Elizabeth

I have not intended to ignore my blogging, or to quit in the middle of my Love Challenge.  Sometimes we mothers have to learn what our limits are, and put some things on the way back burner, to concentrate on what is really important…even if it means dissappointing others.  I hope to find some time again soon, to start blogging again, but until that time, I want to wish everyone a very Blessed Easter!!  I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the sacrifice that He made by dying on the cross for my sins!!  What a wonderful, glorious God we serve!!

…I don’t usually comment on my quotes…but as a mother of 7, I have to say…isn’t that the truth!

This weeks theme for You Capture was kisses.  I had another crazy week this week, but when I told my kids what the theme was for You Capture this week, well…they went into full blown kissy mode.  I heard all week, “mommy get a picture of me kissing..”  So, here was the final product of some of my kids’ kissy photosessions! 

Audrey loves to kiss her brothers, and she often torments them with it!  Ethan really doesn’t mind it so much, as he and Audrey are best buds. I think he was a little embarrassed here, knowing other people would see this picture (LOL)

This gave me and Riley (10) a great opportunity to gang up on Owen (11), who hates being kissed! 

Everyone in the house loves to kiss our baby Janie…when she stays still long enough. Here’s a big kiss from big brother!

Our youngest boy whos 4…idolizes his older brothers, and is always willing to be kissed by any of them!

So, I hope you enjoyed some of our family kisses!  I had a few more to share, but due to lack of time, I will stop with those.  Go on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see more kisses!  She is giving away a subscription to Picnik, that I sure hope I win…I LOVE Picnik!

-Erma Bombeck

Welcome to our next week of the Love Challenge.  This week we are moving on in 1 Corinthians 13, to discuss how love does not envy.    First of all, let me share with you the official definition of the word envy.  Envy, in my 1828 dictionary means:  To feel uneasiness, mortification, or discontent at the sight of superior excellence, reputation, or happiness enjoyed by another; to repine at another’s prosperity; to fret or grieve one’s self at the real or supposed  superiority of another, and to hate him on that account.     It also means to grudge; to withhold maliciously.

So, I’ve been thinking about ways that we might struggle with envy with our own family members.  As a wife and mother, I think the tendency to envy our husbands role in our marriage can often be a temptation.  As bible believing Christians, we believe that although man and woman are equal, man does hold the role of leader, and head of our households.  For some of us, we might find ourselves wishing (envying) that leadership role, wanting to be able to call all the shots, and not have to submit to his authority.  I think that when we subvert his leadership in our household, it often comes from the envy that desires to have his role.  It might be too, that we who have decided to stay at home with our children, might find ourselves envying the fact that he gets to go out every day to the real world, and make a name for himself.  These attitudes, and envy can sometimes cause us to resent, and although we may not realize it, it causes us to have a different attitude with our husbands then we would if we were content and comfortable with our own roles, and not envying our husbands role.   I know that I have been guilty of having a bit of an attitude with my husband when he has to go to his evening job as an auditorium manager.  What reason do I have to be envious?  Well, I’ve been slaving away with the kids all day, with no thanks or glory, and he gets to go off and have more adult interaction, and more pats on the back for his great job, while I sit at home for several more hours in my house, with the kids.    If I wasn’t envying the place where God has my husband, and  his role, then I would find it much easier to smile and kiss him on the way out the door, in a genuine desire for him to have a wonderful evening at work!  It would also then keep my attitude with my children in check, as I am not fuming, and feeling sorry for myself, because I’m once again “stuck” at home in my role as wife and mother. 

This is one big way that I know I can work harder at not envying with the members of my own household.  My challenge to you this week, is to pray and ask God to show you, who you are envying in your household.  How is that envy affecting how you treat that person, when they need you to support them!  When you figure out what it is that is holding you back because of envy, repent to God, and to that precious family member that you have been envying.  After you have repented, make a list of all the blessings involved in the place where God has put you, and how many times you know of that God has used you in the lives of the  people around you.  Find a scripture that will help you with your contentment, and spend time memorizing it this week.  It will vary depending on what your specific envy is.  Let God change your heart, and see how it affects your interaction with your family.  Our families need us to support them, even when we might feel that we are being left out.  We also will never find the joy in our lives that God wants us to experience, if we spend our time envying what others have!  This was the very sin that caused Satan to fall…let’s not allow this dangerous attribute to cause our marriages to fall, or the relationship with our children.

