God has been so good these last two weeks! I knew starting school would be very hard and it was. I stressed about it like I always do into the first week, but it has come and gone. L took nearly two months last year before she adjusted to daycare...I took much longer. This year by the second week she was jumping into the arms of her favorite ladies. I even got a wave, "bye-bye", and a smile as I dropped her off this past Friday. That made it so much easier to leave her knowing that she was happy. Even though I am not thrilled with the idea of daycare by any means somehow it has been a blessing to our family. The girls that teach her truely seem to love her (God has weeded out a few bad ones) and God's love is taught in the daycare. I can feel it and see it when I walk in every time. It has given our family some consistency that we honestly needed too. We can depend on them to be there for us every day we need them. Don't get me wrong though. Nothing can replace the love and care they recieved from our sweet friends who watched her and D before! In addition L has grown socially. Before the end of the school year she was moved up to the 3 year old class because they said she related better to the older kids! I feel that along with the tubes we had put in her ears in April this has dramatically effected her speech as well. I can understand my daughter much better now more than ever. Nothing like hearing your little girl say "leave me alone" clearly (I think : ).
D on the other hand made his adjustments as cool and calm as he always does, although this year he did ask me to walk him in the first couple of days (leaving more scars on my heart). He loves his teacher this year almost as much as I think I do. Beforehand I was praying about who his teacher would be this year. I knew very few of the Kindergarten teachers and leaving my children in other's hands has never been an easy thing for me no matter how old my babies are. Mrs. Cox though has been an incredible blessing. I believe God set up our first meeting perfectly. We were at a workshop together in the same room and so after I found out she was his teacher I decided to introduce myself. She caught me first though and while we were supposed to be taking a 15 minute break it turned into a longer one for us. We have so much in common. She is an adoptive parent of three boys and recently had a biological child of her own as well. Ironically a little girl. Sound familiar yet? I believe she is a christian as well. She was incredibly easy to talk too and within that small about of time we had to talk I knew D was going to have a wonderful year! He has even made comments about how nice he thinks she is :)
So while I worried about how this school year was going to begin God took care of everything. I'm so thankful He knows my heart and has my children in His hands. I'd like to think that leaving them to Him will get easier, but I know my babies will only grow into big kids, and those big kids will grow into teenagers, and those teenagers into adults. They will have all the experiences Josh and I had as kids and probably even face newer and scarier ones. So I will take each day at a time, enjoy the time I'm given with them, and pray everyday for God's care over them. Who better to leave them with?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
My Strength Comes from Him
So there is so much going on in our lives right now. It's quite overwhelming. First of all we are remodeling our kitchen. A few weeks ago I was saying how happy I was that it wasn't stressing me out but I feel it coming with school about to start on Monday. There are no cabinet doors on my cabinets. Everything is bare...my kitchen is naked! Not to mention half of it has been sanded and the other half is still waiting for me to get to it.
Then there's the fact that everything at school is new. I mean NEW! I will be in a new building, with a new principal, going through a new phonics program as well as starting Great Expectations. I'm excited about all of it and I know change is sometimes good so I'm trying to look at this from an optimistic perspective. I keep thinking maybe all of this wouldn't seem so hard though if it didn't mean sending my own two children off to school. D will be starting Kindergarten this year. I believe this is going to be as hard as sending him to Pre-K for the first time. When did my baby boy grow up so quickly? The blessing in this however is that he has a wonderful teacher this year. I worked with her in one of our workshops this week and must say I immediately felt a peace come over me when she introduced herself to me and we got to talk.
L will begin her second year of daycare. No, I am still not thrilled with this situation and if I could change it I would, but I am thankful for it regardless. They do take good care of her and she is getting a lot of interaction with other children that she wouldn't have otherwise.
Have I mentioned how overwhelmed I am? I feel as if I am on a rollercoaster. One minute I am very excited about all of it. The next I am freaking out...How am I going to accomplish all I need to and still be a good mom/teacher?!
