Giveaway at Blessings to the Home

My wonderful friends from church have begun a new blog and I'm so excited to see where it goes.  They're running a giveaway right now too!  Check it out here!

Feeling Inferior?

It's not surprising!  There are so many demands put on us to be "good" moms.  We see them everywhere, but the place where we get hit the hardest is from ourselves.  Innately, every mother wants to be a good mother to her children.  (I suppose I shouldn't say every mother, but most, normal-functioning mothers anyway.)  We want to teach them things, do things with them, provide them with good, quality time, feed them good foods, and on top of all that, do all the good, "wifely" things like keep an organized home and be happy and clean for our husbands.  Being a mother is very demanding!  I made a post not all that long ago about how it is really, really hard!

But in today's culture, I believe it is even harder to rise above the feelings of inferiority.  We have a constant bombardment of all the very best things that other mother's are doing.

Good Mommy #1 went out and built a snow fort with her kids this week.  I don't like getting cold.  My kids don't like getting cold.  My snow boot is broken.  But boy, that mom sure is a good mom!  

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Good Mommy #2 makes healthy meals for her children and lets them cook with her.  I tried that yesterday.  M. made a HUGE mess and got egg everywhere.  Not gonna be doing that for a while!  I let H. help, that's good, right?  

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Good Mommy #3 makes her own granola bars.  I bought three boxes from the store yesterday because the girls were driving me nuts and I HAD to give them something to snack on.  Granola bars are WAY expensive!  

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Good Mommy #4 does a good job of cramming her family of 7 into a tiny house and PRAISES the Lord that they are closer for it!  I do an okay job of cramming my family of 5 into a small house, but it's not very often I am found praising God for it.  

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Good Mommy #5 makes and does all kinds of great activities with her toddler.  I went to a busy bag swap the other day and we've played with our busy bags...oh...three times?  It's so easy, why don't I do it more often?

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You get the idea.  The internet and TV are loaded with "good mommies".  They're everywhere!  It is so easy to look at all these "good mommies" and feel inferior.  I've done it and I know many friends who have done it.  But we need to remind ourselves of two very important details.  

#1. We only post the best.  On our blogs and our facebook accounts, we're not likely to post our failures. I'm not going to post a picture of me laying on the couch while the kids watch a video.  I'm not going to post a status update about how I just wasted an hour playing facebook games instead of cleaning the kitchen while the girls were napping, so now we're having McDonald's tonight.  Occasionally, internet mommies may post these things to encourage themselves or others out of a rut, but normally, we post the positive.  The good things.  The neat things we do with our kids.  Imagine if everyone spent a week or a month posting only the "bad mommy" things they did.  Can you picture your facebook newsfeed?  "I just spent two hours doing nothing."  "I just told my kids I couldn't read them a book because I was tired."  "I just answered 'BECAUSE I SAID SO' for the 37th time today!"  Wow, we'd all feel like good mommies then, wouldn't we??  

The easy answer?  Think about what those other moms may not be doing.  While you may be really good at cooking, I'm really good at cleaning...  But that's not encouraging either.  Instead, think about you.  Stop thinking about other moms and think about what you've done well today with your children.  If there isn't anything, get up and do something instead of wallowing in feelings of inferiority.  If your facebook newsfeed isn't encouraging you, get off of it!  

#2. I am a redeemed mommy.  One of my favorite Michael Card songs has a line that says, "He hands us each new moment saying, 'My child, begin again.  You're free to start again!'"  How incredible!  Not a "good mommy"?  It is not too late!  If you had a rough day yesterday (perhaps my motivation to post??), you can start again! Children are so, so, so forgiving!  They won't care that yesterday was rough.  Today is what they care about and since God forgives too, you're all set!  

So don't sit in your chair feeling inferior.  None of us is the perfect, or the best mommy.  None of us is even good enough.  But we're can all be redeemed and start fresh!  And with that, I will close this post and go read to my little girls.  I hope you all have a great day!

Our Favorite Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

We searched for quite a while to find a bread recipe we really *really* liked.  We tried lots of grainy, dry, falling apart loaves of bread before finding the recipe we love!  The original recipe can be found here, but since I made some changed, I thought I'd post it separately.

Whole Wheat Bread
Makes 2 small loaves

Add the following ingredients to your machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

Combine milk, water, and butter and warm up. Butter does not have to be melted, but the liquid should be warm.
1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
2/3 cup water
2 tbsp butter (or shortening)
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cereal or seeds (7 grain rice, flax, millet, sunflower seeds, oatmeal... I usually use oatmeal and love it!)
2 1/4 tsp (or one package) active dry yeast
1/4 cup wheat gluten

Run bread machine on dough cycle.  When cycle is complete, place bread in two small bread pans and let rise ~20 minutes in a warm place. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Best Christmas Presents

Well, it's been over a month since Christmas and all the lousy gifts are lost and the kids haven't gone looking for them.  A few really great gifts are still around.  Which ones are they?  Here's my list.

