I guess she listens.

A few months ago, Charlie told me in one of her "moments" that she hates me.  After she had calmed down we talked about those words.  Okay, I talked.  I told her that I know she really doesn't mean it.  I told her that "Satan" likes for us to say things like that because they are words that can never be taken back.  We can ask for forgiveness.  We can be forgiven.  But, the words are not ones that can be taken back.  I also told her that they are words that "Satan" likes to replay in our heads.

I didn't think anything of it.  I know that she is a kid and to her "hate" is the worst thing she can say.

Tonight in the car Brantley told Charlie "I not love you no more."

She said through tears, "Those are words that can NEVER be forgiven."

I asked what she was talking about.

"Mommy, Satan made him say that and now I can NEVER forgive him."

I immediately knew what she was talking about.  I guess she was listening.

So, we talked again.  Those are words that can never be taken back but they can be forgiven.

In B's words.  "I not no love you no more sister.  I love you."

God's gifts

Here is the link to my faith formation today.  I am behind as usual but I don't think this link would have meant as much to me when I should have read it as to when I read it today.  Today was the last day of school for the year.  And, each year, I send my precious group of kids off to Kindergarten wondering if I was "good" enough.  Wondering if I gave them the foundation they need to succeed in school.  And yes, I know that their success or failure does not fall completely on my shoulders.
I read this passage.
1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

Was I a good steward of those 24 special little guys that God placed in my care?  Did I faithfully follow God's plan for them?  Did I use the gifts God gave me in the way He desired me to use them?

What are the gifts I have received through God's grace?

I am a good teacher.  Not great.  Not incredible.  Not "the best."  But I am a good teacher.  (And then I have my days when I am a not so good teacher.)
I pray each child knows how very much I love him/her.  I pray they remember that I listening to their "news" each morning.  I pray that they get that I love my job.  I pray that the little things like the nap fairy matter.   I pray that they remember that I prayed with them each and every day.  I pray more than anything that even with all my mistakes they (and their parents) see that Jesus is in my heart.  I pray that you can see Jesus in me.

What are some ways that I use my gifts to serve others?
I don't know that I do, but I pray that the answer to that question is YES.

So, at the end of another year, I pray that God continue to make me into the kind of teacher he wants me to be.  I pray that each year I bring families and kids closer to him with my own walk of faith.  I pray that each year I become a better teacher.  I pray that my mistakes are not so big that it causes someone else to stumble. I pray "Holy Sprit, source of inspiration, help me to claim the gifts God has given me.  Let me discover how my gifts may be used in service to others.  Allow my service to be that of  a Pre-K teacher."

Everything works together

I heard this song today.  I really touched my heart.

The bigger picture

I have been thinking for a while now about Joseph.  (See Genesis 37-47)  Joseph, who withstood so many troubles in his life and yet, never seemed to lose site of the fact that God has a bigger picture for him.  I pray that my faith is that strong,  that people years from now can look at my life and say "She had a faith like no other."  I want to have a faith that does not worry.

Matthew 6: 25-33
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

  We will all have some kind of trouble, suffering, hardship.   I am needing this reminder.  Right now, there are things that are out of my control.  There are things that I "usually" worry about.  I am a worrier by nature, and yet I have a perfect peace.  A peace that I know can only come from my Father above.  He seems to be reminding me that He is sovereign and in control each and every moment of my life.

These reminders come in the form of messages at church.  I am so very thankful that God has given me a Pastor who's sermon notes are so what I need when I need them.

When suffering happens, I should follow Christ's example.
* I don't have to win anymore.  I don't have to keep pressing my point.
* I don't have to look good anymore.  I can stop the "Me" campaign.
* I don't have to be perfectly understood anymore.  I don't have to tell my side of the story over and over.
* I don't have to retaliate when I have been hurt.  I don't need to allow bitterness to overtake my heart. I can let go of grudges.

These reminders come in the form of books that I am reading, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Jo Anna Weaver.
In Chapter 8 Lessons for Lazarus, she reminds me that "Life rarely works in happily ever afters."
*What Satan intends for evil, God still turns for good.
*God has a lot he wants to teach us as the "Story" unfolds.  For tucked between the twists and turns of the everyday plot are the valuable lessons about who God is and how he words and how we fit into the tale.
* God always has a plan.
* We overcome life.
^{Romans 37} No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
*Sometimes, bad things happen.  People suffer so that God can be glorified. 
John 9:3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.


 These reminders come in the form of scriptures read at Mass.  
John 14:1  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 


God's message to me can not be any more clear.  So, in the mean time.  I am enjoying my family and family time.  I am enjoying watching God's plan for my family unfold.  I am relishing in prayers that God is answering.  I am enjoying worshiping and attending Church as a family.  And, in all these things I have a  perfect peace that God is in control. 

