Every Mom Has Her Kryptonite

At the beginning of the summer, Mr. Wonderful convinced me to step down from running a committee at church that was seriously eating up my time.  Then, he contacted our music minister and informed him that I needed to take a few weeks off from playing with the band.  In his opinion, between work and church committee and music ministry and small group hosting and homeschooling and stay-at-home mothering of 3 kids full-time and attempting to be a good housewife, I had over-committed. 

I was, admittedly, offended by the fact that Mr. Wonderful thought I needed a break.  By forcing me to stop doing things that I had committed to do I felt that there was an implication that I was failing and he thought I wasn't supermom.  Now, however, I realize that I was truly over-committed and I wasn't even close to being supermom!  I was getting wound up tight and was getting very annoyed with church people and messy children and husbands who work late. I was kind of losing it.

Instead of taking the summer off to relax--as many thought I was doing--I used this summer to finally catch up on life:  I got caught up on some of my work projects by reading through thousands of pages of medical records.  I cleaned up the boys' room and attempted to solve some of their organizational problems.  I sorted through our clothing and purchased appropriate sized pajamas and church clothes for everyone.  I cleaned my own closet and threw out lots of shoes.  I purchased new rugs for our main living rooms.  I planned and hosted small group dinners and a baby shower and organized meals for a family.  I coordinated our small group's service project.  I helped Boy Wonder finish a Phonics workbook.  I sent the boys to sports camp.  I read to my children.  I walked lots and lots of miles at the mall and on my elliptical.  I managed to keep some potted plants on my front porch alive.  I read a book (it was dumb, but it was a book).  I played many, many games of Connect 4 with my son.  I prayed.  I spent time listening to and trying to encourage other people.  And I rested. 

Having the time to actually complete projects that I both wanted and needed to accomplish was invigorating for me.  How refreshing to actually get to see the fruits of my labor!  For 6 months I kept taking on more and more (I have a problem saying "no") and it seemed like nothing was ever getting accomplished.  And then in all of 4 weeks, everything just started falling into place.  I'm finally enjoying my duties again.  I'm ready to start homeschooling this fall.  I'm enjoying spending time helping out at church.  I'm focusing better on work.  I'm motivated to read my Bible.  And I'm happy.

Super man has his kyrptonite.  And super mom has her over-commitment.  We all have our weaknesses.  How blessed I am that I have a Mr. Wonderful who is willing to recognize my shortcomings and intervene when I need him--even when I don't appreciate his interventions.  I truly needed a little break this summer.  His "intervention" was timely a gift.  I still have quite a lot of things that I want to do in the next couple of months, but I can officially say, "Mommy's Back!"

Mommies Need Toys Too

It's always interesting to see how long my boys are attracted to their toys after Christmas.  Some toys are lucky enough to become permanent staples in their world of "make believe" and some toys are just destined for the toy box.  Either way, every January, there's new sounds and activities in our house as the boys are trying out their newest possessions.  I think it's healthy for the guys to explore new things and to try new kinds of play.

It occurred to me that sometimes Mommies need to try out new things too.  Sometimes we need to get ourselves motivated to do the seemingly mundane.  And sometimes, getting ourselves mommy "toys" is a great way to get ourselves going.  For some mommies, it takes a big toy like a new washing machine to get excited about doing laundry.  For some super brave mommies, new yard equipment will motivate them to plant their spring garden.  And for other mommies, it might just take a new curling iron or a box of make-up to motivate them to put themselves together each morning.  For me, I need kitchen toys to make myself want to cook.

Every year for Christmas, I put kitchen gadgets and cookbooks on my wish list.  I'm sure it puzzles everyone who is buying for me.  Because honestly, no one knows me as much of a cook.  But my husband will probable attest to the fact that every January my meals get a little bit better and we find ourselves able to "eat-in" a little more.  For whatever reason, my new toys help me enjoy my unfavorite (it's not a word, but go with it) task for at least a few months--at least until my husband's grilling season picks up in full swing.

This year, between Christmas and my loyalty points at my grocery store, I really scored some new toys.

 

Who knows, maybe in some future posts I'll be brave enough to  share some pics of my kitchen experiences.  Or maybe I'll just enjoy pretending to be a Top Chef in the privacy of my own kitchen.  Either way, the family should be eating well for at least a few more weeks.

If you don't think this type of motivation works, go out and get yourself a new toy.  You might be surprised how much fun it is to play with a new gadget.  Think of it as an intellectually stimulating experience that can make you a better person.

Major Changes

We finally bit the bullet and decided it was time to expand our little family.  Fortunately, this latest addition did not require 9 months of morning sickness.  He was adopted.  The newest member of our family is a little Australian shepherd.  His name is Major.

 

I honestly couldn't have picked a better personality for my puppy if I had tried.  This little guy is happy, lazy, and extremely chill.  He only barks when he's playing with the kiddos.  He sleeps through the night without whining.  He actually gets along with my cats.  And he loves my little boys.

I kind of figured that this little one would give me something else to blog about, but I never anticipated it would happen so soon...

After church today, our oldest son decided to run around the backyard with his new pal, Major.  All seemed to be going well until we heard this awful screaming sound.  There was no telling why my son was screaming, but I assumed it had to be in response to the dog.  Before I could reach the back door, my little guy came bursting through the door in his t-shirt and underwear.  I suppose on an ordinary Texas day, this might not shock me.  But it's cold outside today, and I was pretty confident that he left the house wearing wind pants.  When my husband asked him where the pants went, he started laughing and said that the doggy took them.  Sure enough, the pants were in the middle of the back yard with the dog. Looks like the dog won whatever game he was playing with my son.

