Let's all congratulate Elijah on cutting his 4th molar! (I think it poked its way through on Friday.) Let me also add that I can see the 2 "eye" teeth on top peeking out - just the pointy tips - so they won't be far behind. This has been, by far, the hardest bout of teething we've had yet. Thankfully it's almost over. Little guy has had a snotty nose for almost a month now! I'm ready to move on already.
So anyway... I've been reading a book called Youniquely Woman for about 6 weeks now (yes, it takes me forever to finish a book these days!) and I've decided to make some changes. Primarily, living intentionally, with regard to raising my son. I've been given a wonderful privilege for this short season of life to instill in him the things of God, to teach him minute by minute, and to show him God's love and discipline. One of the themes of the book is living without regrets - to make decisions now that you will look back on when your children are grown and think "I'm so thankful I did it that way". So, now is the time!
I was told by a friend when Elijah was a newborn "you will never ever regret holding your baby too much, but you will most certainly look back and think you should have held him more when he was small". And I have thought of that each night when I rock him to sleep. I hold him close just a little longer than necessary, because I know these moments are so fleeting, because I want to enjoy every second of each sweet phase of his life.
This morning we did things a little differently. When I heard him in his room bright and early talking to his bears, in stead of wishing he would go back to sleep for just 30 more minutes, I drug my tired butt in there and was instantly happy to see him. His sleepy-faced smile has magical heart-melting qualities, I think. In stead of wasting time, we got changed and dressed right away, and headed downstairs for devotions and breakfast. I gave him a children's Bible for Christmas last year and decided it's high time to start reading it too him. I had thought it might be a little too advanced, with too few pictures, and too many words. But surprisingly he listened intently, pointed at the pictures, and jabbered as I read it to him! He enjoyed it. And so did I. Granted these are Bible stories at their most simple, but little by little it will plant the Word of God in his heart. And as he gets older, we'll move on to more a complete version. (Which will call Eve Adam's "wife" in stead of "special friend"... duh. Or will say that God destroyed the Earth with a flood because of people's wicked Godless ways in stead of saying "God was not happy" with them. But that's for another day.)
After that we turned on some good old Shane and Shane (yes, very old school) and danced and laughed our heads off. He loves the attention when I dance with him and frankly the kid's got moves. :) We played cars, and bears, and I pushed him around and around on his car until he was ready for his nap. Oh yeah, his new funny thing is putting his bear on the car and saying "sit down" (the way I do when I put him in his booster) then pushing him around. No bear, do not fall off the side... do not lay down... no bear... sit... sit... good bear. Thank you very much.
I am beginning to see my home and my family as my ministry. Making home a refuge for my husband and a haven for seeing Jesus for my son... this is what I want to start today. God grant me the grace to carry it out.
2 comments:
It's so interesting.. because my heart has been in the same place the last few days, just realizing that I don't want to look back and think I wasted too much time wishing Corban would hurry up and nap, but wanting to enjoy every minute with him. And so I have been more intentional about our time together as well.
I plan on picking up that book since you've spoken so highly of it! I could definitely use a little motivation on making home a refuge for my husband and a safe haven for my children. :) Hope you guys have a good afternoon!
That sounds like a wonderful plan. I'll admit, it gets really hard some days (whether you have children or not) to not get caught up in "hurry up and do this" or "hurry to do that" and you miss what's most important. It's so important to really see each moment as a gift and live it to the fullest. What a better way to enjoy life. I, too, have been thinking about what's important to me lately, and who's important to me...letting go of some unhealthy friendships (yours not being one of them, don't worry), and focusing more in other areas of my life. Thank you for this post. It helps me know I'm not alone:-)
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