Praying for your children

Hello friends! 


Today I want to share with you a prayer tool that I LOVE!


Before Adam and I had Jackson, we started praying for our future children. Then, when we were pregnant with Jackson, we prayed every night (literally) for our sweet little boy. I would research how and what was forming when, and we would pray over those specific things. We prayed for spiritual things as well, that he would come to know Christ at a young age, that he would love others, that he would have a passion for scripture.


I pray for Jackson every day, but I have wanted to start praying more specifically for him, and the Lord in His graciousness sent me the perfect resource. 

It's an orange plastic prayer card. Sounds simple I know, but it is fantastic! The front of the card has several short prayers and corresponding verses that you can pray over your children, and the back has specific prayers you can pray for yourself as a parent. 


I thought I would share with you the verses that are on the front of the card so you can be praying these things over your children (or grandchildren, nieces, nephews etc.) as well. 



Lord, I life my children to You today and pray, according to Your Word, that:


-they will know Christ as Savior early in life and desire a close relationship with Your throughout their childhood, teen, and adult years (Mark 10:13-16; Luke 2:52; 2 Timothy 3:15)


-they will develop the discipline of prayer and time in Your Word (Joshua 1:8; Daniel 6:10, Matthew 4:4; Philippians 4:6-7)



-You will bring into their lives godly adults and friends who will help them grow in godly living (Psalm 1:1-3; Philippians 1:27; Proverbs 27:17; 1 Corinthians 4:15).


-You will keep them pure and strengthen them against temptation (Job 17:9; Psalm 24:3-4; I Corinthians 6:18-20


-they would develop discernment, wisdom, responsibility, and a strong conscience (1 Kings 3:11-12; 1 Timothy 1:5 Daniel 6:3


-they will be caught if they wander into cheating, lies, or mischief (Psalm 119:71; Proverbs 20:30


-they will see other people as You do, treating them with love and kindness (Matthew 25:35-40; Romans 12:10; Philippians 2:1-4)


-You will protect them from emotional, physical, and spiritual danger (Psalm 28:7-9; Psalm 41; John 17:15;2 Thessalonians 3:3).


-You will prepare them to be a godly, loving, and faithful spouse or prepare them to glorify You in their singleness (1 Corinthians 7:7-8); and that you also prepare their future spouse (2 Corinthians 6:14-15; Ephesians 5:21-33)


-they would leave home with an eternal perspective and Christ-like values (Matthew 28:18-20; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21)


-they will sense Your calling on their lives and their lives will count for Your kingdom (Psalm 78-1-8; 103:12-18; 2 Timothy 1:9)
.
(FamilyLife resources)




**I didn't include the content that is on the back of the card.  I'm sure the company would not appreciate me putting all of their content on the web :) I've searched the web for a place that you can buy the cards, but no luck so far. I'll keep looking!


Hope the prayers and verses above help you pray for the sweet blessings in your life! 


I will leave you with  a pic of one of the sweet blessings in my life:

abundantly blessed,

Monica

Heavenly

Because I am seriously craving some chocolate.....I thought I would daydream about my absolute favorite chocolate indulgent. 


Oreo Truffles

Have you made them? Have you tried them? If you have, then you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, then I feel so sorry for you :) You are missing out! 


Here is the recipe:


Oreo Truffles

**I would suggest using a food processor to mix the oreo crumbs with the (room temp) cream cheese. You will know when the contents have combined because it will turn into one big ball of  dark "dough". 


**Also, after I made the balls, I put them on sheet pans and put the pans in my freezer. I have a large bottom drawer freezer, so I understand that not everyone can do that. It is much easier to coat the frozen oreo balls in warm chocolate than trying to coat room temperature oreo balls. (They fall apart)


**When working with bakers chocolate, you have to be careful. The chocolate dries fast. So this is what I did:  I put a bot of water on the stove and heated the water until boiling. I melted the chocolate in a pyrex bowl in the microwave. Then I set the bowl of melted chocolate in the pan of boiling water. That way the chocolate stayed nice and warm (and melted) as I dipped the oreo balls in. 


Please go make these NOW! They are amazing and cheap!  (Well cheap unless you don't have a food processor, and want one for this recipe:) )


Happy eating!


Monica

Yes. You are in the right place.

Hello! The Roberson Family Blog got a makeover. :)  If you are wondering, I'll still blog about our family, how Jackson is doing, my faith etc. I just needed new life to the blog! 


Have a great day!


Monica

Book Club

If someone asked you to join a book club, would you join? Oh how I hope you would!

For some people, the very thought of enduring anything similar to a college classroom literary experience would be nothing short of torture, but for others (namely me) it is heaven. 

I LOVE reading. I love reading great books, and having great discussions about those books. I love dissecting novels and examining them to see what I have learned about myself. In college I was an English major, and with all honesty, thoroughly enjoyed all of my literature classes.

