Today is Naomi, my first little girl’s FIRST birthday!

I am so thankful the Lord saw fit to bless me with a daughter. We have two older boys, Elijah, 4 and Gideon, 2 1/2… and let me tell you they are ALL boy! But this little girl is so different. She loves to play with the boy’s matchbox cars and she loves to rough house with them but it’s already so evident how much she is different!

Every birthday reminds me not only of God’s goodness towards me in blessing me with any children at all but also the extreme amount of responsibility it is being their mom. It is not something I take lightly!

Oh, that I would be a woman worthy of telling my daughter to imitate me! My prayer is that the Lord would mold me and refine me and break my heart over my own sin so that I can truly be a Godly example to my own children. If I will let it, this time in my life can be molding me into a more disciplined, self controlled, loving and self sacrificing woman.

I spend so much time during the day on truly unimportant things… things that won’t matter ONE bit in eternity.

My children’s souls are at stake here and I have stepped up to take dominion over what God has entrusted me with!

Sons are a heritage from the Lord,children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Psalm 127:3-5

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY NAOMI!

I’ve known this my whole marriage, not sure why I’m just now trying to put it into practice… I’m supposed to be a BLESSING to my husband. Not just a blessing because I’m his wife, LOL! But a blessing in honoring him and the things that are important to him.
One of the practical ways I’m seeking to improve in this area is the kitchen. It’s always the last on my list because its the room I dislike cleaning the most! Well… it turns out its the one room in the house my husband cares the most about!

So that means re-prioritizing what I think is important to honor my husband! Practically for me, that means worrying less about the bedrooms and bathrooms unless the kitchen is done. It means disciplining myself to rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher RIGHT away, not later!

Right now my sink is clear and the table is set and waiting on supper to be done in the oven. I’m watching the kids play ‘restaurant’ in the living room while I’m typing this. I feel good about today and even though what I like to have cleaned hasn’t been touched, my kids have been loved and trained today AND my kitchen is clean which will please my husband!

I’m going to keep posting about this to keep myself accountable! I have a lot of other posts floating around in my head so I just might get back into the blog world as a writer not just reader.

“A true wife makes a man’s life nobler, stronger, grander, by the omnipotence of her love ‘turning all the forces of manhood upward and heavenward.’ While she clings to him in holy confidence and loving dependence she brings out in him whatever is nobles and richest in his being. She inspires him with her courage and earnestness. She beautifies his life. She softens whatever is rude and harsh in his habits or his spirit. She clothes him with the gentler graces of refined and cultured manhood. While she yields to him and never disregards his lightest wish, she is really his queen, ruling his whole life and leading him onward and upward in every proper path. -JR Miller

Mandi

I really want to blog, I really do… it just doesn’t seem to fit in my schedule very well.
I have these lofty aspirations of getting out of bed an hour or so before the kids and accomplishing all the ‘work’ I need to get done before their little feet hit the floor.
Here is my problem, as soon as my feet hit the floor they all wake up! What am I supposed to do? My only solution has been to stay in bed until the wake up, I like waking up to a little person kissing me awake rather than an alarm clock any day BUT I feel unproductive some days.

My boys just don’t function without their sleep and if they get woke up they are grumpy all day, so I can either have happy kids or get more done. My goal this year is to severely limit my computer time while my children are awake. That basically means I’m not online much.
I do check my facebook regularly… seems like a quick, easy way to stay in touch with lots of people at once.
*IF* I can get my oldest (3) to go to sleep at nap time I normally have about 90 minutes to get anything done that I need to do with kids not around. I have to admit sometimes this just means sitting in front of the computer or on the couch with a book.
I really don’t want to use nap time as catch up time, I’d rather just enjoy the quiet for a few min. and recharge for the evening.
My husband is blessed to be able to work from home 99% of the time which has been awesome, but he still works long hard hours. I am so grateful for his determination and skill that allow him such a good job. There are normally only a couple hours in the evening that I see him so I really try and limit what I’m doing as far as house work after the kids go to bed.

So all that said, I’m basically having to learn to lower my standards for my house during this stage in my life.

I have three little ones that all require CONSTANT supervision and training. I think nourishing their little souls and teaching them is far more important than having my house perfectly spotless all the time.
My main goals during the day are
#1 – to show my kids love and teach them about the Lord in everything I say and DO all day
#2 – training my kids to obey and also training them in life skills and Godly character
#3 – making sure I’m feeding my family healthy nutrient-dense food (as local as possible)
#4 – consistently choosing to be intentional in my day instead of just trying to endure it

*these are just the ones I’m coming up with right now, I’ll add more as I think of them*
I’ll end with this quote…

“You are as much serving God in looking after your own children,
and training them up in God’s fear,
and minding the house,
and making your household a church for God,

as you would be if you had been called
to lead an army to battle
for the Lord of hosts.”

~Charles Spurgeon