Project Life-2nd April post

 
 April 13th:  Dusty bought the kids a new swing.  Now they fight over the blue one.  I resorted to mom's solution.  Charlie has even days.  Brantley has odd days.  Every day C asks is today an even.  Every day B sits on the blue swing chanting.  "I odd, I odd, I odd."  I know his meaning but it just makes me giggle.

April 14th: This is Monica.  She has been a gift from God this year.  She watches the kids on Thursday afternoons for me.  Her daughter Bella was in my class last year.

 April 15th:  Today was a VERY windy day in Oklahoma.  So windy in fact that it took our trampoline and blew it over the fence into the next door catty-corner backyard neighbor's backyard.  Brantley was trying to lasso it back into the yard.

April 16th:  We made soft pretzels to surprise Daddy.  I love that B's tongue is sticking out.

April 17th:  We found ladybugs!

 April 19th:  Charlie wanted to take pictures of Dusty and me.  Dusty wanted more pretzels so we made them together.

April 21st:  This is the part of being a working mom that I hate.  Charlie had a zoo trip on the 22nd,  Good Friday.   I did not feel that it was right for me to take the most "important" day in our school year off, so she went without anyone.  I know that she was/is fine but I really wanted to go with her.  I think I went overboard on her lunch to make up for it.  I had a blast stamping her sack.  I wrote rebus sentences on each of her bags so she could read them.  Which she did not.  Dusty gave her two drinks.  I laugh at how "not" typical her lunch was.

April 22nd:  Good Friday.  We had a great time being the Easter Bunny to several friends.  This year we left 12 eggs filled with pieces to tell the story of crucifixion.  We had a great time collecting things for our resurrection eggs and even more fun hiding them.

April 23:  We died our eggs.  This was not fun to do with a 2 year-old.  I love this picture though because it shows his concentration.  Can you see his little tongue sticking out of his mouth?

April 24th:  The Easter Bunny!  He brought them chocolate and a Bible.  The kids were so excited.  We got up and made Resurrection biscuits.

April 25th:  The reason for our trip to Bass Pro,   Dusty's new gun.

April 26th:  B dressing sharp for dinner at the "restaurant." He loves those silly shoes.  Daddy was the cook.  I got to re-visit my waitress days.

April 29th:  Mommy was VERY tired today.  The kids watched TV while Mommy took a nap.






April 30th:  We went to dinner at PF Changs with our friend Mark and Shaa.  We really enjoy spending time with these two wonderful people.

 

Crop at church

Church held a crop for National Scrapbook day.  There were five of us.  The other four women have been scrapping together since the early 90's.   I loved to hear their stories.  To hear how they could pick up a picture and between the four of them figure out the "time" of the picture based on who was in the picture and what they were wearing.  I have been praying for years to find a few families that will do this thing called life we us.

I went to the crop not with pictures but with yet another project.  I am struggling with teaching my kids how to pray.   I want them to know that prayer is  more than just bless us, thank you's and give me's.  I looked on-line and found  the Prayer Hand by the Navigators.  I thought it was perfect.  But in looking I also found one that listed it more as "who" to pray for and not how to pray. So, I created my own that used both.

Here is what I came up with.  I tore apart a $1.00 photo album so that they would not destroy the pages.  (That is what happened last time.)
Cover: Jeremiah 29:12 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
PG 2: Praise, Voicing my wonder about who God is Psalms 146:1-2 and Psalms 34:1-3
PG 3: Thanksgiving, Thanking God for what he has done for me.
PG4: Confession, agreeing with God about my sin, 1 John 1:9
PG5: Intercession, praying for others, Ephesians 6:18-19, Colossians 4:12
PG6: Who do I pray for?  Those closets to my heart--my family and friends, Those who point out things we don't always see--my teachers, those who lead--president, world leaders, soldiers
Those who are weak, lost, and can not stand alone--pray for the weak, sick, and unsaved.

PG7: Petition, Asking for my needs, Psalm 5:3 and 1 Samuel 1:27
PG8: Listening, 1 Samuel 3:10
After using them for a few days, I rearranged the kids to this list.  It just seemed to put the part about who we prayed for with the intercession.  I have really enjoyed them.

I gave them to the kids with a new basket for each of them to keep their bible in.  They were Easter leftovers.  $3 for both baskets.  I love them.  The kids have had them a little over a week and we have used them EVERY night on their request.  I love it!

I liked them so much that I ended up making enough for the baby gifts that I will need over the summer.  I hope they like them as much as I do.