Now that I am married and have  a small, in-to-everything- munchkin, I rarely take the time to actually read a good book. Oh I'll start several, with every intention to finish, but after a few days, our house is littered with partially finished novels. 

Because I love reading so much, and wished I would make more time for it, when my friend told me that she was trying to start a book club and asked me to join, I jumped (probably literally) at the chance to be apart. Here was my opportunity to have to read a book :)

After exchanging a few emails, our book club, we have now so aptly named "The Cougars" (don't ask us why), was a go. We meet once a month, eat delish food, and talk about the book. With as much emotion as I can convey over this blogosphere, I tell you that I have SO enjoyed this book club. It does my heart, soul, and mind well to spend a couple of hours laughing  and talking with these women. 

So far we have read:

 HIGHLY recommend this book. It was not a short read, but it was so good that I devoured it.

This book will challenge you and encourage you. Honestly, I really loved the first half, and probably could have not read the second half and still walked away having learned a great deal about myself. 

Our most controversial pic yet. For a book that so many of us were skeptical we would finish (the protagonist has an affair with a monk!) the discussion at our book club meeting was probably the best yet. As a follower of Jesus, you simply cannot read something without viewing it through the lens of Christ.With that said, there were parts of the novel that were hard to get through; however,  those very parts of the novel led to brilliant conversation that I know I was challenged by. Although I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to others. You can be the judge. 

And for next month we will be discussing:  

I can't wait!

Now that Adam and I are both in book clubs (Adam's is a bit more manly. He likes to call his a bible study where they read books:), I consider our family pretty well-rounded. Now only if we could get Jackson in a book group....

only kidding...sort of :)

Go read! Be blessed!

Starting my Mornings with Jesus

I am so blessed to stay at home with this precious angel. 

I was putting clean sheets on the bed in the guest bedroom, and Jackson found himself in the mirror. He was smiling and talking to himself, so I had to grab the camera. 


Before Adam and I got married we talked about how we wanted me to stay home with our children. We knew that we would do whatever it took to make that happen, and I am so glad we did.  Although my days are partially filled with doing things that never end (laundry, dishes etc.) the other parts of my days are spent taking care of the blessing God has thankfully given to us.  


One of my favorite parts of our day is right before his nap. We snuggle and I rock him and pray over him and sing to him, and he sweetly lays his head on my shoulder. I listen to him breathe in and out, and he pats my face as I'm singing to him. I will cherish these moments forever.


Lately God has been stirring my heart to really think about what I want our home life to look like, what my role is as a wife and a homemaker, and how important those two jobs are. The home is so important. I want it to be haven for Adam when he comes home. I want it be security and love and acceptance, a place where our children know that they are loved, and know that they are safe. I want it to be a place of learning and fun, where they can ask hard questions, and get hard answers in love. Where Christ is honored and glorified. 


I know that this doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen without Christ in me, which is why I've been making myself get up early each morning to spend time with Jesus. I've felt convicted for a while now about doing that. Once Jackson was born, I was just so sleep deprived that getting up early was not going to happen. But now that Jackson is consistently sleeping well, the Lord has been whispering to me that it is time, time to start back spending  those precious first few minutes of my day with Him.


I have so much that I want to be praying for, so much that I am anxious for God to do in my heart, and in other's lives. I also have a few things I have felt the Lord nudge me to start doing. I can't wait to see what He does! 

As I watch Jackson crawl and explore, I can't help but feel the weight of the responsibility that Adam and I have.  Jackson NEEDS me to start my day talking with Jesus. Maybe you would disagree, but I know that in order for me to be the mom that God has called me to me, and be the wife that Proverbs 31 speaks of, and in order for my home to be a haven, I must start my day with Jesus.  Do you feel God calling you to spend time with Him? Oh how I pray that you and I both would be diligent to do so.


Blessings,
Monica

A Giving Heart

My husband has the biggest heart of anyone I know. Period.

The other day we were in the car talking about our future, and where we would like to be (God-willing of course:)) Anyway, we were talking about money, and I threw out a relatively high number, and asked him how he would feel if he made that salary. I, of course, was somewhat joking, somewhat serious. And do you know what my precious husband's response was? He got huge smile on his face and said,


 "Gosh Monica. Just think, if I made that much, can you imagine how much we could give away!"


Melt my heart. Honestly, that man would give you the shirt off of his back, if he thought for a millisecond that you needed it. I love him so much, and I am so blessed to walk through this life with him!

Halloween, Atlanta, and Babyfood

Hello all! So I'm not so good at posting weekly, oh well:) We have been quite busy lately. 


