Precious Gifts!

Today has been one of those days.

One of those days when parenting is just plain hard.

One of those days when you wonder if you are doing anything right

and you are thinking that the answer is no......

and you feel like no matter what you say no one is listening

and no one really cares.....

But I know that the Lord has given these precious people to me as a gift.

Psalm 127:3 (New Living Translation)
Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.

It's funny. {or really it's not}.

I wasn't scared to become a parent.....

but now I am thinking I probably should have been....

Because training these little people in HIS ways

is one of the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Proverbs 22: 6

Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Because goodness knows, I am not a perfect Mom.

I get angry, I lose my patience, I yell.

But, imperfection is to be expected - I just want them to see

that I am a follower of HIM and even though I'm not perfect

that I am striving to be like Jesus

and to teach them about our Savior.

I want to be a better Mom.

I want to be more like HIM!

I want them to know how much I love them.

SO, I spent some time apologizing to my kids tonight for my imperfections

and for not acting as Jesus would....
and I will continue to pray for Less of Me -

and MORE of HIM.....

and I will continue to mess up, and apologize

and ask forgiveness.

And I will continue teaching them WHO our Savior is

and hopefully grow more like Him everyday

so they will see him.

I will continue to talk about Him to them

I will continue to do this incredibly hard thing called

being a Mom.....

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New International Version)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

....because these little people are precious gifts from the Lord above.

And they deserve my best.

Tomorrow is a new day --

I will begin my day in prayer--asking HIM for help

in this parenting endeavor.

Because today {as everyday}

proves again -- that I can do nothing apart from Him!

in HIM-

**All pictures were taken on May 8, 2011 ~ Mother's Day~ at Lake Junaluska**