The Suitcase

There is a suitcase sitting on our bedroom floor.  It pretty much stays there all the time because my husband travels so much.

The suitcase reminds me that he will have to leave again.  Seems like while he is home we pretty much live with the "Only ___ days until you leave again." attitude.  When he is away, we live with the "Only ___ days until you get home" attitude.

Neither way is reminding me to cherish the moments that are now. 

 I am choosing now to look at the suitcase and be reminded  that we may not have many days until he is away, but I will be thankful for the time we have while he is home. 

 I will be reminded that I need to show him each day that I love and honor him, and that I am happy he chose me to be his wife. 

I am choosing now to let the suitcase remind me that God is in control of the amount of days we have together and I will be content with that and not think about the past or the present but the now.

Quiet Time with God

I know that if I start my day off with some quiet time praying and reading God's Word then I will have a better day than if I don't.  The problem is that some days I choose a little extra sleep over getting up before everybody else, or some days my daughter gets up earlier than expected and then I don't get the quiet time I was planning to have. 

I try not to make my quiet time a "check off the list" thing, but more a mindset for my day.  If I start my day talking with Him, I'm more likely to focus on Him all throughout the day.  Now, if I could only figure out a way to make Him the focus on the days that I don't get the quiet time. 

Whether I start my day with Him or not, He is with me always and will never leave me or forsake me.

Imagination

Before I had my daughter, I would go to other people's houses and play with their children.  I never liked it when a 4 or 5 year old child would come up with this "new" game to play and want me to join in.  I would try to understand the "rules" and follow them, but they always got frustrated because I wasn't doing what they were asking and I would get frustrated because I didn't understand what they wanted.  It always ended badly.

When I had Lilly and she started to develop an imagination, I felt bad that I didn't enjoy it more.  This is my own daughter, how come I don't love to play pretend games with her.

I love that my daughter has an imagination.  She is very creative in the games, songs, and stories she comes up with.  When she was younger she had several imaginary friends.  One of her favorite games to play is a game I bought when I was teaching where you add onto somebody else's story.  She thinks it is the best game ever, but it is not my favorite. 

I see moms who are great at playing pretend with their children and I wish that I could be like them, but I know that it isn't my gift.  I wish it were, but I know I need to be content with the gifts God has given me.

We As Parents

In Feb. 2008, God blessed us with an amazing gift - our daughter.  As her parents we are called to do what we think is best for our children, right?  The problem is that sometimes what one parent sees as best for their child is totally different from what another parent views as best.  This has been a struggle for me ever since I found out I was pregnant. 

We never put Lilly in our bedroom.  From day one she slept in her room, in her crib.  It worked for us.  I know many moms who co-slept with their child - it worked for them. 

At 5 months, we did the "cry it out" method with Lilly.  For about a week, we let her cry herself to sleep.  It was hard for that week, but afterwards it was one of the best things ever because we could lay her down in her crib awake and she could put herself to sleep.  I know some moms who would never do this and see it as cruel, but like I said - it worked for us.

We do not let our daughter dress up or participate in anything related to halloween.  It is a personal conviction of ours - one we feel very strongly about.  It is what we feel is best for our family.  I know many people who have no problem with it - that works for their family.

We have decided to home school Lilly.  I know many parents who feel strongly about sending their child to school so they can be a light to others. 

For Christmas, we celebrate Jesus' birth but do not have Santa come to our house.  It works for our family and we can focus on serving and giving to others rather than receiving.

Does that mean our way was wrong and their way was right? Or that our way was right and their way was right? I don't believe so, but there still seems to be tension when you have a different method of doing something.  On my part, I need to remember that most parents are doing what they see best for their children and just because it is different from the way we do things does not necessarily make it wrong.