Learning From Mrs. Cardinal

Yesterday, Joshua and I were looking through an old issue of Birds and Bloom, and we came across a picture of a sweet brown bird. Joshua exclaimed, "Look, a girl cardinal!" He was correct, it was a female cardinal. He then told me all about how boy cardinals are bright beautiful red, and the girls are a pretty brown color.

I thought about that a bit. I thought about how male peacocks are so beautiful, and the females so much simpler looking. I thought about how male lions have their big fancy looking manes, and the females are again much more plain. Isn't it so interesting how often times in nature, the males are the "showy" ones, but with people it's the other way around?

"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;" 1 Timothy 2:9

I wonder how it is that we have gone so far away from God's ways. Why do we, as women, feel such pressure to be beautiful? Why do we feel the need to outshine our husbands?

It seems like such an unheard of idea for women to be content in their roles as the weaker vessel, as the quiet helper for her husband. Society tells us we should want more than that, we should crave the attention of the world around us, we should desire beauty. The very idea of being created to be a helpmeet is offensive to most! How did we come so far away from God's plan for us?

I am constantly amazed at the amount of feminism that has managed to creep into my life. I have never had the desire to be anything other than wife, mother and homemaker, and yet, I can find the traces of "what about me?" in my life. I want to be seen as successful, and beautiful. I want "my time".

This can be a sometimes blurry issue. Obviously, as mothers, we do need to take proper care of ourselves. We need to get enough rest, we need to take time to make sure our appearance is neat and tidy. We need time for prayer, and study, and we should pursue activities that encourage and edify us. I think this can all become selfishness though if we are not careful to make sure that our priorities are in the proper order.

I had a little battle with these feelings this week. My husband was recognized in a meeting at work for his success. He got to walk on stage and will receive a nice award. I was so happy for him, and so proud of the hard work that he does to make sure that his family is well cared for, but I have to admit a twinge of envy. No matter how hard I work, I'm not likely to receive a "Housewife of the Year" award. I'm not going to get a trophy or plaque and be called up in front of all of my fellow housewives and be told how great I am. Don't get me wrong, I get a lot of appreciation from my family, and even from my friends. But there was that twinge...

I find the female cardinal to be beautiful. I doubt she sits around being jealous that her mate is so much prettier than she. I doubt she longs for gorgeous red feathers. I doubt she feels slighted that people notice her mate and not her. Can I follow Mrs. Cardinal's example? Can I be content with being the simple brown bird?

With Love,

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Thankful Thursday- Late again!

I am going to have to start writing "Thankful Thursday" ahead of time, or we may as well call it "Thankful Friday"! :) Thursdays always seem a bit busy.

Linda, the youth girl that works for me, comes on Thursdays, and we enjoy having her here so much that I never have a moment to sit down and write. She is such a blessing to our family. It's not the work, although it is certainly nice to have help with the housework, but it is her company that just blesses us immensely! She has such a sweet heart and joyful spirit, that being around her makes it impossible to not smile. She has such patience with letting the boys help her, and they think that helping her clean the house is one of the most fun things they could ever do! Seeing her so joyful in her duties, shows them that work really is a good thing, and I am so thankful to have a helper with that kind of attitude!


I am also so thankful for brothers who are the best of friends. I love watching Jacob and Joshua play together, and have serious conversations together, and genuinely enjoy the company of one other. These two rarely ever quarrel, and they seem to understand each other in a way that only best friends can. I am so thankful that they have each other!


I am so thankful for little boys who want to work! Sure, it's more fun with Linda, but they are usually such willing helpers anyway.


I am thankful for my baby dear. He went through a short spell of being a bit of a handful, but he seems to have left that phase behind and returned to being the most delightful little one. I think he would be happy to sit and rock and sing with me all day long! I am so thankful for a little one who loves to give hugs and loves to be hugged. We love our baby dear!


