Encouragement for Moms

A dear friend sent me this this morning! (Thanks Carol:))  It made me cry.....which is nothing unusual, but it is encouraging to know that I'm not alone:)  So pass it on to any mother you feel could use an encouraging word to be able to keep on doing the next right thing.

We’re all imperfect. Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT A younger friend squints at me through tired eyes.  “Do you ever feel  like…” she hesitates.  “Um, like your kids can bring out the worst in  you instead of the best?”Her son had just finished a temper tantrum  over something small and I could see the exasperation in her face as she  swallowed hard.  I smile and my heart aches.  I whisper,   “Oh my goodness, yes.  I’ve spent so many days feeling like I’m failing as a parent.”   Her sigh of relief says it all.  Someone understands.  But she exhales and  looks at me strangely, then states: “But, but – really?  You seem like the perfect Mom.” I chuckle in shock.  “Are you kidding?” is all I can muster as I stand there,  feeling like a fraud. Oh, I’m so far from perfect.  I’ve screamed at my children.   I’ve driven away when they wouldn’t come.  I’ve failed to follow through (over and over).   I’ve read more parenting books than I can remember.   I’ve spent the nights, head in hands begging God to show me how to  discipline a spirited child.   I’ve cried myself to sleep, convinced there must be another Mom who can raise these children better than me. I realized two things in the moment someone perceived me as perfect: 1. I must hide my failures and struggles as a Mom very well. 2. When it comes to our Mothering  journey, we are all in need of a  shoulder to cry on.  We all need to feel loved and supported,  no matter what. As Moms, although it is mostly unspoken, we spend so much time trying to  impress each other.   Look how well behaved my children are. Look how put together we are.   Look how patient I am.   Look how clean my house is.  Look how well I’m doing.   Look how smart our kids are.   Look at what a great Mom I am!  All the while, there is a mountain of hurt, struggle, and frustration piled up behind all of that perceived perfection.    We hide our weaknesses from each other instead of confiding in the very ones who understand us best.  Because really, we’re all going through so many of the same  things – the great, the wonderful, the confusing, the ugly. My dream is for us to wash away the lie of ‘perfect’.   Let us look realistically at our own faults and strengths  and embrace each other unconditionally.  We are all  united by the bond of Motherhood and united, we are a force to be reckoned with.   Let’s pray for each other instead of gossiping about one another. Let’s seek out the very best in each other. Let’s speak life and encouragement into the hearts of the Moms around us. Let’s stand united in this crazy, beautiful, rewarding, blessed, but     sometimes really hard calling. Let’s choose to live completely open lives, never afraid to be authentic.  Never afraid for others to see our struggles. Let’s rebuke the lie of ‘the perfect Mom’ and instead unite in our  imperfectionand find strength in the One who leads us. None of us is perfect, no, not one. “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:18 “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Psalms 133:1

Hero of the Day

The 110* weather is extremely wearing.....and hard on the crops, and people, and animals.......but.......it brought me some welcome relief today in the form of help!  Ash was off work early because his boss declared it too hot to work unless absolutely necessary........and BLESS his heart.....he spent the day from about 2:30pm. till 9:00pm. helping with the girls!  They swam from 6:00 till 9:00!  They love all their big brothers....and I have to save the big brothers sometimes....the girls tend to think they are their own personal jungle gyms.  

He's trying to help them find a picture or something on his phone, but they won't let him close enough to see it!

 He sat on the floor and played with them.....and laid on the floor and they played ON him......

 Watched Tweety and Sylvester with them during snack time...look at him laughing! He still gets a bang out of it:)...this gave him a bit of a break.....

 They wore him out!  Even hero's need a nap:)  I'm not sure how restful it was......no one else in the house napped.....

Excuse me.....but you have something in your hair....

 jet powered boat?

 Who needs a diving board, or a slide when you have your own launch system!

 HIGHER!

 Look Mom, I can jump too......

She doesn't get high enough to even make a splash!  But she wanted her picture taken too cause we always tell Wren Good Job!

 The face that's always close enough to get a picture of.......

...... and the one you have to Zoom in on and get in action!

 One  very wet face.........

 One mostly dry.....do I see water droplets.... maybe she got splashed a little?

 Her hair is WET!.......oops!......Ash got a little wild and she took on some water!.......party's over! I'm outa here!  She did get back in, but she didn't trust him for a while!

 Acting as a tug boat....pushing one, and pulling the other.

 Here I'll do a pose for you......she signed "take my picture" here:)

These next pictures were from earlier today.......we had a ROUGH morning!  Some start out great, but one little thing can set everything rolling in the WRONG direction!  Wren took something from Iley, and I made her give it back.....uh oh......were we in for some nail spitting, foot stomping, fit throwing!  It didn't work out in her best intrest, and she was just plain mad and undone for a LONG time!  She couldn't get her blankets to spread out right.....the play laptop wouldn't stay open right.....the toys wouldn't move themselves??.....Iley was on her blanket..on and on.....she couldn't cope with anything!  I finally just held her for a while, then decided they needed a change of scenery.....Iley was starting to whine at this point!...... so... in the bath tub they went!  They played there for an hour! (that makes about 4 hrs underwater for Wren!)  She was asleep in about 5 minutes tonight!