1.  Alex Water Flute:  These things are awesome.  The best thing is, they stay in the bath tub so they're not cluttering up the house.  No, I'm kidding, that's not the best thing.  It is up there though.  They're really great. You can fill each one to a certain note and the kids can play songs on them.  They're fairly pitch-accurate (which my husband with perfect pitch appreciates) and they really sound kind of pretty.  Not gonna lie...I play with these myself.  They also come with song cards which will be great when my 2.5 year old is more like...8.  This is a long-term toy.  They're well made and I think they'll last until then too.

2. Hand-Me-Down Lego Train Set: My husband grew up playing with a Lego (the big Legos, not the little choking hazard ones) train set.  It has the tracks and the train and people and TONS of blocks.  It's been sitting in our garage and then in our basement and has been through all manner of disgustingness in the past five years.  Three days before Christmas, we pulled them out and threw them in a tub of bleach water to get out all of the grossness, wrapped them up, and gave them to my 16 month old.  LOVE at first sight!  Plus, she and my 2.5 year old can both play with them.  This is yet another toy that will grow with them for years and BONUS...it was free!  :)

3.  BOOKS!  My girls LOVE books.  They got several for Christmas and they are NOT lost.  It's so nice to have more books to mix in the, "read this one again, Mamma  mix!  My favorite that they got is Madeline.  Fun fact:  Did you know that Madeline was published in 1939?  And it's still a totally awesome book.  

4. Little Hoover: This puppy gets pulled out every time I'm vacuuming.  It lights up, makes sound (loud enough to convince the kid it's running, but quiet enough to not be terribly annoying), and has a hose and tools.  The tools fall out, but other than that, it's great.  Plus, I got it at a consignment sale for a whopping $5.  Yes, please!  I can't find a link to the one I have, but it's so cool too because it looks so realistic.  Not pink, no smiley faces, just a regular, blue Hoover.  Just like mine.  

And that's really it.  Clothes are great and the girls got a couple crocheted hats that I LOVE, but as far as toys go, those were the winners this year.  Not to say they don't appreciate and even play with the other things they got (toy phones were a bit of a hit), but these are the things that have really stood out as favorites.  Hope that helps all you mommies for next year!

Oh wait!!  I forgot one!!

This is probably the biggest favorite!  The girls ask to watch it at least once a day (I do limit it to only watching it once a day, but they may ask for it multiple times!) and it is full of great songs about Jesus!  Is it a little annoying?  Yes.  Is it as annoying as other kids shows?  Nope!  I really like most of the songs it's just the kids and the Donut Man that are a bit annoying, but my girls LOVE it and I love that they're learning about Jesus and His love.

Being a SAHM is Hard

Being a stay at home mom is hard.  And sometimes, I just need a break.  This morning, I had the joy of scanning in (with a new scanner that I've never used before) all of our documentation for Medi-Share and emailing it to them.  In the mean time, my girls were getting hungrier and grumpier.  Hannah ended up in a screaming time-out for lying.

She told me she didn't have anything in her mouth.  I didn't even ask if she had anything in there.  Just just volunteered the lie.

Five minutes later, I notice her turning something over in her mouth. It was a rock.  A rock she didn't want me to know about.

So she sat in time out...screaming mad.  I went in after a few minutes and went through the whole process and talked her through why we don't lie and how God wants us to be honest.  She said she was sorry and prayed and told God she was sorry.  I thought it went really well.

I closed with, "I love you, Hannah."  And she replied with that cute little sly smile,

"I don't love you."

"That's not very nice, Hannah.  I know you're teasing, but that's not a very nice thing to tease about."

No response.

"Hannah, can you be nice to Mommy?  Mommy loves you."

No response.

"Okay, fine.  Come see me when you're ready to be nice."

And I walked out.  And the crying began again.  (Hers, not mine.)

So...I know that probably wasn't a good way to handle things.  I'm not perfect; I can admit it.  Eventually, she came out and said she was ready to be nice and told me she loved me.  The whole thing was ridiculous since I knew she was just teasing, but I just don't want not loving someone to be something we tease about.

(And then...I wasn't able to finish this blog.  So the rest of this is written the next morning.)

All this and we hadn't even had breakfast yet.  During all three meals yesterday, I was reminded of the line from A Christmas Story where Ralphie says, "My mother had not had a hot meal to herself in fifteen years."  Okay, so it hasn't been fifteen years for me, but probably two.  I really wonder if I'll ever have one (when I'm not out on a date with Brian) ever again.

I can think of several other stories to tell about my great day yesterday, but I'll spare you.  That's not the point of this anyway.  The point is, while I was making lunch, I was thinking about how hard this is.  I often have a chiding voice - Satan's voice - pop into my head while I'm feeling sorry for myself that says, "You said you wanted this life."  It's a condemning voice.  Usually I just ignore it, but yesterday was pretty bad.  I found myself thinking,

"But I didn't know what I was getting into!"

