Pinterest tries to beckon me with thoughts that my mothering is inadequate.  I bombard myself with thoughts that my decorations aren’t Christmas-y enough or that my activities aren’t pin-worthy enough.  I look at every dinner I make and doubt that anyone would ever care to read a blog post about what’s been created.  And those bloggy Christmas home tours?  They only leave me wishing that had the energy, finances, and time to create similar decor masterpieces.

But, I’ve been thinking about such things and my thoughts have been morphing.  I realize that though these things aren’t inherently wrong, I’ve got 3 little beings that don’t care about all the fancy frazzle that comes with the Holiday Pinterest hubbub and fancy Christmas decorations.  My kids just want me.

This year, I bought a $6 chocolate advent from Amazon.com.  At first, I successfully guilted myself into thinking that if I were a good mother, I’d have crafted some fancy advent that was far more special than just clicking the ‘One-Click Button’ on Amazon.  Because you know what? It’s all I had the energy to do.  And do you know what?  It’s sufficient.

That plain $6 chocolate advent has taught me something this Christmas season.  It isn’t about me trying to win ‘AMAZING’ status with my kids over super crafty Christmas projects or doing activities that millions of people will want to ‘pin’.  My kids really don’t care.

Simple as it may be, the chocolate advent is something that they have anticipated every night.  It’s probably because it involves chocolate, but I have a suspicion they may even like it more than any fancy-dancy advent calendar that I took my time to craft.  And you know what?  I’m okay with that.  I’m okay with the fact that my $6 purchase was the very best I could do.

Come to my house, and you’ll see quickly that my tree won’t win a spot in any Better Homes & Gardens competition.  And our ole’ Elf on the Shelf’ may just stay in the same spot for days (I just chalk it up that he was extra tired from his nightly activities and couldn’t move to another place in the house).  Instead of focusing on my short falls and Pinterest fails, I’m trying to focus on what my child hears when he asks me for the thousandth time this week, “Mom, will you play Richard Scarry Memory with me?”  Instead of hearing, “Just a minute…,” I want my kid to know that I chose this holiday season to sit down and spend time with him instead of being too busy wrapped up in the hustle of a meaningless Christmas.

I hope that my life, instead of pointing my children to empty busyness, will direct them to sit quietly at the throne of the very Reason who came to earth.  For me.  For them. For All.  Because He is what Christmas is all about.  And I hope that my chosen priorities will cause my children to reflect on what and who’s important, not what Pinterest tells me is so.

 

I fail to bring faith to life for my children daily, hourly, and sometimes by the minute.  But the beautiful thing about feeling inadequate in my parenting is that in my discouragement, Christ faithfully whispers to my heart 2 Corinthians 12:9… “Maren, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.”  Only by resting every day, every moment, every second in His power will my faith come alive to those around me.

My hope is that I am INTENTIONAL with my kids-my prayer is to live out Deuteronomy 6:7.  That as I go throughout the day, I will impress God’s truths on my three children and that through the ordinary and mundane days, my children will see my faith lived out. ‘Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.’

My hope is that I learn to rest as Matthew 11:28 encourages,  I pray my children notice where I find my solace. ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’

My hope is that my children see love through my every action.  Through discipline, through play, through work, and through instruction, it’s my desire that my children hear small whispers of truth that are forever engraved on their hearts.   I pray they never hear the clanging cymbal of a nagging mom, void of love. ‘If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.’

I fail more than I’d like to admit, but I rest in the promise that every morning, his mercies are new.  EVERY SINGLE MORNING.  I’m taking that to the bank, because I need it.  EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING.  Great is His faithfulness.

His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

 

***I’m linking up today with Kelly’s Corner for the ‘Build ’em Up Series.’  And for a bit of random news, my next post is going to be…wait for it…’How a Toilet Seat Saved My Marriage!’  HA!  And that, friends is why this blog is called ‘Trinkets of Thought’. haha!

We’re at a small plastic playground attached to the local school, no more than a glorified Little Tykes play area. But, Pierson enjoys running, climbing, & exploring there. As he plays, he reaches down to pick up what I suspect to be a flower.

He fists the item and proudly brings it over to me. “Mommy Hold It?” I take the flower- an ugly, half-blown dandelion. A smile creeps onto my face. Exultant eyes look to me then ask, “Mommy Smell It?” As I reach my nose down to smell the spent dandelion, a littler face nudges even closer and loudly exhales through its crinkled nose, an action Pierson equates to smelling. “MMMMM smells good!”

He’s proud of his flower. I show him how to blow the little seeds and his eyes sparkle with discovery. He gallops off to find another flower.

Many of my days are like that dandelion. I’m half-spent. Like the ocean’s waves, lies perpetually whisper in my ear that beauty is evasive and cannot be attained. Often my parenting days consist of frantic wandering, just trying my best to stay afloat. But as I ponder the situation, I am quickly reminded that it’s in the mundane where beauty is found. And that the life I live, albeit most days unremarkable, is truly beautiful.

Thanks for the lesson, son. I love you.

I’m blown away by the goodness of God. In our marriage, Michael and I have been continually faced with a principle that when we give to others and give generously, God blesses just as he promised in the Bible’s book of Luke: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Now, my reason for giving isn’t to get. However, every time we give, we have found that God blesses us in return. We’ve learned that it’s simply not possible to ‘out give’ God. PERIOD. For the sake of this story, I will mention that recently we were given the opportunity to give to some friends’ ministries. Michael and I determined an amount and sent in our support.

Not two weeks later, I picked up the kids from the church nursery and being the very OBSERVANT individual that I am, it took me 3 days to find a large envelope stuffed in the diaper bag with my name on it. Inside was a Kroger gift card from an anonymous friend with the same amount as one of our gifts! God  used someone to bless our socks off!

How I used it: For the last year, we’ve been trying to get our house into move-in-ready condition. This past weekend, we invited some friends to help us for a work day.  In the evening, we provided a ‘Thank You’ meal.  Normally, a grocery store trip to buy ingredients for a meal like this would have brought budgeting tears.  Instead, my heart was filled with gratitude for someone taking the time to be a blessing.  And not only for the friend(s) who blessed us with a gift card, but also the friends who were willing to give their time to bless us with manual labor!

I was in the nursery again this week and was handed another anonymous gift card, bringing the gift card total to the exact amount we’d given away, just a few weeks before.

This little blessing demonstration has been a great challenge to me!    It’s refreshed my resolve to be a blessing to others.  My heart is full- And not just because of the gift cards, though I’m very appreciative! Not just for our friends who were a HUGE blessing to us also.  But for the principle that God proves again and again and again and again. When we give, He gives–pressed down, shaken together and RUNNING OVER.  It’s a promise–we can’t out give Him.  He gives–and not just materially.  He also blesses our hearts by the love of friends.  And because of that, today I am rich.