"You Mean!"

"You mean!" Have your children ever gone through "that stage" of sin? None of mine ever had until...Jacob. A few weeks ago this became his response anytime he got hurt, mad or frustrated...He would yell "You mean!" at whoever was standing the closest to him. On Sunday he went too far, I handed him his drink on the way out the door for church and he said..."You mean mommy!" First of all, my heart broke, but then anger arose within me because I had given him something he needed, something he wanted, something he had asked for and his response to my gift is "You mean mommy!" Well before I go any further with that train of thought I must tell you the rest of our conversation...I looked down at him and said, "Jacob, what happens when you say 'you mean' to mommy?" and his reply in a very angry tone was..."Daddy not here mommy!" WOW!  This spoke to me on so many levels. Apparently, I must be the easy, pushover of a parent if he thinks discipline will not occur when daddy is not here. Time to step up and prove this little 2 year old wrong! CONVICTION! The more I thought about this incident the more upset I became, not because my 2 year old thinks I'm a mean mommy, he'll get over it. My increasing upset state was due in part to the fact that so many times I have asked my Father for something and He, being a gracious and always good Father, gave me what I asked for, what I needed, what I wanted and my response (never verbally but in action) was "You mean God!" Why, because it didn't turn out quite like I expected. It wasn't as perfect as I had hoped. Now, we may not say "You mean God" or even think it, but we complain...this house is so small, my car is so old or I wish it had heated seats...Disney World was fun, but it didn't last long enough and the lines were too long. For some reason we are professionals when it comes to complaining. It has almost become our primary vocabulary. It's like we are afraid to thank God and walk around with an attitude of gratitude for fear that the blessings will stop. How sad must our Father feel when He blesses us with more than we ever deserved and we want more or complain about the gift? Do you think He ever feels as if we are saying "You mean, God!" Commit today to develop an attitude of gratitude.  When I am cleaning my house I say..."Thank you God for this home where we can live and serve you as a family." When I climb in my car I say..."Thank you God for blessing me beyond my imagination with this vehicle and help me to remember it will one day pass away." Learn to thank God at all times for all things. I never want my actions, attitudes or words to say to my Father..."You mean!"

Job 34:18-19 "Is it fit to say to a king, 'Thou art wicked', and to princes, ' Ye are ungodly'? How much less to Him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor, for they all are the work of His hands." (kjv)

Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without complaining or arguing."

Thank You All

I just want to say thank you all so much for following my blog. Thank you for the kind words, the encouragement and the support. I pray that it is an encouragement to you. This is something I look forward to everyday. However, I am actually taking the weekend off from blogging to spend some uninterrupted, quality time with my family. We just ate chick-fil-a and now we are going to snuggle up and watch a movie. Please check back on Monday, October 5th for more Moment by Moment encouragement. Thank you for understanding, but my family will always come first! I love you all! Please feel free to browse the archives for blogs you might have missed. I would love for you to pass this link along and share it with your friends and family.  Also, leave a comment on your favorite post and the one that has the most votes will be my entry in next months edition of Southern Child Magazine.


Thanks,

"Be Thankful For What You Are Served"

I am a country cook! Yes, I fry food, I use bacon grease on occasion and I feel the need to grow my own vegetables and can and freeze them instead of buying them at the store. My children are really good eaters and love the way mommy cooks. Last night I decided to cook a meal that I loved as a child. I can remember my Grammie cooking this and when I serve it, I am flooded with memories. Fried ham steak, navy beans and kale. Make a little red eye gravy for the ham, put some salt pork in those navy beans and season that kale with some homemade pepper sauce and whee doggies, we got ourselves a supper. I fixed my children's plates and we all sat down to eat. Joshua took a bite of his ham and said, "Oh my goodness that ham is so good. That's the same kind of "chicken" we eat on Valentine's day." Every meat at our house is a form of chicken. Caleb looks at his plate and says, "I think I like everything, but the seaweed (kale)." Now my boys usually are not very picky, but let me just say...no one ate the seaweed. They devoured the ham and came back time and time again for more. They were all starving, but they only ate what they liked. A part of me wanted to yell, "BE THANKFUL AND EAT WHAT YOU ARE SERVED." or quote my mother from years ago and just say "EAT IT!" I refrained! I began to think about the fact that I am not always thankful for what I am served. I like some things that the Lord lays on my plate, but then there are other things that I just do not want to partake of. I know those things will strengthen me, help me and make me stronger in Him, but I don't like them. I love the yummy things in life that appear as blessings, but the cancer, the lack of money, the sickness of a child, the adversity, or anything else that requires me to be inconvienced, I would rather just leave on the plate and not partake of it. I know sometimes the Lord wants to say to me..."Eat it!" But instead He says "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8 I know Him and I know that He is good! He is always good! His will is always good, pleasing and perfect. If I know that my Lord is good, then why would I not want to partake of whatever He places on my plate? I trust Him as my Father and I will "Be Thankful For What I Am Served!"