Hope for the weary mom

I just read an incredible ebook called "Hope for the Weary Mom". It was so uplifting and it is so good to know that we are not alone in our feelings of hopelessness on this journey of motherhood. If you are like me then you pour yourself into your children in countless ways and at the end of the day everything is still not finished. That saying, "there is no rest for the weary" has just been proven wrong by this book. We can have rest. The best kind of rest. It is the rest that comes from being refreshed by the Lord in His Word and through prayer.

There are two ways two order this book. One is free~ click here for the free version or you can get it on Amazon Kindle for $.99 cents.

What is a leader?

We are constantly telling our boys that they are leaders. The other day we asked them who they thought were leaders in their life and I wrote them down. The list ranged from young to old. After that we asked them to name one thing that makes that person a good leader in their eyes. Here is the list:

Kind
Loving
Christian
Doesn't yell
Listens to authority
Gives instruction
Teaches
Puts God before everything
He doesn't smoke
Wise
Trusts in God
Listens to his parents
Puts others before himself
He puts God before himself
Humble
Not afraid to give honor to God
Bold
Lives the right way
Prays
Relies completely on God
Does the right thing even when know one is looking
Sets healthy boundaries
Makes family a priority

After we made this list I said to each of them "YOU are kind, YOU are loving, YOU ..." all the way down the list. I think it is important for my boys to know that being a leader is going to look different for each of them because of their personalities, but there are standards that good leaders live by that make them the same. We are all raising leaders. We need to nurture that in them. Some may lead in front and some may lead from behind. Some are quiet and some are loud. The mightiest leader of all is the humble man who seeks after God's own heart.

Running on empty

I feel further from God than I have in a long time, but I know it is because I am tired and running on empty. I have not rested. All day long I felt the Lord gently reminding me that He is there and telling me to read my "Jesus Calling" devotion for today...more specifically the scriptures at the end of the devotion. God gives us exactly what we need when we need it, but sometimes we need to make the extra effort to get it.

"And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not" (Isaiah 58:11 AMP)

"He will feed His flock like a shepherd: He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom and will gently lead those that have their young"(Isaiah 40:11 AMP)

Thank you Lord!

I just need to be the sheep that I am and let my Shepherd take care of me.

Lessons of thankfulness

I love this time of year, but for some reason I am overly tired and grumpy. On one hand I feel sorry for my sweet family that they have to put up with my crankiness and on the other hand I blame them for it! These comments were made by me in the past few days...

"You are not allowed to use your imagination anymore! I am tired of you fighting over superhero powers!"

"Please stop asking for mommy and daddy. Can you just pretend like you don't have parents for 5 minutes?"

"I'm done!"

Then these sweet words refreshed and encouraged my soul...

http://www.itakejoy.com/the-gift-of-a-spirit-filled-mama/

Thanksgiving

I love this time of year. I am so thankful for my family and the extra time we get to spend with loved ones. God bless you all and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Is it yelling, screaming, shouting or raising your voice?

Before I had kids I wasn't a yeller and I had a lot of patience! Now I realize that my patience had just never been tested to its extreme before so maybe I wasn't patient at all.

This past weekend was a weekend of yelling. My kids consider it yelling and I consider it raising my voice. I have heard other moms "yell" and I am quiet in comparison, however I am in awe of the mothers who NEVER raise their voice which makes me feel like I'm an ogre. I am pretty stern with my tone, but I don't know how else to get my boys to take me seriously. I am very kind to my boys and I don't say mean things, but I am finding I have to yell more and more. I have tried to speak quietly for years. They don't hear me. I have heard people say if someone is yelling at their kids in public than it must be even worse at home. Not for us. I am the same wherever I go. Isn't consistency the key?

What do you do to keep from yelling? Do you think yelling/raising your voice is a bad thing?

We love Vision Forum!

Vision Forum is one of my favorite companies. It has great toys for kids and great books and resources for families! They are starting their Black Friday deals today. Buy 2 get 1 free! There will be a different deal of the day every day as well!

Just click on the pictures and it will take you to the great deals!