I. Can't. Hear......

 YOU!

This is the reason we don't do baths right before bed.......they take on WAY too much water!

More water intake here.....and a so long mates........

That's all folks:)

This N That

These two are so unpredictable!  One time they want to be as close as possible...happily sharing everything........the next time they can't be within a foot of each other to eat.  They remind me of a couple of dogs....if you have fresh meat....look out, and guard your kill! Or in their case....if you have dumplings guard it well, or if they are really hungry.....if they're not ....it's like our dogs sharing a bowl of dog food......ok, we'll eat it cause it's here, but no need to fight over it. 

Saturday we decided to take a road trip and see how the girls did traveling, Troy had some business that needed taken care of about 4hrs away.  I said sure I'll go.......if I can drive....and you take care of the girls.  Isn't he a poor henpecked husband!  They really did pretty amazing considering that the longest car ride since we've been home has been 45min.

 I wondered what they'd think about staying in a motel again too.  We hadn't stayed in one since China.  They actually seemed kind of excited, and loved jumping on the bed!  The room had mirrors above the beds, and one on the wall beside theirs...they about fell off several times while watching themselves jump!  I'm sure the cleaning ladies appreciated all the finger prints too:(

 Wren thought it was way too inefficient to wait on mom or dad for help getting up and down from the bed, so she pushed this handy footstool over for easy accesibility!

 A rare moment where the cricket is still!  Her lips were still a little blue from swimming.

 I took these Sunday morning....I had high hopes of getting some really cute pictures....all of us were dressed in black and white, and there was this nice bench and dreamy weeping willow right outside our room......andthings started out hopeful.....but thenWren tripped and fell coming headlong out the door:( and scraped her ankle......so she was still "getting over it" in all these pictures, and I guess Iley was just empathizing with her??

 

 You'd think I had just captured them in the jungle here!!??

Babba was trying to get her all taken care of and cheered up.......

 But it was a losing battle.....

 Still not happy.....and Iley is tired of all the picture business, and more interested in the wound.....

 Well at least Troy looks good in this one.....and no one is crying......but I gave it up at this point:(

 We had to wait about 20 minutes for brunch.....they had only had 2 crackers ahead of time......and Iley kept tapping my leg and shrugging her shoulders and signing "eat" while pointing to the tables.  She was like....what are we waiting for??  There's the tables!  They have NO patience when it comes to eating!

Can you guess what Wren's doing in these next two pictures?:)

She was acting like her phone was a hand mirror, and she was applying her eye makeup!LOL  This girl has a serious imagination!  Then she was trying to get Iley to do it, and she wasn't getting the idea at all.  Wren was even holding the "mirror" for her!

 I"ll just be silly!.......Wren thinks it's funny:)  She's taking a picutre too.  I didn't get a picture of it, but the next time I turned around, Wren was using her phone as a stick of deoderant.  She started out just putting it under her arm.....but then pulled out the neck of her dress to do it right.

We took Iley to the eye doctor this morning.  She wasn't as cooperative as she could have been, and they weren't able to get a picture of her eye to see what shape her eye is.  The doctor did some other testing, and and just observed her.  She is pretty sure she is near sighted, and has prescribed some glasses(-150) for her  so we paid 172.00 for a pair of glasses to "try" for a month!!!  RIDICULOUS!!!  on top of the 94.00 for the appointment:( Blech!  I hope they help her!  They said .....if she wears them.....if she stops looking out of the top of  her eyes......if she becomes more interested in her environment??...........it means they are helping.  They will also dialate her eyes next time and do more extensive testing.....hoping she'll be more cooperative since she's been there before........we'll see.

Then we had a meeting with the "team" of people that will be involved in the girls' schooling.  We just talked about where the girls are.....where we need to get them.....and what we have to do to accomplish it.....where to start, etc.  We are so blessed to work with such an awesome group of people, and a school that truly cares about the kids learning.  The girls were very cheerily occupied by all the preschool toys! Happily feeding us bowls of rainbow colored plastic dinosaurs, and emptying every toy container!  I had to drag Wren out of the back storage area where she'd investigated, and found MORE stuff:(  That childs gonna be the death of me!  We had a tearful...pry her hands loose....parting between Iley and a toy curling iron!  She refused to leave....till we turned out the lights......then everyone went out....except mom...and I moved to the hallway.  She finally came sobbing out, mad as a little wet hen!  She cried all the way home......she can moan longer than anyone I know......well since Thatcher that is:).......When we get back from vacation we'll start in on a series of evaluations with the "team" to get a more accurate read on where the girls really are.

 Their next appointments will be with the audiologist for Wren on July 5th, and the Cardiologist for Iley on the 6th.  Everyone Please pray that Wren is able to get something to help her hear, and that she cooperates well with the audiology team so they can see what she needs.......and for healing for Iley's heart..through the direct hand of God....or through the surgeon....and hand of God. 

Thanks for staying with me this long:)  and don't forget to comment:)  I love to hear from you all! Hugs to each of you.