ok, so here is my homemaker moment this week for www.homemakerchronicles.com.

Ahhhhh......just finished tucking in all three kids for naps...yes, that's right, they are all sleeping!

Ok, this week has honestly been one of the toughest weeks I have had in a very long time. It was a week filled with lots of tears, mixed emotions, stress, chaos.....just a crazy week!
I had a family member/s that was in the midst of a horrible situation and we were doing our best to help and be there for them, so the tears were tears shed because someone I love dearly was hurting a tremendous amount. The chaos was because there was A LOT of emotions flying around the house, uncertainty and two 2 yr olds, two 3 yr olds, and a 6mo old for 3 days!

Oh, but God is good....all of the time....no matter what. The Lord showed me a few things this week. Even when your circumstances look as though they cannot get worse, when your heart is broken and the world you know as your life is turned upside down....God is still there and He is moving. In fact, He is allowing and using all of it for your good and His glory. When turmoil and trials come, how will you suffer? Will you suffer in vain or will you suffer well, giving God glory? I hope and I pray so much that when trials come my way that I will be able, by the grace of God, to suffer well. I watched my family member suffer this week and I wondered what I would do if I was in that same situation myself. So, I prayed and am praying that God will give me the strength in Him to endure trials and the trust and the faith to suffer them well, in such a way that glorifies Him.
Another thing the Lord showed me this week: humility. I was completely humbled, knowing that there was absolutely nothing I could do to fix this situation, as bad as I wanted to make it all go away for my loved one/s. I was reminded of God's sovereignty and my complete and utter dependence on Him for everything! I was also reminded of how I can do nothing well without Him. I did not handle some of the chaos well because I was trying to take care of everything on my own and on my own, I will ALWAYS fail.
And last, but certainly not least, God continues to answer my prayer. I have been praying for the Lord to put in me a truly thankful heart in all things and all situations. Now, I am not at all saying that I have this down...because I have a LONG way to go....let me emphasize again, a LONG way to go! But I am thankful, so thankful that the Lord led this member of my family to come to us, that our home was considered a safe haven so to speak for them. I thank God for the relationship that He has built between us and that we were able to be here for them in a time of need. I thank God for answered prayer as He intervened and brought some peace about. I thank God for the family He has blessed me with.
I am always so humbled when I think about my husband and children as the tremendous blessings they are and I often feel completely unworthy to be living this life.
I also thank God for this morning- a wonderful way to end this week. A friend of mine has organized a Friday morning Coffee & Tea. It is a time for women to come together, drink some coffee, snack on some yummy breakfast treats, and more importantly, fellowship, encourage one another in the Lord and pray. I met several women that I am excited about building relationships with. It was all in all, a wonderful morning and I left feeling very encouraged and refreshed.
Also a quick word: my sister in law/friend reminded me of purpose and truly encouraged and blessed me. Her encouraging words reminded me that the basics such as: ABC's, counting, colors, shapes, writing, etc. will happen and your children will learn them. But the most important part of being home with your children is teaching them and training them in the ways of the Lord. Now, we don't neglect teaching them the "basics" but we shouldn't get so wrapped up in those things that we lose our sight. Teaching our children how to love by showing them the love of Christ, teaching them thankfulness for everything by being thankful yourself, teaching them the joy in giving by giving to others yourself, teaching them about God's mercy by showing them mercy occasionally when they've disobeyed, teaching them about humility by admitting when you've messed up and then teaching them about forgiveness by asking for theirs....do you see where I am going with this? Set your eyes upon Jesus and seize every opportunity with your children to teach them about the Lord and all of His wonderful characteristics. What an amazing honor we have to do this- don't miss it! I pray this for myself.