems? In this case, I choose to believe that Annie’s love for Nutella trumped her grossness….Either way, I’m still shuddering with a BIG case of the Yuckies over this one!

Holiday Traditions

My kids are starting to get to the ages (2 and 4 years old) where I'm dying to start traditions that will last a lifetime-you know the kind that they remember forever and do with their own children someday.  That's a pretty tall order when you start surfing the internet for "Family Holiday Traditions"....as a matter of fact, in first 30 seconds of seeing all the amazing things people do, I shut my computer and resigned to the thought that there is NO way I could do any of those on a regular basis and still make happy memories!

My husband and I have been married for 8 Christmases-each year has brought something completely new, surprising, and unforeseen the previous year.  I won't bore you with the details, but in the past 5 years we've moved across the country twice, had 2 of our own kids, been blessed with 2 nephews and 1 niece, and lived in 5 houses (all in different states!).  This Christmas we are in Tampa, Florida, but only until January.  If you'd asked me last year where we'd be doing Christmas 2013, I would have said my family would be coming to our house in Maryland to celebrate all together.  Nope, not even close!

I'm not complaining, but rather making an observation that so many of us try to avoid, hide from, or simply don't notice: Life is constantly changing! It seems so obvious when you say it like that.  But when you think about holiday traditions and where you'll be with family next year, it's easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle and focus on what the plan is for the next thing, rather than enjoying the now!

So, as I'm looking at starting some holiday traditions that my little ones will cherish, I am reminded that the needs of others is something we can always help to meet-so we go to the store, the kids each pick their favorite toy and give it to some organization helping families/kids who wouldn't otherwise have anything.  We read the Christmas Story and talk about Jesus Birth.  We go to the Candle light service on Christmas Eve and come home to unwrap new jammies and watch "The Christmas Toy".  We make an expertly decorated (by my 2 and 4 year olds) Birthday Cake for our infant Savior and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus on Christmas morning. 

These are simple things, but when I think about the holiday, wasn't Jesus' birth in the most simple circumstance, really?  I'm so thankful that during this Christmas Season, in our ever-changing lives, Christ is never changing! When I wake up on Christmas morning and enjoy watching my toddlers in the magic of the holiday moment, I will remember that this is a day that God has given me to cherish b/c those two most precious gifts from him will never be this age again!

I would love to hear what Holiday Traditions your family has that you just LOVE :)

Be Faithful AND Thankful

As I was standing in front of my refrigerator this morning, hemming and hawing about what to eat, I was reminded of a memory from my childhood.

I was 8 years old and we had just moved.   My parents built a gorgeous, brand new house in Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful Cape cod, with amazing space to play, a swing set in the backyard, and a lake just a short bike ride away.  It was my mother’s dream house!

Being the Godly people they are, my parents followed God’s calling away from their dream home to  Michigan.  We had been unable to sell the dream house, so having to make that house payment meant sacrifices were made until we had the money to buy something more permanent.  

We’d been living in Michigan for a while and one day we opened the fridge to find a hot box full of warm food-YIKES! That night at dinner, my parents explained we had no money to fix the fridge, and we were going to have to pray that God would provide.  We didn't ask God to give us a new fridge, we prayed that He would PROVIDE for us.  We all went to bed wondering how our faith would manifest itself.

We woke up the next morning to snow on the ground and lots of it! My mother said THIS was God’s provision we'd prayed for.  As an 8 year old sitting at the breakfast table, I really thought mom was losing it.  How is snow God’s answer to our prayers?  She took out a cooler and made us follow her outside.  She took that cooler and filled it up with snow, put in the gallon of milk, placed the top on and marched us back inside. 

We all sat around the table and praised God for His provision and answer to our prayers! That winter we prayed for snow every day and for 3 months we always had enough snow to keep our food cold in that cooler on the deck.  It was one of the snowiest winters in Michigan's history!  By the time Spring came around, God had sold that dream house in Wisconsin and we were able to buy a  working fridge.

Today God reminded me to be thankful because He always sees our need and will always provide.  I am also abundantly thankful for my parent’s Godly instruction! My mother was so faithful that she saw God's answer to prayer even though it wasn't in the form we expected.  

So this Thanksgiving, don’t forget to be thankful for the little things and the ways, however unexpected, God provides for you and your family!

I've Got All the Pieces

 

This past weekend we went to the Lego Store.  They have anything and everything you could possibly think of in Lego form.  My husband loves Legos and my 4 year old, Natalie, wants to be a part of that b/c she is a Daddy’s girl to the core.  

We got in the car and Natalie pulled out the Lego Christmas Catalog they gave her.  She began flipping through and talking about how cool all the large castles, pretty cars, and neat spaceships were.  After about 15 minutes of perusing, she said, “Oh, you have to build it?!”  All I could do was laugh! Of course you have to build it, silly girl!

While thinking about that, God put a thought into my head.  Natalie’s realization that the Lego sets don’t come pre-built is the same realization I often need in my walk with Him. You see, I look at the box with the completed picture and of course that’s what I want for my life.  A want a full, intimate relationship with my Savior with Heavenly Glory beyond my imagination!

But then I open the box and find pieces….The Holy Spirit, The Bible, Worship, My Church Community, so on....Hmmm, this doesn’t look like the picture AT ALL! Why, b/c I have to build it.  I want the picture on the box and God has given me all the pieces, the instruction manual, and He's even there to guide me.  So what’s the problem? Well, in my life, it’s me! I look at the picture of completion longingly, but look at the pieces and steps with disdain.  I want that intimate relationship with my Savior and my full-on, Heavenly Glory right now.  I don’t want to have to study the word, pray, serve, and wait to get what God has for me.

