The Rogers' Family Blog

First Family Road Trip

2011-08-13T10:11:00.002-06:00

We took our first ever family road trip to St Louis, MO this August. We have much loved and much missed family that live there.

The trip is 14 hours in drive time. But with three littles it took longer. Plus there was quite a bit of construction and detours. All in all, we had a blast. The kids did great in the car and we stopped at fun places.

Our first stop was Ogallala, Nebraska. They are serious about clean restrooms in this town. THANK YOU Ogallala!

We purchased fun snacks or car treats here and there. Getting to pick something from gas stations and travel plazas is part of road trip fun.

We got Charlotte out at every stop. She needed to stretch her legs and breathe fresh air too.

They were quite packed in in our back seat. But they had such fun together. I am so very thankful that our kiddos love each other as much as they do.

God bless the road atlas. Really. It was a very important part of our trip. There were closed roads, detours and construction all through Nebraska and Iowa. We would have been lost without God blessing us with the atlas and TONS of patience. Plus, Daddy is a great navigator, driver and decision maker.

We also stopped at this sweet little information center. It was staffed with a 93 year old volunteer who was wonderful. She had lots of information, a fun attitude and loved to talk.

We learned quite a bit from her and she made me smile. I highly recommend stopping at places like this.

Next stop Grand Island, Nebraska. This was the highlight of the road trip part of the vacation for me. So you don't want to miss the next post.

Nature Walk At A Favorite Park

2011-08-01T06:09:00.000-06:00

We are blessed to live within walking distance of a beautiful park. Every time we take a nature walk there God never ceases to dazzle us.

His colors always seem to pop, whether it is Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter.

There are two ponds, a little and a big. The little is often full of lilly pads, dragon flies, and cattails.

It is so very peaceful. If it were not for the mosquitos this year I would lay a blanket there and read the afternoon away.

The big pond has a rookery that is full to bursting in the Spring with Egrets and Black Crowned Night Herons. And in the Summer with White Pelicans swimming in it's tranquil waters.

The rest of these pictures were taken by my little brother. He is becoming quite the 10 year old photographer.

We like to end our walks there with some time spent on the little playground. Then we head home for a much needed drink and to pour over our photos, nature treasures and sometimes to investigate further and do a little sketching.

Birthday Party Fun

2011-07-30T05:33:00.000-06:00

All of our kiddos were born in the Summer. We have 1 June and 2 Augusts. So we throw one big birthday party extravaganza in July and combine them all. Except for the first b day. That you get all by yourself.

This year the kids wanted park, swimming and cookies. No cake, no cupcakes, just cookies.

We ate, played, celebrated, talked and had lots of fun!

Happy Birthday my sweet ones!

Happy Birthday To You.

Painting Crew

2011-07-29T20:24:00.003-06:00

Let me first say, I DO NOT LIKE PAINTING!!! I will do just about anything to avoid it. But our hall was dingy, chipped, scrapped, peeling and yuck. And guess what, I still did not want to paint it. That is until I decided it would be the best place for our timeline and wall maps. That was the motivation I needed.

We all chipped in. Yes, even Caleb and Caroline. It was a good learning experience and we enjoy things more when they are done as a family.

I did not really enjoy Caroline walking through the paint and then through my bedroom and the living room.

But our hallway looks great! Now it's ready for that timeline and those wall maps. After we get home from St Louis that is. We leave tomorrow!

Charlotte Mae, 11 Months

2011-07-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Could this child be any cuter? I mean honestly, it would be dangerous if she was.

Cause we would all sit around talking to her and taking pictures of everything she does and telling her how beautiful she is and how much we love her. And then nothing would ever get done cause we would have to spend all of our time ooing and awing over her.

Oh, wait. We already do that. I guess everything else can just get done later. Cause we have a cutie pie to adore!

Questions About God, the World, Truth and more (Caleb's Answers)

2011-07-23T06:04:00.006-06:00

As a part of our family worship we have been going through the study, Who Is God? by Apologia Press. Here are some questions we asked Caleb. We will be exploring and diving into the Word about these as the study progresses.
I am so very proud of Caleb's understanding of the truth and God already for an almost 6 year old. Obviously we have much to teach and Caleb has much to learn. But then the same can be said for all of us, adult or child.