I am also so incredibly thankful for the visit I had with my dearest friend this past weekend! I am so thankful to have a friend who I can share so much of my heart with. I am thankful for my husband for allowing me to go and visit her, and for being willing to take care of the boys so that I could go. I am so thankful for my friend's family, who were all so welcoming and such wonderful hosts and hostesses!

In Christ's Precious Love,

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Saying Goodbye to my Bird Friend

*Photo courtesy of www.allaboutbirds.org*

Yesterday was a really nice day, but the afternoon brought with it a piece of sadness. Jacob called me over to the window and said, "Mommy, I think Rocco ate your bird!" Sure enough, there were pieces of him scattered on the ground under the window.

Several weeks ago, my beautiful friend started visiting me. He would come to my window and sit and we would have the most delightful wordless conversations. I so much enjoyed his visits! He would come and talk to me, and then go and eat at the bird feeder. I am sad to lose my little friend. I know it's a natural thing, for a dog to eat a bird, but I shall miss his visits!

Jacob said to me, "I know there's other birds like him, but I guess not others that will come see you like he did". Yes, he was a special little bird, at least to me!

With Love,

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Kindness is Contagious!

Children can teach us so many lessons, if we are willing to learn from them!

This morning's lesson: Kindness is contagious!

I was watching the boys play the other day, and one brother took a toy from the other. The wronged brother stopped, hugged the offender and said, "I forgive you", which then caused the one who had stolen the toy to return it to his brother.

Today, after our noon meal, Jacob started wiping the chairs. Joseph saw him and said, "You are doing my job!" Jacob told him, "I saw that you were busy and thought I'd help." Joseph responded with, "That is so nice to me!"

Then, just a few minutes after this, I sat down to rock Jamie. I couldn't find his blanket so Joshua says, "He may use mine! I want to be nice like Jacob!"

Kindness begets kindness. When we see another person being kind, then it inspires us to do the same.

The little acts of kindness from the children seemed to cause an overall attitude of kindness throughout the house. What an excellent reminder that our own actions can affect the actions of those we come in contact with!

Those who know me well, know that I can tend to be a little shy. Sometimes, my shyness can actually make me appear unfriendly. I get nervous, I forget to smile at people. This past weekend I went on a trip to North Carolina to visit one of my most dear friends. I was so nervous about flying all by myself! When I get into situations such as that, I tend to be very serious, interact as little as possible with others, and just focused on what I need to do. But, I think I was so joyful about seeing my friend that I was just beaming with smiles. I ended up sitting next to a music minister on the first flight and he asked me if I had ever flown before. I told him I had, but this was my first trip by myself. He said, "Well, just keep smiling like that and you'll find that people will be more than happy to help such a friendly face!" He was right! Everywhere I went people were friendly and helpful! Kindness really is contagious!

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32

With Love in Christ,

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Count it all Joy- Part Two

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." James 1:2-3

The last post focused on the first half of this passage...counting it all joy when we face difficult times. I'd like to talk now about the second half.

Patience. Patience is a scary word for a lot of mothers, especially when we have children in the younger age set, and especially so if you have four of them in that age set who all happen to be boys!

Teasing aside though, patience is a struggle for most of us, and it is a virtue we all strive to achieve. I read somewhere that the word "patience" is in the New Testament 34 times (KJV).

Websters dictionary defines patience as the capacity, habit, or fact of being patient. I had never much considered patience as being a habit. One definition of habit is as follows: an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary. A habit is something that is acquired. How many times have I heard someone say that they just weren't born with patience! I'm sure there are naturally patient people, but I am certainly not one of them! Patience is something that can be acquired. We can develop a habit of patience.

I am someone who likes a plan. When I set out to do something I want a plan for how to get it done. So, how do we develop a habit of patience?

One synonym for habit is practice. I am sure we have all heard the saying, "Practice makes perfect!". We must practice being patience.

