"I have never seen that before!"

Here are the boys today at the pediatricians office. Poor Jude has Croupe.Little man weighed in at 17 pounds. He got a steroid shot and is on the nebulizer since his O2 levels were off.

This post is pretty unusual for this blog...as it is more than just pictures and a recap of the activitiy but God has laid this strongly on my heart to share and I believe some of you or all of you will be blessed by it.

This week I was having one of those weeks where I was questioning everything I was doing. I even thought about deleting my blog- wondering why do I even do this? Every time I think that someone I never knew read... tells me they read and love it..so i keep it going! About a year ago I became a part of a great ministry at seacoast that has helped me immensley in my journey as a mommy. I had gotten into a rut in my daily routine with Roman. I felt as if we were just existing and not really living. I was reminded through this ministry that I have a purpose and that God has called me to be Romans mom (and now Judes) ..the only one he has..and that I have been COMMISSIONED to train him in the way he should go. The Lord through the Proverbs tells us to Train a child in the way he should go,and in Ephesians He says to fathers to bring them up in training and instruction of the Lord. The word train means to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior of (a child or other person) by discipline and instruction. What a task the Lord has commisioned us for! Through Seacoast and this ministry, my daily walk and conviction, I was able to change Roman and I from exisiting mode to training mode. I determined what was of value to us and our family and decided on ways in which I wanted to "raise him up." We started having more structured time at home ....I had him practise standing still, practise coming to me when he was called, practise responding in appropriate ways to instruction. practise entertaining himself, practise sitting still.I saw a difference within his attitude in a few weeks...

In my own selfishness, busy-ness, and laziness, I had forgotten the bigger picture.This is not about the activities we do, or feeding or sleeping schedules..this is about teaching our children that God has absolute boundaries and as we seek to be like Him..that we must have absolute boundaries also...

Today, was a crazy day. I had so much to do my head was spinning. On one of my errands I was in babiesrus purchasing a stroller and a car seat for a friend of mine with a new baby. In the checkout line the guy was carrying the HUGE box. Roman was IN the big part of the cart. Jude was in his car seat. The lady was having issues scanning my coupons. Roman was tired (it was middle of nap time..I know right as i am talking about boundaries...hey- we are wayyyy far from perfect and I hope this doesn't sound like I am bragging on my self because you will see Roman running circles around me in the church lobby ;-)

Roman is now standing and sitting up in the cart..saying mommymommymommymommy. ..shaking Judes car seat...grabbing stuff off the counter...grabbing the counter and pushing off so the cart shoots across the aisle.... The guy helping me is looking at the debaucle.. which is us and shaking his head- laughing.

I take Romans hand ..look him in the eye...and say quietly..."Roman ,please sit down and get some self control." Immediatley Roman sat down...folded his hands and was quiet until we got situated back in the van and he ASKED me if he could unfold his hands. The guy that was helping me looks at me and Roman in disbeleif- as if he thinks I am the baby whisperer and says " I have never ever seen that happen before- just like that!" He was so blown away....he says he sees kids acting out and that their moms can never reign them back in. It gave me an opportunity to tell him about what we did at home and why we did it.

THAT is why I do what I do...this is why I get out of bed every morning. I have been given two boys to raise and train up to know the Lord and in doing this we are gaining the opportunity to take other people with us...who knew that in instilling in Roman and teaching him one of the fruits of the spirit- self control- that someone would notice a three year olds response to his mother and question how and why.

The world does not have boundaries and so when someone sees Roman respond to me in the way he did today..they see that there is something different....and I in turn have a chance to say--yes, we do things differently and here is why- JESUS! It brings it ( the conversation and the focus) back to Christ which is what it is all about..because if we parent like the rest of the world and our kids respond to us like the rest of the world- then we are no different from the world and we have no testimony.

I encourage each mommy out there today... that there is purpose in doing what you do way beyond the day to day monotony and all the days in which we see no fruit. It took a year of work before I had a moment like this..but I beleive the Lord used it to encourage me and bless me to know that what I am doing does make a difference in the lives of my boys and in eternity.