1. Does God exist? Yes

2. If yes, what is He like? Holy, Bright, Holy Spirit, God, On earth He was a man - Jesus

3. Can I have a relationship with God? Yes, pray and talk to Him.

4. Do I have a responsibility to God? Take care of His creation and love my sisters and take care of them.

5. Where did the universe come from? God

6. Has the universe always existed? No, it started at the beginning (he is referring to Genesis: in the beginning God created...)
7. Will the universe always exist? Yes
8. Where did Earth come from? God created it
9. Why does the universe have natural disasters? Meteors (and then he went on to explain how meteors break off from big rocks in space and crash into things on earth. Apparently we have some teaching to do here. But the answer was priceless.)
10. Where did we come from? God created us

11. Why are we here? God wanted us to be

12. Why do we die? Because of sin

13. What happens to us after we die? Our spirit goes to Heaven or Hell

14. What is our responsibility and relationship to the earth? Take care of it and God's in charge

15. Is there such a thing as truth? Yes

16. How can I know if something is true or not? Read the Bible and see if it is

17. Are there such things as right and wrong? Yes

18. What is right and what is wrong? Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong (we tried to get him to expand here, but he just kept insisting that right was right and wrong was wrong.)

19. Why is there so much evil in the world? Adam and Eve sinned when the Devil tempted them

20. Are there solutions to all the problems in the world? God will fix them when Jesus comes

Great Reads

2011-07-22T06:52:00.000-06:00

So this Summer I have been blessed to find some spectacular reads. Not just okay, not just good. Spectacular I tell you! You want to read them too, I know you do.

Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

I started a blog series on this one. It would be nice if I could finish it one day, but the posts take a long time to write and I have small times to blog. We will see.

Believing God by Beth Moore

I took this one as a Bible study at my church complete with her videos that go with. AMAZING!!! This was life changing for me. If you ever have a chance take this study. Or if you feel led, please facilitate and coordinate this study at your church. You will never regret it and will grow because of it.

Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay Clarkson

This is not all about homeschool. In fact the first half of the book is about Christ centered homes, nurturing, and more. Cale (my husband who does not read, only does audio books) is reading this one. It is powerful!

Growing Up So Fast

2011-07-21T05:47:00.001-06:00

My sweet Charlotte Mae no longer seems to be interested in these. In fact she has dropped bottles completely. She wants a cup, just like her brother and sister. Which makes sense because she she will be 1 in August. But my baby is growing up so fast. Thankfully she still wants lots of snuggles. I think I have her convinced that a cup of milk in mama's lap in the morning is the way to go. But she wants to hold it herself. A big girl at almost one. Where did the time go? Love you Charlotte Mae!

Bible Memory Verse Game

2011-07-20T06:52:00.000-06:00

I have been reading some great and very encouraging books. One of them (now if I could only remember which one) had a wonderful idea for a Bible Memory Verse game for all ages. Preschool to Adults can do this one. YAY!

1. Write your Bible Memory verses on index cards, some or all, you chose. (have the older kiddos do this for copywork, memory practice, etc). You will need two copies of each verse. I also recommend doing this on a different day than you are going to play the game. Or write the cards in the morning and play the game in the evening. Otherwise attention spans are done with.

2. On each pair of verses make a light colored line or mark. You should not be able to see this colored mark through the index card. So for instance, Psalm 34:14 is a blue mark on both cards, Romans 10:9 is green on both cards, Colossians 3:20 is red on both cards... you get the picture.

3. Mix all of the cards together. Then lay them facing down in rows of 6x6 or 4x4 if you have mainly littles.

4. The first person flips a card over and tries to then find its match. They read the book, chapter and verse number they flip over (ex: psalm 34:13). You can do this together if they cannot read. If you get a match, then you read the entire verse (psalm 34:13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.) and keep the pair. If not turn cards over and next persons turn.

5. For those who cannot read they match the colored mark and mom or dad or older sibling reads book, chapter and verse number with them. If it's a colored match, then everyone reads the entire verse together.

Fun for all ages and best of all you are hiding His word in your heart as well as their's!

Sanibel Beach

2011-07-19T05:57:00.000-06:00

Oh, Sanibel Beach, how we miss you.

The smiles you bring.

Our whole crew, together, walking on you.

The fun!

The Joy!

Exploring your offerings.

Almost as if you were letting us be a part of you.

Everywhere we look a reminder of God.

