Lessons

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

You all know the chapter... "a time to be born, a time to die" and so on. There are two things I am learning from this particular chapter.

First, God has prepared our hearts for these seasons we will endure, however, if we are not under His covering and protection and consistently in His word, then these trials become very overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, there are some seasons much more difficult than others such as death. But for the others, moving, illness, pregnancy, unbearable children etc, we are being watched as to our attitude and reactions. If we are in a constant state of grumbling and complaining, not only does it do us no good, but our children are a reflection of us. The ugliness we see in our children is probably an adjustment we ourselves need to make. If we are aware that God HAS prepared us for this season, then there should be a attitude of victory. We know that "all things work together for the good of those who love Him." What does this mean? Yes, we have trials, and yes things may look and seem very bad, but we already have victory. We need to keep our attitudes in check and be an example of Jesus to our children. What better thing can we pass on to them than to keep a heart of Jesus even when we are going through a storm. Sometimes, when I get stuck in a whining, complaining, grumbling rut (which really doesn't happen very often..not really anyway ;) ) My favorite thing to say to myself is, "Oh Rossie, put your big girl panties on!" If I forget to remind myself to do this, then my mama usually does it for me!

Second thing I am learning is that our children should be bringing out the best in us. No, that doesn't mean that is will be all sugar and spice. It WILL BE HARD, but it is these hard times that train us and mold us to patience, wisdom, kindness, gentleness and best of all self control. Truthfully, God is using our children, even the strong willed ones, to help us become more like Him. If we don't have this mindset, then yes...we will be yellers. Threatening and chastising our children constantly. I have to look up the verse, I can't think of where it's at right now, but it says,"do not provoke your children to wrath." We should be encouraging them and prompting them to goodness. Never give up...keep knocking at their door, keep talking to them (even when they aren't listening), keep loving them (even when they push you away), deal with them kindly (even when they are mean), listen to them (even when you don't want to hear what they have to say), respect them (even when they are disrespectful of us...how else will they learn)...after all, if the King of Kings does all this for His children, then shouldn't we do it for ours.

My goals:

Smile at my children

Hug my children

Listen to them

Be an example to Jesus with them

Play with them

Motivate them to do good

Be patient with them

Be sincere and understanding of them

Love them

They are worth it.