Wisdom Needed

When God speaks to me, He likes to make sure I am listening. He will tell me something over and over until I get it. He is so gracious like that.


Lately, Adam and I have had several discussions on discipline for our children. We talked about how we would discipline our kids before Jackson was born, but after a child actually entered our life, the conversation became that much more important. So I started praying that God would reveal to me some wisdom on how to best discipline Jackson. What I was wrestling with the most was the why behind our discipline. I know that as parents we are responsible for disciplining our children, and I know that Adam and I are fully capable of doing it, but I needed to know exactly why it is so important, and exactly how God intends us to do it. (Call me crazy. I'm an over-analyzer to say the least.)


So I started praying for wisdom.


And let me just say, when you pray for wisdom and insight, God is delighted to impart it! :)


1)  I first picked up a book that I had started months and months ago, and decided I would finish it. It's called Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. This book is fantastic, and if you are a parent, I highly suggest you read it. I had several take aways from the book, but here are a few of my favorites:


- Disciplining is not the same thing as punishing. 


-Disciplining your child now is rescuing your child from future more extreme consequences later.


-We must discipline and seek to train our child's heart, not just the behavior, or else we will, in essence, be raising well-behaved hypocrites. 


And I'll just quote my favorite part of the book:


"You want to see your child live a life that is embedded in the rich soil of Christ's gracious work. The focal point of your discipline and correction must be your children seeing their utter inability to do the things God requires unless they know the help and strength of God."


2) After reading the book, and loving it, and talking with several of my friends (who have read it), God then led me to this blog post: Biblical Discipline or Behavior Modification? written by a friend I went to college with. Her information was parallel to what God was teaching Adam and I. 


3) And finally, the sermon series we are doing at church, that technically has nothing to do with disciplining your children, has been shedding more light on how God disciplines us, and why He does so.  Here are some of my notes: (The sermon was on the story of Jonah)


-God is generous with His grace and thorough with His discipline.


-God is not disciplining you to pay you back, he is doing so to win you back and bring you back to a place of surrender.


Those are only three of the ways God has been pouring out His wisdom (thank you Jesus).  Mine and Adam's prayer is that we will be parents who discipline towards the heart, not just the behavior, who seek to point our children to their need of a Savior, and who are generous with our grace, yet thorough in our discipline. 


~Monica

Party, Cobbler, and Library woes

Hello friends! Look at these two cuties:

Precious right?!  This is Jackson and his cousin Emma. They are just over two years apart, and this past weekend we celebrated Emma's 3rd birthday. 

The party was precious! Emma had a cheerleader theme, including cheerleaders who taught the girls cheers, and painted their nails. 


Jackson was the only little boy, but I don't think he minded. And don't worry, he didn't get his nails painted. :)

Having had only one nap, he quickly got tired, hence his face in the next picture: 

Sweet boy was so tired, he fell asleep when we got in the car to head home, (at 5:30 pm) and slept the entire 3 hours home, and the whole night. I had to wake him up the next morning!  He was such a trooper, and we had such a great weekend! 


On Sunday, Adam and I broke our healthy eating streak and ordered Hungry Howie's Pizza, and I made this:

Peach Cobbler. Yum! Does it look kind of gross?! Maybe so? Anyway, who cares how it looks right?! It was sooo good!  Apparently we are great about eating healthy during the week, not so much on the weekends. Everything in moderation right?! 


 (I will continue to strive to make healthier meals for our family, and as I find good recipes, I'll post them for you. I intentionally did not give you the recipe for the cobbler. It is simply sinful. :)


The past couple of days Adam has been out of town at a conference, so it has just been me and little man. I miss my husband terribly, but thankfully, Jackson is fantastic company. 

The above picture I took before Jackson and I headed for the library. I was going to take other pictures of our adventures, but I was in mourning while I was at the library, having found out that my library card had expired, I no longer qualified for a library card for that library, and I owed $27 dollars in fees! YIKES! Needless to say I left empty handed :( And as if finding out that I couldn't take my thoroughly-sought out books home wasn't bad enough, before I left, the librarian was commenting on how precious Jackson was. Then, she asked, "His nose is so cute! But who did he get that nose from?" Umm, excuse me mam, are you implying that my nose is not cute?! I think I'll add this to the list of awkward things people have told me including:

"Your hair is so curly! But don't worry, it will come back in style eventually."

and

"Wow! You look like you could pop that baby out right here in Wal-Mart!"

and

"So, are you a student here?" Me: "No, I'm your teacher." 