How could we not love you so.

We miss your smell, your sound, your feel.

We are so thankful God let us spend time with you this Summer.

Thank you for all the blessings God bestowed on us through you, Sanibel Beach.

We'll be back to walk your shores again.

Until then, we love you Sanibel!

Romans 7:15: No to My Flesh, Yes to the Spirit

2011-07-18T05:38:00.000-06:00

This was a great video about teaching your children to say no to their flesh and yes to walking in the Spirit. Something we ALL struggle with. I love how Kathleen makes it so Biblical and also very straight forward on how to teach/train as parents.

Hope ya'll find it as helpful as Cale and I did.

Caroline's Interview, 3 Years Old

2011-07-16T19:28:00.004-06:00

Our Caroline Lee turned 3 back in June. It feels like just the other day that I was on bed rest trying to keep our little one inside. She was a bit too excited to enter the world and start livin it up!

That should have been a very good indication of what her little personality would be. I feel like it was our first battle of wills, but has definitely not been our last. =)

Our Caroline is full of passion for everything she does. It doesn't matter if it's singing for the Lord, which she does often and with gusto, or playing, coloring, running, climbing or telling us a story. Everything Caroline does is with her whole heart.

Our family's verse/vision for life is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." This comes naturally to Caroline, who often tells us, "Who's the Rock? God!" Or tells others, "God is with you."

She also loves the rest of us with the same whole hearted devotion. This girl brings joy, smiles and sunshine to our lives.

With a personality that is so whole hearted, she also brings battles of the wills. This can be quite challenging for us as parents. But also makes us realize it is God's strength, wisdom and grace that are the most important parenting skills to have. Cale and I are convinced that God has instilled a passionate soul within her to do great things for him, full of faith and whole hearted abandonment. This is not a girl who will worry if serving Him in whatever He calls her to do will be dangerous or hard. A friend once said, "she is like a riffle, as parents ya'll just need to point her in the right direction and, BANG!"

Each year around the time of the kiddos birthdays I spend some time interviewing them with the same questions as the year before. Below are Caroline's responses.

Caroline, we pray you always Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And that you also learn to listen to the Holy Spirit He has so graciously put inside of you. With these two combinations sweetheart you will conquer the world for Him! Praise God!

CAROLINE'S INTERVIEW, 3 YEARS OLD:

What is your name: Caroline
When is your birthday: Monday (this made me smile. no, her birthday was not Monday.)
How old are you: Three (she showed me on her fingers)
Who is your Mama: Mutter (that is what she is calling me now. Sigh. I miss being called mama, which she does as well, but Mutter is used just as much.)
What does your Mama do: Chores and Kiss
Who is your Daddy: Caleb (that is Cale's name, we just call him Cale)
What does your Daddy do: Kiss Mama
What is your favorite color: Pink, Purple and Red
What is your favorite song: She just started singing a song she made up. She does this ALL THE TIME! Really, everyday, non stop, especially in the car.
What do you want to do when you grow up: Make Lunch (no, it was not lunch time. I have no idea why she answered this way.)
Where do you want to live when you grow up: Sanibel, in my condo (when we went on vacation this summer she thought we had moved there. Caroline was very sad when she realized we still lived in Colorado. No beach and pool everyday. What a hard life our girlo has. HA!
What is your favorite food: Cookies
What is your least favorite food: Bones (no kidding, that would be anyone's I think. I have no idea where this came from.)
What is your favorite animal: Rabbits and Cows
What is your favorite thing to do: Play with toys
What do Mama and Daddy do after you go to bed: Say goodnight and go to bed and kiss
What does Daddy say: Goodnight
What does Mama say: Goodnight
Who does our family love the most: GOD! (she said this very loudly and with gusto)
Where do we go to church: On Sunday's at our church
Why do we go to church: To Learn about Jesus and friends
What is your favorite book: My Bible (she has The Beginner's Bible and reads it all the time.)
What is your favorite movie: David and Goliath and Jesus movie
What is your favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Pink and Red (with her it is all about what color the ice cream is, not how it tastes.)
Where do you like to eat: In Sanibel at my condo (this is a constant theme with her now. Sigh)
Who is your favorite person: Goliath, no he would get me. So I guess my favorite person would be God!
Who is your best friend: SISTER! (once again loudly and with gusto)
Who is your brother: Caleb
Who is your sister: Charlotte Bear
Where did your sister come from: The Crib
Where did your brother come from: From Sanibel, I didn't want to leave him there.