I’m selfish, impatient, but mostly I'm just plain human.  I want things to be easy, but God did not call Christians to easy! Quite the opposite. He calls us to follow Him and actually guarantees that the path will be hard.  So I give my longing heart over to God, get on my knees, and know that putting those pieces together won’t always be easy, but I don’t have to do it alone! When I reach Him in Heavenly Glory I want my life to match His picture of completeness for me, then my joy really will be complete.

I challenge you to step back and ask God what pieces you are struggling with.  I am  asking him to help me stop and wait for His instructions.  I want to use all of the pieces He’s given me for the purpose He has!

Psalm 25:5

 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.

Goofy Expectations...

As parents we have expectations of our children.  Some of these expectations are spoken and clearly communicated.  Like when you tell your child they must be respectful to their teacher.  Other expectations, however, are not as clearly communicated and can lead to unfair disappointment in your child’s actions or reactions to a situation. 

I had this experience a few weeks ago when we went to Disney World.  We scheduled a meal with the characters.  It was something I always wanted to do, so now that I’m the mommy who makes the plans, I get to do it! We chose a breakfast with the classic Disney Characters-Mickey, Donald, etc.

Goofy is my favorite! I’m one of those nerds that still has the Goofy hat, slippers, and clock I bought at Disney when I was 10.  We hadn’t been able to see Goofy in any of our character encounters thus far, but he was going to be at breakfast! In preparation for the upcoming meeting with my most favorite character, we watched all the movies we could find with Goofy, talked about how cool he is, and even talked about how exciting it will be to meet him. 

We get to the morning of the breakfast and I’m like a 3 year old on Christmas-totally ecstatic, all I could talk about was how we were finally going to meet Goofy today.  We are seated at our table and the characters start coming around one at a time.  Donald was first.  Both the girls jumped out of their seats for a photo, excitedly handed their autograph books to him, and were delighted to blow him kisses as he said goodbye. 

Next up: Goofy! (I was beside myself with joy that my kids would soon get to see why I think he's so awesome!) He comes to the table and Annie TOTALLY flipped out, but not in the amazingly ecstatic way I’d been prepping her.  She jumped into my arms and began screaming, “NOOOOO!!!” Now, she’s 2, I get it, he’s big.  BUT we’ve seen TONS of characters and this is the first time she’s reacted negatively.  I tried to gently pursuade her that Goofy was fine, but to no avail.  After taking a picture of Natalie and Goofy (the one above!), he was on his way.  Annie was immediately at ease again and spent the rest of the breakfast cheerfully greeting Mickey, Daisy, Minnie, AND Pluto (?!)

Like I said before, I know this is a normal reaction for a 2 year old, you just never know what you’re going to get with them sometimes.  So why was I so disappointed? B/c I made the parenting mistake of imposing an unspoken, selfish expectation on Annie's reaction.  She knew I was excited to meet Goofy, but had no idea that my positive experience was based on her reaction to this big, scary dude in a costume! If I was being honest, I hadn't really thought about it that way until that moment either!

As I began to ponder this, I realized how unfair it is to my children.  They are their own people. God created them to be unique and take in the world in their own way, not mine.  With little kids I think we too often forget that.  It's OK for them to dislike something-they are little people with real personalities that cue their preferences.  I’m not saying that we should never have expectations of our children.  What I am saying is as a parent, I need to be asking myself a few very important questions. 

The first: Is this expectation selfish? More specifically, Am I just expecting they act a certain way b/c I want to be fulfilled or satisfied in my own experience?

The second: Are my expectations clearly verbally communicated ahead of time? 20 minutes into the church service my 4 year old starts talking and I get upset/scold her, but I didn’t tell her beforehand that she would be expected to sit quietly until the service was done-that's an unfair scolding b/c I didn't effectively communicate that expectation with her!

The third: Is this expectation realistic for my kid to succeed at? I can expect my 2 year old to be able to sit through a 4 hour Bible Study and explain to her that she is to sit quietly the whole time, but at 2 years old, even if she really wanted to, she just isn’t old enough to pull that off, plain and simple! 

Clearly, my desire for Annie to love Goofy was just plain selfish.  That being said, I enjoyed our breakfast anyway! Annie keeps talking about how neat it was to meet Goofy, so apparently in her mind, he’s a pretty cool character….from a distance! 

This is a good lesson no matter how old your kids are.  From now on, I encourage you (I'm going to do it too!) to try to keep my expectations clear and fair so my kids can be who God created them to be as they encounter all that this world has to offer. 

Picture Perfect Picnic...Not Quite!

We were in the park enjoying a real “movie moment” type picnic.  The girls and I were sitting in our cute outfits on a cute little blanket looking at all the adorable birds flying by-this is the stuff that wins “Mommy of the Year Awards”, people! But, in true Kim fashion, our moment of glorious perfection was quickly dashed, but not by what you might think. 

For my regular readers, I know you’re thinking this moment MUST have been interrupted by someone’s horrible bodily fluid explosion.  Surprisingly, you’re wrong (just wait a few days, I’m sure there will be another “poop post” soon, it’s never too far off with toddlers, that’s for sure!) No, today’s culprit was a squirrel.  I know, sounds ridiculous, what could a sweet, little rodent possibly do to unravel this perfect moment? Well this was no ordinary squirrel, not ordinary at all!