Oh people, people, people thank you for making my life more interesting. (And for giving me content for my blog. :) )

Anyway, one of the books I wanted to check out was, Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt. I've heard GREAT things about this book from a couple of friends. They say it is a must-have resource for your family. Here is its description:

Since its publication in 1969, this has been an essential guide for parents wanting to find the best books for their children. Now in its fourth edition, Honey for a Child’s Heart discusses everything from the ways reading affects both children’s view of the world and their imagination to how to choose good books. Illustrated with drawings from dozens of favorites, it includes an indexed and updated list of the best new books on the market and the classics that you want your children to enjoy. 

I'm so excited about this book! 

Anyway, I think I'll wrap things up for now. It's too late for me, and my eyelids are are slowly closing. And the sooner I go to bed, the sooner I see my hubby who comes home tomorrow! Can't wait!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Being Content, Part II

Found this quote by the famous C.S. Lewis, and had to share it with you. It has completely rocked my world and challenged the way I view myself.


          “Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original. Whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body. In the end, submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run, only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

~Monica

Healthy Eating

I love to cook. Do you know that? I love it. I love to find yummy recipes and whip 'em up in the kitchen. I also love to see Adam happily scarf down what I've cooked. It's a great feeling. :)


Anyway, we both have been wanting to eat healthier. Not like super, diet, eat-only- cardboard, healthy, but we want to at least try to eat some meals that are better for you than the go to spaghetti and meat sauce. 


Sooo...before I grocery shopped last week, I scoured the internet for some yummy, healthier recipes. And found this site. Eating Well.


And these yummy recipes:


Maple Chili-Glazed Pork Medallions

Mary's Zucchini with Parmesan (side dish)

Quick Chicken Cordon Bleu

And Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes

So far we have eaten the twice baked potatoes and the parmesan zucchini. The potatoes were a HUGE hit! I used ground turkey, lots and lots of broccoli, and light sour cream. I was worried at first, that only one potato a piece for us wouldn't be enough. Boy was I wrong. Once I scooped out the potatoes, added lots of broccoli, meat, some sour cream, and some cheese, I had more filling than could fit in the potatoes. I stuffed the potatoes as high as I could, and we both had enough to eat. (BTW, I totally get that this isn't probably the "healthiest" of the above recipes, but with my modifications, I feel like it was a win.)


The parmesan zucchini was fantastic! Up until two nights ago, I had never cooked fresh zucchini. After realizing how easy it was, I can't believe I've never cooked it. Anyway, I did use fresh shaved parmesan cheese, which I think taste much much better than the powdery stuff.  We ate it with some baked chicken. Yummo! Overall, it was quick, super easy, and "healthier" than our usual sides of mashed potatoes and corn. 

I'll let you know how the other recipes turn out once I make them. For now, Adam, Jackson, and I are off to celebrate our niece's 3rd birthday! Happy Saturday!


Monica

Being Content

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

The other day I was on the phone with my brother (twin brother), and he was telling me about what all he is doing out at Stanford. He's brilliant, honestly, one of the smartest people I know. Here is a picture of us and our mom:

Anyway, he was so excited telling me about the projects he is working on, and how he is making a difference in the world. I couldn't be more proud.

You know, I get so excited talking to people who are excited about where God has them. He fully understands that he is exactly where God wants Him right now, and he is completely content being there.

In our conversation, I told him I thought it was funny that here we are as adults, and he is working on changing the course of history one knee replacement at a time, and I am wiping bottoms all day. :) He laughed, and then asked me, "But isn't that exactly where you want to be?" And you know what, it is. It absolutely is. I want to be exactly where God wants me to be, and thankfully, right now that is home wiping one cute, little,  squishy, little wriggly booty. 

Lately, God has made it so clear to me that I must know that where I am is where He wants me to be, and I don't just mean physically, as in being at home. I mean in every area of my life. He has created me to be who I am, and one way to impact others is by graciously receiving who he made me to be, and being content in that. 

I love the quote at the top of this post. These are the lines I especially love, "We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Do you know that we were born to manifest the glory of God!? Isn't that amazing. And one way Satan stops us from doing that is by either making us insecure in who we are, or by making us discontent with where God has us. 

When we start embracing who God made us to be and start embracing where God has us right now, something incredible happens. We are content. And not only content, but also confident, a healthy confident. And our contentment and confidence spills over onto other people. It gives other people freedom to do the same. It gives other people freedom to be confident in who they are in Christ, and in where God has them. 

Paul says in Phillipians,

¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

The secret of contentment is Christ. Do you know Christ? Do you really know him? And do you know that His plan for you is so much grander than your own plans? And do you know that the only way for you to be secure is to accept who He made you to be, and the only way for you to have peace is to be doing what He wants you to do? 