Thankfully the Bible has answers for this question:
I do this way too often. I let my fears and anxieties take over even when I know this is not the solution. These verses remind me however that I don't have to do it all on my own. God is more than strong enough and sufficient enough to help me take all of it on!!! So I will go from here with a different outlook. "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust." (Psalm 18:2)
Then there's the fact that everything at school is new. I mean NEW! I will be in a new building, with a new principal, going through a new phonics program as well as starting Great Expectations. I'm excited about all of it and I know change is sometimes good so I'm trying to look at this from an optimistic perspective. I keep thinking maybe all of this wouldn't seem so hard though if it didn't mean sending my own two children off to school. D will be starting Kindergarten this year. I believe this is going to be as hard as sending him to Pre-K for the first time. When did my baby boy grow up so quickly? The blessing in this however is that he has a wonderful teacher this year. I worked with her in one of our workshops this week and must say I immediately felt a peace come over me when she introduced herself to me and we got to talk.
L will begin her second year of daycare. No, I am still not thrilled with this situation and if I could change it I would, but I am thankful for it regardless. They do take good care of her and she is getting a lot of interaction with other children that she wouldn't have otherwise.
Have I mentioned how overwhelmed I am? I feel as if I am on a rollercoaster. One minute I am very excited about all of it. The next I am freaking out...How am I going to accomplish all I need to and still be a good mom/teacher?!
Thankfully the Bible has answers for this question:
- I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Phillipians 4:13)
- I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." (Psalm 34:4)
- Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:10b)
- When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17)
- My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2)
- Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26: 3-4)
- O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress. (Jeremiah 16:19)
- If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)
- My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9a)
I do this way too often. I let my fears and anxieties take over even when I know this is not the solution. These verses remind me however that I don't have to do it all on my own. God is more than strong enough and sufficient enough to help me take all of it on!!! So I will go from here with a different outlook. "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust." (Psalm 18:2)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Firsts
So I was thinking the other day about this summer. It's gone by so quickly (that's the worst part about summer), but I've accomplished a lot and had a lot of "firsts". By this I mean things that I've done or tried for the first time ever. Here are just a few...
1. a vegetable garden
2. made a dress for L, almost w/o mom's help
3. trip to San Antonio/Sea World
4. kitchen remodel
5. hostessing a ladies Bible study in my home, which throughly blessed me!
Well, as I was thinking I began to think beyond this summer about the firsts I've had in my life and how much joy I've received from experiencing them. Following are some of my favorites:
1. My first love. Okay not to get all mushy, but Josh was honestly my first REAL boyfriend. I had had "puppylove" boyfriends and dated a few guys (none that were really husband material mind you) but never had a serious boyfriend until I met Josh. Most relationships previous to him lasted about 2 weeks...if that! He treated me different. Special. And he still does!
2. The first time Josh and I walked into the nursery and met D! This is one of my all time favorites forever burned upon my heart. It was the perfect setting. Josh and I had prayed for months (what felt like years) for this moment and there he was as we walked in the room. Lying all by himself in a nursery bed in an empty room. No other babies or nurses...just him. I have always felt that as I walked in that room it was God's way of saying we both needed each other. I'll never forget it.
3. My first physical pregnancy. I say physical because we were pregnant with D in a different way. We experienced EVERYTHING a couple does during pregnancy with him minus the physical part of it. Anyway, being pregnant with L was a totally awesome experience. Those of you who know me will agree it wasn't all a party for me but it was wonderful. I loved being able to feel her move around inside me. That was AMAZING!
4. Our first purchase together...a $200 television set. We bought the tv a couple of months before we got married. It was a great learning experience about ourselves as a couple. It taught us about working together and how to communicate our wants and needs. It also taught me that although it takes my husband forever to make a decision that the time spent educating himself about a large purchase is usually well spent in the end. Btw the tv was still working when we replaced it this past year!
5. My first swim meet. I'll never forget how nervous I was or how much I thought I'd fail and embarass myself. The first time I got up on the block I was the last person in a 400 relay. Now if you know anything about swimming a relay such as this you know that each person does a 100 before the next one in line goes. Well...let's just say we hadn't trained that way in practice so when it was my turn I jumped in after the person in front of me's first 50. I had no idea what I'd done until I was returning from my first 50 and the girls were slapping the water yelling at me to stop! Yes, I was totally embarassed, but I discovered something about myself...I LOVED swimming! Hated the 5am practices but loved swimming competetively itself.