So how is a habit formed? It is said that it takes three weeks for a new behavior to become a habit. In order to start a new habit, we must know what it is that we want. We want to form a habit of patience. We must then commit ourselves to forming this new habit. We need to strive to be consistent in practicing patience. It might even be helpful to ask a friend for accountability in this. Be prayerful. Pray for patience, pray for opportunities for patience...but be prepared to be tried!

"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."

Why does the trying of your faith worketh patience? I was doing something on this. As I mentioned in the last post, I have been going through quite a bit of trials lately. I think patience is almost a necessity in persevering in faith. Faith often times requires patience, because we don't always see what we feel like we need to see right away. Sometimes we pray for something, and the answer is "wait". Sometimes we have to choose to believe something, long before we ever have something tangible to see.

Child training is one of those areas that requires a great deal of patience. We teach, train, discipline...and often these efforts seem fruitless. It takes time, it requires patience. We wait. We wait more. We continue waiting. Sometimes it feels like all we do is wait for our efforts to bear fruit.

When we face trials, this can become even more difficult. Patience is not easy, and it's even less easy when things are hard. I don't know about you, but when my heart hurts, I don't have any interest in being patient. I want it to all be better and I want it to be better now.

But just like how our bodies grow stronger through the hard work of exercise, our patience grows when it is tested through trials. Trials can be excellent for building character, if we allow them to be. It seems that trials tend to either cause us to strengthen our character, or they can defeat us.

"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."

In Christ's Love,

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Count it all Joy- Part One

This week has been hard...no, it's been really hard. It seems like every area of my life that could become a trial has become a trial. There's almost nothing that feels entirely comfortable. I think the only area of life where I feel completely secure, completely comfortable, is my relationship with my Father.

This isn't entirely unexpected. Whenever you set out to follow the narrow path, the adversary will throw every rock, thorny bush and pot hole in the way that he can think of. The more you dig in your heels, the more he challenges you.

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."James 1:2-3

It hasn't much felt like "joy" lately. To be honest, joy seems to be the very thing missing. Maybe that is why I am finding it to be such a struggle.

I know I am on the right path, I know I am right where God has called me to be, and I KNOW that means there will be trials. So then why is it so hard to focus on the joy?

Count it all joy... How do we find joy in the midst of times where everything seems to be going wrong? I know I have said this before, but it really seems to me that it all has to do with our perspective and where our focus lies. We are by nature selfish creatures, and by our very selfish nature we focus on our own struggles. We think about how we feel, and what we want. Our feelings are hurt when others disagree with us, or don't approve of what we think, or don't applaud us when we do well. Our sinful nature tells us to look at what we don't have, to be sad for whatever we are missing. We see another's family, or marriage, or home or possessions or status and bemoan what we have. We spend so much time with our focus on outward things that we are missing the joy right under our noses.

The other morning I was in a rather unpleasant mood. The children were chattering and I am sad to say that I was intentionally not listening even though I know some of it was aimed at me. Finally I noticed Jacob tugging on my sleeve. "Mommy, mommy." I turned to listen to him. "Did you know that while I was upstairs I was thanking God for you and Daddy?" Ouch. It was like a dagger right to my heart. Here I am feeling sorry for myself because I am tired and grumpy and my son, whom I was a little irritated at, was thanking God for me.

I am most guilty at becoming battle weary and losing sight of the joy. It may actually be my biggest shortcoming. I can fight through the battle and persevere with an unfaltering zeal. But, I do it without the joy.

We have a saying we use in our home when teaching obedience: Right away, All the way, and in a Joyful way. Without all three, it is not obedience. Without the joy, would good does my perseverance bring?

Joy is the evidence of a heart that is right with God. When I don't have joy, I know it's because my heart is not in the right place. Sometimes we obey and stay on the narrow path with our heads, and our hearts are wandering off elsewhere. When our heart is right with God, it is nearly impossible to not have joy. You cannot rest at the feet of Jesus, without feeling joy and peace.

Count it all joy!

Sitting at the Feet of Jesus,

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