I have decided to start a new blog. We have had so many transitions and changes in life. Blogging has been of the many things that fell off the table in the last four years with the many shifting things in our lives. It has been on my heart to blog again for the last year or two. My husband has always encouraged me in blogging, however, every time I thought about sitting down and continuing with my original blog, I always had this overwhelming feeling of "I'm in such a different season of life". So, it should result in a different blog, a new blog.
This blog really is an outlet for my many thoughts, documentation of the joys and struggles of a simple girl, a follower of Christ, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend. I picked "precious patience" as the name because my greatest prayer these days, is prayers for patience.
I have been a mom for about 7 years now. I love being a mom to my three (almost 4) children--It is a true joy for me. However, I quickly learned that I have never invested so much of "me" into anything in my life. Nothing compares. It has been a lot of sacrifice. It has been full of many stretching moments and a lot of deconstruction of my ideals. It has also enveloped and directly produced many of the richest and most precious moments of my life, thus far. I hope I can consistently keep up typing and editing all the billions of thoughts and learning situations that find me reflective about the bigger picture in life. Comically, enough, they happen in the most repetitive
situations of my day... folding laundry, in particular.
"We don’t do many grand and significant things in our life. Most of us will not be written up in history books. Most of us will only be remembered by family and perhaps a few friends. Most of us will be forgotten in two or three generations after our deaths. There simply are not many grand moments of life, and we surely don’t live life in those moments. No, we live life in the utterly mundane. We exist in bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms, and hallways of life. This is where the character of life is set. This is where we live the life of faith.”
Paul David Tripp
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Blessed Assurance
The other day I was driving to my doctor's appointment, I was alone and it was quiet. Two things happen when I am alone and it is quiet: 1) I fall asleep (three kiddos and 1 in the oven will do that do you and 2) I get lost in deep reflective thought. Since I was driving, thankfully, I didn't fall asleep, but I did get lost in thought.
Now, I am one of those strange people that actually looks forward to getting older and growing old with my husband. I have always found it interesting when people try to be younger than they really are, perhaps, I will understand it more as I continue to grow older. As much as I want to pause time with my children being so young, I also look forward to watching my children grow and see what they do with their lives. I looking forward to watching them get married and have children and, yes, at 32, I can't wait to be a grandma someday. I got married when I was 21, and I am so glad my married life started there. I am very thankful for the age I was when I had my first baby (25) because I want to be young enough (Lord willing) to be able to play with my grandchildren on the floor and help serve my girls when they have babies. I actually look forward to that season of life. I, honestly, think about that season often since I'm in that season and it often reflects in how I parent my girls today.
There are these ongoing conversations in our house between my girls and I, and they are mostly all about the future... "When you girls find a gentleman who loves Jesus and the Bible and treats you kindly, like Daddy, mama is going to take you girls out on a special trip and find the most beautiful white princess dress. It will be so special!" (They LOVE looking at my wedding dress. It gets pulled out every couple months just to be oohh'd and ahh'd over by all my little women). Another conversation is... "when you girls have kids, mama is going to do [this and this and this] with them.", "I'm going to save [insert their favorite toy] so I can show your kids when they come over and I can tell them, your mama used to play with this all the time!" or "when you girls have children, I'm going to tell them that you used to always do [insert comical and ridiculous, repetitive behavior]". Also, conversations happen on a more serious note: "when you girls are a mama, you will understand how important it is that your children obey their mommmy and daddy. So that one day they know how to obey God too, just like you and just like your mommy and daddy." As of now, their plan is to move into each house that is touching or sharing our backyard when they get married and have kids. They have these plans to build tunnels through the fences so they wouldn't even have to come to the front door. Haha... I keep telling them I would be the happiest Mommy and Grandma in the world, if that was the case!