This squirrel was larger than most, about the size of a small puppy.  In Florida, that’s not really too unusual. The weather is nice all year, so I assume that means they don’t have to store away for the Winter, meaning they have an entire extra season to hang out and eat bread from old people-not a bad gig, if you ask me. 

Anyway, so this “larger than normal” squirrel spots our picture perfect picnic and begins to bounce his fluffy, evil, little tail in our direction.  I love animals as much as the next girl, but don’t feed the wild ones. I remember learning in 2^nd grade Science that feeding wild animals messes up their natural ecosystem and I don’t want to be personally responsible for too many uneaten acorns in the world, so I will NOT feed the squirrel.  Please don’t nominate me for any environmental awards, I’m simply doing my part. 

The squirrel sees that I see him-we make full eye contact.  I believe my eyes are communicating, “No food here, Buddy”  He believes my eyes are communicating, “Come on over, I packed some for you too!”  Clearly, I need to work on my squirrel whispering skills.  Now Mr. Squirrel is in a full on sprint towards our picnic.  I stand up to scare him away, but to no avail.  My “lovey eyes” from earlier have apparently removed any possible fear of me he may have had-UGH!

Still, not a big deal, it’s just a squirrel.  Then my girls see him and totally freak out.  By freak out, I don’t mean they scream or stand up.  No, they full-on run in the other direction, as if they saw a bull charging the picnic.  They get about 15 feet away and begin crying and screaming.  Now, everyone in the park who was just admiring our amazingly serene picnic is staring at my kids wondering who those little weirdos belong to. 

At first I was angry, but they were right to be afraid of this squirrel-he got right up on the blanket, despite me actually physically swatting him away.  After I realized I was losing this battle, I walked over to the girls, and we all sat and watched as the squirrel ate the rest of our grapes, cookies, and cheese.  As we were sitting watching this little terror eat our lunch, a sweet older lady came over and said, “Oh, that’s Squeaks, He’s terrible-he steals from everyone AND he bites! Animal control keeps removing him, but he always finds his way back here!”  We were just latest victims of Squeaks the evil, biting, food-stealing squirrel.  

When he was done, we picked up our mess and were on our way.  We’ll try again another day, probably not at Squeaks’ park!  I guess that’s just how life works, you get a few rare moments of picture perfectness and the rest of life is figuring out what to do with the crazy stuff that happens all around you!

The Happiest Place on Earth?

We just got back from a long weekend at Disney World, Ah, The Happiest Place On Earth, filled with crowds of people, long lines for everything, and crying children around every corner.  I’m starting to understand why “Happiest Place on Earth” is self proclaimed by Disney-I didn’t see many parents this weekend waiting in line for 45 minutes to meet a the 18^th character of the day who looked like they were indeed in the happiest place on earth.  So, what’s a mom to do? Well, since we live close to Disney, we’ve spent a lot of time there over the past few months.  There is a “rule” I have that I use, no matter where I am, to govern when my kids are throwing a fit (just for the sake of throwing a fit) versus being genuinely tired b/c it’s been a long day!

The rule is simple-If we’re at the first stop of the day, whether it be the grocery store or the Dumbo ride, and we have a meltdown-that’s my kid being bratty.  If it’s the 5^th stop of the day, we’re getting close to naptime, but I just HAD to stop one last place and they flip out, that’s MY FAULT for not recognizing my kids’ limits. 

We were enjoying a lovely day at the most magical of Disney’s Parks, the Magic Kingdom.  We stopped in front of Cinderella’s castle to get that iconic picture.  My 4 year old decided she didn’t want to have her picture taken.  My 4 year old who dressed up like a princess EVERY DAY is standing in front of the most princessy place on the planet, refusing to smile, seriously?!

Now, at this point, this behavior is not b/c we’ve been the park all day, she’s tired, or we’ve pushed to do too much.  Nope, she’s just choosing to be a brat, so for this we threaten punishment. I know, we’re horrible people for punishing a child at Disney World, but I’d rather be a horrible person and a good parent, than a great person with kids turning into real brats even when we’re not at Disney. So we let her know that if she doesn’t look at the camera AND smile for the picture, we will not be going to see Jessie (from Toy Story who she was dressed up to meet).  After a sassy moment of thinking (she was trying to decide in her head if that was a threat we’d really enforce) she came to the conclusion that she should do what we wanted so she could get what she wanted. 

Fast forward 8 hours: Still in the park and waiting to meet Aladdin and Jasmin (we did A LOT of waiting to see our most favorite friends) and Annie, our 2 year old, just kinda lost it.  She was hanging on the ropes in the line, trying to swing like the monkey she is, and I told her to stop.  She then throws herself on the floor and begins to scream…Yup, Happiest Place on Earth.  I picked her up and just let her cry it out.  So why didn’t she get punished for throwing a fit? Well, it’s very simple: at that point it was me as the mommy pushing the limits.  We’d been in the park all day, she’d had an insufficient 30 minute, head-bobbing, half-nap in the stroller, and it was nearing dinner time.  So I recognized that it was me causing this fit, not her.   

Now, I know some of you might be thinking it’s never ok for a child to throw a fit.  That’s just plain not true.  It’s never fun or comfortable for me when my kids throw a fit, but sometimes it’s warranted.  I’m not psychologist or doctor, but I’ve noticed something as a mom:  Kids don’t have the social acumen to understand it’s not Ok to throw yourself on the ground when you are frustrated.  That’s what we as parents are supposed to teach them.