So, I will come back on Friday and share with you all, my experiences with envy this week, and I hope that you will do the same.I would also love to hear you share with me on Friday what scriptures you read this week that helped you with contentment in your roles…and I will do the same!  I look forward to hearing from you all on Friday!  Have a blessed week!

Good Friday morning to everyone!  This week the challenge was to focus on love being kind, and find ways to show kindness this week to the people in your household. If you missed the Monday post check it out here. This was a crazy week at our house, as we once again had a round of sickness go through the house…including hubby and myself.  However, I worked hard to find ways to show kindness in my home this week as much as possible.  There were, of course, times when I felt I could have shown kindness and didn’t, but I did find times when I was showing extra kindness this week.

One thing you have to understand about me is that I am not a softie…or a spoiler.  I have a tendency to take the more strict parenting role, and stick to bedtimes, and stick to healthy eating (3 square meals), and be firm about the “rules” of the house…with no straying from these things.  My husband tends to me much more of a softie, and will often do the unhealthy snacks, staying up later, letting them do something that is against the rules on occassion, kind of stuff.  This week, I tried to be a little bit more of a softy, because I knew in the eyes of my children, this would relate to kindness.  I let them stay up one night when they normally should have gone to bed earlier. I allowed a snack that I normally would not allow,  and I let them eat in the living room at one point (which I don’t like to do normally).   They were surprised, and loved it.  I also had the opportunity to serve hubby things that were wanted while he was sick.  Often when he gets sick, he has to fend for himself, or the older kids will take care of the things he wants, because I am busy with homeschooling the kids, and taking care of the house.  But, this time I tried to go out of my way to check on him more and see what he might need or want. 

   I tried to go out of my way this week to show some kindness to everyone in the house.  Now, admittedly, I will likely not make a habit of some of these kinds of things, because I still feel compelled to keep order in the house, and do what I feel is best for them.  Although my kids thought it was great fun to have mommy  allow these things, they knew it was a temporary thing.  But, sometimes deviating from the “order” is just what is needed to build relationships in your home, and make memories.  This week I am going to work towards finding other ways to show kindness, without deviating from my beloved “order” …and we will also be talking about how love does not envy! 

If you worked on acts of kindness this week, I would love to hear about it!  If you have anything to share about love being kind, come back and leave me a comment, or the link to your blog post, and we can share what we are learning about love together!

Hi all, the You Capture Theme for this week was work.  I’ll admit, I didn’t put a whole lot of “work” into this weeks theme, due to sickness ravaging my household (ok, ravage is a pretty strong word), but I’ve had a very clingy sick one year old, and a sick husband (need I say more ladies? ) I did manage to shoot a few shots that signified work though.  I just didn’t take a whole lot of time to edit, or make them anything special.  So, here is my feeble attempt at work related photography!

My favorite resource for training my boys in a good work ethic!

My one year old...she's a hard worker!

I realize that you may think that this does not look like work.  However…if you follow a one year old around for a day..you will realize just how hard they work in the course of a day!  If nothing else…keeping up with her, tires me out..it’s hard work!

our next door neighbor

This is our next door neighbor during this recent snow storm.  Our neighbors are nice people, but we have to laugh sometimes, because they are retired, and he seems to spend every waking second either mowing grass, or blowing snow.  He’s always on top of the yard, and it makes us chuckle sometimes, as we wonder what it must be like to have that much time to devote to your yard! 

a never ending job for a mother of 7

 Please forgive the dirty smudges on our wall!  We are due for a paint job too! 

I had my oldest working the laundry this day…he looks thrilled doesn’t he? 

Here is my kitchen crew.  He’s ten, and he works really hard when he wants to!  I also allow them to have their mp3 players when they work, because I know music helps keep them going, and limits their level of distraction! 

I hope you enjoyed my work pictures this week.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of me up in the middle of the night with a crying toddler, because that was my hardest work of the week, but you can just draw a mental image!   Go on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see more work pictures from this week!

 ~Vietnamese church leader