I Second That Emotion

This is the time of year for reflections. I've been especially reflecting on my life and thinking about some of the things that I've learned this year.  I've learned some very important lessons from my children this year.  We have both a 4 year old and a 12 year old in our home, which essentially means I have two toddlers.  I have two young people in my home that have little control over their own emotions, which is completely developmentally appropriate for each of them, considering their respective ages.  I, on the other hand, have a hard time sometimes controlling my emotions while parenting them, but what's my excuse?

I've especially learned this year that I need to focus more on how I react to my children than on how they react to me or to life. They are learning how to handle "life" by watching me and by following the example I set. How I respond to "life" in front of my kids is what matters.  When my 12 year old loses her cool after I tell her she needs to clean her room,  do I lose my cool? Or should I lead by example,  and calmy explain that her room needs cleaned and follow that with lovingly,  but firmly, explaining the consequences of what will happen if she chooses not to follow the rules?

I make mistakes every day as a parent. Thankfully,  every day I get to wake up and try again to be a better mother than the day before.

It is an honor to parent these two little people.  I hope to send them out into this world as bigger and better contributors to it than I could ever have imagined.

One thing is for sure, my children have been my greatest teachers.  I am beyond blessed to be their momma.

The Human Spirit

I grew up adoring my grandmother.  She taught me some of the most important lessons in life. She taught us that when you go to Dairy Queen, your dessert should be eaten first because it's the best part of the meal.  She taught me that a lady should always wear lipstick.  

She also taught us that we should always give tithes and offerings to the church.  In fact, some of the most important lessons she has taught me has not been by the words that she has said, but through the life she has lead. For instance, I watched my grandmother serve at her church in all sorts of various capacities while I was growing up, and I knew that I wanted to grow up and serve others, just like her. 

My grandmother now has dementia.  She does not know who I am and she doesn't know most of her family members.  She has slowly faded away, both in body and in mind, over the last few years because of this horrible disease of which doctors cannot truly pinpoint what has caused it. 

Even though my grandmother's mind and body are fading away, her soul is not. 

The Bible has many verses that discuss the spirit within us (a.k.a. our souls).  Proverbs 20:17 says: The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's inmost being (NIV)."  Psalm 119:175: "Let my soul live and it shall praise you."  God is telling us that our bodies and souls are two separate beings, and my grandmother is proof of this. 

On Thanksgiving day, my family stood in a circle in order to pray for a blessing over the meal.  After my dad said a simple prayer, my grandmother came right over to him and gave him a big hug. She couldn't speak, as she is unable to speak now, but she was truly so happy about the prayer and this was undeniable to everyone in the room.  I wasn't there to see it, but after hearing about it from my mom and grandpa, I had to share this.  Her soul was touched by the prayer, even though her mind and body could not express her feelings.

3 John 2 says: "Dear friend, I pray that you are in good health, just as your soul prospers." 

It is clear, as my grandmother's life is testimony to, that our bodies may not prosper, but our souls do.

Now, the question is, what will you do to feed your soul?

We must feed our souls by studying God's word daily, by prayer and, most importantly, by sharing God's love with others.  Because my grandmother was faithful in all of these things, her soul will prosper far beyond what her body could ever do.

 

Chicken Magic

When we were growing up we lived in a small suburban town in a regular house.  We did not have any amount of acreage at all, but that did not matter to my mom in terms of turning the backyard into a farm.  We had several chickens and two ducks for a while in our backyard.  I have no idea what the purpose of keeping the ducks was... My guess is that she used their droppings for fertilizer for her huge garden.  Other than that, I have no idea.  As for the chickens, we ate their eggs.  I remember heading out into the backyard to find the brown eggs that they laid.  It was like Easter year-round at our house!  

Don't call PETA and tell on us, but, one of the most amazing tricks that we did with the chickens was "hypnotization".  My brother "hypnotized" the chickens by doing some sort of rubbing on their chests.  The sensation made their bodies freeze (quite likely due to fear).  He could get them to lay on their backs and not move at all.  It was the funniest thing.  I will be honest, I was slightly afraid of those chickens, so most (all) of the tricks were performed by my oldest brother.

The hypnotizing was fun and hilarious, but another great trick was tying up the chickens and forcing them to pull our wagon, like we were on the Oregon Trail.  We used to play Oregon Trail a lot for some reason... I'm guessing we watched and read the Little House on the Prairie just a little too much.  The chickens wouldn't pull the wagon for long, but the fact that my brother could get them tied up for any amount of time was really quite amazing. 

I'm thankful for my fun siblings and for my hippie roots.  I wonder if my siblings and I would be the same creative people we are now if we didn't have some of the activities our parents provided for us in our childhood.  It makes me want to provide more "outside of the box" activities for my own children.  I don't think I'll go as far as to have chickens and ducks in my backyard..... but something cool, that doesn't involve a screen of some sort, nonetheless.