 It’s in our sin nature to be selfish, to demand what we want, and to do anything we can to get what we want.  It’s with training, both social and spiritual, that we learn how to act without crying and ending up on the floor. Let’s be honest, I was sick of being there at that moment too-I was annoyed that people in front of us had 1 person waiting in line and when it was their turn 10 more people all with separate autograph books and cameras just showed up and HAD to get their picture taken with Aladdin and Jasmin.  I too would have liked to throw myself on the floor and say “This isn’t fair! It’s MY turn” So I get it when my 2 year old who hasn’t learned how to control that reaction wants to throw a fit.

That being said, this is still a very teachable moment.  So I picked Annie up and explained that it was their turn.  When they were done, we could go give Jasmine a big hug and take a picture, but right now we had to be patient and wait.  She tearfully said, “Ok, mommy, I be patient”. 

Sometimes as moms we get so worried about what the people around us might think about how we parent, that we do whatever we can to stop the fit.  After all, it’s damaging to our egos! No one wants to be the mom with the annoying screaming kid.  It’s true, sometimes (more often than I would like) my kids are just throwing the typical bratty kid fit-and that needs to be met with a swift response and appropriate punishment.  But sometimes they are just trying to say, “Mommy, I’m tired, it’s been a long day, please give me a break!” they just don’t know how!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Disney World-it’s magic, wonder, AMAZING customer service.  But I also know that we have limits, so we take in the most magic we can possibly stand and leave while we’re still full of wonder and joy, instead of crying and frustration! It’s important thing to remember no matter where you’re heading with those little ones today!

I Got This....

I’m what some people (my husband, namely!) would call an excessive planner- I like to know what’s going on next, where we’re going to be, what we’re going to be doing, how long it’s going to take, how many changes of underpants are required, what snacks to bring, and any and all possible roadblocks that might derail the aforementioned answers.

It was the week before I was going solo with the kids on a 22 hour road trip to meet my husband in Florida where he's working temporarily.  Everything was falling into place and I was ready to take on a task I thought would be relatively easy: putting on the rooftop carrier.  My wonderful husband usually does this, but since he’d left 6 weeks earlier, it was on me and I was going in with the ultimate, She-Hulk, I got this, amazing wife attitude….

I have a small SUV-it’s actually more like a station wagon-but it has a sunroof, which really ups the "cool factor"! I hoisted the carrier up onto the top of my roof rack.  So far, so good! Then I opened it so I could secure the hardware to the roof rack.  You guessed it, that’s when things got complicated! I couldn’t get the hardware secured around my roof rack, so I figured if I climbed onto the roof, put my body partially inside the plastic top carrier, I could get a better look.  Did I mention my driveway is a hill?!  Sounds foolproof, right?!

Just as I straddled the hood of my car and climbed up the windshield, the top carrier slipped.  I grabbed it and in the process, flipped off the front of my car. At this very moment, my sundress found it’s way from conservatively below the knees, to completely over my head (yes, I was THAT confident, that I was doing all of this in a dress).  Everyone on the block was now seeing MUCH more than usual while walking their dogs, riding their bikes, and playing with their children-let’s just say, I don’t think I’ll be getting Christmas cookies from the neighbors this year!

After dusting myself off and reclaiming the smallest shred of dignity I had left (I know, I had no dignity at all, but I was pretending I did so I still appeared to be in control of the situation, so sad!) I got the roof carrier secured and loaded.  It was at this moment, I wish I had asked someone for some help instead of insisting that I could do this myself!

That story is the perfect example of how I all too often say to God, “I made a plan, so I got this! I’ll call you when it’s something I REALLY can’t handle, but until then, I don’t really need you today!”

The part I so often miss in my fleshly pursuit of control is that God WANTS me to ask Him for help! His plans are abundantly better than anything I could think or imagine (Eph. 3:20) So why do I continue to work so hard to just fulfill my mediocre plans when I can have His Abundance Plan?

In my life, this will always be a challenge b/c we’re constantly on the move, but for those of you who may never move to a new place, I challenge you to stop and ask God to reveal His Abundance Plan in your life! Don’t get so caught up in the planning and listing, instead get caught up in the praying and watching. 

His word Says: (1 John 5:14-15)

¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

WELLLLL, Poop!

I realize that a lot of my stories revolve around misplaced bodily fluids-believe me, if I had a choice, that wouldn’t be such a prevalent topic, but with toddlers, well, that’s what happens.  I love them more than I could express, but kids are gross.  I am convinced that God makes them cute so we forget how yucky they are!

I repeatedly tell my husband that I can’t wait for the day when mine is the only bowel movement in the house I have to be concerned with-those will be glorious, poop-free days, but until then, I shall plug my nose, avert my squeamish eyes, and power through….or so I tell myself every time I start to smell something funky brewing!

On this particular day my sister and her family were visiting.  I have a 3 year old nephew, Caleb, who is very sweet.  My daughter, Natalie, and him just love playing together-they are funny and when I see them it reminds me of my sister and I playing when we were little. 

After playing all morning, Caleb was ready for a nap-he’s an extraordinary sleeper (I’m SUPER jealous b/c my Natalie hasn’t napped since she was about 13 months old).  After about 2 hours, we began to hear him stirring in Natalie’s room.  I went up to check on him and that’s when I saw something so hilarious and gross at the same time I didn’t even know what to say….