Here is her interview from last year. It is sort of fun to see how her answers have changed.

WE LOVE YOU CAROLINE!!

Caroline's Thoughts

2011-07-14T20:01:00.003-06:00

I have never met anyone who thinks the way our sweet Caroline does.

For instance, I was in the kitchen jumping up and down. Can't remember why, but Caroline comes in and tells me,

"Mutter, stop that jumping up and down. Your bottom is already split, if you keep jumping up and down you will split in half."

Hmm, well then, okay. I don't really know what else to do but smile.

Yum! Easy! You should make this!

2011-07-09T07:55:00.000-06:00

This has been the summer of sandwiches, salads, fruit and grilling. The other day was rainy and cool and since it had been awhile since I had spent much in depth time in the kitchen I decided to throw this together. Not that it took any in depth time to make. But it was yummy and filling and went well with the Rotisserie chicken we had from the Sam's Club.

I got the recipe from Joy In My Kitchen. She always has healthy, easy, and yummy recipes to share. With lots of photos!

Cheesy Green Bean Skillet - Finding Joy in My Kitchen

1 C brown rice
2 C chicken broth
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 C water
1 T minced onion
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1 C shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
2 C green beans

For the rest of the recipe click here.

Caleb, Future Pilot, A Mother's Hope For Discounted Flights

2011-07-08T11:52:00.003-06:00

On our recent trip to Sanibel Island Caleb got to sit in the cockpit of the 737 we flew on. He was quite the happy and excited little boy. Southwest is always such an enjoyable and fun airline to fly.

We have TONS of vacation photos that I need to go through. So get ready for Sanibel vacation photos galore.

Meditating On This Today

2011-07-07T15:05:00.002-06:00

We proclaim Christ, admonishing and teaching our children with all wisdom, so that we may present all of our children whole and complete in Christ. To this end we labor as parents, struggling with all the energy Christ provides through His Spirit, which so powerfully works in us as fathers and mothers.

Colossians 1:28-29 (adapted from NIV)

What We've Been Up To

2011-06-20T15:17:00.003-06:00

So it's Summer and this means we pretty much live outdoors. Which also means very little computer time. Which means very few blog posts. But, I did just clear our camera out for our upcoming vacation and here are the highlights from the memory card.

Rain Walkin!! We have had quite the bit of rain this year. Which does not bother me in the least. It has been refreshing and fun and made everything green, green, green.

Bird Watchin! This is an, "of course" for us. Here you see a Black Crowned Night Heron. You cannot tell in this picture, but they have bright red eyes which are pretty cool.

More Rain Walkin. My kiddos love umbrellas. And watchin the rain drops splat in the big pond.

Here is miss Charlotte in her version of rain walkin. She is nice and dry and content in the Chariot.

We also got to see a bee swarm at a local park! Very cool and a little scary. I am allergic to bee stings, but I have a nice zoom lens. The kids wanted to get much closer. But I wanted to be careful since I did not have my Epi Pen handy.

Okay now, you know me, I have to give some info on bee swarms. But if you don't want to read it just scroll down.

BEE SWARMS: They happen when the old queen leaves the hive with many other bees to find a place for a new hive. (The new Queen stays in the old hive and starts laying eggs.) They fly and then land to rest while the bees swarm around the Queen protecting her. But here is the really cool part. The Scout Bees fly off to find a new hive sight. One will come back and do a little dance (not kidding) to tell the others about the sight they found. But other Scouts are coming back doing the same thing. They have to convince the other Scouts that their sight is good and then the Scouts will go check that sight out. This can take a couple of days and the whole time the rest of the swarm is just resting and waiting (like you see below). Once the Scouts agree on a sight then the whole swarm flies there and gets to work building the new hive.

And these pictures just make me smile. Charlotte found one of Caroline's baby doll bottles. Apparently she thought it was her bottle and spent almost 10 minutes (really, truly) trying to drink from it.

She was never unhappy the whole time. I felt like she had given it a good try and gave her a real bottle as a reward. It was that time anyway. Persistent little thing with a joyful attitude. Praise God!
So there you have it. We are getting ready to go on a fabulous family vacation!!! This week is crazy. Getting our crew ready to fly is quite the big job. But it will be well worth it.

