What fruit do you see in your home today?

On Wednesday, the boys and I went to the store and bought some fruit stickers and green and brown "fun" paper. What, might you be asking, was all this for? Well....

Our new "Fruit of the Spirit" tree that is growing in our kitchen.

I started the process of teaching the fruits of the Spirit with chart that had movable pieces of fruit. There was white column and a red column side by side. When we did not display a certain fruit, it had to be moved to the red column and then they would sit in our "Think About" chair for the number of minutes of their age. At the times end I would talk with them and pray with them about how we can better show that fruit of the Spirit.

But, I was seeing that we were needing more help in the practical part of how this looks in our home, our relationships and attitudes, so God gave me this idea!

When Mommy or Daddy sees a "fruit" we thank our son for displaying this in whatever the situation and then they get to put some fruit on our tree! It has been fun and for my boys a Big incentive to follow-through on the action of living out the fruits of the Spirit!

If you want to try this in your home, I would love to see your trees and hear about how it is working for you:)
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On a completely different note.... I am not really into character clothing or shoes that light up. So, one might ask "why in the world is Luke wearing these?"

Well, yesterday we went looking for some spring/summer sandals and found these on sale for $5 and we could not help ourselves! Luke fell totally in love with them and Mommy could not resist this sweet face....

This morning the sweet child woke up and ran to give me hugs, then said "Excuse me mommy, I need to go see if my Lightening shoes slept good." He then asked me if he could take them outside for a walk! Pure happiness for this sweet boy and that my dear friends is why I bought the shoes! :)

Moments of Joy

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars. 2 Chronicles 16:9

Last night my husband and I sat down to evaluate the state of our life: marriage, family, child training, etc... We do this in anticipation of the new year coming and see what has happened over the past year. We decided this year we would start by deciding what we value. Then we will define the value, find a verse to see what God says and set our goals accordingly. This process came from a lady at our church who taught a wonderful class on decision making about a month ago.

Here is an example of what we are doing:

Value: children
Definition: descendant; offspring; gift of the Lord
Verses: Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy then to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Goals: treat our children as precious gifts, handling them with much care and wisdom
training them in the righteousness of the Lord
sharing the gospel consistently with them
seeking the Lord's wisdom for the bend of each child, since they are a gift from Him

Now, that I have started with this I realize this can be another post all it's own. :) More on this as we develop this process~

For the heart of this post, I want to share this thought...

As we sat there talking and looking up scripture, I was struck by the fact that at that very moment, God was having to witness someone, somewhere cheating on a spouse, aborting a baby, stealing, practicing immorality, the list of actions with evil intent goes on and on.

But, here we were~imperfect and inadequate~taking time out to see what God says about what our lives should look like. And I thought, WOW! How precious is it to God to look into our lives and see us being faithful. How much joy does this moment bring Him? I thought to myself, He must be able to just take a deep breath and say, "Thank you my child for doing what matters most." Doing what matters most to God brings great joy to His heart.

I am not special or great because I took that moment out to go to God's word. This is what I should be doing with my time. How many times during the day, amidst all the junk He is having to witness, am I bringing Him joy? In those moments is He pleased with what He sees me doing?

OH! I pray that I will find myself working hard to make the heart of my Heavenly Father happy. I want to be one of His children that causes Him to smile, because I am doing what matters most to Him.

Small Reminders

I woke up this morning to the smell of fresh air blowing in my windows. I could hear the softness of the world outside and I felt at peace; comforted by the knowledge that God was already up and waiting for me.

Surrender is my journey. Each day the choice presents itself as I choose to stay in bed or get up for my first appointment with God. Do I read a little longer with my boys or mop the floor? Do I accept the "something" that didn't turn out the way I had hoped or stew and strive to make it happen. Each of us faces the choice to surrender or to strive. I humbly ask God to give me the opportunity to surrender.

"Surrender is not the surrender of the external life, but of the will." ~Oswald Chambers

"I have given myself clear away, and have not retained anything as my own." ~Jonathan Edwards

As I sat down at the computer this morning my husband had left me a small reminder that nothing was left solely in my hands that day. A small note on the keyboard read, "Good morning, this is GOD! I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help, so have a great day."

Oh the sweet blessing in knowing that I do not have to strive today or any other day. The note itself was a small reminder that God has my best interest at heart and that He cares for even the smallest of my needs. He is big enough to control all that surrounds me in the world, but small enough to hear me whisper, "stay near to me O God."

Thank you O God for the joy that comes in the surrender.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24