He was sitting on the step stool, reading a book, with his pants at his ankles, pooping through the hole in said step stool-I asked what he was doing and he said, “I had to poop in the potty”.  He was being toilet trained on one of those little plastic potties that sits on the floor, so this stepstool was confusing-it was plastic, on the floor, and had a hole in it-It was practically BEGGING to be pooped in, really!

So my obvious response was to simply laugh out loud-I mean, if it was my kid, I would have to be the questioning, scolding, responsible one, but since I’m the cool aunt (yes, self proclaimed) I could react the exact way I wanted to-then call HIS mom to deal with the poop! I know, not very sisterly, but lets face it, I shovel enough of my own kids’ poop (both literally and figuratively) it was someone else's turn and the selfish part of me was happy to see I’m not the only one!!

As a mom, I often feel like I must be the only mom ever forced to deal with the yuckiness that comes along with little kids-as if mine are just exceptionally more gross than others!   This was a good reminder that we ALL have to deal with this kind of stuff! We’re all in it together, so if you make it through the day without the inevitable “poop storm”, be thankful and then think of me, b/c if it’s not your day, that probably means it’s mine!

It takes more than a village, It takes a Savior!

I’m constantly hearing, “it takes a village to raise a child”.  Now with my own kids, I appreciate help, but I feel like it is mine (and my husband’s) responsibility to be the main influences in our children’s lives while they are growing up.  There is nothing wrong with receiving help from others-we LOVE when a friend or family member invests time in building up our kids. We really appreciate the teachers at our daughter’s school, too, but someday I will be standing before God answering for how I raised my children and I don’t want Him to say that I missed out because I let the “village” raise them for me!

It was a cold day, so the kids and I decided to take a trip to the mall.  We were playing a fun game where my 4 year old lead the way through the winding aisles.   It was a great outing-until an unsuspecting store worker came by with the pallet of death! Ok, maybe a little bit of an overstatement, but with the reaction and winning “mommy moment” that follows, I wanted to DIE!

We’re weaving through the aisles and I see a large pallet of merchandise coming our way.  I quickly tell my 4 year old to move-somehow her hearing is magically gone-amazing how if you whisper the words “ice cream” from 3 rooms away they hear you, but when you’re standing next to them, nothing.  One more time I told her to move, again, nothing.  So, I gently grabbed her arm and guided her out of the way. 

That’s when it happened-she yelled “No, Mommy!” and full-on SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE! What?! Only really bad moms get slapped in the face! Surely, this is not happening to me AND in a very public place…

Immediately a thought popped into my head (from the Holy Spirit I’m sure, b/c in moments I’m at my worst my human nature says, “Hey, Kim, just walk away and pretend they are someone else’s kids until they stop crying”-don’t judge, I know you’ve thought that about your kids at some point too!)

The thought was this: “You don’t need a village, you need a savior!” I’ve been a Christian for a long time-I don’t need to say the prayer of salvation again in  the middle of this, so what is this to mean? Quite simply it means that I need God to inform my parenting-I need to pause, and ask for HIS help.  I have found that means ignoring my human desire to be angry, frustrated, or embarrassed and IMMEDIATELY start praying over my children.  I pray they will hear the words and see the actions they need FROM GOD through me in that moment.  

I literally stop in the middle of wherever I am and begin to pray-not necessarily out loud, although you can! And every time it puts my human nature in check, puts God in charge, and gives me a moment to realize this too will pass!

In that moment, I prayed for 5 seconds while putting my daughter back into the stroller.  After just that quick prayer, my ego (which was damaged and seeking some type of human response to save face) was back in check.   I explained her behavior was unacceptable and we were leaving immediately.  She then began to cry, contort herself in the stroller, and scream “I HATE you, Mommy” all the way out of the store. With my Spirit-led calm, I walked her out to the car without feeling frustrated or even embarrassed.

 At home she was finally calm enough for a real conversation, God was able to speak through me to my daughter as I explained the severity of hitting mommy and dispensed the appropriate punishment.

As you find yourself in those inevitable moments of what I call Parenting Ego Checks, remember, it’s not the village you need, we are all fallen, weak, and human.  What you really need is your Savior!

I encourage you to memorize this verse so in those moments, the Spirit will lead you to prayer, rather than your human response.

Psalm 50:15

“Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."

Also, don’t forget to give God the glory, no matter what the situation!

Just Be a Kid Today!

Me (age 5) With my family :)

Many of you probably had “that toy” when you were little, you know, the one that was just more special that the others-your unrivaled favorite.  I enjoyed playing house with all my dolls, but none more than my Cabbage Patch Boy, Andy.  I saved up all of my money to buy him myself.  I even sent in his “official” adoption forms so I would get a certificate saying I was Andy’s “real” mom.

 Last year my parents drove to my house and brought a large box full of my childhood toys and in that box was my precious Andy with all of his clothes and his “official” adoption certificate.  Upon the sight of all these things, memories flooded my mind.  I truly loved Andy-he was my son.  I couldn’t wait to finish school so I could go home to him and we could play together.  I spent as much time as I could holding him, loving him, and enjoying him.  It sounds silly to say now, but the innocence of my childhood playing with Andy was so wonderful.

Those days of playing, however, have long past, and now life is full of all those adult things to do.  It seems like in today’s world there’s an expectation to be “Super Mom”.  We should be able to do all things and still look cute, maintain our sanity, and never grow tired.  I often find myself checking in on Facebook or Pintrest and instantly feeling inferior-It seems like all of my friends have perfect kids, clean houses, matching outfits, and gorgeous hair and make-up when my biggest accomplishment of the day is changing from one set of pajamas to another.

