Thoughts on this wife and motherhood thing...and what's helped me along the way.

OK....first things first....HOW DO I EDIT IN BLOGGER?! I just had a nice looking layout, type, and even color. Now NOTHING is working! What am I doing wrong?! *vent*

The following ramblings are thoughts that have been going through my head mainly on my role as a child of God, a wife, and a mother. The main reason for me to write this out is just to clear some thoughts, organize what’s in my head, and serve as a sort of accountability for myself. I encourage you to join in if you have any comments, tips, or ideas. Thanks! :)

I feel that God has been challenging me through so many different avenues with in the last couple weeks. I don't know how or where to put my thoughts down right now. I feel somewhat scattered brained, but also feel the most peace I've ever felt in a long time.

Jn. 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world give do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Phil. 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I don't know if it's the combination of joy and contentment, a renewed spirit and trust, or just sweet reunion and everything wrapped up all together in one. But God has been and IS good at restoring and reveling Himself to me in ways that I've forgotten about, and in ways I've never even considered. He's brought people into my path that has helped me to learn and grow, and He's helped me in reminding me of the others that have been in my life forever and their sweet example that they have or have had in my life.

2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

So please bear with me as I try to explain or share what God is doing in my life. It may seem very simple to some. I've never been someone that could explain what’s in my head. Communicating how I feel or wanting to express something clearly was never my strength. I'm still growing in this process of wife/motherhood and especially in my Christian walk. I like to say I've always had a sweet personal relationship with my Savior, but not till just recently, do I truly feel like I've found that 'sweet spot.' That rekindling, reunion I was talking about. And I think a lot of it had to do with my mindset of who I really am as a wife and mother. I've had to re-think some things through and come to realize my ministry and my calling for the RIGHT NOW in my life. (Which I plan to talk about more in another post.)

Ps. 1:3 He [she] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in it's season, and it's leaf does not wither. In all that he [she] does, he [she] prospers.

I don’t want to forget this, or lose it. I want this feeling to stay. So as I start going through this process of bearing my thoughts, soul, and feelings to the world, (or the few that read this) maybe this will mainly just help serve as a way to keep me accountable in my walk. Maybe it can be a help as a challenge for all of us to find that sweet relationship we either once had or want to have.

Ps. 1:1 Blessed [happy] is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; bit his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

As I reintroduced myself back into the blogging world, I dove into the ‘Christian mommy side of things’ and found some really awesome ladies that have really encouraging blogs and topics with awesome resources. I thought I’d list some of the ones that I've personally enjoyed.

DoNotDepart.com has some great bible study topics for moms/women. I really enjoyed going through the names of God under the Scripture Dig section of their website. Just recently I started going through their Winter Bible Study called “Run to Him” where we are exploring Psalms together.

GraceFullMomma.com is going through a series called “Cultivating a Heart for Motherhood.” The series goes through the significance of motherhood, some obstacles in motherhood, anger and patience, and more! I've been blessed through this series and challenged through the printouts provided.

LivingDevotionally.com is a part of DoNotDepart.com (Most of these blogs are somehow connected either by authors, groups, books, etc…). Through this site I found an AWESOME book that has challenged me with my devotions. I’m still reading it and wish I had a hard copy. It just seems harder for me to read a book through my phone or computer. But what I've read so far has been great! It's called: “Savoring Living Water: how to have an effective quiet time”

TheMOBSociety.com For Moms of Boys, by Moms of Boys. A great site on mothering boys. They have some great looking books that I've already purchased for my kindle app, but still haven’t gotten the time to read them. I can’t wait to start!

InspiredToAction.com is where I found a great (free) ebook called, “Maximize Your Mornings.” “This ebook [is] to help busy moms like you create an effective and life giving morning routine.” Through this short book, I was challenged to write out my plan for my morning schedule. (Which, I will be sharing later in another post.)

Because of all these great sites and openness of these Godly women, one of the biggest things that has helped and is such a HUGE encouragement is this: knowing that I’m not alone in this motherhood thing. I’m not alone in wanting to know my God more. We all struggle but desire to be closer to our God more than anything else. And the tighter we cling to Him, the better we can and will be at this wife and mothering thing He has called us in to. Getting up early (my struggle) is not an easy task and it takes time and effort and realizing that we need to fully rely on Him for the grace and strength each day. It just takes coming to Him and asking.

