Ladies, Ladies…All the Ladies!!

“It’s snowing!!!  It’s snowing…”  Will is squealing in delight as he looks outside his bedroom window.

“It’s nowing…it’s nowing… it’s like the polar express…..mommy come see…..”  Josh is jumping up and down pulling my arm as I’m trying to climb our stairs with Emma Faye in tow.

It was hair washing night in the Pruitt house.  Even mommy washed her hair today. (trust me, this is not accomplished as often as it should these days.)…BUT ‘hair washing’ night for the boys means excruciating screams and cries for the entire duration of their bath from the first rinse until the last, and sometimes a little longer, depending on their moods and tiredness.  Based on the fact that both children screamed for twenty minutes after their bath was over, I knew they were pretty tired.  I watched them one by one leave the bathroom in their hooded towels… wailing as they walked the narrow hallway back to Will’s room… a trail of tears, if you will…. then they continued while I dressed them and dried their hair.  At one point, Will, (you know my lazy one)… asked me to please wipe his tears….Josh is now coughing with snot pouring from every opening in his face.  Does this ever happen to any of you? Am I the only parent forced to attend such theatrical productions?  Sometimes it can be overwhelming, the two of them altogether “melting down”….I used to get all stressed out, but now I look at it as a little exercise in exhausting oneself before bedtime.  In my mind, I’m sort of like… keep on crying, ‘cause you are gonna hit that pillow so hard… your eyes are going to be burning, your voice is going to need to rest… it’s going to be beautiful.  And sure enough… I had NO problems tonight.  So ladies out there… think positively of these nighttime meltdowns…..you may have to go through the fire for a brief period… but the end is a glorious evening in the quiet and usually a good night’s rest.  J  Bring it on, I say!

So, alas, my day is pretty much done.  Chris has left for work and I’m here with my thoughts.  I think that’s why I’m loving this blogging thing… I feel as though I’m not alone… like I’m talking to someone.  Thank you for being my company.  These nights tend to get harder as the weeks progress.  The minute I’m left alone with time to actually think… Satan begins drumming up scary scenarios… fear begins to surface… sometimes I’m panic stricken.  In my weak moments, I give in to these  lies.  In moments I am walking in strength… I begin claiming the scriptures….there are SOOO many places in the Bible that talks about fear and the Lord always comes back with..”HAVE NO FEAR…”   I’m tired tonight, but I wanted to leave you with something that the Lord placed on my heart tonight as I was rocking Josh to sleep… sometimes I write my songs while I’m rocking him… he loves being rocked and listening to me sing…. He would sit forever… mostly, it’s because he’s fallen asleep… anyway, I praise the Lord because it’s as if the Lord was anticipating that tonight I would fear.. so he began recalling scripture in my mind before I even had time to think about being afraid… this is a little of what He said as I sung….

Lord, you are a shield about me

My glory

You lift my head

Lord, you are a strong tower

I need not cower

But run to you instead

‘Cause you surround me

You surround me

Like a mighty mountain, never shaken

Like a fighting fortress standing tall

You’ve gone before me, behind, beside me

You surround me

My God, My Wall 

  –jenny pruitt                              

For all you sleeping beauties out there… may you wrap yourself  ‘neath the covers of your faith and rest peacefully within our Almighty Wall.

“I’m cold”…shivers our little Will crouching beside the couch in nothing but his shirt and underwear.

“Well, you wouldn’t be cold if you didn’t pee all over yourself.”  answers my sweet husband from the dinner table.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! 

 When asked why our almost 4 year old urinated in his pants all over our couch, his simple response was…”ummm… I thought I was wearing a pull-up.”  And there you have it ladies and gentlemen.  My four year old is lazy.  It didn’t even occur to him that ALL pee-pee belongs in the potty… let us by no means EVER deny the pull-up of receiving every morsel of urine one has to offer.  Obviously, Will has never grasped the concept of a pull-up…. is it not made to “pull-up” and down to make pottying easier?  And when in doubt… don’t bother to check to make sure you have one on… just go ahead and pee and take the risk that there may be that slight chance you’re wearing one.  Apparently that was Will’s thinking.  Ok, I’m done with my mommy frustration of the day.  But this was good tonight.  I realized that gone are the days of him sleeping in overnight protection.  We are going all out tonight.  Let the showering begin… I’m armed and ready with three sets of sheets…..Hope he’s ready for some ‘tough love’.