I’m not upset with others for doing well, I’m blaming myself for looking at it incorrectly.  God gave me my life-a life that I’m thankful for and love very much! Everyone has tough days and that’s OK-the trick is not letting Satan take those tough days and use them to make you feel that you’re anything less than God’s amazing creation.  No, I’m not perfect, but b/c I have Jesus, I don’t need to be!  All I need to do is ask and God will be my strength, my patience, and my encouragement.  

I get caught up in the “to-do” lists, the piles of laundry, the demands of the world.  I forget what it means to stop and completely focus on the beauty of my own children’s childhoods.  I often hear about how quickly it all passes.  Before I know it my children won’t be kids anymore and I will be longing for those sweet snuggles, requests that I play, and silly laughs at the little things.  I forget that they are God’s creation too-and I need to spend the time He’s given me with them, not with piles of dirty dishes!

So today, I encourage you, Mommies, let the lists go-stop worrying about the chores, the errands, and the stresses of adult life.  Ask God to be your strength, patience, and encouragement.  Take time to stop and enjoy childhood again with your own kids!

One thing that helps me do this is praying scripture for myself and my kids-here is my prayer for today-I encourage you to try this too! There is nothing more powerful than speaking God’s promises over your life and your family to remind you about what’s really important today!

This verse is a prayer/praise to God from the people of Israel-As Christians we are now God’s chosen people, so this is amazingly powerful when you plug in your own name, family, or children and pray this aloud back to God!

1 Kings 8:57-60
⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with NATALIE as he was with our fathers; may he never leave HER nor forsake HER. ⁵⁸May he turn NATALIE’S heart to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave HER fathers. ⁵⁹And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of ME, his servant and the cause of NATALIE according to each day's need, ⁶⁰so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.

Just 2, Huh?!

Our family moves around a lot.  With all of that moving comes meeting new people.  That inevitably leads to the obligatory “Getting to know you” small talk.  I actually love to meet new friends and love talking to people (those of you who know me well, know what I’m sayin here!) Anyway, as we’ve encountered some of these new people, I’ve found myself overwhelmingly annoyed by their response to my statement about how many kids I have. 

Many of you now must be thinking I’m one of you amazing women who have like 6 kids AND her sanity-while I immensely respect you mommies of multitudes, I am not one.  So now you must really be wondering what I’m talking about.

Well, in the past few years our family has expanded from 1 child to 2 children and apparently having 2 kids is just no big deal.  I can’t tell you how many times in our meeting new people, during the “getting to know you” small talk I’ve said, “We have 2 girls” and received the response-“Oh, only 2?” followed up with, what I consider MUCH more than “getting to know you” small talk,  “So are you having more?” As if 2 just isn’t impressive enough to have mentioned or we are expected to have more, b/c 2 is just not enough to keep busy (yet somehow they managed to keep me mighty busy!)

Now, let’s be clear, I have often jokingly asked my sisters, my cousins, and even my friends, “So when are you trying for another munchkin?” I am not offended so much by the question itself, but rather the implication it carries in the context above.   Perhaps what is even worse is that this response has been from people who also have kids.  I was always under the impression that 2 kids was just “the norm” (not that that has anything to do with why we have 2), but apparently the larger family is on the rise with our generation.  I fully support the idea of larger families, but more importantly I embrace the idea of each family making a God-lead decision about what’s right for them without judgment (especially from other Christians!)

As a military wife I’m expected to have it all together, handle anything from a deployment to moving 1,000 miles with a child, while pregnant over the Christmas holiday (yes, we’ve done that-I don’t recommend it!).  So in that context, quite obviously 2 kids is easier than say 3-4.   That being said, it’s not a competition, point system, or battle to see who is more woman amongst us b/c they have the biggest entourage (that’s what I call my little ones for fun when they are in tow!)

But 2 kids is a lot-Shoot, 1 kid is a lot! Having a child changes everything and having 2 kids changes it again, and 3 again, and so-on.  My fellow mommies know that kids can be all-consuming.  They require tons of  love and attention.  Even on the good days, they still change the way you do everything-not in a bad way, but life is VASTLY different once you have children.  What I guess is most annoying to me is the implication that 2 kids is just easy, so hey why not just have another-as if children are just something you collect b/c you have extra rooms in your house-you have an empty bedroom, so why not head over to Best Buy and pick another kid to fill the space. 

For my family having a child is treated like the BIG deal that it is! Yes, it is God who makes the final decision, but every family should be prayer about God's path for them, especially when it comes to having kids! And for all of those people who think 2 kids is no big deal, I would invite them to come and visit at about 3pm when the oldest (who NEVER naps) is throwing toys at the youngest (SHOULD be napping, but won't fall asleep) while at the same time the dishes need washing, the laundry is piling up, and dinner is waiting to be prepared and that’s not even counting the errands! 

I’m not saying that 2 kids is impossible or even difficult all the time-and to those of you with many more, just laugh at my naivety, but for our family, God said 2 is enough. We love our children and are more than content with that. I have also heard from friends with many children that people often say rude things about the fact that they have 4 or 5 kids, which is just wrong! Please don’t condescend b/c God called your family to something different.