DEAL OF THE DAY! Rubber Ammo Eight-shooter

My favorite day

Today the boys ran outside and noticed instantly that all of the leaves had fallen. It was like God blew them off like a dandelion and they were everywhere. The next thing I know the boys are all grabbing rakes and making huge piles. Archer didn't know what they were doing, but he had to join in so he grabbed a broom.

The pile is ready!
1-2-3 JUMP!


Archer's first time flying solo


I love days like today!

Walking through trials

Where have the past few months gone?!?! Since August we have:

~moved out of our house
~refinished the hardwood floors in grandparents house
~moved into grandparents house
~unpacked
~started homeschooling again
~Sawyer broke his arm and we have made multiple trips to a specialist weekly for the past couple of months
~I went on a Walk to Emmaus
~we are preparing the walls to prime and paint

That is it in a nutshell. We are busy, but we have peace in our new temporary home until the Lord shows us where to go. About a month ago I was crying out to God about how hard this year has been (it has been the hardest year in my adult life) and I felt like the Holy Spirit said, "Stop saying that." Proverbs 18:21 came to mind, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]." I yelled in my car (I don't normally do this and if you knew me in real life you would crack up because I am a generally quiet person), "THE REST OF 2011 IS A GOOD YEAR!" I really felt like something broke off of me at that point. A weight had been lifted and I have had so much peace. There is power in our words. Our words can change things for bad or good. The boys are SO HAPPY homeschooling and the rest of our year is great. Instead of me thinking, "what in the world is going to happen next?" I am excited for the holidays.

I haven't shared publicly some of the major trials our family has been through this year, but I will update where He has us now.

You know that there are so many times in our life that we want to go from A to Z but skip all of the letters in between and I have just been thanking the Lord for the process because if I had just skipped to Z, I don't think I could have handled it. God knows what He is doing. Every situation is a growing situation. I recently learned that being perfect is not what we have made it to be. In Hebrew being perfect means to grow in maturity daily in the Lord. That really set me free from me trying to "be perfect". The perfect mom, the perfect wife, who could do no wrong, etc. But I can be perfect in the Hebrew definition. Praise the Lord!

When I look back 8 months ago I didn't know how we were going to survive this trial. Thank you Lord for the process. I have a deeper and different trust than I had before in the Lord. I am not afraid for bad things to happen. I know that our children have watched us through this and they have seen me cry more than ever, but they have also seen me relax and not be so paranoid about things which has given them an opportunity to grow into the mighty men of God they are becoming. I am learning to not have worst fears.

Something that brought healing to my husband and I was going on a "Walk to Emmaus". It is a worldwide ministry. You need to sponsored by someone who has already gone on a "walk". We have always heard it is best if the husband goes first and then the wife, and after going I agree with that. You don't really know what is going to happen. It is like a Christmas present that everyone knows that you are getting except you. You don't have a cell phone or a watch and it lasts for three days. I have known a lot of people who have gone through the years since we have one so close to our town, and I have heard the same thing over and over....God meets YOU exactly where YOU are at spiritually, emotionally, etc. There is no agenda. There is so much prayer that surrounds this. People are praying long before you even know you are going. When you go it is your divine appointment. It is really amazing. Each of us going brought so much healing to our family and to ourselves.

I am hoping to be able to write more frequently now that we are getting more settled.

Another favorite

If you have boys this is a must-read book!

I really enjoyed this book. It is very real and I felt like I was reading stories from my own house and also getting a glimpse of what is to come. Even my husband said that he wants to read it and he never reads books. I usually just give him the highlights.

It is a fast read and very practical!

Some of my favorite parenting resources

Over the next few days I am going to list a few of my favorite parenting resources that have benefited me tremendously.

The first one is a book by Denise Mira called "No Ordinary Child: Unlocking the leader within your child". It is in paperback and now in ebook format.

In Hebrews 11:23 it is referring to Moses when it says "... they saw he was no ordinary child ...". I believe my children are no ordinary children and they are set apart for the Kingdom of God to do His work and this book is a great resource for helping bring out the best in your children. Denise Mira and her husband have raised and homeschooled 5 sons so she writes from experience. I LOVE THIS BOOK! I give it to all of my friends that have sons.

