Striving For

Things I'm learning and trying to do better

To find joy in the small things

To trust God with every area of my life

To stick to our budget

To be a better mom

To just let the house be a mess sometimes

To be a better wife

To pray often and passionately

To read my bible daily

To be a better friend

To be the best nurse I can be

To spend more quality time with my kids

To laugh more often

To exercise more

To drink more water

To appreciate every moment

To slow down

To tell my husband often that I appreciate him

To look for positives in my children

To not be so hard on myself

To look for God's blessings

I'm sure the list could go on and on…this is just what came to mind today! I wish I could say that I am just doing all of these things perfectly! Ha! And most likely I won't even be able to attain them all but that's okay! I'm learning to rely on God and his direction in my life and looking to Him for guidance!

Not Consumed

"Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him."

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord."

~Lamentations 3: 21-26

These verses have been such a blessing to me throughout the last few months. I found them many months ago when I was feeling lost and I opened my bible and there they were already highlighted and everything! They touched my heart and have continued to do so every time I open my bible. There have been many times over the last few months that I have felt "consumed" by the trials going on in my life. But God tells us that because of Him we "are not consumed" but that he is faithful to deliver us and give us strength when we have none left. He is compassionate about what is going on in our lives and wants us to come to Him for strength and renewal.

Thank you Lord for loving me so greatly!

Trying

Things I'm learning and trying to do better

To find joy in the small things
To trust God with every area of my life
To stick to our budget
To be a better mom
To just let the house be a mess sometimes
To be a better wife
To pray often and passionately
To read my bible daily
To be a better friend
To be the best nurse I can be
To spend more quality time with my kids
To laugh more often
To exercise more
To drink more water
To appreciate every moment
To slow down
To tell my husband often that I appreciate him
To look for positives in my children
To not be so hard on myself
To look for God's blessings

I'm sure the list could go on and on…this is just what came to mind today! Hope you all are enjoying this last bit of summer! School starts for my two older kiddos tomorrow! This summer has gone by soo fast! The boys are excited about school starting but sad summer is over! I am looking forward to getting back to a routine but am not looking forward to the homework struggles, last minute projects (because my kids at least are famous for waiting till the last minute to tell us an assignment is due!), and running the kids to and from Soccer and Cross Country practice and every other thing they have going on! Life is about to get really busy again! Bring it on!!

Inspiring

As I have started this blogging journey I find myself visiting blog after blog and being awed and inspired by what I find there. I love seeing what other people are doing and how they are living their lives. It's so fun to get a small glimpse in to their worlds.

I found this blog that I won't put a link to because I don't know the person. But she has truly inspired me. She is a mom of triplets who almost died after having them. Today she posted about being yourself, her blog title was "Be You". This really hit home with me as I lately seem to find that I am comparing myself to other moms or my family to other families.

She talks about another family whose small kids were so athletic and could do amazing things and were always ahead of what her kids were doing and she felt amazed at this Mom's ability to teach her kids. This mother said that this was her thing, she grew up being athletic and it was something she was good at teaching her kids. The mom of triplets said that teaching her kids athletically was not her thing at all but that she was gifted when it came to teaching her kids life lessons.

It made me remember that God has given each of us individual and special gifts and that NO ONE can do it all. I may not be the mom that homeschools, or makes a perfect meal every night or has a spotless house all the time but I am ok with that. I respect those women and I realize that their gifts are not better or worse than mine but just different than mine. I know my assumptions about other families are completely inaccurate sometimes. I will think to myself "She is the perfect mom, her kids are just perfectly well behaved" but then I spend some time with her and her kids and see for myself that those kids aren't so perfect and that they fight and whine and complain just like mine do! : ) It's then that I realize that Satan is using my insecurities to make me feel inferior and worthless and to envy others.

"Let's go ahead & be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't."
Romans 12:6 (The Message)

I love this..."lets be what we were made to be"....God has made us who we are and his design is unique for us. The awesome thing is that we all need each other and God has placed us in a community to inspire and compliment each other with the gifts and abilities He has given each of us.

I pray that I can learn to appreciate the gifts God has given others and that I can BE who I am without enviously or pridefully comparing to another.