Good Reads

I've been reading today (in my spare time... when I'm not fighting kids, or copy machines, or instructing staff, or making meals, or...)

I wanted to share some excellent articles from today's browsing.

Grace Full Mama wrote about 20 things women should know.

The Better Mom shared about ways to overcome the "yelling mom".

Here is a Bible Gateway article about the power of scripture.

I read about "Good Listener Papers" on Gratefully Growing in Grace.

There is some fun rock art on Confessions of a Homeschooler (we'll be doing this tomorrow).

I love green smoothies.  Kathy's Blog, Healthy.Happy.Life. has a fantastic salute to green smoothies.

Happy reading.

Fun with Birdfeeders

We love watching birds!  At the cottage where we have been staying for the summer, there is a large window.  Outside the window we have a hummingbird feeder designed by a 3 year old.  It's so much fun to watch the hummingbirds come and enjoy our little snack.  Manasseh is very proud of his meticulously designed feeder.

At first, I was not overly fond of the color combination or the shape of the flowers.  He was insistent that this is what he wanted.  So, we ordered it.  When it arrived, it was perfect.  He was super excited.  You know what?  It has grown on me (although I still like purple flowers).

Perky Pet offers a variety of choices in their Design Your Own Feeder.  They have several colors, and styles to choose from for each component of the feeder!  The best part?  It's only around $11 for this fun feeder.  

Thank you Perky Pet for the opportunity to design our own feeder.  We love having it outside our big window!

Check out their choices.  What would your feeder look like?

This post is sponsored by Perky Pet.  We did receive a product free in exchange for review.  All opinions are our own.

Take a deep breath and reframe your thoughts

I've shared before about some of our sleep time struggles.  I even shared recently about my attempt at bed time boot camp.  (1 more week of camp and we'll mostly be at hour house - that will make things easier, maybe).

Over the weekend we were traveling.  It was a fantastic weekend filled with family time.  My boys were exhausted and overwhelmed.  For Cassius, especially, this makes it very hard to go to sleep.  We always try to let the boys go to sleep on their own before we offer "help".  I chose to sit in the room with the boys so they could relax in the confidence that they were not alone.  (This also cuts down on play time).  Friday night,  as I monitored my boys at bed time, Cassius crawled into my lap for a snuggle.

Truthfully, at first I was annoyed.  I just wanted him to go to sleep.  I was right there - he could see me - why couldn't he just sleep.

As I held my sweet boy, I began to reframe my thoughts.  See, these restless bed times are not going to last forever.  In fact, before I know it my boys won't want to be held at all.  I need to treasure these times, in spite of my own agendas to get things done.  So I did.  I held him, I treasured his snuggles.  I chose to be tender in a time when I felt just slightly frustrated.  I allowed myself to be blessed by my toddler.

Treasure these times.  Enjoy the tender moments.  Take a deep breath when they really just need your attention and you really just need a break.  This time will pass all too quickly.

How do you reframe your thoughts when you have different plans than your children?

Dealing with Difficult People

This week I had the opportunity to deal with some people who were choosing to be difficult.  They seemed to have decided that the plans of the group did not matter as much as the things they wanted to do.  As their leader for the week, that was incredibly frustrating.  My toddlers were doing a better job of following directions and cooperating than these people.  So I had to deal with that.

I tried a number of tactics, to insight cooperation.  Do you know what worked?  Dealing with it straight up, confronting the facts as they were - This is how you ought to behave and this is why... if you do not behave this way, this is what will happen.

I'm not saying that this made things 100% better, but at least tolerable.

One evening, as I was praying about this particular group who was making poor choices, I asked God what he would do in my situation.  Have you ever done that and not liked the answer?  Do you know what god told me?  "I would say Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  That is not what I wanted to hear.  God wanted me to invite these people to follow him.

See, I know God loves everyone, and I WANT these people to know him - but I want to see a difference RIGHT NOW.  I wanted God to say something like "Say these magic words and things will change".

I guess it's a good thing I'm not God.

How do you deal with difficult people?

Wordless Wednesday: Bees in Trees

Really Riding

I learn so much from my boys about life, about faith, about love... the list goes on.  I love the relationship that I have with my boys.  This week I've learned a bit about "really riding".  I'm not talking about my bike, but that's where it all starts:

It wasn't in our original plan for the week, but we were so glad to spend Manasseh's birthday with my parents and my sister's family!  He turned 4 on Tuesday and we celebrated in style, excellent food, a fantastic cake, presents, and bike riding!

My sister had received 2 small bikes for her little Stinky and decided to give one to Nas for his birthday.  I was somewhat skeptical about this idea because in the past he has refused to even attempt pedaling (trikes, big wheels... anything).  Guess what.  This boy was super excited about the bike.  He needed help at first, but he was determined to figure it out.  He worked hard to get his muscles trained to move just right.  (He does have training wheels).  Once he got the hang of it though, he took off, no troubles.

He asked to ride his bike EVERYWHERE around the camp this week.  He still needs help with going up hill.  That's tough work!  He's getting there though.  We left camp Friday night and I made him put the bike in the house - as soon as we were back on Saturday night (around 11pm) he dragged it outside and rode it for as long as we would allow before throwing him in bed.  Do you know what the first thing he wanted to do on Sunday was?  You better believe it - he wanted to ride the bike.  Even before breakfast (that's huge).

Cassius wants to learn too - he'll get there.  He borrowed Stinky's bike to try it out.  We're going to have to keep our eyes out for a scoot bike for him to work on too.

So now, what is it that I've learned from Manasseh's incessant biking?
Dedication.  He wants to ride this thing everywhere.  He wanted to ride so badly that he took TIME to practice.  He accepted help.  He is committed to riding his bike.  You know what?  He's getting better at it every day.  He really finds joy in riding his bike, really riding.

I want to be so dedicated to Christ the way Manasseh is dedicated to his bike.  I want to get excited about spending time with God so much that I can hardly wait to get out of bed in the mornings.  I want to be willing to accept help where I need it.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Self-discipline is a struggle for me.  I'm working on it.  I'm getting better.

God, Help me to "really ride" with you each day.  Give me the energy and excitement that comes from being close to you.  Thank you for being at work in my life today, and every day.  Amen.

Are you riding with God?  How do you keep yourself on track with daily time in the Word?  What exciting things is God doing in your life?

Kingdom Living

Cassius is learning what it means to be part of God's Kingdom.  He had the opportunity this morning to help with collecting tithes and offerings at Olive Bethel Church of God in Akron.