Training UP!

Most Easters I take time to reflect and spend time in God's wonderment leading up to Easter Sunday. But this Easter It just seems as if it just crept in with out me getting a chance to even ponder what a glorious thing that Christ did for me. Since Lilly was born it seems as if my days go by to fast keeping track of the clock and either waiting for the next nap time or when she should be waking up. She is a a huge blessing in my life, but this Easter, instead of focusing on my sinfulness and how the Lord took the pain and Punishment I should have received I have been thinking more about training my daughter up. It is tough work. Discipline has been such a challenge for me. More then I thought it would have been. Lilly is generally a very good little girl. But She still requires to be trained in the way she should go. But I got into a discipline debate with some mommies who believe that Spanking shouldn't start until a child is 3, which is a whole other story.  but the debate got me to really think about How the Lord still disciplines and train us in the way we should go even as adults. The Learning Processes never stops. God sometimes uses "spankings" with us to learn that what we are doing is disobedient  but sometimes he uses it to save us. I don't spank Lilly when she try's to grab my cup of tea because what she is doing in BAD, but because if she pulls in top of her she will get burned and be in a lot pain. I spank her because I don't want her to get hurt. I am give a moment of barely any pain in order to save her from what could be days of pain or more. God does the same things to us as Christians.  God uses situations in our lives that are very painful but if we kept going in that path we could have been hurt even more. I am not saying that all painful things in our lives is God disciplining us, but he is training us. For What? I don't know. and I don't know if we will always be 100% certain of Why things happen the way they do. Sometimes its just so that we can learn to trust and lean on him more. I know that I don't always take things to HIM straight away, I try to fix things myself which usually makes things worse. But I know that those times when I bad situation happens and I sit and pray and give it over to God things start to become more clear on what the right thing is to do. And things generally start to work out better then I had planned or imagined

As I learn and fumble on how to train my daughter up in the ways she should go, I am humbled by how hard it is. but the Lord does it for each and everyone of his children, He even took the harshest punishment upon himself so that we could live.

 I pray that  the things that Gary and I have failed at as parents The Lord will take over and Show Lilly grace and bring her in to his Covenantal Family and train her up to be a Woman of Proverbs 31.

The Joys of Working from Home

Lilly is a very sweet little girl. She loves people and is very sociable, but her two favorite people in the World are me and Gary. Of course that is who takes care of her so naturally that is right. We have been blessed these past few years to have Gary be able to work from home.  He does go to work a few times a week, to lead bible studies, but he is home 75% of the week. Lilly recently has realized what it looks like if Gary is leaving.  She gets very clingy to him and follows him all over the house until he does eventually leave. And when he does go out the door, she sits at the door and looks longingly or starts to cry. She doesn't really know what it is like to have mommy or daddy gone from her...Usually mommy is with her all the time except for the those short 3 hrs on Wed when I go and tutor and Memaw watches her. So its hard for her when Daddy leaves and she isn't going with....She usually always goes with.

Today Gary is working on his Good Friday Sermon in the bedroom. He has the door shut…Lilly all day today couldn't figure out why the door was actually shut. After I took Gary his tea, I didn't latch the door and Lilly was able to push it open. You would have thought she had just won a million dollars. It was a huge smile on her face to see Daddy sitting behind the closed door. 

One Year of being a Mommy

 Can it really be a year already? I just can't fathom. This year has been wonderful. New learning experiences. and I finally feel like I am getting the hang of this motherhood thing. But what happen to that tiny little baby we brought home from the hospital this time last year.

She has blossomed into a beautiful little Girl. She is full of life. She loves to play, she loves to dance. She wants her mommy involved in what she is doing, but she is ok going off into her room to play by herself. She is weaned. As much as I didn't enjoy nursing, I miss those moments of snuggling with her. Now she doesn't sit still long enough to even finish her bottle at one go, she takes a good 45 mins of coming back and forth to her bottle. She wants to walk every where, except she really isn't confident to do it by her self just yet. and as much as I would love for her to walk independently I am missing my little baby girl so much. No its not time for Gary and I to have another one. As much as I would love it, its just not a good time for us, with all the changes that will take place this year. But Lilly is no longer a baby, she is a toddler. And this mommy's heart is sore because of it. I have to say I don't miss the multiple middle of night feeds, and explosive diapers in the middle of the night, or the I can't get this kid to go back to sleep moments; but I do miss the little baby girl. But I am grateful that I am a mommy. I have always wanted this, and I am enjoying it so much. She is learning more and more everyday. and even though she just babels, we talk often. and I love it. I love her big toothless smile, and Her CRAZY hair, and her sweet personality. She will always be my first baby, the one that made me a mommy. I love you Lillian Christine. God truly has blessed me by putting you into my life and making me your mommy.