Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
2 Corinthians 5:9
It's sometimes hard to remember that we should be raising our kids so that we glorify God - to be "well pleasing to Him" rather than to pump-up our own parenting egos. I struggle with keeping that right frame-of-mind. My upbringing was a little skewed, so I find myself trying to compensate for it by doing all the things I think should be done in order raise good kids. A lot of times that means that I pile on book after book, after fun activity, after meaningful discussion. Bleh.
The biggest danger in me making the list of priorities for the kids is that there is the very real possibility of losing sight of the vision God has given me as a mother. My little things can muddy the waters and make me forget The Big Thing that God has given me to do. Constantly asking God to give me His vision for my family has kept me going strong. With the vision, comes a passion, a yearning to fulfill and live up to God's goals. What a blessing and a joy it becomes to "do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31)
With that said, it doesn't mean that I sit idly by, waiting for God to pick me up from the couch and give me a kick in the right direction. That's not the point! The point is to "do all to the glory of God." When I do that, the unimportant is easy to shake off as I focus on the true calling God has given for me as a mother.
One thing I come back to over and over again, is spending time with our kids. How can I win their hearts if I won't even have a conversation with them? So I'm always looking for any amount of time that I can give to them - even if it means I'll never get to read for pleasure again - it's worth it. ;-)
 |
| Can one ever have too much cinnamon & sugar? |
I found a book titled "Mothers and Daughters at Home: 35 Projects to Make Together" (check out my Amazon widget over in the sidebar). The book is divided up into projects that take an hour, half a day, all day, and an indefinite amount of time. I gave Lydia the book and told her to pick our first project together and she picked a half-day project. We made homemade cinnamon rolls together. We like to cook and bake together. Something we like to do most often is what I call "Every Other Cooking." Silly name. All we do is alternate putting in ingredients and following directions for a recipe. But we do it together and that makes it time well-spent.
 |
CARAMEL Cinnamon Rolls. Yum! |
 |
| He's daydreaming about all that cinnamon-y goodness. CAN'T WAIT! |
 |
| The finished product! (don't look at my dirty oven) |
