I have been a bad blogger lately. I have lots of cute pictures of our little family Valentine's celebration and the SNOW we got this past weekend...but I've yet to get them uploaded.
Ella and Eliza have both had a bad cold for several days. I finally took them to the doctor today and Ella has an ear infection. I always struggle in knowing when to go and when to wait it out...glad we went. They have both been up....almost every hour crying with stuffy noses. One goes to sleep and then someone else starts crying. Kev and I said we can almost feel it...the second we know one is back asleep it is just a matter of minutes before it is the other's turn. Fun nights!!! I am so thankful that we made it almost FIVE straight weeks without any sickness. That was a major accomplishment from what we faced in Nov. and Dec. I will be glad when these colds are gone and we get back to sleeping at night.
One thing I am learning about parenting is that it is ever changing. The minute you get a child into a good routine, get things figured out...someone has to go and "grow" on you! I remember very clearly that around 15 months we hit a really difficult stage with ella. It really caught me off guard (not that I thought that I was blessed with a supernatural "perfect" child)...I just wasn't ready for the battles ahead. The days of me just loving on her all day...the easy days... were replaced with lots of discipline and battles of the wills. I hated that we had to enforce rules and boundaries which were followed by lots of discipline. This created a lot of learning for all of us. In the back of my mind was always a rebellious teenager, the undisciplined and difficult children I had taught as a teacher and the bible verse..."spare the rod and spoil the child." (That is a verse isn't it??) I have been determined to help bring her very strong will under the obedience of her mommy's and daddy's, so that one day she will learn to be obedient to God and His Word. So, it was the beginning of many battles. There was the: highchair battle, the shopping cart battle, the stroller battle, the don't touch that battle, the you can't eat that battle, the you must try a bite battle, the you must sit in timeout battle, and etc. Over time most of these battle have ended. We now can have a somewhat peaceful shopping trip and can eat out without leaving the restaurant with our meal to go. And of course just as I think I have made a little progress in shaping ella's obedience...there are new battles brewing. I can feel them coming on: battles over clothing choices, over snacking, battles over sharing and caring for little sis, battles over t.v. watching and first time obedience.
I just bought the book, A Mom After God's Own Heart, by Elizabeth George. It is 50% off at the Family Christian bookstore right now. I have read a few of her other books and they are always easy to read. This morning I read this (while using the restroom...entertaining a two year old and talking to a baby in a bouncy chair...I didn't want you to think I was sitting all warm and cozy on my couch having a peaceful quiet time with the Lord. That sounds delightful but for now I will take what I can get)!
It said, "So here, my fellow mom, is our twofold challenge. To raise (and keep raising)a child after God's own heart and sow the seed of the Word of God while praying fervently for "Divine influence. At the same time, we must devote ourselves to diligently training and to dealing with and disciplining the sin that is a part of every child's life." pg. 13
So I will continue to pray, sow the seed of God's Word and continue to "keep raising!"
2 comments:
keep raising... that is so true! thanks for sharing your experience. :)
we are dealing with the fireplace battle... i thought the same thing about the "perfect" child. i said to myself yesterday, "oh no, he isn't an angel like i thought he was!" ha ha! hope the girls get better soon! i just might have to read that book, too!
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