We need to be encouraging one another and lifting our sisters in Christ up b/c whether you’re a mom of 1 sweet soul or many more sweet souls, we all have the same calling from God-to be Godly mothers to whatever children He gives us and point them to Him.  No matter how many kids you have that is a very challenging, exciting, and life changing undertaking for anyone!

“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Annie vs. Evil Mommy: The Broccoli Standoff

 

EVIL, Pure evil! It brings with it screaming, crying, and complete chaos for my 2 year old.

So far we’ve had a pretty easy road.  My old daugher (now 4 years old) never really made us suffer through the infamous “Terrible Twos”.  She's had fits here and there and is excessively stubborn, but is also people pleaser, so a tantrum in the middle of a grocery store would have been too embarrassing for her.  I didn’t truly appreciate this until my sweet, wild child Annie came along!

My 2 year old Annie is quite a character. She’s never met a stranger, you never have to wonder what she’s thinking, and she is the most hilarious person she’s ever met.  That being said, she’s also 2, VERY 2!

She decides what she wants and that’s what she’s going to get-at least that’s how her plan goes-then Evil Mommy gets in the way of toddler glory, poor Annie!

On this particular day, Evil Mommy brought out the kryptonite of Annie-Broccoli! She didn’t flinch at first, she finished everything else on the plate, then decided she was done.  She quietly climbed out of her chair, attempting to draw as little attention to herself as possible and then silently (and literally) tip-toed away from the table.  Solid plan and execution on her part: the only problem, Evil broccoli-serving Mommy saw the whole thing.

As with any good vs. evil plot, Evil Mommy soon had captured her and placed her back in the precarious position at the table, with broccoli back in her path.  She didn’t know what to do next, after all, her getaway was flawless and it didn’t even come close to tricking her evil adversary.  Then she came up with plan B-she grabbed the plate of broccoli and threw it as hard as she could right at Evil Mommy, then as quickly as possible made her escape.  BUT she was no match for Evil Mommy’s speed-before she knew it she was back in that same seat in a face-off once again with that horrible vegetable. 

What’s a toddler to do?! Well, in this case, she activated her “Chaos Scream”-she yelled, cried, and squirmed, but to no avail. Evil Mommy didn’t even flinch.  After 2 hours, Annie admitted defeat, and fell asleep, still at the table facing off with the Kryptonite Broccoli. 

When she awoke, the entrancing powers of Evil Mommy were too strong to defeat, so she peacefully ate the broccoli-come to find out, it was not kryptonite at all.  It was the key to her release.  As soon as she swallowed, Evil Mommy disappeared, Good Mommy came, helped her out of her chair, and she was released to play another day. 

We’re never sure when the next battle between Annie and Evil Mommy will happen-it could be any moment, but Annie is always ready, unfortunately for her, so is Evil Mommy!

Share with me your stories/tricks/tips on getting your toddlers/kids to eat their veggies

What?! Mermaids do NOT go potty in the water!

 Natalie and Annie are OBSESSED with Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” right now. We watch the movie on repeat, know all the songs, have our own mermaid names (I’m Arista!) and every time we go swimming we get to act out various scenes from the movie. 

My parents are here in Tampa visiting from Michigan, so naturally, they want to go to the beach.  I personally HATE the beach-I know, I’m crazy, or more accurately, I burn pretty much EVERY time I’m outside (yes, even with SPF 80!) and there are certain parts of the human body that weren’t designed for sand, yet, every time I go to the beach those seem to be the first parts the sand gets lodged in! Anyway, despite my feelings about the beach, I loaded everyone in the car and headed for the nearest waterfront oasis. 

The weather was perfect a perfect 85 and sunny.  We unloaded our stuff and took off for some fun in the water.  The girls were having a great time, Natalie was performing some musical selections, pretending to be Ariel-life was good.

About 5 minutes later Natalie came running out of the water to explain that she had to go potty.  Since it’s the off season right now, the bathrooms are under construction.  This leaves one obvious, but not ideal option-go in the water. 

Before I suggested this, I verified she only had to pee (can you imagine me telling her to go potty in the water otherwise-YIKES!).  Then I said to her, “Well, you can just go potty in the water”. 

Natalie is my princess: prim, proper, and prissy.  So as I was explaining the idea of going potty in the water to her, she was cringing in disbelief, and utter disgust.  She then says to me, “Um, No, Mommy, that is SO gross-we do NOT pee in the water!” 

I totally understand the mixed message I’m sending here, but she’s been potty trained for a while, and lets be honest, you got to do what you got to do.  Then I have a moment of what I thought was a moment of mothering genius.  I tell Natalie, “Well, you know Ariel pees in the water!” (Yes, now that I’m saying it out loud, it doesn’t sound as awesome as it did in my head!) 

 She replies, “No, mermaids do NOT pee in the water, they are beautiful and perfect and peeing in the water is gross, and they don’t do gross things, so they can’t pee in the water!” I have to say, for a 4 year old, the logic is quite sound! I realize there is no convincing her that peeing in the water would ever be an option, so I tell her just to hold it. 

Unlike some of my previous stories (when she just HAD to go), she says, “Ok!” and goes back to play in the water.   A while later we headed home and as we use the potty, Natalie says, “Mommy, where does Ariel go potty?” I, again, explained that she must go potty in the water, but that just can’t be right.  She has now decided that when we see Ariel at Disney World in a few weeks, she’s going to ask….so to my friend, Ariel, who we will see in a few weeks, I’m sorry, but secretly DYING to hear what the real answer to our potty dilemma could possibly be!