  

From the outside looking in, my brother's daily life, and my daily life really couldn't be any more different, but the truth is, we are both confident in where God has us. Praise Jesus for ordering our steps! 

Praying contentment for you friends!

Monica

Something smells weird...

Happy Saturday everyone! It is still beautiful down here, and Adam, Jackson, and I are loving it. For the past two days our little family has been out and about eating at the new Five Guys place (thank you Sharps!), buying me some $3 dollar red pointy toe heels from the Rescue Mission:

Not sure what I'll wear them with yet, and closed-toe shoe season is about over, but I love them, and they were $3 dollars!

And getting little man some new summer shirts. In fact, we didn't have to spend a dime! There is a consignment shop in town that I sold some clothes to awhile back. The lady who owns it let Adam and I pick out some shirts for Jackson, and she said as my clothes sell, she will just keep the money until we are even. How awesome is that!? I love family-owned, small-town businesses. 

BUT, the weekend so far, hasn't all been fun and games. Jackson and I both had our moments.

I pointed to his boo boo in case you couldn't find it amidst the cuteness in the photo :)

Jackson was playing in his toy box when he pulled on one side too hard, and the other side of the box came up and smacked in square in the face. He cried. I cried. It was not pretty! 

And then, his momma made an oops. A major oops. The kind of oops where in .25 seconds your house could become nothing but ashes...

You would think for someone who loves to cook as much as I do, I wouldn't burn so many things. Oh, but I do. I like to consider myself a sort of Babe Ruth of the kitchen. I may hit quite a few dishes out of the park, but I also strike out...or burn to smithereens....quite a few as well. But hey, let's just focus on the home-runs ok?

Anyway, I was boiling water in the above pot, and steaming a sweet potato above it, and forgot that I was doing so.  Needless to say, immediately I remembered when I started to smell something weird. Oops. Did you know that boiling water left alone will eventually boil right out of the pot!? Our house still smells like burned potato...

Ok, I think that wraps things up for now. My sweet husband just walked in with a box of thin mints that I must devour. 

Keep praying through your fears!

Blessings,

Monica

Conquering Fear

Hello! Hope today's post finds you enjoying the weather! Well, I guess that depends on where you live uh?! Down here it is sunny, breezy and beautiful! Thank you Jesus. 


The past week or so I have had some intense conversations with some dear friends of mine. And the pervasive theme in each conversation was fear, both on my end and their ends of the conversation.


Fear of failure
Fear of the unknown
Fear of death
Fear of loneliness
Fear of sickness


You may not think that you actually struggle with "fear". But the truth is, fear is deceptive. It masks itself as "worry" or "concern".  And most of us struggle with it. Most of us don't outright admit that we are fearful. We like to tell ourselves that we are just being realistic about the situation, or we are just being overly cautious. But the truth is, we are fearful.


Friends, I have some great news for you today. Your Father in Heaven, did NOT give you a sprit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). And God does NOT desire you to live in fear today, tomorrow, or ever.


A few months ago I was fearful of traveling with my son by myself. At first I told myself that it was just natural apprehension. But the truth was, I was fearful of something happening, and me being alone, of my son having a break down and me not being able to get to him etc.  I  was pretty private about this fear because, honestly, it just felt embarrassing to talk about. But at a bible study one day, I mentioned that I wanted some prayer since I would be traveling by myself the following weekend. After the bible study, a friend of mine spoke to me about the request. She talked with me about not being fearful. About how I needed to know what God's word says, and claim those truths. And then she said something profound.


"Monica. You can't just conquer 'this specific fear'. If you don't deal with the spirit of fear in your life as a whole, it will manifest itself in other areas. " 


Profound right?!


So how do we conquer the spirit of fear in our lives? 


It is a slow process. It involves identifying fears we have, knowing what God's word says about those fears, protecting our eyes and ears from things that provoke our fears, and prayer, lots and lots of prayer. BUT we can conquer the spirit of fear in our lives. 

I encourage you to do some soul searching and identify any fears that you may have. Really ask yourself if the sprit of fear has shown up in your life. Then find what God's word has to say about those fears. 

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me; 

he delivered me from all my fears. 

Those who look to him are radiant; 

   their faces are never covered with shame."

Psalm 34:4-5

We are more than conquerors friends! Now get out and enjoy the sunshine!

Blessings,

Monica

(As I am praying through my own fears, I would love to pray with you as well. If you have any specific prayer requests regarding fear, or if you need some encouragement, feel free to email me at: mroberson@rethinkgroup.org)