And that thought was enough to pull me out of my funk.  Of course I didn't know what I was getting into!  No one does!  But you know what?

I wouldn't trade it for the world!  

Adopt-a-Family: Please Help!

**UPDATE**
Wow!!  I cannot believe how quickly we met our goal!  I set it at $500 thinking that would make a good Christmas for them, covering gifts and food.  Any money that continues to come in will go to help them outside of Christmas.  They have bills to pay and groceries to buy.  Please pray that this will be a blessing for this family that will show them the love of Jesus!

Lately, I've been thinking about how incredibly blessed our family is.  We have a warm home that is just the right size.  Brian has a job that takes care of our needs and most of our wants.  We have two healthy children.  We have family close by that cares about and loves us and that we get along with.  God has taken such good care of us.  

After yesterday's tragedy, I was again struck with how blessed we are.  And the experiences of others who aren't going to have such a good Christmas were a little closer to my heart.  Today, Brian and I decided to help a family out for Christmas.  We found a family who needs help and I'm planning on keeping the identity and age of the children a secret so they can be surprised.  We'd love to have your help.  We can give a little and with your help, we'd like to be able to give a lot.  If you'd like to know more about this family's story, I'd be happy to share, just send me a message and I'll fill you in.  

Thank you so much for any help you're able to give!  

A Closed Mind and an Open Heart

We're singing a song in choir this year that has a line at the end that goes like this, "And all who search, who will search with open eyes, who will pray with open hearts, they will see the light and find the Lord."  The first time I listened to it, I thought it said, "open minds" instead of "open eyes" and I inwardly cringed.  

I've been accused on more than one occasion of being closed-minded.

I was pondering this because in the past, it has really bothered me to be called closed-minded.  I began to think about what the Scriptures have to say on the matter.  I'm not going to quote scriptures, I assume all who read this blog have access to them in one way or another, I'll just give a summary of what I found.

The long and the short of it is this: we're not called to be open-minded.  It seems that there are two states that the mind can be in.  A bad state (high-minded, double-minded, feeble-minded...) and a good state (like-minded, sober-minded...).  The only reference to having an open mind is one that states to open your mind so the mysteries of God can be unfolded to you.  This goes along quite well with the verse that states that the mysteries of God will be unfolded unto you if you keep God's commandments.

Nowhere does it mention opening your mind to ponder the things of the world.  Not to mention the fact that usually, when I'm being accused of being closed minded, it's regarding something that the Bible specifically states is a sin.  And if I'm sinning or condoning sin, I'm separated from God and how can He show me his mysteries, or even His love for that matter?  

It's all a trap.  The idea that you need to have "an open mind" is trap of the devil to separate us from a loving God.

Okay, I realize that at this point, anyone who disagrees with me will probably stop reading (although I hope not, I'm saving the really good stuff for the end), but I'll continue anyway.  So if we're not to be open-minded, what is supposed to be open?  Our hearts, of course.  Our hearts and our ears.  

God can open our hearts, soften our hearts, and speak to our hearts.

So Lord, give us ears to hear, hearts to understand, and minds that are like-minded with You.

But what about our minds?  Didn't God give us minds so we could think things through?  So we could learn and understand?  Of course!  But he didn't give us minds alone.  He gave us hearts to open to Him.  As I sat in my college science class back in 2006, the puzzle pieces began to fit together.  The topic was evolution and I just couldn't believe that people who were considered scholars could actually believe this stuff.  There is no solid evidence, it can't be repeated, it's not testable.  And yet, the theory that the world was created by a big bang is considered science by the vast majority of scientists.  But if you questioned them deeper (Where did the stuff come from that was there before the big bang?  How is it even remotely possible that what we have now came from nothing?  The chances are one in billions, how can you believe this?), they didn't have answers.  

They are still learning.  

"Ever learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7) 

because although their minds are open, their hearts are closed up tight and their ears will hear anything but the voice of a loving God.

Well, I'm not going to feel bad about being closed-minded anymore.  

And I'm not going to take it as an insult when I'm told that I'm closed-minded.  

Perhaps I'll smile and say, "you're right, but my heart is wide open".  

And maybe I'll sound foolish.  But you know, I don't have a problem with that either.

God's Own Fool

Seems I've imagined Him all of my life

As the wisest of all of mankind

But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to man

He must have seemed out of His mind

Even His family said He was mad

And the priest said a demon's to blame

But, God in the form of this angry young man

Could not have seemed perfectly sane

We in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

We in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

So we follow God's own Fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son

For a madman who died for a dream

And You'll have the faith His first followers had

And you'll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know

Have the courage to say I believe

Let the power of paradox open your eyes

And blind those who say they can see

So we follow God's own Fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well