Third Thursday Thoughts~ Remember the time?

Well, the Hearts at Home Blog Hop is back in action today, and the prompt for this month was 'Tell us about a time at the playground when that thing happened...' My minds went to several incidents from my childhood, but I decided that it was better to not rehash those. So I tracked a bit more into recent past and my time as a mom.

I can remember one gorgeous day in Nashville when, feeling ambitious and stir crazy all at once, I decided to take my newborn baby girl and 2 1/2 year old little dude to the playground down the street. Remy was itching to just get out of the house and run. We had a great time playing~ the drama came when it was time to go (isn't that always the case?!). I gave Remy a 5 minute warning to wrap up whatever he was involved in. The minutes wound down, and I told Remy that it was time.

At this point I'm carrying Halle in the Baby Bjorn front-carrier, and she was sweetly snoozing. I started to walk towards Remy, and he begins to scream bloody murder. 'NOOOOO!' I reached out my hand to grab his and he screams 'YOU ARE NOT MY MOMMY!'. Thankfully this particular playground was not very busy, and the few other moms who were there knew I wasn't kidnapping this child. But I was nonetheless mortified.

Halle begins to stir, and I knew that she was going to need to be nursed soon. So I lean in and grab Remy, who begins to gag himself. 'I will puke!' he yells as I take his hand and start to pull him to the car. He goes limp at this point and lets his body drag along the ground. I have never felt so humiliated. I look like a crazy, post-partum mess, kidnapping a sick noodle boy from the playground.

Thankfully I was able to get him into the car, though not yet in his carseat. I simply closed the door and walked around to put Halle in her seat first. I strapped her in and made my way again to Remy's side, where he had curled into a firm, sobbing ball on the floor. It seriously took every muscle I had to unfold him and get his buckles secured~ how are they so strong?!

So yeah, that was my finest playground moment... What's yours? I would love for you to link up and check out the other Hearts Bloggers that are 'hopping' along today!!

Under the Weather

We've been spending our days a bit like this... some crazy sickness has been working its way through these little bodies. One is sick then gets better, then the other gets it. Remy's on round two, and I'm hoping that they're on the tail-end of it. He's ready to get back to school, and I'm ready to disinfect everything!

Words

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

Proverbs 16:24

Our words have amazing power, don't they? I read a blog post on this very topic the other day, and it was quite the kick in my pants... As moms especially, we have the tremendous gift to shape the little ones entrusted to us. And our words can do a lot of molding. Good and bad.

I have found myself lately annoyed at Halle's attitude. At only 3, she has a lot of sassiness that pours out of that smirked-like-her-daddy mouth, and it makes me a bit crazy. I do not like to be talked to that way! But then God turns the mirror sharply in my own direction and I see~ Her words sound an awful lot like my own. My tone on busy days can be less than sweet, and I get what I give. 

So I (again) begin carefully weighing each word. Words have the ability to scar or to shape. To build or knock down. And it is only when I am truly full of Him and His Word that I can clearly pour out Love to the ones around me.  I have begun my days praying the words of David: "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." (Psalm 141:3) I never cease to be thankful for what the infusion of God's word can do for my days and my mouth.

Fear and Rest

Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

This week begins the newest (in)courage Bloom book study of Angie Smith's new book "What Women Fear". I must admit, by the title alone I wasn't so compelled to dive in, but as I got to thinking about it I realized that I've got many fears in my life. I've just learned to live with them, to waltz around them as though the elephant under the rug is supposed to be there. That is not the freedom that Jesus offers!

I don't rest in Him, wholly and completely, when I just ignore the things that stir in my gut. Do y'all have fears that have just become part of your normal? A very real example in my life of how fear and rest don't go together is my fear of the dark.

I was fifteen when I became afraid of the dark. I remember lying in my bed on that November night of my sophomore year in high school. Blankets up to my chin, the black in my room was the first place I felt alone. That night I can still recall a growing fear in my gut for the unknown.

Our world had just been rocked, and I can still see my ceiling if I close my eyes. Thinking how everything had changed in an instant, a letter. And the darkness was the place I realized that he wasn't. I knew my mom was downstairs, and I knew I was safe, but I was by myself, beside myself. The unseen seemed to characterize what I was feeling~ worried, uncertain, without defined boundaries.

So I learned to live with this fear by leaving lights on. By checking and double-checking locks. By staying awake until I was so exhausted that I would pass out upon my head hitting the pillow. I would sleep, but this wasn't rest!

"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all"

1 John 1:5

Psalm 91:14 says "'Because he loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him for he acknowledges my name.'" Learning that I can turn the light out and trust God to control my circumstances has led to peace. With this comfort I can lay my head down and experience true rest. I don't want to simply live with my fear... I want to let God take it!

So what are you afraid of? Are you willing to let it go and trust that God wants you to experience wholeness and freedom? The study starts today, but it's not too late to grab a copy of the book and dive in! You are welcome to jump over there by clicking the button on my sidebar.