A lesson from the garden...

  I'm going to start off by saying, I'm really honest; with that being said, please don't judge me =)

As a mom I try so hard to make the things that are important to my kids important to me, even if they're things I don't like or that I'm not good at and one of those very things is the basis for this lesson. 

One of my daughters loves everything in nature!  She loves animals, every kind (except snakes)!!  She has a beautiful sensitive heart and I just adore her.  She is one of those kids that is generally easy to parent and her kind heart just makes you want to go out of your way to bless her. 

Well, said child has been asking for a flower garden for a LONG time.  I've attempted to purchase seeds and start this garden.  And by attempted I mean Ive purchased the seeds and even started to turn the area and that was the end of that. I ended up enlisting the help of my mom on one of her visits.  I felt like a failure having my child do this with my mom because I wanted to do this for her and with her.  But I felt worse with the amount of time that had passed with me not accomplishing this task. 
  Well, the garden never really grew =( I don't know if it was the seeds or the dirt or what.  We had to travel for a few weeks and maybe it just didn't get the attention it needed.  So two weekends ago, I decided it was time to make this happen for my little lady.  And I did it the easiest and fastest way I knew how, and chose to do it GUILT-FREE.  I sent my little lady with her Daddy to the local store to purchase some 'ready to go' flowers.  I had them go pick out 4 different pots and when they got home I planted them with her and her sister in a little bed.  We weeded, turned the bed, and flipped those little plants right out of their pots and into the ground. It took only a couple hours.  We laid some pretty mulch and my little lady was very happy.  The moral of the story is this, God taught/showed me so much through this little experience and I want to share it with you.  The lessons apply to so many things, not just gardens ;-) But all sort of things that we as moms think are good 'measures' of success. 

Lesson 1 - Don't procrastinate and if its important, schedule it!
  
First thing, I kept delaying this process because it was something I wasn't naturally good at or drawn toward.  And I never 'scheduled' the time to accomplish it so therefore, it took forever to get accomplished.
  
Second- I was dreading this project because I had unrealistic expectations.  My mom always had a HUGE amazing garden, my aunt is great with plants, and my other aunt went to school for horticulture.  I grew up in this family of amazing people with great green thumbs and I don't like dirt! I'm not a great gardener and it was always an area that I felt inadequate. Yet in my mind, you were a 'good' mom if you had a garden.  And just a garden wasn't enough, by garden I mean a garden in which you grew everything from seeds, yourself!  The kind that requires way more time than this momma of eight has time for.  Because I couldn't dedicate the time needed to accomplish the task the 'right way' or what I though was the right way it wasn't done at all. There are times we need to adjust what we deem as the 'right' way.  Are we measuring the 'right' way by what GOD says or by what we have seen other do. 

Lesson 2- Unrealistic expectations are not fair to myself and put all sort of pressures that God never intended for me to experience.  God doesn't measure my success as a mom on whether or not I have an organic garden, so I shouldn't either.  And thankfully most of the time, our kids don't expect as much as we feel we should be giving.  She was so happy to have flowers to care for and pick; she was thrilled we spent the time together. 

Now, I don't want to be misunderstood by seeming like 'instant gratification' is always the answer; it isn't! But sometimes, we just complicate our lives by expecting more from ourselves and others than what is fair. I want to encourage you to seek God, ask Him to show you where in your mothering you're expecting too much from yourself and where you may be complicating things.  He's so faithful to lead us and guide us if we seek Him.  

Deuteronomy 4:29 - But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Proverbs 4:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct (and make straight) your paths. 

Be Thankful For The Tissues!!!

I want to preface this blog by saying we are all at different places in our walk with God; this is just something God laid on my heart to share.  There is no condemnation or criticism here.

The last few months have just been a struggle, there's no nicer way to say it.  We have all been through different struggles. Some might think that the things I'm dealing with are not even difficult, but for me they have been. Most importantly God cares and understands.  

There have been financial losses and hardships, there have been sick kids, non-sleeping kiddos, death in families close to us, and other things that have caused me to approach God's throne with anything but confidence.  

And honestly my questions, fears, and concerns have at times left me with an ungrateful attitude.  I haven't meant to have it, but the distance between where we are and God's best seems so GREAT.  It caused me to become frustrated.  God ever so graciously corrected me the other day in a way that made me smile =)

I had this HUGE grocery list, one of those that was just several hundred dollars worth.  Even with my coupons it was more than I had hoped to spend that week.  I was getting ready to go to the store; I was waiting on Ry to get home.  He came home and with him brought a HUGE package of tissues.  The very one I had on my list.  I usually buy a 8 or 10 count box at BJ's.  I should have said that at the time we all had colds or sinus infections; our noses were all raw.  At the moment, my husband coming in with some Puffs was such a blessing.  Especially since it saved me $15.  

The tissues were just a small little something that God provided.  But for me it went beyond the tissues; God cared.  Someone had donated so many to Ryan's job that they couldn't use them all or give them away.  God met a need, and in all honesty it was a silly need, but He cared about it.  It was the caring about little old me, dealing with lots of yucky noses, and feeling slightly fried that blessed me.  And when I looked at my HUGE list, His gentle reminder was 'be thankful for the tissues', don't look at what you still need'. In this moment, stop and be thankful was the message. 

So often we may feel like we are entitled to more than we have because of the promises of God.  And although there may be truth to what is available to us, today I'm choosing to be thankful for the tissues.  I don't have it all figured out. I know I don't have the same challenges as some, but God cares just as much about mine as theirs.  I may not have all of my questions answered about some things that have transpired, but I know that God cares about the tissues. 

Sometimes we are so busy or concerned looking for God to 'meet' us or 'show himself' to us (in a way that we want) that we completely miss all the ways He is meeting us, His way.  In some instances, it's so so easy to look at all the things we feel like we don't have or all the things we have missed and not just rest in thanking God for all we DO have.  

So today, I encourage you to thank God for the tissues =)