The Mission of Motherhood {Chapter 12}

I have been blessed to go through a book with a small group of wonderful Mama's and friends these past few months. It has been so nice to have this bond between us and to encourage one another. I love the mama time and I always come home feeling refreshed. 

This past week we met up and had dinner and were able to fellowship which was really nice! We were suppose to discuss the last chapter of The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson, but we never got that far. My mom and I discussed the chapter around 2am. ;)

So, I'm going to share all the things I underlined with you! 

Her words speak such truth and I'm very thankful that Sally listened to God's calling of ministering to mother's hearts. 

Chapter 12 is titled "The Faithful Mother" which states, finishing the journey with endurance and grace.

Oh and the verse! 

"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." Hebrews 10:35-39

Talking about feeling inadequate...
"His strength is perfected in my weakness"

"Though cultural storms attack violently each day, a solid Christian home can be a protective fortress, a haven of peace for all who live there. Those inside its walls are protected, nurtured and nourished in body, heart, mind and soul. Such homes need a director, guardian, and caretaker, which is what God had in mind when he designed the role of mother. Homes that are being established and protected by the mothers who have a clear vision of their God-designed role can bring refuge and life and hope to a generation of children who need to grow strong in order to be able to battle the storms they will one day face."

"What I've also needed is good, old-fashioned perseverance-a deep, unwavering commitment to stay the course and not give up."

"Many moms eventually relinquish the authority that God designed them to have and the responsibility of raising their children to others-the teachers at school, the church youth group and its leaders, or even the children's peers. But while people can certainly be a blessing to our children, enriching their lives, God has given the stewardship of children's lives to parents, not to institutions or even the church."

"Where do we get this kind of endurance? ... Plain old stubbornness has probably helped as well. I don't like to fail, so I keep on trying."

Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:6 goes on to say that "without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

"There would be times when I was dealing with a habit or a sing or an attitude of one of my children, and I would feel like a total failure."

Love this part, just beautiful...

"My only choice in these times when I reached the bottom of my heart was to do again what I had practiced so many times-to keep trusting the Master and Lord of my life. And as I poured out my heart-my fears, my inadequacies, my weariness, my concerns about my children, and my own lack of love for some of my own family members-I found solace for my soul and strength for my heart. The Lord would encourage me to trust him, to wait on him and give him time to work, to hold on to his promises, to not compromise my convictions, and most important, to persist in my love and my prayers for the little ones he entrusted to my care."

Amen!

"Jesus also prayed specifically for all of his disciples the night before he died: "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15)."
"We need to recognize that Satan seeks to destroy our children's desire to walk with God."

"Our children will be tempted to stumble...Yet, as mothers, with God's strength and companionship, we can be champions for their souls and walk with them through their times of temptation and struggle. We can support them in prayer, encourage them through the Word, and love them as Christ loved Peter and the other disciples."

"In recent years I have learned firsthand that the need for wise mothering doesn't lessen as children grow older."
Oh so true!!!

"I really think that God made children funny as a gift to help parents survive."
Yes! I totally agree! How many times have you felt frustrated and one of your littles (or biggers) and they said or did something and you couldn't help yourself but to bust out laughing? Oh man...

"But I've found that a mother whose emotional well is dry cannot continue indefinitely to give to others without cratering."
She was talking about enlisting allies in our mission of motherhood. Having that companionship of others who get what your life is like. The ups and downs of discipling children.
"As a bonus, I have found that this practice of taking time for personal refreshment has given my children a model for ways that they, too, can find refreshment for their souls."

"It is not perfection that God expects from mothers."

"The precious children he has placed in our hands are hoping that we will be faithful and endure so that they will have a reason to hope and an example to follow in their own lives."
"We are the real, in-the-flesh, tangible picture of God's loving hands, strong arms of protection, and encouraging words of hope to our children."

"Each child longs for a heritage in which he can have pride; a home where he can see the faithfulness of God lived out every day; a family in which love is constant, forgiveness and grace hold everyone together, and faith and endurance conquer all obstacles. This is the kind of foundation upon which a child can begin to build the fortress for his own life."

"It is not only the knowledge of holiness that we must pass on to our children. It is a personal relationship with a God who is far great, bigger, more adventurous, stronger, and better than anyone I will ever know. He is the source of joy that gives me the strength to keep going during the hard times, the mundane times, the intense times, and the fun times as well."

I pray that God helps me, not just a general "help us Lord" in front of my children. Lord please give me patience and endurance. 

I've got my power bars (the Word) and my gatorade (God's Love), let's finish this race well! ;) 

haha it is 3am... :)

December 1st - Craft Day!

