Today started out pretty rough for me. I wasn’t feeling well and I was just plain NOT prepared for the day. As I was attempting to “survive” the day, I took a break to check out the Small Things Challenge over at Company Girls. The challenge was to take an old classic and put a new twist on it. Well, when I read it I was trying to figure out what I was going to make the kids for lunch. Then it struck me…my new twist on something old would be the same ole PBJ sandwiches, but cut into hearts with a cookie cutter. See, I had been taking out all my frustrations and my plain ole bad attitude out on my kids today. When they saw the hearts, their little faces lit up. I took advantage of the opportunity to apologize to them for yelling at them. My eyes watered up as I looked into their faces. I sat there and looked at the leftover crusts from making the heart sandwiches, which I decided would be my lunch. It made me realize that I had been giving the kids my leftovers. I was not giving them all that they needed. I was not being the mommy that they needed. I was selfish and I let my frustrations and bad attitude get the best of me. Well, at that moment I decided that for today they were going to get the heart {my heart} and not the leftover crusts {my impatience, frustrations, and bad attitudes}. It got me to thinking…if our kids deserve our hearts and not our leftovers, how much more does God deserve our heart rather than our leftovers. If our kids light up with happiness when we give them our hearts, how much more is God pleased when we give Him our whole hearts…rather than our leftovers!
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Love this! What an excellent reminder for busy Moms when we tend to get stressed and frustrated so easily. Thanks for such a great illustration and reminder of how much God deserves, too!
Love this…so true! I have really been feeling this way lately with my girls, I lose my patience so often. Thanks for this reminder!
Jenn, I’m so glad that you linked up and invited us to coffee this week. Thank you for the reminder!
Your analogy made me think of a song by Lifehouse. Are you familiar with them? The song I’m thinking of is a prayer to God. The name of the song is “Breathing” and the bridge goes like this: “I don’t want a thing from you. Bet you’re tired of me waiting for the scraps to fall off your table to the ground. I just want to be here now…” Anyway, I think that’s how I am sometimes. I am just waiting for God’s scraps when He wants to fill me up with so much more.
Have a blessed weekend!
-Melissa
Karen,
I am not sure if you will ever see this, but thank you so much for reminding me about this post. I re-read it and I am literally in tears right now!!! What a great reminder!!!
I have to share this with you- I have been doing daycare for 4 years now and my thoughts on it were this: 1. I can have ‘friends’ for my kids to play with and 2. I can help my family out financially 3. I can pay to have MY two daughters go to a private christian school with the money I bring in.
But in that, my kids ‘missed out’…and so did I. I missed my oldest daughter’s first Christmas program (because I was at home ‘caring’ for other people’s children…thinking that I was giving them something GOOD because they were able to go to a really good school) I also missed out on not being able to go into their classrooms and be apart of that experience with them. And at the end of the day….I was frazzled, I was grumpy and I just wanted my own kids to ‘go away-go outside and play or go watch tv’. (To just leave me alone because I had given ‘all I had’ 10 hours/day to ‘provide’ for my kids. But when it came right down to it…I was ‘giving them my leftovers’-and I hated that. It finally ‘dawned’ on me and my husband I have decided to ‘bring our children home’ and homeschool them. Give them our ‘firsts’ and not my leftovers.
I just hope and pray that I can remember that during our ‘hard days’ during homeschooling and I appreciate (and they appreciate) what GOD has given to us. EACH OTHER. HUGS!
Oh, how touching. I too am having one of those days! I wish I could just go home but your story has picked me up a bit.
That is a great thought. Thanks for sharing it with us. Happy mother’s day!
Jenn, What a fabulous word picture! I think as mom’s we all need that reminder from time to time. It’s definately an encouragement for me. I’ll be thinking on that one into this next week for sure!
Have a blessed Mother’s Day!
Lydia Cate
What a great message! I hope I can remember this when I’m a mommy 🙂 then again… I should remember this NOW being a wife and friend!
What a beautiful post. It brought tears to my eyes…as there are so many times I give my family the leftovers. What better time to STOP than now…Mother’s Day weekend. I love being a mother and need to spend more time ACTING like I love what I do.
Have a great Mother’s Day!
Goodness…two sets of twins plus one…..and I thot I was busy…..I truly hope that you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Jenn, I’m so glad that you linked up and invited us to coffee this week. Thank you for the reminder!
Your analogy made me think of a song by Lifehouse. Are you familiar with them? The song I’m thinking of is a prayer to God. The name of the song is “Breathing” and the bridge goes like this: “I don’t want a thing from you. Bet you’re tired of me waiting for the scraps to fall off your table to the ground. I just want to be here now…” Anyway, I think that’s how I am sometimes. I am just waiting for God’s scraps when He wants to fill me up with so much more.
Have a blessed weekend!
-Melissa
What a fantastic illustration. I am guilty of this very thing all too often. Thanks for the push I needed to give my kids and God my heart first.
Awww Man!! That is the BEST illustration ever! I hadn’t thought about things that way, but you are so right…how many times do I give my kids the leftovers? What a perfect picture, and a great story to share.
Love this…so true! I have really been feeling this way lately with my girls, I lose my patience so often. Thanks for this reminder!