Hope your Summer has been wonderful so far too.

Pretty Girls

2011-06-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Pretty Girls. We are blessed with two of them!

Caroline Lee, almost 3

Charlotte Mae, 9 Months

Creek Walkin

2011-05-31T06:49:00.000-06:00

Each Spring you can find the Rogers Crew doing a little creek walkin and explorin.

This year Caroline was old enough to join us. She took to it like a fish in water.

Caleb spotted this little crawdad. Also known as a crawfish or a crayfish.

I love how God gave them the ability to look just like the creek bottom. This little guy needed all the help he could get. He was missing a pincher.

Pretty leaf skeleton. This is from a Cottonwood Tree.

Galoshes are a creek walkers best friend.

Then we walked over to the little pond. Can you see the fish? There are 3 of them.

Found the first water striders of the year. Not the best picture, but there are two little guys there.

We've had quite the bit of rain this Spring. So we've had quite the bit of these. I would love to get a mushroom field guide. But I am sure these mushrooms are pretty common.

Next year Charlotte will be old enough to join us too!

And She's Off

2011-05-30T09:27:00.002-06:00

9 months old and she's a crawling machine! Charlotte Mae, that is.

First she did lots of this.

Apparently her little knees did not care for hard wood or carpet.

So then she'd spend quite a bit of time like this.

But now she spends most of her time like this.

Cause she wants to spend more time playing with them.

(these photos are from the beginning of May 2011)

Committing Our Lives To God's Design, Pt2

2011-05-20T21:31:00.007-06:00

I have been reading the book, "The Mission of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson and have started a series of posts about my thoughts as I go through it. You can find the other posts in this series at the bottom of this post. To read part 1 of Chapter 3, click here.

I wanted to end this chapter with some scriptures Sally used to show what our commitments as mothers should be. Also, I tried writing this post over and over again. Everything I wrote just seemed to be rewording Sally's thoughts. So I deleted it all and put her beautiful words down instead. Everything in italics are her words, NOT MINE.

(These are words from Sally from the second half of chapter 3. They are not in order, they are just the ones that spoke to my heart.)

Matthew 6:20,21 says

But collect for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moss nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Our children are eternal beings whose souls will last throughout all of eternity...

God has given them into my husband's and my hands to protect and lead and shepherd them through this life on earth...

My children will indeed become treasures in Heaven if they indeed learn to love God and serve Him with their whole hearts. This is eternal work, to train the hearts, minds and consciences in righteousness.

But before I can do this work effectively I must surrender my heart to God's will .

I have been blessed with children, I have to surrender myself wholeheartedly to my role of being a mother after God's design.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual service of worship.

We are living sacrifices, which means that moment by moment, out of worship of Him, we are to surrender our own needs and expectations for the greater value of pleasing the Lord.

I had no idea what it would mean to sacrifice myself for my family, how much it would cost to follow God's design for the journey of motherhood. If I had understood more of what to expect, what I was called to do, and the significance of my role, I think I might have had an easier time of yielding myself to God's purposes. Perhaps I wouldn't have had to struggle through so many selfish attitudes, to fail so often in meeting my children's needs, and to fight so many unnecessary battles.

More and more, I have learned to see my children through the eyes of God and to accept the stages of growth through which He has designed them to grow.

IT IS NOT ABOUT US! No, I am not yelling at you, but at myself. Over and over again I struggle with selfish thoughts, wants, desires and I label them "needs." I think I have surrendered my heart to God, only to find out that I have been keeping a part of it back, keeping a part of it for myself. And honestly, it's not even my heart to keep. God made it, bought it at a very high price and yet still gives us the choice of what to do with it and who and what to give it to. I want it to be Him, but it seems as though I fail so often.

So how do we make the commitment to give our WHOLE hearts to Him therefore making the role of motherhood an act of worship?

1. We yield our personal rights into His hands.

2. We give up our time and expectations to Him.

3. And also our fears and worries about how we will manage.

4. We trust Him to take care of us and our family.

5. We let Him redirect our thinking and expectations and adjust our dreams.

6. And we wait in faith to see the fruit of our hard labor in the lives of our children, knowing that He will be faithful to honor our commitment to Him.

