Do What is Good!

Happy Friday! To make you smile today, it's not so much a story, but a delightfully hilarious picture taken of my son earlier this week for his 1-year-old pictures. While a lot of children are wary of the camera, Caleb seems to have come out of the womb ready to perform. Without further ado, my son...

Pardon the screen shot from my phone (such a cool trick I just learned!), but I just had to share. It makes me laugh every time I see it, and I thought it would possibly give you the idea of teaching your toddler to growl and snort over the weekend. Maybe you can even catch it on camera! Ah...isn't motherhood a trip?!?

In my devotional time this morning, the book that I use led me to Titus. Close to the end of the New Testament and not more than three chapters on two pages, I don't often read out of this book. But this morning, I got a LOT out of Titus! The following really jumped out at me as a mother and as a daughter of Christ...

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men." Titus 3:1-2 (emphasis added)

"...And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." Titus 3:8 (emphasis added)

Before I stepped out of bed this morning, I reached for my phone and saw an extremely emotional, angry, and attacking post on my Facebook wall from my cousin. The short story is that he and I differ completely on many views and beliefs, including Christianity. I posted something on my wall last night that really angered him, and he felt compelled to counteract my view with a barrage of angry words. At his core, he was hurt. And for that, I felt terrible. My goal was never to hurt him, but to simply take a stance on something that I believed in. Needless to say, I was sad and upset and asked for guidance on where to go for some spiritual encouragement. The tiny book of Titus provided just that!

Honestly, my flesh had a few choice words to fire back at him, but then I stopped, and I asked God what to say. I feel good about my response. It wasn't originally what I was going to say, but I felt like it was the Godly thing to say, and I attempted to speak it in love. To bring this story and the above verses back around to mommyhood, I thought about the many things that Caleb does that make me a little bit crazy (handfuls of food being catapulted towards the sliding glass door is just one of them...), and how I am having to work on how to discipline my son on a daily basis to teach him how "...to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men." We have all agreed that the best way to teach is by example. Therefore, I must make it my mantra to live by the commands of our Lord and Savior so that Caleb will learn to live by His commands, as well.

My mind then went to the very real possibility that Caleb won't agree with everything I try and teach him. Wait, not a possibility...a fact! What if some of his viewpoints were like those of my cousin some day? While he will always be my son, we could potentially enter into very difficult territory and mommy feelings of inadequacy after I have "raised" him. I don't say this to be fearful. I say it to be mindful. It is never too early for me to set an example for Caleb of "doing what is good." Not simply saying and doing what we want and what we feel like is right, but truly asking God to lead our words and our actions, even on Facebook :-)

I praised Him for helping me deal with this very difficult, and somewhat public, situation this morning, and I vow to praise Him when he helps me through difficult situations with my son. We are our children's number one influence, even more so if we are staying at home. Let's promise to not take that for granted, and seek after Him to learn how to do this crazy thing called life. In the mean time, please let me know what discipline tactics have worked for your little one while throwing food all over your kitchen :-) Be blessed today and everyday, mommies!


MMSM #37

When we are craving some take-out pizza, we typically will hit up Domino's. They have awesome coupon deals that will come in your weekly mail circulars, and if you simply ask what their specials are when you call, sometimes you can get an even better deal. We'll always do take-out to avoid a delivery cost, and it makes great leftovers for my hubby to take to work. For those watching your mommy figure, their thin-crust and gluten-free crusts are super yummy! Happy pizza eating!






Tip #25


I admit it. I'm a bag-hoarder. No, not the fancy purses that I use to strut around with before kids and a strict budget, but gift bags! Those things are not cheap! I am now a proud gift bag re-user. Don't worry, I make sure they are free of tears and wrinkles, but if you receive a present from me, the wrapping is usually recycled! I will be the first one to volunteer for clean-up after Christmas morning, birthdays, and any other gift-giving holiday! I use a large Rubbermaid container to sort my bags into three categories...birthday, Christmas, and plain/other. I have one basket for cloth ribbon (LOVE to use this, and you can get great deals on this post-holidays at Hobby Lobby), one basket for curling ribbon, and one box to the side of tissue paper. I refer to it as my wrapping station in the basement. No need to spend $5 on your kid's friend's birthday bag...just visit your own store!