Another thing that God has challenged me was on my prayer life. I like to journal my thoughts, but I felt like I should give praying out scripture a try! I've been really enjoying this. Here are some prayer sheets with Scripture on praying for our kids and husbands each day (and other great resources): http://inspiredtoaction.com/resources/

I can really see God doing a work in my son’s heart. He’s sensitive to and understands the Bible stories and likes to retell the stories after question and answer time. Just this past week we went through the story of sin in the Garden of Eden. I was so cool to see his mind work around the concept of God not allowing disobedience and how there's consequences because of our disobedience. Now, if you just come up to him and ask him to tell you the story, he might say something like "God tricked Eve," or "Satan said the fruit was bad..." Understand, these are new concepts and we're working on it! ;) But it's cute to hear him try!

back on topic....

So through all that, (the finding of resources, encouragement, challenges, and a new sense of my mission as a wife and mommy...)I knew I had to change my morning schedule. That will be my next post. I’ll share my schedule that I’ve created and how it worked out for me this past week. My goal is to stick to it for at least two weeks and see where I will need to go from there.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this post and maybe even found some new resources that will encourage you to grow as it has for me. I felt the need to share because I know how discouraging and hard motherhood can be at times, especially for young moms. I may have it easy now, as I’m only dealing with one set of little eyes, hands, and ears, soon to be two….and I may not have the experience of a mother with 12 children, but I do know that even with just one....

any knowledge of others dealing with the same things helps!

So....

How about you? What has been your greatest challenge as a Christian, wife, and/or mommy? How do you keep you walk consistent? What kind of books, resources, blogs, or websites do you go to for encouragement? Any advice, tips, and/or ideas for young moms who may be discouraged? What helped you to stick with your morning routine/quiet time?

Too many questions?! :)

Silly faces with mommy!

Linking up over at:

http://www.thesefiveofmineplustwo.net/

Potty Training....on hold....

My son seems to have put potty training on hold. He figured out what the main use for the diaper is, and has put it to good use. Even down to telling me to change his wet one, so that he can poop in a dry one. When he tells me he's pooping, or I see signs, I strip him down and place him on the toilet. But for some odd reason since we moved here, he WILL NOT sit on the toilet. It's like something's clicked in his mind and the toilet is not fun anymore, he tells me he can't, and acts scared. But if by some chance poop does go into the toilet, he's excited to flush it, and I reward him with a treat.
How do I make potty time for a 28mo old more enjoyable. We did start kinda early last summer just because he seemed interested. If some of you remember my Facebook status from way back then, I got really good advice from friends, and potty time was going pretty smoothly. (For a 20mo old) I was impressed with the interest he had in the potty business. Even when I was babysitting and he had an older (slightly) friend to look up too, things were coming along.
But ever since we moved into our new home. Everything's stopped. I know there were a couple weeks in there with Christmas, New Years, packing and moving, where I slowed things down. So I know that's a factor.
Plus moving to new surroundings might play into the mess. But is it still too early? Is he a little young to start potty training? Should I go back to full force potty training, or wait till he's more comfortable?
I've heard and read some good techniques, and have implemented some. But what do you, or did you do to make the potty training more enjoyable for you and your child?

Question for moms with toddlers....

ok....mommies with toddlers, (or older experienced mommies) how do you get your morning shower in your day? Have you switched to night showers, do you try to wake up before the lil one is up, or do you wait till nap time? What is it? I'd like to know.
Here's what I'm dealing with. I don't like night showers. Sleep is too precious to me. And that brings the other dilemma. I'm not a morning person. I hate mornings. I find that I'm a better person during the day if I sleep till the kid is up. I'm not gonna try to exert all that morning energy for a shower unless it's REALLY important. Like church or something....
So. I guess I'm a mid-morning shower person. Around 9 or 10 am is a good time. I feel that I can't really start my day till I shower and freshen up. But what to do with the toddler that's running around with that permanent marker? He's already watched is limit on tv cuz you decided that an hour in bed checking Facebook and email on your phone was a good excuse for "sleeping in." By the time I'm ready to drag myself out of bed, get breakfast and coffee, he's ready for something exciting to happen. So that's when mommy becomes the lifeless jungle gym, trying not to spill the precious coffee. 10:30am rolls around and it's getting late. I know I HAVE to get a shower soon cuz anytime I put it off, someone stops by unexpectedly and I look horrendous. HATE it when that happens. And it's been happening a lot lately.
I remember that his favorite show is on at 10:30. So I decide that another half hour of tv can't hurt much. But because of the wind we are having today, the black outs on the tv aren't keeping my son entertained. So, my shower was interrupted multiple times by a 2 yr. old screaming "mommy, where are you," and pulling back the shower curtain handing me his bath toys. *sigh* another five minute peaceful shower gone....
and what's happening now while I blog? tv is on.....Yes, my tv has become the babysitter. I know i know. "get rid of it, unplug it, turn it off, put it in another room, don't ever turn it on at the beginning of the day..." I've heard it, think it, and that tv stares at me every morning with it's tempting ways.
so I guess that brings up another question. what do you do with the tv?