It also appears that we have found ourselves a puppy who likes to play practical jokes on people. Friday morning when I got out of bed I was flabbergasted to find that one of my slippers was missing.  The dog had slept in my son's room, so I really couldn't imagine how the slipper had disappeared.  But on a hunch that the canine had some responsibility for misplacing this essential article of clothing, I got down on my knees and asked him where the other one went.  If I was going to have to go outside with him in 40 degree whether, I really needed my slippers.  In response to my questioning, he took off running through my room and scampered behind my bed.  So much for asking a dog for help.  I then decided to search my closet, the family room, and anywhere else that the slipper could have gone.  When I returned, my little friend came trotting up to me with my slipper in his mouth.  He might be mischievous, but at least he's smart.

Looks like we're in store for some Major changes in our house.  And maybe even a little more fun.

From the Mouths of Children

"From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease."  Psalm 8:2

One of the greatest things about living with toddlers is getting to hear what they have to say.  Sometimes I think they need muzzles because they say too much.  But sometimes their innocent brilliance shines forth when pearls of wisdom or genius statements of fact come from their mouths.  These are the days when I do a double take and ask, "How did you know that?"

I just finished reading a book entitled, Heaven is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back.  The book is written by a small-town preacher whose son had an emergency surgery at the age of three.  During this surgery, this little boy says he went to heaven and visited Jesus.  As a result, he describes "God's son" as wonderful and loving.  During the next 4-5 years of this little boy's life, he shares various stories and descriptions of heaven.  He never once contradicts himself.  Every description is consistent with the Bible.  And the little boy consistently reveals facts to his parents that he could have never known about them and their lives.

Now I'm typically a skeptic when I hear about out-of-body experiences.  This story, however, just seems real.  This child and his family have an amazing testimony and are using this experience to impact the world.  For some reason I'm not skeptical about this story, because reading this book changed me.  I feel like I suddenly have some peace about some questions that I've had about heaven.  Of course, we'll never know exactly what heaven is like until we get there, but hearing a 4 year old describe, in detail, the same description that John writes about in Revelation is pretty amazing.  And it makes me even more confident that John's writing was a literal description of heaven and not allegorical.

In addition, this book also gave me a new perspective on children.  I love children.  As a nurse, they were my favorite patients.  As a nurse in law, children are the clients that really tug at my heart the most and cause me to work extra hard.  As a mom, my children make me happier than any career or personal success I could have.  But this book made me realize that I can never love children enough.  They are special.  And Jesus loves the children very much.  Specifically, Jesus loves MY children very much.  As Psalm 8:2 says, God uses the mouths of children to "make the enemy and the revengeful cease." I believe that's what God is doing through the little boy in this book.

I don't want to spoil the "amazings" of this story, so I'm not going to tell you about all the jaw dropping statements that this little guy makes.  I heard him tell his story on one of the morning shows a few months back, but I didn't realize then how incredible the story really is. This book was so captivating that I read it in 2 days.  My husband read it in even less time.  If you have a spare afternoon this holiday season, please read it.

Sunday School Lessons

"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4:10

On the way home from church this morning, my son informed my husband and me that he learned something in Sunday school.  He said that he learned about being a servant leader.  My husband and I were pretty impressed at this sophisticated terminology.  It's not very often that you hear a 3 year old talking about servant leadership.  So naturally, we were curious to know what he learned about being a servant leader.  He was a little stumped by this question, but he said he knew he was supposed to be a servant leader.  He said he just wasn't sure how.  I almost giggled when he said that, because I know plenty of adults who don't get this concept either.

It occurred to me that leadership is a valued concept in our society.  Go-getter, bossy people are often praised for their leadership abilities.  And this seems to be something that we promote in our children.  We want them to be the team captain, the drum major, the doctor (as opposed to the nurse), or the lawyer (as opposed to the paralegal).  This emphasis on leadership, however, seems to do a disservice to all of the people who don't know how to be led.  Very few people are actually taught followership (a.k.a. servant-hood.)

Becoming a follower has not been easy for me.  I had to learn this concept pretty quickly working in a hospital though.  It didn't matter how horrible the doctors treated the nurses, we were still supposed to follow and obey.  And it especially didn't matter how nasty the patients and their families were, because our job was to ease and please our patients.  I am thoroughly convinced that anyone who can handle working with surgeons and nasty patients can learn to work under anyone (even lawyers.)  Yet, I must say, that working in the hospital taught me what it meant to be a servant leader.

I once worked with a surgeon who was fantastic.  He called me at all hours of the night shift to check on his patients.  He would make rounds on Saturday mornings where he would spend a good half hour with each patient.  He also made it his own personal policy to be the person who changed his patient's dressings and to help them up to the chair on their first day post-op.  All I had to do as the nurse was to get his supplies and be his back-up.  He literally did my job for me.  But he did it because he cared about providing the best possible surgical care for his patients.  As a result, all the nurses wanted his patients.  We would have jumped through hoops for his patients, because we knew that he had our backs as well.  This surgeon was the epitome of  a servant leader.  He went above and beyond for everyone, even though he didn't have to.

I want to be able to teach my son to be like that surgeon and to go above and beyond for everyone else as well.  I can already see that he is smart and gifted and is a natural leader (he is first-born after all.)  But I want him to see that God has given him these gifts and abilities to use for other people.  God makes leaders out of those who are willing to do whatever it takes to be the best for others.  Those who are willing to work and "employ" the gifts God has given them for the sake of others can be a witness of God's grace to the world--even if that means doing grunt work.

Wouldn't it change the world if we really could instill the servant-leadership mentality into our children at the age of 3?  Thanks New Life Kids for the lessons you've taught my family this week.

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By the way--The song I was struggling with so much last week went pretty well today.  Praise and worship was really awesome this morning! As the words of the song state, "Oh magnify the Lord together, exalt His name forever!"