Anyway, back to my being deep in thought... So, I'm driving over the bridge suspended over a giant river and I'm, of course, gazing at the incredible picturesque view of the river, mountains, and lush evergreen trees. I am just in awe and thanking God for all He has blessed us with. Then this completely random thought hit me, in a sort of alarming way, "What if I don't love God when I'm 80 years old??" GASP!!! I have always had this general assumption that I will just love God more and more the older I get. But the thought hit me in a deeply disturbing way, what if something in me isn't able to love God my whole life???? GASP!! All of a sudden these dreams and plans and prayers I have for my children and the future, which wraps in every single area of my life, and determines my perspective in almost every situation, not to mention the incredible we hope we have in life and that there is no fear in death for all who love Him... EVERYTHING just seemed achor-less for one terrible moment. They all of a sudden seemed suspended in this disillusioning and depressing feeling, a feeling that completely rested on my own ability to love God. I know myself well enough to know that I make mistakes, I make many mistakes. I am a creative person and a lot of creativeness stems from how I feel, which serves me well, most of the time. However, sometimes how I feel in the moment overtakes me when it has nothing to do with art, not such a great trait. To have all this resting on me felt completely terrifying for a brief moment. THEN... the reminder of God's pursuit of me in the beginning poured this warm reassuring feeling of complete RELIEF to my preggo/mind-wanderings soul. It was this: I am not loving God now because I am capable of it, I am loving God now and always, because He pursued me first(John 6:44), He loved me first (1 John 4:19), and HE will finish the good work that HE started in me (Phil 1:6). I am simply resting on His grace, Jesus' grace. Thank God!!
I am so relieved salvation is not dependent on my completely undependable self to love HIM. What a discouraging, unsure future it would be if this was the case. I am so thankful it is not up to my "good works" and "good thoughts" to sustain me through this journey, since we know we are guaranteed challenges and hard things in this broken world. It is simply my job to acknowledge His sustaining grace in every situation, knowing He will never leave us or forsake us. I am thankful that our gracious savior interacts with my feeble and fickle self, to shine brightly and graciously through each challenge I face. What a gracious God that pursues us.
Blessed Assurance
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain: This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
~Frances J. Crosby
Now, I am one of those strange people that actually looks forward to getting older and growing old with my husband. I have always found it interesting when people try to be younger than they really are, perhaps, I will understand it more as I continue to grow older. As much as I want to pause time with my children being so young, I also look forward to watching my children grow and see what they do with their lives. I looking forward to watching them get married and have children and, yes, at 32, I can't wait to be a grandma someday. I got married when I was 21, and I am so glad my married life started there. I am very thankful for the age I was when I had my first baby (25) because I want to be young enough (Lord willing) to be able to play with my grandchildren on the floor and help serve my girls when they have babies. I actually look forward to that season of life. I, honestly, think about that season often since I'm in that season and it often reflects in how I parent my girls today.
There are these ongoing conversations in our house between my girls and I, and they are mostly all about the future... "When you girls find a gentleman who loves Jesus and the Bible and treats you kindly, like Daddy, mama is going to take you girls out on a special trip and find the most beautiful white princess dress. It will be so special!" (They LOVE looking at my wedding dress. It gets pulled out every couple months just to be oohh'd and ahh'd over by all my little women). Another conversation is... "when you girls have kids, mama is going to do [this and this and this] with them.", "I'm going to save [insert their favorite toy] so I can show your kids when they come over and I can tell them, your mama used to play with this all the time!" or "when you girls have children, I'm going to tell them that you used to always do [insert comical and ridiculous, repetitive behavior]". Also, conversations happen on a more serious note: "when you girls are a mama, you will understand how important it is that your children obey their mommmy and daddy. So that one day they know how to obey God too, just like you and just like your mommy and daddy." As of now, their plan is to move into each house that is touching or sharing our backyard when they get married and have kids. They have these plans to build tunnels through the fences so they wouldn't even have to come to the front door. Haha... I keep telling them I would be the happiest Mommy and Grandma in the world, if that was the case!
Anyway, back to my being deep in thought... So, I'm driving over the bridge suspended over a giant river and I'm, of course, gazing at the incredible picturesque view of the river, mountains, and lush evergreen trees. I am just in awe and thanking God for all He has blessed us with. Then this completely random thought hit me, in a sort of alarming way, "What if I don't love God when I'm 80 years old??" GASP!!! I have always had this general assumption that I will just love God more and more the older I get. But the thought hit me in a deeply disturbing way, what if something in me isn't able to love God my whole life???? GASP!! All of a sudden these dreams and plans and prayers I have for my children and the future, which wraps in every single area of my life, and determines my perspective in almost every situation, not to mention the incredible we hope we have in life and that there is no fear in death for all who love Him... EVERYTHING just seemed achor-less for one terrible moment. They all of a sudden seemed suspended in this disillusioning and depressing feeling, a feeling that completely rested on my own ability to love God. I know myself well enough to know that I make mistakes, I make many mistakes. I am a creative person and a lot of creativeness stems from how I feel, which serves me well, most of the time. However, sometimes how I feel in the moment overtakes me when it has nothing to do with art, not such a great trait. To have all this resting on me felt completely terrifying for a brief moment. THEN... the reminder of God's pursuit of me in the beginning poured this warm reassuring feeling of complete RELIEF to my preggo/mind-wanderings soul. It was this: I am not loving God now because I am capable of it, I am loving God now and always, because He pursued me first(John 6:44), He loved me first (1 John 4:19), and HE will finish the good work that HE started in me (Phil 1:6). I am simply resting on His grace, Jesus' grace. Thank God!!
