Timely Reminder

Last night I had a really terrible sleep. Actually for the last seven or so nights I've not been able to switch my mind off and drift into that deep, restful state. How I miss it. I do enjoy the ideas that pop into my brain though, but last night I was awake thinking about things that I think I'm failing in as a mother.

One thing that I'm trying to teach into my kids hearts is kindness, another is compassion. Man do I feel like I'm failing with this. All the time. It's something that I do model, with God's help. But with my four kids arguing quite often at the moment, I'm at a loss as to how to 'calm the storm' so to speak. You know the ones? Ones where there's dobbing and squabbling and name calling and ... on it goes. 

I just couldn't figure out what to do to change things as I lay there wide-awake. I tip-toed out to the kitchen in the dark of the night, where the light of the fridge illuminated the magnet on the freezer door while I poured a small glass of milk. I read it as I sipped and let its message sink into my head. 

Pray more worry less.

I realised  that's what I need to do. I have been in prayer about this, but I need to more and more. And so, I went back to bed, snuggled under the warmth of the doona and started to really pray about this situation. I still don't have clear answers and solutions to help with this, but I do know that God is faithful to really answer and show us what to do as it's His desire to see our kids characterised by kindness and compassion; especially towards each other.

One of my best friends, Esther's, favourite bible verse about mothering is found in 

Isaiah 40:11

'He tends his flock like a shepherd, he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. He gently leads those that have young.' 

This is such a comforting verse as it reminds us that He gently leads us. He is understanding, He knows we haven't got all the answers, He knows the up-hill battles. He sees how we beat ourselves up as mums about things that we think we're failing in that are breaking our hearts. 

We really need to be praying about these things more than worrying about them. I am carried close to his heart; my husband and children are carried close to his heart. And although I feel like I'm failing as a mother at times, the truth is, I'm not. God sees my heart, He sees your heart. We're not failures, we stuff up, but we're not failures.

I hope this week we can remember together that our God loves us, He sees how we love our children, He sees our mother's hearts. We're not failures as mothers ... let's keep going and give him our worries, letting him gently lead us as we go.

Inherited From My Mother

As I was washing the dishes the other morning, a thought occurred to me that I have inherited a love of cleaning from my mother. I really do enjoy cleaning.

Don't get me wrong, there are certainly days where the thought of cleaning the same mess again; folding the same washing again, wiping the same table again, scrubbing the same loo again, sweeping the same floor again, really is the last thing that I want to do. But for the most part, I really love having a clean, tidy, organised and fresh smelling home. Are you the same?

I remember when I was a girl, my mother would exclaim quite happily, "Room cleaning time!". My younger sister and I would groan and roll our eyes at each other. We knew what this task entailed. 

We would have to get rid of rubbish, straighten things up, make our beds, sweep or vacuum and mop, and the most dreaded job of all ... dusting. Yuk. We had to take our ornaments and nick-knacks off our duchesses and dust that surface and polish it till it shone with O'Cedar Oil. It was so annoying.

Sometimes my sister and I would have a race to see who could finish it first. I was known to 'dust' mine at times using a shirt bound for the dirty clothes basket, but mum always knew I didn't do the job properly and, sigh, I would have to do it again!

What we also found frustrating was the fact that it didn't seem to matter how we arranged our ornaments back on our spotless surface, mum would always come back in and re-arrange them! What was the point?!

As frustrating as the whole process was, my sister and I agreed that after the job was done, we really did enjoy walking into a clean bedroom again!

Now as a mother of four, I've found it quite amusing to see that my children have a similar reaction to cleaning as my sister and I did ...

See? ...

12yr old Mr S looking very unimpressed ...

9yr old Little Miss P already daydreaming! ...

7yr old Little Miss J with an expression much the same as my sister used to give!

4yr old Mr R contemplating whether he should or not!

Still they give their best most times. It's a hard thing to teach the kids to help the family, be responsible, look after their things and others. I've found that the main reason that I love to clean is because, for me, it's showing God my grateful heart for His many blessings that we enjoy in our family home. I love aiming to keep my home in a way that glorifies Him! This is the truth that I speak about to my kids and actively show them too.

Don't get me wrong, our homes not a magazine home decorator home, in fact it's not even ours, we're renting. But it's home. It's not always as clean as I'd like it, but it's home. There are messes each day ...

See?!! ... 

Mr R scattered Lego everywhere, Little Miss J accidentally spilled
water on the carpet ... twice.

LIttle Miss J is so creative she made a cubby out of the
side dining room door, as you do, and the pegs were spilled,
and the cubby remained there for about 4 hours!

Always washing ...

A pet hate of mine ... messy bookshelves! Aaaahhhhhh!!

Did I mention more washing?!

I really do value my mothers "room cleaning times" so much more now that I am a mother with my own children to raise and train (I guess she could see that I would need to know how to do it for my family one day!) Mum has taught me so much about home keeping, home hygiene and making a home beautiful. I'm so thankful.

This is how I'd like the rooms in my home to look all the time ...

... yeah right that's never going to happen! That's not reality with a large family! 

However, I still try my best to keep our home tidy, and that's all we mums can ever expect of ourselves. We do pressure ourselves way too much don't we? I really am so incredibly grateful for the love of cleaning I've inherited from my beautiful mum. Hope fully, eventually my kids will appreciate inheriting it from me too! Time will tell! 

InkJoy - A Chance To Help

I'd like to let you know that I have begun a small little FaceBook business called 'InkJoy' that sells beautiful and unique hand-sketched and photographic cards made by myself.

 For the month of April, I am raising funds for an incredible charity called LoveHopeJump. This organisation raises fund for African women; freeing them from sexual slavery. Every one dollar from each card sold is going straight to help sponsor four of my friends with this charity, who are going to be jumping out of a plane for these women! (They are much braver than I am that's for sure!!)

I'm aiming to raise a minimum of $100.00 ... I know we can reach that target easily!

Even purchasing one card is sure to help!

Please be generous! The time to help and bless others is now! 

Together we can help to give these African women a beautiful, healthy and bright future!

Please visit my FaceBook page to place orders for cards, these women will thank you for it!

Be blessed this week and thank you for your support!