It's January in Michigan and the sun is shining. That makes this a GLORIOUS day! I'm enjoying some quiet time and bursting with excitement about how the Lord is answering my prayers. I couldn't wait to share them with you!
One of my 2012 goals was to: spend more regular time in prayer in the mornings after Dave leaves for work AND to reach a deeper level of connectedness with my "Tween" twins. I'm nearly in tears now thanking God for such swift & obvious answers to both of those. Let me back up...
Even though we homeschool, I sometimes feel like my kids are growing up so fast that I don't even really get to fully "know" them. Life seems to be so constantly busy that weeks and months go by without me feeling like we're getting any quality 1-on-1 time. I found myself at the beginning of January feeling this overwhelming sense of urgency to re-connect with my kids. Particularly the twins. I know how important these "tween" years are, and I just don't want to waste a second of it! I often feel so overwhelmed being their teacher and their taxi driver and their cook (and all other "mom" jobs), that I don't make enough time to be their confidant. You know where I'm coming from? So this year I really want to take advantage of the fact that they still want to spend time with me...and to just do it!
So this last week I really made it a point to use that hour from when Dave leaves for work and the kids wake up, to spend time in prayer & Bible reading. I think I fit it in 3 times this week. (A 300% improvement from the weeks before!) I was praying and meditating on many things, not just the kids...but (obviously, since this is high on my radar right now) the topic of connecting with them more came up each time.
Already last night, I could tell a difference. From sharing more hugs and "I love you's" with Mikayla at her away game last night, to sharing belly laughs & some great conversation with Luke when I got home. I saw my tweens seeking me out. I saw God open the door to some great 1-on-1 connectedness. I felt my brain slow down just enough for those eye-to-eye (and ♥ to ♥) moments to occur. That's what it really is, you know. We can't say we're going to do it "when life slows down." Nope. I can tell that's not going to happen until the kids are grown & married. We have to MAKE time to slow our minds down long enough to experience those moments. Ask God to de-clutter our minds. To point out to us those opportunities to connect. Maybe it means we need to get away from the computer more. Maybe it means we need to get off our phones. Maybe we need to turn off the TV. Whatever it is...we need to make a conscious choice to connect. The kids are there. They WANT us to connect with them (especially if they're not teenagers yet). We just need to get our focus in the right place to make it happen! And most importantly? Daily ask God to open our eyes & ears.
As I seek out resources this year, I'll share my favorites with you. The book I'm all excited about (and already planning excursions for) for my time with Mikayla is Dannah Gresh's 8 Great Dates for Moms & Daughters. You can check out Dannah's Secret Keeper Girl website for lots of great stuff. I'm still looking for a similar book for Dave and Luke to do together, but I'll let you know when I find something. (And please let me know if you already have a great resource you can share!) We also want to do Passport 2 Purity with them later in the year. That's part of why I want to do some of these other connected-ness activities now...I want the lines of communication TOTALLY open before we plan the P2P weekend get-aways.
I say all this to remind each of us of something important: when we pray in accordance with God's Will, He says "YES!". If our hearts' desire is to have more quiet time with God and to connect more with our kids, of course God is going to make that happen! Let us never underestimate the power of prayer OR just how swiftly God's answers can come. Oh, and be prepared: if you want to spend more time with God in prayer, He will make it so you can't sleep. He'll make it so you are magnetically drawn to that quiet spot with your Bible. He'll make it so you really can't think of doing ANYTHING else until you've had your time with Him. Be careful what you ask for. He might just blow your socks off.
Have a great weekend!
One of my 2012 goals was to: spend more regular time in prayer in the mornings after Dave leaves for work AND to reach a deeper level of connectedness with my "Tween" twins. I'm nearly in tears now thanking God for such swift & obvious answers to both of those. Let me back up...
Even though we homeschool, I sometimes feel like my kids are growing up so fast that I don't even really get to fully "know" them. Life seems to be so constantly busy that weeks and months go by without me feeling like we're getting any quality 1-on-1 time. I found myself at the beginning of January feeling this overwhelming sense of urgency to re-connect with my kids. Particularly the twins. I know how important these "tween" years are, and I just don't want to waste a second of it! I often feel so overwhelmed being their teacher and their taxi driver and their cook (and all other "mom" jobs), that I don't make enough time to be their confidant. You know where I'm coming from? So this year I really want to take advantage of the fact that they still want to spend time with me...and to just do it!
So this last week I really made it a point to use that hour from when Dave leaves for work and the kids wake up, to spend time in prayer & Bible reading. I think I fit it in 3 times this week. (A 300% improvement from the weeks before!) I was praying and meditating on many things, not just the kids...but (obviously, since this is high on my radar right now) the topic of connecting with them more came up each time.
Already last night, I could tell a difference. From sharing more hugs and "I love you's" with Mikayla at her away game last night, to sharing belly laughs & some great conversation with Luke when I got home. I saw my tweens seeking me out. I saw God open the door to some great 1-on-1 connectedness. I felt my brain slow down just enough for those eye-to-eye (and ♥ to ♥) moments to occur. That's what it really is, you know. We can't say we're going to do it "when life slows down." Nope. I can tell that's not going to happen until the kids are grown & married. We have to MAKE time to slow our minds down long enough to experience those moments. Ask God to de-clutter our minds. To point out to us those opportunities to connect. Maybe it means we need to get away from the computer more. Maybe it means we need to get off our phones. Maybe we need to turn off the TV. Whatever it is...we need to make a conscious choice to connect. The kids are there. They WANT us to connect with them (especially if they're not teenagers yet). We just need to get our focus in the right place to make it happen! And most importantly? Daily ask God to open our eyes & ears.
As I seek out resources this year, I'll share my favorites with you. The book I'm all excited about (and already planning excursions for) for my time with Mikayla is Dannah Gresh's 8 Great Dates for Moms & Daughters. You can check out Dannah's Secret Keeper Girl website for lots of great stuff. I'm still looking for a similar book for Dave and Luke to do together, but I'll let you know when I find something. (And please let me know if you already have a great resource you can share!) We also want to do Passport 2 Purity with them later in the year. That's part of why I want to do some of these other connected-ness activities now...I want the lines of communication TOTALLY open before we plan the P2P weekend get-aways.
I say all this to remind each of us of something important: when we pray in accordance with God's Will, He says "YES!". If our hearts' desire is to have more quiet time with God and to connect more with our kids, of course God is going to make that happen! Let us never underestimate the power of prayer OR just how swiftly God's answers can come. Oh, and be prepared: if you want to spend more time with God in prayer, He will make it so you can't sleep. He'll make it so you are magnetically drawn to that quiet spot with your Bible. He'll make it so you really can't think of doing ANYTHING else until you've had your time with Him. Be careful what you ask for. He might just blow your socks off.
Have a great weekend!
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