Here's the help you've been waiting for, if you are...

• Hungering to see God's very best for your child?
• Looking for a way through a maze of parenting manuals?
• Swimming in a sea of expectations of friends, family, and school?
• Considering the myriad of moral matters confronting your family?
• Trying to manage the demands of the weekly grind?
• Longing for change?

Here's hope! As a mom who's there in the trenches right beside you, Denise Mira writes with refreshing honesty about our call as parents to raise children who will be the world-changers God intends them to be. Be unmoored from mediocrity and let fresh faith be ignited! Find the keys you've been looking for to unlock the leader residing in your child.

Be blessed!

M.O.B. (moms of boys society)

I am new to the M.O.B. (moms of boys society), but I definitely qualify to join in on the Boy Mom BlogHop. :)



My name is Liberty (yes, that is my real name) and I am a mom of 4 boys, ages 9 (10 next week), 8, 6 and 2. I used to have a blog to journal the early years of our homeschooling, etc., but now we are in a new season of our lives so our blog grew up a little bit into Young Mighty Men of God.

Here is the mightiest man of God in our house, my husband Eric. We have been married for 14 years and he is the love of my life. He was more than a dream come true; he was an answer to prayer. He makes me laugh like no other. He teaches our boys how to be men, and teaches me how to let them be boys. Eric always says that if I ever write a book about raising boys there will be a chapter in it called, "If you __(enter any crazy boy stunt here)____ you will die"!!!

Here are my young mighty men of God:

GRANT age 9

ELI age 8

SAWYER age 6

ARCHER age 2

We homeschooled for the first few years and then they went to school for about a year and a half and now we are homeschooling again. While they were in school I opened a small yarn store in our very small town, but I have sold it to be with my kids. I always called that my girl. It was my girly place in the world. Now I get the luxury of being there as a customer instead of having to run the place. I am considering doing custom knitting just because I enjoy it so much. I am so happy to be home with my boys again though.

It was really hard to come up with a list of books because we like so many, but here is a start.

Favorite books:
ages 8 and up
*The Bible
*Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
*The Mysterious Benedict Society series
*Percy Jackson series

ages 7 and up
*The Magic Treehouse books

ages 6 and below
*There was an old lady that swallowed a fly
*Jesus Loves Me by Debby Anderson
*Counting Kisses
*Hug
*The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

I am so excited to get to meet other moms of boys. I have a friend who always says, "It is one things to have boys, it is entirely another to have boys with brothers." That is my life everyday. Trying to let them be boys and at the same time train them up into the mighty men of God that they are intended to be.

Please leave a comment! I would love to go read your blog too!

Archer

Today Archer turned two! I can't believe my warrior man is already growing up. It seemed like only yesterday we were in the hospital with him and unsure of what his future held. He is such a blessing in so many ways. He is SO DIFFERENT than his brothers, but they are all different from each other because God created them that way. Archer loves for things to be in order. He loves to be wherever we are, but if he decides to try something adventurous he just goes for it. Every day is a new adventure with him. He enjoyed his birthday party so much. He loved having new toys that he knew belonged to him. Everything he usually plays with belongs to his brothers. It is sweet to see him take care of his stuff.


This past weekend I took a 5 day vacation to be by myself. I have never been away from my family that long, but it was worth it. It is so amazing the things that I heard from God during that time and just getting to feel relaxed without any responsibility. I do not bemoan this season of my life of responsibility, but for the first time I went guilt free and I came back so full of joy and refreshed. I was praying as I drove home, "Lord, please help me to stay full of peace and joy so it overflows onto my children and husband. How do I do that Lord?" The next thing I know a song on the radio came on. It was a song by Steven Curtis Chapman called "Do Everything". I had never heard it before. I don't get to listen to the radio much. It was just the answer I needed...

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

If we can keep God our first priority in everything we do our hearts seem to follow and the fruits of the spirit pour out.