I’ve been saying that phrase a lot lately….”tough love”….  I’ve been making my kids help out around the house more…making them get dressed on their own as best they can, and even learning to work out conflict in peaceful manners (once again, the key phrase here is: as best to their best abilities….which for a 4yr old and 2 yr old… that mostly involves not physically injuring each other and running to “mommy referee” for assistance.)  I think that phrase, “tough love” implies putting someone through some kind of pain or hardship to teach them a lesson… something that they don’t want to do… but is good for them.  This month has been hard and I feel like the Lord has been teaching me a lot about this ”tough love”.  Not in the sense of giving me pain or difficult circumstances….but instead… calling me to a new “love”.  Loving when it isn’t easy.  That’s tough love.  Knowing you have TONS to complain about and issues that rightly you could vent… but choosing not to.  Choosing to love.  To pour yourself into your family without the thought of yourself.  So many times during the day I glance up where our guest bedroom is and I know my husband..who has been working ALL NIGHT long is sleeping and thinking… it’s been five hours… I only got 3 hours of sleep last night… I’m going to wake him up… I need help… EVEN STEVEN, BUBBA!  But see, that’s where the Lord compels me to “tough love”. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control……Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”  Galatians 5:22-25 

If Christ Jesus is in me, I am to walk by the Spirit.  It’s not easy… It’s not natural… and quite frankly I fail all the time.  But for those precious moments I am claiming scripture and I am allowing the Lord to strengthen me…..I am able… because He is able.  I can and DO love… because He IS love.  There is patience and kindness with my kids, there is love and gentleness towards my husband, there is self-control with my tongue, and above all, there is peace and joy in my home at the end of my difficult day.

God’s faithfulness and goodness are magnified in our hearts when we are walking in love.  So this week, as we partake in our ’Valentine’s Activities’ and celebrate the ones we love…. may we not forget to celebrate the one who first loved us (1 John 4:7-10).  As Eve tempted her dear husband with fruit from the wrong tree, I encourage you to eat from the good tree;  the fruit of the Spirit.  We were created to glorify our God, and I think there can be nothing more glorifying than ingesting His word and living it out.  Come and taste all He has to offer.  You are promised a harvest, you are promised a feast…. and I’m sure the fruit will be oh so sweet! 

One day while the kids were napping the Lord allowed me to see all the little things that make a difference in my children’s lives.  As the psalmist, David, saw God in his profession..”The Lord is my Shepherd…..(Psalm 23)”…. I began to see a parallel in what He does for me and in what I do for my kids and I praised the Lord for showing me the value in being a mom.  I may have sent some of you this before, but for some reason I feel like the Lord wants me to share this again.  May you be encouraged today to continue glorifying the Lord in YOUR profession—being a mommy.

The Lord is my mommy, I am dearly loved

I am sung to and read to– always kissed and hugged

When I’m weary from my day, you help me take a nap

Right before my tummy aches, you’ve prepared a little snack

You know it’s very cold outside before I make the door

You clothe me in my scarf and coat….all I’ll need to keep me warm

You are here, I have no fear, for you tightly hold my hand

and when I fall, you grab me up…never do I land

when we don’t see eye to eye , when my anger starts to brew

You turn and say, in a gentle way ”but I know what’s best”..and you do!

You kiss away my boo-boos, you wash me clean each night

All the tears upon my cheek, your hand has wiped them dry

I don’t thank you enough for being there for me, every minute of the day

What a legacy you’re leaving, what a blessing to be living…..in the home that you have made

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   —jenny pruitt                      

 Invest in the Lord and He promises to give you wisdom and guidance in how to invest in your children and families.  Let us all leave a legacy, and may that legacy be a life lived for Jesus Christ.

“O Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare You praise.  For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  Psalm 51:15-17

So often I feel as though I have to be perfect before the Lord.  I can’t approach him until I have everything together… I have all the sin removed.  But, we’ll NEVER be perfect… He doesn’t desire perfection… He wants our hearts… whether they are joyful at the time or broken… He just wants us to come and bring what we have to him.  I was reflecting on this one afternoon while taking a long drive…..I felt so ugly and nasty… the person I was at that particular moment..I had yelled at my kids and husband…and ironically I was leaving to go lead praise and worship music on a retreat. I felt completely defeated and the wrong choice for this leadership role.  Wow.  Some good I would do.  But one of my dearest friends said to me, “You are exactly where He wants you… you’re humbled, you are broken, and you’ve seen your sin…now any good that comes out of this weekend you know will only testify to the Lord.”  And at that moment I felt like the Lord looked down and said to me, “Alas, Behold my beautiful broken daughter……I don’t want you any other way….” (And yes, the songwriter in me can’t seem to let a piece of poetry sit for long without setting it to music… so yes, there is a song from this… hoping I can get a little recording of it and place it on my blog….)

Behold my beautiful broken daughter

crying to her Father,

her heart upon the floor.

Gather up your pieces scattered

Bring them to the one who matters

Lay them at the feet of your Lord.

Oh precious little girl of mine,

you think you’ve finally failed me this time;

Only a disappointment will I find.

But it’s in brokenness that I make you whole

In the emptiness, I restore your soul

Only in your greatest need, may I come and complete

You’re poured out, you’ve been drained

now only I am left, and when I remain

nothing you do can be in vain!

So be bold my beautiful broken daughter

and cry out loud to your Father

Lift up you head, my child, your debt is paid!!

Come my love and claim your prize

come my love, in grace abide

come, I don’t want you any other way.