Yesterday Kiera and I had a few ladies over for some baking and crafting.

First we mixed up the gingerbread cookie dough that I did not realize had to chill for at least 2 hours before cutting out cookies, so I added extra flour and hoped 1 hour would do. The girls got to take turns with measuring and pouring, so it worked out that we doubled the recipe that I found here. Oh and we used brown sugar instead of sucanat (sugar cane).

So while we waited for the dough we got out our wreath forms, fabric and hot glue gun.

I forgot to get a picture of Julie's wreath. She made a pretty flower with the fabric.

 

After their wreaths were covered in their fabric of choice (which happen to match) they added some embellishments.

Some burlap squares and a bow.

Their finished wreaths! 

After the wreaths we cleared the table and enjoyed some sticky rice with sea weed that our friends brought to share. It was yummy!

The dough was still pretty sticky but the girls were not afraid to use a little extra flour. ;)

No, that's not snow or powdered sugar... it's flour. haha

A little flour sprinkling for the baking fairies. Or they might have been ice fairies...

A pretty flower clip made by a multi-tasking mama. 

And of course you have to finish any girl day with nail polish. :)

It was such a sweet time! We need to make this a regular thing for sure.

September and October 2012

Here is our life and school from September and October in pictures from my phone. :)

Kiera read some origami directions and made a swan

Blake's sleepy face

Found some udon noodles in the cupboard for noodle art

Noodle art in the living room

Nathan's

Kiera's 

lunch!

Sounding out words

Domenic wanted to do school so he grabbed one of Nathan's cards and started tracing letters.

Copywork/Penmanship

5 months old!

Art Lesson - Inorganic and organic shapes

cursive practice

LA County Fair

Huge pigs!

Chicks!

Bought some flavored honey sticks from the LA County Bee Keepers. Should have just got plain. Kids agreed.

Blacksmith

It's a horse

How cool is this!

Kiera learned how to latch hook a rug.

Making a rag doll

She's also making a rag doll.

We're reading about Thomas Edison. Actually found out today that his mom took him out of school to homeschool him because he asked a lot of questions and his teacher did not like to be asked questions.

Display  for the Wright brothers

The next day Kiera showed Nathan how to latch hook with yarn on our burlap with a crochet hook.

Little Miss wanting to organize the cupboard for me. :)

Lost a tooth!!!

Mickey pancakes for Domenic.

Little man turned 3 on the 3rd!

Sweet mini cornbread muffins to share with our nature study group.

When Robert got home from work that evening we had a little ice cream and Kiera and Nathan sang happy birthday to Domenic.

Blowing out his pretend candle. 

"How old are you now Domenic?"

Haha this one makes me laugh.

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park

Coyote Melon

Ghost Rock

Pelican

Blake's first time at the beach.

Cool find next to our blanket.

Drawing/Journaling about the day before.

My gardener, he loves to water for me.

My singer

Perfect little head

Perfect chubby toes

Practicing still life drawing

We hosed out the patio because it was so dirty and way to many spiders but it didn't drain as well as I had expected it to. But the kids took charge and got a lot of the water out.

"I like my doll house Mom" It had spiders in it before.

The week we talked about apples we made some applesauce.

After the apples were nice and soft we put them in the food processor.

Playing in the rain!

Saw some fireworks on our way home from a date!

Snuggles

My late night baking buddy

I heard the water on in the back and when I looked this is what I saw. 

Smoothies and some girl time

Brothers and nature

Nature study fun

Nathan made a hat and said "look mom, it's my shepherds hat". He was trying to hold still for me. :)

Then Kiera and Domenic wanted hats, so they made some too.

All dressed up for some family pictures!

My dad showing the kids how a motor works.

Siblings!

Daddy's home!!!

The mini pumpkin loaves that I baked for the fundraiser.

New business cards!

Pancake Breakfast at the boutique! Yum!

Cuddles with uncle David

Flowers from my Dad for my birthday

We went with friends to a convalescent home and passed out goodies. We took cookies and made pumpkin face cards that said "Jesus Loves You" on the back. The kids were all dress up in costumes.

The lady that led us through to home surprised the kids with ice cream cones.

We were watching Kiera, Nathan and Domenic ride their scooters around the van in our driveway.

Peek a boo Blakie!

Nathan had been wanting to build me a picture frame so Robert took him to the hardware store to get the supplies. I sent Kiera out to take these pictures since I wasn't suppose to see. :)

She loves writing in cursive and wants to do all her copywork that way.

I seem to be missing some pictures but that was our September and October. Hope you enjoyed our memories while I reminisced. :)