Photos.. and DEEP thoughts on Parenting

Well. .. this was the big day for Cat.. She cut her hair for Locks of Love. The good news is.. she LOVES it and is happy that she cut it off.. (that's nice :)

We have had some pretty heavy rains lately.. I took this picture of our river.. uhm.. I mean street when one of the storms was passing through..

And of course the kids were a bit worried about all the rain and high winds but the dog was quite worked up.. she would actually look to the ceiling when it thundered. .. and then look at us as if to say.. "Hey.. did you hear that?"

Our days are going good.. working on all our subjects.. enjoying some more than others.. :) The good news is I asked Nate what his favorite subject was.. and he said "reading".. YIPEE!

I will post more later this weekend.. the house is calling me to clean it.. and you know laundry never gets done when you are sitting at a computer !

Those of you who know me.. know I love searching for homeschooling blogs I like.. tonight I found this post (below) on this blog (click here).. and I just had to post it on my blog. .. you can read it .. I will have more thoughts at the bottom : (lucky you huh?)

During one of my brief visits on the computer today,

I was compelled to check my good friend's blog

(which she rarely posts on... but I'm always hopeful).

To my surprise, she did happen to have a recent post!

As I read her post, it saddened and warmed my heart

all at the same time.

(Be sure to visit her and read what she has written)

For those that know me, it is usually easy to see (at least I hope)

that one of my greatest heartbeats is loving and enjoying my children.

I treasure and believe whole-heartedly when God declares,

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:

and the fruit of the womb is his reward"

~ Psalm 127:3 (emphasis added)

How sad and tragic it is when young and older mamas alike

truly do not view their precious children as God says they are.

All too often children are seen as being annoying,

burdensome, irritating, too much to 'handle', etc...

All too often, mamas can't wait until

their baby is six weeks old so they can go back to work,

or until school starts up so the children aren't home all day,

or until bedtime when they can have a 'peaceful' moment,

or even until their children are grown and out of the house,

and perhaps when their children have children so they can just

'give the child back to the parent' as a grandparent.

Why are these little souls not treasured?

Aside from sin and the loss of natural affection,

I believe that part of the problem lies in the older Titus 2 women.

(And we are all older Titus 2 women is some ways

and, in the least, we have the potential to be)

Isn't it interesting in Titus 2, verse 3

that the 'aged women' are commanded to

"...teach the young women to ... love their children"?

Wouldn't you think that loving our children would be 'natural'?

No, it really isn't. Loving self is our nature... our sin nature.

I join my friend in challenging you

to love your children, enjoy your children, treasure your children.

They are our blessed heritage and reward from God Himself.

I also challenge you to become a Titus 2 woman

and challenge, encourage, and pray for other mamas

to love their children, to find joy in their children, and to treasure them.

Will you, too, step up to the challenge and God's calling?

----
I know not all moms out there feel burdened by their children and "cant wait to see them go off to school or daycare etc etc.. " but I think an over whelming majority of women DO feel that way. I agree with the comments above but I also think that in order to be able to be around your child(ren) alllll day.. you have to train them. By training them I mean the "D" word.. yes "discipline" . Being around untrained children IS exhausting and who can blame some Moms for wanting to get them out of the house. I have witnessed countless Parents (Moms and Dads) who have giving over all control to their children. The children run the family. (I could give lists and lists of examples.. but will spare you.. I am sure you have witnessed this yourself).. So many Parents out there are looking for solutions.. cant find what works for them.. or have never been shown.. and they just give up and give in.. and live a miserable "cant wait until they are 5.. or out of the house" survival mode.

I have lived only 38 years on this planet.. but I have seen many joys and tragedies as it relates to how people parent. I have seen many college age men and women who had wonderful parents and .. I am afraid to say.. many many more who had parents that were present financially, and physically but not emotionally or spiritually. I have heard stories (9 years worth) from these "grown" kids and "visited" with many of these kids parents and heard regrets from both the parent and the children.

And.. you wonder.. what does this have to do with me? .. Well.. This is at the core of why I home school the way I do, why I think it is so important for ME to raise my children. I want my kids to know that no matter what.. THEY are NOT a burden.. but a JOY to ME!
I pray that the Lord, who blessed me with these precious souls with guide me to be the Mom he knows I can be to them. I pray .. as well, that other Moms and Dads out there realize that these are the moments they will NEVER get back. If you miss your kids childhood.. you miss it!
In reality I believe that most parents do the BEST they think they can for their kids. But is it just me.. or does it seem that over the last few years.. the idea of parenting as an important role has lost its appeal to parents?

So.. heres to trying to be the best Mom I can be and realizing that childhood is just too precious to just wish away. I hope and pray that I will always strive to be that Titus 2 woman.

"3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."


I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the article above as well! :)

blessings
ruthie