WoodElves

It's been a great summer for us, full of fun people and activities and another wonderful birth!  For the first time in awhile, I'm NOT ready for all things pumpkin by the first of September... I could use a couple more trips to the pool and beach, and I would have loved to have gone blueberry picking!  Maybe I'll be in the mood for fall by the time it actually comes.  But it's so much nicer ending the summer with Seth on the outside.  He's such a sweet boy and gives the best coos and smiles.  I think he's an easier baby than Mac was, even though both of my skinny little boys wanted to eat every 2 hours on. the. dot.  Seth "plays" in his jungle for long periods of time, whereas I don't remember Mac ever liking to be by himself. 
  It's also been fun watching Mac learning more things and growing in his understanding of what we say.  My favorite one from this week was telling Mac to go kill mosquitos and having him go over to the front door and put on a reenactment of us chasing mosquitos and trying to kill them. It was HILARIOUS.  I don't think he has any idea what a mosquito is, just the funny things he sees Mom and Dad do when they use the word "mosquito".

Our days can be long and they can be tiring, but I try to not just live to the next nap.  I told myself before Seth came, that I was going to have two babies now and to just not expect to sleep as much.  If I tell myself I'm exhausted and deserve a nap, well, I'm just going to be crabby a lot when I don't get one.  I'm better off telling myself, honey, you're just going to be exhausted for the next 10 years and to make the most of it.  I have also noticed, and I say this with all sincerity, that God does give more strength and grace to moms.  Before I was a mom, I could not have done what I do with the same amount of sleep.  I also notice that David and I might do the same thing and then he needs a 2 hour nap- but I lie down for a few minutes, can't go to sleep, and then the baby wakes up, and yet I still have enough strength to last the day.  THIS IS A GOD THING, PEOPLE!  So when I look at moms with five little kids and I shake my sleepy head and wonder how they do it - now I know.  It's real.

I saw a great article someone shared from Christianity Today for moms, about how our love of brokenness is actually hurting us and it is here.  The article explains itself, but it is addressing recent trends among Christian writers and bloggers of admitting to everyday failures and showing how we are all imperfect.  I actually really like this trend because I think it is good for us to be authentic and honest with ourselves and each other.  I think in our Facebook world it is easy for us to compare ourselves to each other and just see everyone else's neat little package that they show the world and only see the crazy inside of ours and think there's something wrong with us.  So, I love reading those articles where the writers remind us to give ourselves grace and that we aren't ruining our kids forever if we feed them Spaghetti O's.  But, as with everything, we have to be careful that we take it only to the limit that is biblical!  The article addresses the fact that some of these things may actually be SIN.  And we don't want to excuse that and laugh and think we're ok because everyone does it.  It's one thing to smile and say "we all have those days" when nothing goes right and the chores don't get done and thus encourage another mom... but I need my mom friends to NOT tell me that it's ok if the fact is that I was lazy, or if I was impatient and unkind to my children. 
 The other side of it, that I don't think the article really addressed, is that this trend also allows us to be more willing to settle for status quo.  If I know that every mom with two babies is an imperfect mom and doesn't get out of her jammies until 4pm and yelled at her kids once or twice and couldn't get them to eat any vegetables.... then why should I try very hard to be any better?  There is a temptation to just sigh with relief and say "everyone does it" and then not make any attempt to overcome that.  BUT- I want more for my kids, I don't want them to be normal.  I want my sons to grow up to be great men of God and Susanna Wesley's kids didn't grow up the way they did because their mom settled for the standard of everyone else.   She was an extraordinary woman who raised extraordinary children by the grace of God. 

It is my failures that drive me to Jesus a thousand times in a day, and if I think "I've got this", then I am not setting myself up to seeing Him work in my day.  I appreciate being able to be authentic and not have to pretend like I have it all together when I don't.  We're all imperfect, but we also all need encouragement to love our children more and serve our husbands better and seek the presence of Jesus oftener.  Like I said, I love this trend where we are able to be open about our failures - but let's be careful to not exalt our failures, let us just make sure that they keep us running back to Him, where we belong.  I'd love to hear your thoughts, about the trend I reference, about the article, or about my half-baked take on it...