I'm seekin, I'm seekin'!!!!!!!

"My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek."
Psalm 27:8

I've walked in the faith long enough to know that I must look to the Lord for everything, every time, every purpose. I know it, know it! All I have to do is look back and see...reflect back and remember...He has been faithful. This I know.

Yet my heart is deceitful above all things. It doesn't have a memory. It tends to follow my emotions if I'm not careful.

It's no accident that Kristen at Exemplify posted this as today's verse to ponder and discuss. As a matter of fact, hardly a day goes by when I don't need to be reminded that I not only need to seek Him with my mind and declare it with my mouth...I need it to be the overflowing attitude of my heart as well.

For me, the only time that happens is when I go before the Lord small--empty--surrendered.

As He fills me up by the power of the Holy Spirit, then my heart follows after Him. When I don't, my heart follows my emotions and compulsions instead.

So I declare with my mind and my mouth, "Your face, LORD, I will seek. Open, humble, ready, willing." And my heart will declare it too.

Casting My Cares...

When worry comes even though I've resisted it,
When my stomach aches with concern for someone I love even after I've turned his situation over to the Lord,
When I repeat the same prayer over and over as someone who longs to overcome her unbelief,
All I know to do is pray some more.

Today is one of those days, but I will choose to trust in Him.
Over and over, He has proven Himself worthy of my belief.
Time and again, He has sustained me--and those I love as well.

I will choose to trust in my Lord.

Psalm 55:22-23a (New International Version)

"Cast your cares on the LORD
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall.

But you, O God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of corruption;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you."

Amen.

One, Two, Skip A Few

Allison doesn't like to wait. She's my youngest of three, and she typically manages to find some way to get what she wants (within the boundaries, of course). If I'm not available to get or do something for her right when she wants it, she works her way down the family "chain." Whoever wants to get rid of her the fastest (she talks a LOT) usually caves in to her request. It's not always like this, but more often that I'd like to admit.

We're working on this formed habit, but sometimes she just says something that totally cracks me up. Last month I told her that I'd look at dogs on the internet with her in a few minutes, and she said, "Do you mean Mommy minutes?"

I asked, "Mommy minutes?"

She put her hand on her hip and looked up at me with all four of her eyes, using her other hand to help her talk. "Yeah, mommy minutes. Your minutes are longer than mine."

I could not contain my laughter or the urge to pick her up and kiss her cheeks all over.

So this morning, she did it again while I was giving her older sister the morning snuggle. "Mom, is it my turn to snuggle?"

"A few more minutes, Honey."

Then she sped-said, "One, two, skip a few, 59, 60.....One, two, skip a few, 59, 60....okay, it's been a few minutes."

Ohhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.


I can't help but think how many times I've said "one, two, skip a few, 59, 60" to my Heavenly Father. I did yesterday. And even this morning. Why is it so difficult for this baby daughter to wait, especially since I KNOW that He has good things in store for me? I'd rather pull an Allison and go from one thing to the next until I get my way...but He wants me to wait--wait on Him. And after I've learned to wait on Him, He wants me to wait on Him patiently. And after I've learned to wait on HIm patiently, He wants me to wait on Him patiently with joy and contentment. He wants nothing less than this kind of adoration and trust from His baby girl.

So Lord, here I am today...one, two, I'll wait for You.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in His Word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6 (NIV)

What Am I, Apples and Peanut Butter?

I felt rejected. And jealous. Yanking off my apron and tossing it on the table, my emotions took over my vocal chords. “What am I, Jen, apples and peanut butter?” I cried to my daughter.

She justified, “No, Mom, it’s just that Dad builds the best Lego castles, you know that.”

“Oh yeah?" Pity Party time. "Well, I know a thing or two about Lego Castles, little Miss Jenny—and you’re missing out.” I shuffled into another room to mope.

After all these years of feeding, bathing and homeschooling—day in and day out—now all they want is Dad. “Dad, can you play with me?” “Put me on your shoulders, Dad.” Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, DAD.