Boxelder Bug

2011-05-18T04:36:00.000-06:00

The weekend is always a great time for nature explorin. We have been doing more of this around the home front lately. Charlotte does not like missing nap and mama likes a happy baby.

One of the things we can always be sure of finding around home is bugs. And yes, these are a true bug. Meaning their forewings lie across each other at rest, they have sucking mouth parts in a beak that folds under their body and they usually have long antennae.

Beetles are not true bugs. They have chewing mouth parts and their wings meet in a straight line down their backs. I'm sure you wanted to know all that! =)

After finding the little fellows we of course turn to our handy dandy nature guides. Bugs are so much more fun if you can learn a little about them.

We thought at first we might have found Milkweed Bugs. But mama was skeptical because we lack something very important to the Milkweed Bug. Yep, you guessed it, Milkweed. So we kept looking and reading and learning. And guess what, it turns out we had found lots of Boxelder Bugs. No, we do not have any Boxelder Trees. But we do have Maple and they love Maples just the same.

Here are a few of our favorite insect identification guides.

Nature guides also tell us that the Boxelder Bug goes through a Simple Metamorphosis. (Egg, Nymph and Adult Bug) The nymphs do not have wings, their color changes as they grow in size and they eat the same things the adult bugs do.

Caleb then decided he should draw a picture of both types of bug in his nature journal. I asked if he wanted to write down some info about them or tell mama what to write. No, was his answer. Firm and concise, no. So I left it at that. Which was hard for me, but I'm learning to follow his guiding more and more.

A Little Spring Nature Walk

2011-05-17T06:09:00.000-06:00

Caroline kept insisting on taking a walk the other day. I had bajillions of things I wanted to get accomplished. But she was very persistent. So, I decided a little spring nature walk to a nearby park was going to be number 2 on the bajillions of things list. Number 1 had already been crossed of, breakfast.

Caleb has great eyesight. He spotted a tiny snail as we were walking along the little creek.

I couldn't believe he saw it. See what I mean by tiny.

You know your kids love nature when they will sit by a puddle for long periods of time just looking for something, anything.

And the prettiest flower of them all, Miss Charlotte.

Not the biggest nature walk fan though. She would rather play.

Committing Our Lives To God's Design

2011-05-16T05:10:00.001-06:00

To continue on with, "The Mission of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson we will get into Chapter 3. You can see the other posts in this series at the bottom.

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1

Now first off I have to say that I am not and have never been career driven. But I had no idea what being a mom was really going to be like. I dreamed of babies, loving, snuggles and seeing pieces of me and pieces of Cale mixed together in a sweet little one. I knew there would be hardships, sleepless nights, discipline issues. But I didn't really know what this would be like in "real life" while being the mama.

I come from a single parent family, my mom worked, I went to public school, had babysitters and then stayed home with my sister after school when we were older. We went to church when we were very young and then that stopped. I had no example in my life of a stay at home mom, homeschool family, church going family, etc. Don't get me wrong. My mom loved us very much, she told us so, showed us and spent time with us when she could. But my life as a child was nothing like the life our family lives now. And I have to admit, I was not prepared or trained and had not done much planning for life as a wife and mother.

Sally talks about the frustration this can cause. She says, When they were preparing for life, they focused on career preparation and assumed that motherhood and a home life could be tucked in around the edges. The importance of motherhood, marriage and the legacy they would leave in the lives of their children didn't enter into their training and planning. So they were not prepared for the reality that motherhood, especially when it's carried out according to God's design, is more than a full time job. It's an absorbing task that demands all the resources God has given us- our physical energy, our intellectual abilities, our creative gifts- and involves powerful emotional attachment as well.

When we (women) set out to do something we want to do it 100%, whether it's a job, a committee we are on, a project we are doing, marriage, raising children, or keeping a home. The problem is there is only one of us. So if we are going to do what we do 100%, with our whole heart, it would seem that "doing it all" is impossible. If we try to do this we will at some point feel like a failure in some area, if not all areas. Our heart is just too divided. I know that there are women who have to work (my mom was one, if she didn't then we didn't eat), but I am speaking of the women who can honestly consider full time, whole hearted motherhood. I am speaking to myself! I had never considered this option and when I did, well I felt guilty. I felt like I was settling, like I was taking the easy route, like I was not as intelligent as the women who had their masters degree and a career. But it's what I really wanted to do. Every time I felt my son move inside me or heard his little heartbeat at our midwife appointments I knew I could never leave him for the bulk of the day, multiple days a week to go to work. (God was working in me big time, I was just listening out of ears tuned into current culture and not the Lord.)