A couple of weeks ago was Halloween and Adam, Jackson, and I all dressed up. Adam picked out my costume. Enough said. It was ridiculous. He was spiderman, which was awesome, and I ...well I was some dumpy version of Mary Jane. If I had known she was a model in the comic books, I would have changed my costume. But apparently neither of us knew that, and Adam thought a pre-teen boy shirt from Old Navy would suffice as part of my costume. Well that and a hideous red and black wig from the halloween store. Oh dear, I was a mess! I'll post pictures of that too. Jackson, on the other hand was adorable! He was the most precious Tigger I had ever seen:) Next year I will do the planning, and the three of us will coordinate:) We went with some friends trick-or-treating, and Jackson stayed in his stroller holding up a bucket as people gave him some candy. We felt a little strange since everyone was aware of the fact that Jackson could clearly not eat his candy. But it was so fun taking him, and I think some people genuinely liked dumping candy in his bucket anyway:)


Last week, I went up to Atlanta to meet up with several women who do what I do with The reThink Group. We were there for 4 days, and it was amazing! A good friend of mine just got hired with the company as well, and she and I rode up to Atlanta together. Each day we had several creative meetings with a few fun lunch and dessert breaks:) If you've never heard of us, The reThink Group, you can visit the following sites. You should especially read the posts on the parenting website. They are great:  Orange Parents  and Orange.


I had a little bit of anxiety leaving for the week. I was worried I would not have a good place to pump, that Jackson wouldn't nurse when I returned home, and I worried that I would have a melt down missing him so much. I know lately God has been giving me numerous opportunities to trust Him, and to prove Himself faithful. And that He did. As small as it may seem to others, it was a big deal to me that I made it through the week, had fun, and didn't have a melt down from being away from Jackson (I was able to skype with my boys while I was in Atlanta. Skype is wonderful!) And the sweet lady who is my direct boss had set up a discreet place for me to pump while I was there, AND Jackson nursed like a champ the minute I got home. God is faithful! 


I got home on Thursday, and Saturday we took Jackson to the fair! We met up with some good friends of ours who also have a little boy about the same age as Jackson. The fair was great, but it was freezing! I really think we picked the coldest day to go! Oh well! We had Jackson bundled up pretty well, and he had on his toboggan just like his daddy:) Adam and I ate our favorites: roasted corn, corn dogs, barbecue and elephant ears! yummo!


Speaking of food....Jackson has been eating pretty much anything that I have been feeding him, and a lot of it. I am still making his food, and I would def. recommend doing so. So far I have made:
-pears
-plums
-applesauce
-peaches
-sweet potato
-squash
-green beans
-sweet peas
**And I've mashed avocado and bananas. He LOVES bananas!


I will not make applesauce again though. It took way too long, and it didn't save us that much money, since I can buy huge jars of All-Natural Applesauce from Publix. But everything else was pretty easy to make, sweet potato being the easiest! All I do is wrap them in foil, bake them, slide off the skins and blend em up! SO easy.  I try to alternate yellow vegetables and green vegetables, so if I'm low in green beans, I pick up sweet peas the next time I'm at the store. Same for yellow. If I'm low in sweet potato I just pick up more squash at the store. I have found it is easier for me to make batches as I go. I plan on adding some blue/ purple fruits and vegetables soon. So far though, I love doing it, and it has been so easy and cost efficient!


I know I've said this in the previous posts, but Jackson is getting more and more fun each day. His little personality is coming to life. Sometimes he will just talk and talk to himself and play with the toys around him. And other times he wants to snuggle with me or Adam on the couch and play with either our cell phones or the remote control, neither of which I particularly want him to play with, but he is so good at spotting them and crawling/ reaching for what he wants before I even realize what he has done.


He is also sleeping great. The time change did rattle us just a bit. He was waking between 7:30-8:00, but for the past 3 mornings he has woken between 5:30-6:30. I don't think he knows that we have changed times on him:) I'm hoping he can settle back to where he was soon. But I'm not complaining. I've been going in and rocking him when he doesn't settle in the early morning, and that has been great. I know he won't be this little forever, so I'm trying to soak those moments in. 


He is also really really close to crawling. He has been pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth. And he is also scooting sideways and backwards. It's just the funniest thing! Adam and I laughed and laughed at him the other night trying to crawl. It's precious! I did take some video. I'll post the video at the bottom of this post along with some pictures. 


Ok, I think I've caught you up over the past couple of weeks. I hope you are enjoying your fall, and I hope you are all thanking sweet Jesus for all of the things you have to be Thankful for this holiday season. 


Be blessed,
Monica

I know this video is a couple minutes long..but I think towards the end you can see where Jackson is almost crawling! He is so close!

Spiderman and Mary Jane

Our little Tigger:)

 I just love this little rascal!

These we took before we left for the Peanut Festival.

Family pic at the fair.