I am so relieved salvation is not dependent on my completely undependable self to love HIM. What a discouraging, unsure future it would be if this was the case. I am so thankful it is not up to my "good works" and "good thoughts" to sustain me through this journey, since we know we are guaranteed challenges and hard things in this broken world. It is simply my job to acknowledge His sustaining grace in every situation, knowing He will never leave us or forsake us. I am thankful that our gracious savior interacts with my feeble and fickle self, to shine brightly and graciously through each challenge I face. What a gracious God that pursues us.
Blessed Assurance
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain: This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
~Frances J. Crosby
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
It Matters
I just witnessed one of the greatest joys of my life. My two oldest girls often play with a neighbor girl, she's several years older than my oldest, but she is just drawn to our house, that seems like an understatement. Its become an inside joke in our family that this little girl practically lives in our driveway. Anytime I look out the front window, there she is, literally, watching our house, waiting for my girls to come out and play. Its definitely not a convenient friendship for our family, there are a lot of conversations after a play-session in our driveway about the 'new words' introduced into my children's vocabulary and we have many follow-up conversations about what the bible says about what we speak. But I have really been making it a point to go out with my girls, as much as possible, in the front yard since we moved in and I am always out with my girls while they play (for my children's sake) to catch these teachable moments. (Which had also helped my oldest as she has ventured into the public school system for kindergarten).
Anyway, today my ears perked up to this question coming from my 6 year old: "Do you know Jesus?" The girls says kind of unsure, "Uh, yes?" My daughter responds again, "Really? But do you really know Him?" To which my 5 year old added "Oh, He's really nice." What followed was the MOST incredible simple unfolding of the gospel that I have ever heard and it was through the mouths of my babies. I cannot tell you what an incredible moment that was to be able to witness as their mama. Andrew and I include prayer and sharing the gospel in every moment that we possible can with our girls. And sometimes, honestly... its a lot of work and it would just be easier (and less personally heart probing to myself) to just simply correct the behavior or celebrate a certain joy and simply move on. But man. Its their little hearts we are after, that Jesus is after. We talk about Jesus constantly with our children. Sometimes its discouraging because you don't really see the fruit of your labors as a parent for weeks, months, even years. But today, I was encouraged. He is faithful to His word! [Deut 6:6-9]
My girls went through creation, the garden of eden, Jesus birth, His death, His resurrection, and it was all for our sin, so that we could be with Him in heaven. All this happened in about 2 minutes. THEY TAGGED-TEAMED THAT CONVERSATION. It was as if they had planned it beforehand and they didn't miss a single cue, it just GUSHED out of their little hearts and I was left absolutely speechless and my eyes full of tears.
Every single moment matters. Every word you speak, every prayer you pray. It MATTERS.
That little girl begin to share about her family and their story and my little girls ministered to that little girl. After a year of playing with this girl, today my babies thought it was about time she heard the gospel. And she did.
[Galatians 6:9]
Monday, August 26, 2013
Motherhood is calling my name!
I'm really working hard on staying on task with housework. However, with little ones at home somebody always seems to need a snack, milk, juice, a nap, diaper change, help with zipping princess dresses, hair brushed, bows tied, bathroom instruction, lunch, HUGS & KISSES, help finding something, a referee between sisters (followed by some heart-maintenance), activity instruction, story-time, outside play supervision, toy clean-up help, etc. The good mom/good house-keeper pendulum constantly swings left and right... I think may go nuts thinking it can always stay right in the middle. Motherhood to three precious girls is always calling my name. I'm blessed I can respond each day! My 'spotless' house ideal is just going to have to wait while I have these few precious years.
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