I’m in a learning season it seems. Everywhere I look the Lord is pointing out things He seems to want me to put into practice. I feel kind of like middle school basketball practice when you went from wind sprints to layup drills to running laps to ball handing drills and you kept looking at the clock hoping for a water break…yet the tiredness kinda felt good because you knew it would only last so long. I know this intense learning phase is a season and it’ll let up so I really do want to take it all in.
Hopefully I’ll have time in the next few weeks to put more down here. I went to a conference recently and picked up some really neat parenting practices from some wise moms that I really want to put into practice. I’m gonna try a few out and then let you know how it goes. Things like asking the Lord for a verse for each of my children for the year to pray over for them. Putting it on the fridge so they can see what you are praying over them. Praying through that now. A mom of 10 told us about that and she showed us laminated verses from the last 15 years of praying for her kids. Cool, huh?
But tonight I wanted to share something I found on the inspiring Ann VosKamp’s blog that I have now posted in my kitchen and try to read over each day. It has helped me focus….I have to refocus MANY times a day…It is 10 Points of Joyful Parenting. It truly is best to go to her blog and read the whole thing because the blue parts link to other posts, but here is the summary:
1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.
2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.
3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.
4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!
5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.
6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I willcreate daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!
7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child’s behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.
8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals — because children’s hearts feed on touch. I’ll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible — the taller they are, the more so.
9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.
10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!
I hope this challenged and blessed you as much as it does me each day! Blessings in the journey friends:)
What are you learning during this season?
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Living not striving... 