Sustaining

It's been a long week.
Oh wait, we are only half way through the week. Ha! Happy hump day! ;-)
Nathaniel has been very busy with his school, which was to be expected. We came knowing his days and often nights would be full with schoolwork and hands on practice. Knowing it and being prepared for it are two different things. There have been some nights Nathaniel is up until 1 or 2 am working on a script, a story line, essay, or shooting a short film. That is really late when he needs to be leaving to clean the class room and make the coffee for everyone before their first class/activity that starts at 8:00 a.m. (That is his work duty).
For us the morning pretty much starts at 6:20 a.m. If you knew us before, early mornings are not really our thing! They are now. When you don't have a stove, breakfast is a precious commodity and I make sure the kids and I get there every morning.
It has been long, yes, but one of these days I'll have to take a picture of the kids at the end of the day and you can see how dirty they get from playing. That means it was a good day right? When your kids are so dirty from playing that they look like they live on the streets?
These days I have been praying for energy, and today it happened!! I got an extra burst of energy! I cleaned the apartment, did the dishes, painted my toe nails, did the laundry and at a candy bar while reading a book! Those last two things were done while BOTH kids slept! Thank you Jesus! Ok maybe the candy bar eating and book reading didn't take much energy.
But I thought of the verse Isaiah 40:31. (NIV)

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Such a great promise! Now of course I thought of eagles and they are not always soaring. They also have to rest, eat, take care of their young. But when they fly?! They can fly to altitudes of 10,000 ft. They can stay flying for hours and fly at about 65 mph. They have been tracked and it has shown them flying anywhere from 50 - 125 miles in a day. (I found these facts at: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/whm/pdfs/tenfactsaboutbaldeagles.pdf and http://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/learn/faq/) That's amazing. Think of the power God is promising us? Of course my energy didn't last forever. But after the week I've had, it felt wonderful. I still had to come back, and rest. Take care of my littles. But I am thankful for what I was able to do during that time. Maybe it doesn't seem like a large accomplishment to you. But it was for me. I take all the small victories with gratefulness! 

Another passage I found today that I love is this: Psalm 3:3-5 (NIV)

3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.

Now David wrote this Psalm and he was in a pretty bad situation. He was fleeing for his life. I look at this and find so much comfort. David was in such danger but cried out to God, knew that He heard David, and then he fell asleep knowing God was watching over him amidst the danger. And then he woke up because the Lord was sustaining him.

Some of the definitions of word Sustain are: support, provide for, maintain, and encourage. 

When you trust in the Lord he sustains you. It's not magic, it doesn't make all things happy and better. But you are NOT alone. He will be your support, your encouragement, he will hold you up. If you let Him. 

Sustain me God! 

Mommy musings

Now not all of my posts will be mommy posts I promise. I want this to be a blog that brings people along on the journey of our family as a whole, not just my journey. But last night as I was struggling a bit with exhaustion, motherhood, and myself, I felt God share some things with me that I also wanted to share.
Being a stay at home mom is rewarding in so many ways, and what I always wanted. So last night as I chased G (2 years old) through the cafeteria here at the University of the Nations in Kona, (He loves to chase the birds and often runs too far and I have to bring him back so I can see him), I struggled with the battle that every mother faces. Being consistent. I told him to come to me and he looked at me and turned to run the opposite way. I quickly caught up to him and gave a reminder that he needed to listen and brought him back to me.
Later after we were done eating a woman came up to me and said, "You don't know me, but I was sitting there as you corrected your son and I was so encouraged, because you were being consistent! You are being a good mommy and I just wanted to encourage you because I know mom's don't often get encouraged. I am a mom of four and I have been in the same situation." (This is paraphrased a bit because I don't remember word for word what she said, but that was the gist of it). I thanked her for being so kind and for sharing that with me and went back to my table.
She has no idea how close I came to sobbing in her arms and saying thank you. She couldn't hear the battle in my head as my son defied me and I almost kept nagging him to come because I felt too tired to run after him. But I chose to be consistent so he would learn to listen the first time. I am so glad I did.
I contemplated then why I was so tired, not just physically (being three months pregnant contributes to that of course) but also mentally? If I am 'just' watching my children day in and day out, why am I so tired?
Because I am not just watching my children. I am training my children how to live life. How to handle their emotions, how to treat others with respect and love, how to take care of the earth that God gave them, and above everything else, how to love God and to follow Him. This is no small task. And it weighs on my shoulders, and on my heart that this is a huge responsibility God has given me.
But the real reason why I am so exhausted, is because I have been trying to do it alone. That is what God spoke to me. I have been trying to train them with my own strength and getting frustrated when they didn't seem to get what I was trying to teach them. And God just whispered to me that I am not alone, I need His help and His guidance. When I have no energy, His joy can be MY strength. When I can't think of what do to with the kids, I can talk to a God who is beyond creative! I wasn't using my greatest resource! Pinterest just wasn't cutting it. But my God is full of ideas, and knows my kids even better than I do. He is after all the One who created them. It took so much of that weight off of my shoulders, and off of my heart. If I let God work through me, my kids will be taught by the best. I hold on to this promise;
Proverbs 22:6 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' NKJV
Moms, we are not in this alone. Use your best resource! God beats Google and Pinterest hands down. Although trust me, some of those Pinterest ideas were God inspired I'm sure! Thank you God for that website. :) I will trust in the one who knows me and my kids better than anyone else.