A Love/Hate Relationship with Sundays

~I have to confess: I have a love/hate relationship with Sundays. One thing I do enjoy being out of the house for is church on Sunday mornings. But Sunday mornings also bring me to my knees in prayer. Our daughter has a tough time in church, and by tough time I mean she is so defiant-she talks incessantly because she knows she shouldn't and she moves constantly because she knows we would like for her to sit still. My husband and I are usually completely exhausted by the time church is over.  We feel like we are working so hard and seeing no progress...but that's just it.
     We are the ones working so hard. Yes, according to God's word we are responsible to "train a child up in the way he should go", but often times we leave God out of the equation and try to take care of her behavior on our own power. J. C. Ryle stated the following in The Duties of Parents (originally published in 1888):
     Without the blessing of the Lord, your best endeavors will do no good. He has the hearts of all men in His hands, and except he touch the hearts of your children by His Spirit, you will weary yourself to no purpose. Water, therefore, the seed you sow on their minds with unceasing prayer.
     So my husband and I will continue to train her up in the way she should go, because we believe in God's promise that when she is old she will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6). And we shall continue to pray over the matter, because as Ryle reminded us, we are to be in "unceasing prayer" for the desires we have for our child's heart.
     And lastly, I am reminded that all our efforts are in vain without the blessing of the Lord. He will change her heart in His good time, and in the meantime, Jason and I will  believe in God's promises and "be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him..." (Psalm 37:7)

Home Sweet Home

~God has blessed me with a love for hearth and home. I prefer to be home more than anywhere else. It is here at home where my husband and I have decided we will teach and disciple our children. It is here at home where I love to watch my oldest son laugh and play and smile. It is here at home where my daughter loves to play "mommies" and where she decided that, when she grows up, she wants to be a "mommy and an ice cream scooper." It is here at home that my youngest son will cry and cry for hours when he is put down to sleep, but if I lay next to him, he smiles and drifts to sleep instantly. It is here at home where my husband and I share our dreams with each other in stolen moments of adult conversation.
     I am so thankful to Almighty God for his words in Titus 2, verse 5, that tell the young women to...be working at home..., for I love to be busy at home and my humble heart loves that God wants me to do so. So this blog will be dedicated to sharing my love for hearth and home and my love for the people I hope to bless within our humble abode.