Magically Forgiven

I am teaching Awana tonight, so I thought I'd share my object lesson-I practiced this presentation on my 4 year old and she thought it was super cool too :) It's super easy to do-just check out the directions, verses, and pics! 

This is a visual lesson on Hate/Sin and Forgiveness

You get 4 small, clear containers and one floral vase (the kind that fits one flower)

-In 3 of the containers mix ¼ cup water and with 1 drop of food coloring (1 blue, 1 green, 1 red)

-In the last small container, mix ¼ cup bleach

-Put ½ cup of water into the bottom of the floral base

As you explain each color, pour it into the large floral vase-as you do it will make the water dark and then you explain the forgiveness as you pour the bleach in-it takes about 2 1/2 -3 mins, but when the bleach is done working, the water will be clear again.

Presentation

GREEN: Jealousy

         -Proverbs 14:30-A tranquil heart gives life, but a jealous heart makes bones rot

-Exodus 20:17-You shall not covet/envy/be jealous of anything that is your neighbors

Blue: Anger/Frustration

         -James 1:20-Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires

         -Ecclesiastes 7:9-Do not be quickly provoked, for anger resides in the foolish

Red: Selfishness

         -Philipians 2:3-Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but rather in humility value others above yourself

Result of all these things is HATE-these are all sins that taint our lives

HOW DO WE FIX this?

CLEAR: Forgiveness

         In your life: Ephesians 4:31-32-Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, fighting and slander along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ forgave you.

From Jesus: 1 John 1:9-If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness

All you have to do is believe that Jesus’ forgiveness is enough-we are all sinners, we have all done things wrong, but all we have to do is believe that Jesus died, and rose from the dead for our sins, and that his forgiveness is the only way to get eternal life.  

LONGEST Trip Ever: Part 3

 Day 3: 

After a refreshing few days staying with an awesome friend in Georgia, we were ready for the final leg of our trip.  The kids once again were NOT ready to be back in the car and say goodbye to their BFFs, but onward and upward.

This day was the WORST-We’d already done 14+ hours in the car and this one was supposed to be the long day-ha, I know, as if the other days we’re already long, this one was scheduled to be the longest so far at just over 8 hours….YIKES!

Once again, I’m lying to myself, believing that surely I’ve got this, blah, blah, blah….

We start out and nothing really major-this time I made it 3 hours and 30 mins before utter chaos, meltdown, car HELL.  So at least we’re improving, right?! No, actually what the delay in meltdown was, they were building it up, joining forces to make this the most grand break down we’d seen to date. 

We’re at the 3 hour mark and the kids start asking for lunch, and I behold the most miraculous sign one can see on a road trip-CHICK-FIL-A next exit! Our most favorite fast food place-when I save favorite I mean, we eat there so regularly, my children know the logo, the cows, and menu! I use a meal at Chick-fil-a for major bribes, rewards, and boo-boo cure!

 So we’re in the car, see the sign and hallelujahs rang out, the heavens opened up and at that moment life was complete.  Okay, perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but you fellow mommies will agree that sometimes you have to take the little wins b/c that may be the only win you have all day! We stop at Chick-fil-a, eat lunch, and play.  It is then time to get back on the road….

The kids begrudgingly get back in the car and that’s when it happened.  We get back on the freeway and pull away from any sign of civilization and together they begin to scream.  As I mentioned in previous days, I just block this out. 

They begin to fight with each other-which, honestly at this point, better them doing that to each other than me (I know, I’m a terrible person, but hey, you mommies can’t say you haven’t felt that way before, at least once!)

Then, the worst thing of all, DEAFENING SILENCE…Those of you with little kids know why this is so dangerous-I look in my rear view mirror and see that my 4 year old has wiggled out of the top part of her car seat and is attempting to change the 2 year old’s diaper-WITH POOP IN IT! She's managed to undo the diaper and is now pulling it out from under her sister's poopy butt. 

I don't even know what the appropriate, motherly scolding response is in that moment-so I just yell, “STOP touching your sister’s poop!” One of those things you never imagine yourself saying, then you have a couple kids and all of a sudden the weirdest, grossest, craziest things start coming out of your mouth. 

“STOP” was the wrong thing to yell b/c then she just drops diaper and now there is poop rolling around on the floor in the backseat of my car.  In my moment of confusion, still traveling 70 mph down the highway, I yell, “Why did you drop that?” Then I get an answer (with a tone that is SOOOO 16 year old attitude) “You said Stop, so I did”…. Well, yet another mommy fail, she’s absolutely right, that IS what I said. Yup, that's it, I once again was throwing up the white flag of surrender and admitting udder (stinky) defeat!

5 LONG, smelly, angry minutes pass until, I find a place to stop and clean up the mess.  As I’m picking up poop off the floor of my car, my sweet little 2 year old looks at me with a huge smile on her face and says, “Thanks, Mommy, that’s stinky”.  I couldn’t agree more, my love!

A while longer in the car, a few more lollipops, movies, and over-the-top bribes and we finally reach Tampa, Florida-also known to me during this trip as the Promised Land!!

Over the course of 3 days alone in the car with my kids, I laughed like I never have before, did things I’ve harshly judged other parents for, and learned that sanity is relative (and fleeting) with little kids.   

I do have to say, I kinda feel like Super Mom just for making it-at least until the next time I have to be trapped in a confined space with those mini-monsters (Appropriate “Mommy translation”: I love my sweet kids, I just don't want to be in the car alone with them for 22+ hours EVER AGAIN!)