Plus, I had no idea that there is nothing easy or less intelligent about being a mom. But no worries, God has shown me differently! It was no wonder my heart was longing for wholehearted motherhood. Sally says it best, Someone needs to take responsibility for our children's nurture, protection, nourishment, intellectual development, manners, recreation, personal needs and spiritual development. Someone needs to commit time and energy into staying close to them as they grow, encouraging and correcting and teaching.

Doesn't it make sense that a wise God, who ordered the rest of creation in a intricate and systematic way, would also have provided such a person to care for children- to commit wholeheartedly to creating the right environment for them to grow and to prepare them to live throughout eternity bearing His image?

Of course! This person would be mamas! I so wish I had known this from the beginning, it would have saved me so much guilt and worry. God intended motherhood to be a full time job, not what we do in the evenings and weekends. He wanted us to be able to mother with our whole hearts!

Don't get me wrong, even though I choose to stay home and felt blessed to get to do so, I struggled with times of feeling so dissatisfied. I found out that much of being a mama was doing the same tasks over and over again. And many of those tasks were not fun, they were boring or stressful or annoying or gross. (laundry, training, changing diapers, teaching manners...) I found out that my children were needy and seemed to be even needier at the most inconvenient times (bedtime for instance). And I have no idea why I am using past tense here. Because if I'm being honest I still struggle with this. But God has been showing me that many times the source of this dissatisfaction was and is because of the choices I have been making. When I am just waiting for the motherhood tasks to be over with so I can: read, blog, do lunch with a friend, have alone time, volunteer for such and such. You know, when I can do what I want, what I find interesting. When I am more focused on what I could be doing or will be doing later than mothering with my whole heart.

How could I put all of me into my time at home if I was always thinking about a future time when I could escape the routine tasks of motherhood?

You see, God has told me time and time again that I have to choose to embrace totally and joyfully all that motherhood entails, the joys and the sacrifices. Only then will I be mommying with my whole heart. And this is not a one time decision. I have to decide this over and over again. Everyday! Making this decision can be very hard. I can choose to be the best mama I can be or to have life my own way.

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. Luke 12:48

I became a little clearer about which path I needed to follow if I really wanted to reflect God's design. I began to see my children's care and nurture as God's best will for my life during my season as a mother.

If Cale and I truly seek to have children who love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength, then I will have to accept there will be days of one more song sung, one more nose wiped, one more diaper changed, one more squabble stopped, one more reminder to say please, one more silly joke listened to over and again, one more lego stepped on... Because all of these "one mores" are ways I am nurturing my children, ways that I am teaching them what it is to love and be loved.

I will end with another quote from Sally. She really sums up the heart of the matter.

I needed to face the reality that all of that important stuff I was longing to do had far less eternal significance than what I was involved in doing. If I didn't commit myself wholeheartedly to the demands of motherhood, I would never be able to do my best, because my heart would always be somewhere else.

Posts In This Series:

Mission of Motherhood

Discovering the Mission of Motherhood

Goals For Caleb and Caroline

Exploring the Meaning of Biblical Motherhood, Pt1

The "Why"

Exploring the Meaning of Biblical Motherhood, Pt2

Committing Our Lives To God's Design, Pt1 (this Post)

Robot

2011-05-13T20:51:00.003-06:00

I will be continuing on with the Mission of Motherhood posts. But we are getting our gardens in this weekend, so my time is devoted to that.

I did want to post this amazing robot that Caleb made though. Auntie Sarah bought him a book on robots for Christmas. It has been quite the hit. Daddy and Caleb read it often and it has inspired some handiwork of a sorts.

Caleb's First Robot

Buttons that make his arms go in and out, a gun go in and out, lasers shoot, forward and backwards (of course), and some more things I can't quite remember but they all had to do with explosions and the such.

Here is one of the guns. Nerf darts would be the ammo of choice for this robot.

I was quite impressed with how much time Caleb spent building it. He used boxes, pencils, straws, clothespins, wire, tape and a Nerf gun. Oh, and a couple of plastic golf clubs for arms. All in all, a very cool robot!