Regaining my confidence, I attempted to bond with my son. “Hey, Justin—ya’ wanna show me what you’ve been destroying on SpyScape?”

“Just a minute, Mom. Dad and I are trying to win this quest together,” he replied, eyes glued to the computer.

“What do you mean? Dad’s at work,” I objected.

“Well, he’s taking his lunch break to play online with me.”

“Oh?” My bottom lip popped out--wayyyyyy out. “How fun for the two of you.”

Figures. I moped again, aimlessly wandering to the next room.

It’s not that I don’t want them to like their Dad…it’s just that all I’m known for around here is whipping up apples and peanut butter for a snack. What happened to “Her children will rise up and call her blessed?” I used to be blessed. I wanna feel like the blessed Mommy again.

Little Jen crashed my pity party. “Mom, can I call Dad?”

“No, honey, he’s busy. What do you need?”

“I want him to draw me a camel.”

“A camel—Daddy doesn’t have time to draw camels at work, Sweetie, but I’ll help you.”

Jen hung her head in polite surrender. “Welllll—okay.”

Here’s my chance to put moms everywhere in the spotlight again. My weepy heart began to swell with excitement. “Now, just let me find one on my handy, dandy Mac. I go to ‘Search’ right here, and type, ‘Camel pictures.’ See honey? This will be eeeeasy breeeezy.”

Ten minutes went by, and I could not find a single traceable picture of a camel. Jen had given up on me. “You know, who needs camels anyway? I’ll just go draw a ladybug or something.”

“NO,” I blubbered, “I’ll get you a camel…All I have to do is type in ‘Camel Coloring Book’….Bingo! Look—481,000 results. And the very first one says, ‘Camel Coloring Pages.’”

Like a triumphant warrior, I clicked on the link only to receive a message on my screen saying “SAFARI CANNOT OPEN THIS PAGE.” I clicked like a maniac, and the same dadgum message appeared over and again.

“Now can I call Daddy?” an exasperated Jen whined.

“NO, you most certainly will not bother Daddy at work.” I chomped my upper lip. “I can fix this.”

Justin yelled from upstairs. “Jenny, you don’t need to call Daddy, I’ve got him right here on I.M.”

“OH, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” she shrieked with delight as she ran to the likes of Dad via instant messenger.

All she wanted was a camel, Karen. You can’t even come up with ONE camel?

I sat there, completely defeated—defeated by Legos—defeated by technology—defeated by Dad.

The three of them are just up there gabbing away, and here I sit all alone staring at a big, ugly camel.

Apparently, Safari had found its page in Egypt or something.

“A camel?!!? Hey, Jen, I found a camel.” I turned into a giddy ninny. “Go get the camel off the printer. That didn’t come out right, but hey, who’s the bomb now? Huh?”

“Thanks, Mom, NOW I have two camels. Daddy sent me one to Justin’s email.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, a defeated smirk smeared across my face.

“Hey, Mom, everything okay?” Justin had the audacity to ask as he slithered into the room.

“Oh, Son, I’m just a big bag of crazy today. You sure you wanna open it?”

“Uhhhhhhhh, Oooo-kayyyyy...but can I open it after you slice me up some apples and peanut butter?” he said, licking his lips and rubbing his hands together. “You do it best, Mom.”

“Music to my ears, dear Justin.” I hugged him like nobody’s business, and he tolerated it.

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Mom. Dad said he loves you and that he is the most blessed man on earth.”

“He did, did he?” I suddenly realized what a lunatic I had been.

“Hey Mom, where ya goin’?”

“What am I, apples and peanut butter? I’m goin’ to call the greatest Dad on earth.”

******

Scripture reference--Proverbs 31:28, NIV

***Sentiment is all in fun, for "those" mom days...enjoy!

***Special blessings to all the dads who rock their kids' worlds. And their wives' too! :D