The following are without explanation as this could get REALLY long if I did that...
6. Our first house. Lots and lots of memories!!!
7. Selling our first house :(
8. Our first dog, Harley.
9. My first REAL teaching job and the wonderful ladies I still work with.
10. My first car, a gold 1987 Honda Accord.
11. My first college class. Yes, I am a bigole (as D would say) nerd! I loved school. I love learning and I love reading!!!
12. Meeting my inlaws for the first time. I am incredibly blessed with two wonderful set of family!!!
13. Our first church home as a couple, Trinity.
I could go on and on but his whole talk of first brings the verse Mattew 6:33 to mind: "But seek FIRST his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." The is to be the most important FIRST thing in our lives EVERYDAY! I believe my family is blessed only because we have made God the first priority in our lives. Where is He on your list of priorities?
1. a vegetable garden
2. made a dress for L, almost w/o mom's help
3. trip to San Antonio/Sea World
4. kitchen remodel
5. hostessing a ladies Bible study in my home, which throughly blessed me!
Well, as I was thinking I began to think beyond this summer about the firsts I've had in my life and how much joy I've received from experiencing them. Following are some of my favorites:
1. My first love. Okay not to get all mushy, but Josh was honestly my first REAL boyfriend. I had had "puppylove" boyfriends and dated a few guys (none that were really husband material mind you) but never had a serious boyfriend until I met Josh. Most relationships previous to him lasted about 2 weeks...if that! He treated me different. Special. And he still does!
2. The first time Josh and I walked into the nursery and met D! This is one of my all time favorites forever burned upon my heart. It was the perfect setting. Josh and I had prayed for months (what felt like years) for this moment and there he was as we walked in the room. Lying all by himself in a nursery bed in an empty room. No other babies or nurses...just him. I have always felt that as I walked in that room it was God's way of saying we both needed each other. I'll never forget it.
3. My first physical pregnancy. I say physical because we were pregnant with D in a different way. We experienced EVERYTHING a couple does during pregnancy with him minus the physical part of it. Anyway, being pregnant with L was a totally awesome experience. Those of you who know me will agree it wasn't all a party for me but it was wonderful. I loved being able to feel her move around inside me. That was AMAZING!
4. Our first purchase together...a $200 television set. We bought the tv a couple of months before we got married. It was a great learning experience about ourselves as a couple. It taught us about working together and how to communicate our wants and needs. It also taught me that although it takes my husband forever to make a decision that the time spent educating himself about a large purchase is usually well spent in the end. Btw the tv was still working when we replaced it this past year!
5. My first swim meet. I'll never forget how nervous I was or how much I thought I'd fail and embarass myself. The first time I got up on the block I was the last person in a 400 relay. Now if you know anything about swimming a relay such as this you know that each person does a 100 before the next one in line goes. Well...let's just say we hadn't trained that way in practice so when it was my turn I jumped in after the person in front of me's first 50. I had no idea what I'd done until I was returning from my first 50 and the girls were slapping the water yelling at me to stop! Yes, I was totally embarassed, but I discovered something about myself...I LOVED swimming! Hated the 5am practices but loved swimming competetively itself.
The following are without explanation as this could get REALLY long if I did that...
6. Our first house. Lots and lots of memories!!!
7. Selling our first house :(
8. Our first dog, Harley.
9. My first REAL teaching job and the wonderful ladies I still work with.
10. My first car, a gold 1987 Honda Accord.
11. My first college class. Yes, I am a bigole (as D would say) nerd! I loved school. I love learning and I love reading!!!
12. Meeting my inlaws for the first time. I am incredibly blessed with two wonderful set of family!!!
13. Our first church home as a couple, Trinity.
I could go on and on but his whole talk of first brings the verse Mattew 6:33 to mind: "But seek FIRST his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." The is to be the most important FIRST thing in our lives EVERYDAY! I believe my family is blessed only because we have made God the first priority in our lives. Where is He on your list of priorities?
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