Aspiring Writers

I just read an amazing, encouraging ebook for aspiring writers. It just launched today on Amazon. I used to have a desire to write, but I put that away many years ago. This ebook has lit a spark in me again. If you go to the author's site today she is having a huge giveaway which includes a KINDLE!!! Check it out today at http://www.notestoaspiringwriters.com/launch-day-giveaway/

Divided

As you look on the church landscape, youth are leaving the faith in droves. The modern church, overall, is struggling to reach the next generation with the gospel. What has happened? Whether for good or bad, men, for many years, have been inventing solutions or brainstorming ideas without fully relying upon the foundation of God’s Word. God, however, is greater than man, and as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways higher than ours and His thoughts than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-9). We have substituted the greater for the lesser – God’s wisdom for man’s ideas. Jesus said that he who hears His Word and does it, is like a man that built his house upon a rock, and when the storm came, it stood firm. On the other hand, he who rejects His Word, is like a man who built on the sand and when the storm came, the house fell (Matt. 7:24-25). Shouldn’t the church, as a whole, abandon the sandy ideas of man and shamelessly return to the firm rock of the Word of God? God’s Word sufficiently identifies how youth are to be reached. For more information on this issue, please see the film Divided, which is a documentary on age-segregated youth ministry in America. Watch it for free (for a limited time) at www.dividedthemovie.com.

Parenting with the Ten Commandments

For years we have had a simple rule in our house. When you play don't break any of the Ten Commandments because we don't want to practice sinning or "play" sin. They are not allowed to pretend to be something that they are not going to be when they grow up. For example, they cannot pretend to be the "bad guy". We have pretend bad guys and that has always worked for us.

We have four boys so we have had to set our standards high and be very creative at the same time. We have toy guns and swords and we teach about the wars and history. There are a lot of wars in our house, but it is educational and fun at the same time.

We need to be constantly seeking the Holy Spirit on how to parent and how to live. There is so much freedom in that. We believe in a balance. It is not good to be one extreme or the other. The only thing we are extreme about is our standard of God's Word being absolute truth and that influences what we watch, read and do.

Which one are you feeding?

This morning during our bible study with the boys Grant said that he felt the power of God in him and Eli got sad because he wanted to feel it and he couldn't. I took Eli in another room and explained to him that God created us all different. We feel things differently, we see things differently and we are going to experience things differently.

When we were in Virginia this past May we were at the ocean and Eli was standing there and all of a sudden I had a vision of him going out into the world. I saw him as a missionary. I found this picture of him and showed it to him. It turned a light on inside of him.

Feeding their spirit man is like lighting a candle inside of them. Don't let it burn out. If it is starting to go out, fan it a little. If it is already out then re-light it. It is so important to take the time to feed their spirit man inside of them. They can be brought down so quickly comparing themselves to others, but if you remind them of who God created them to be it changes them. There is no comparison. We are each fearfully and wonderfully made; created with purpose. Ask God for a vision for each of your children. Share it with them. It will feed their spirit man inside of them. This is one of my boys favorite pictures:
It is called "The Burning One" by Ruthann Fryer. To my young mighty men of God it represents them as small children, but their spirit man is large inside of them.

There is a story about a man who had two dogs and he was preparing them for a dog fight in India. He told people he always knew which one would win and he was always right. People were amazed that he always knew which one would win and they asked him what his secret was. He replied, "It is easy. The one I feed is the one that wins."

This is what we teach our boys. Are you feeding your spirit or are you feeding your flesh? If you are feeding your flesh then your flesh is going to win, but if you are feeding your spirit man then your spirit man is going to win. Be careful about what you are feeding your children.

Educating the WholeHearted Child Giveaway

Clay & Sally Clarkson are two of my favorite parenting and homeschooling authors so how could I not share this giveaway of their new book "Educating the WholeHearted Child" Click here to see how to enter.

Wash your children with the Word

I led a bible study for mothers in our house this past week and this is what I shared. It is combined from lessons and letters from my Titus 2 women in my life. It is too good not to pass on. I know how much it has helped us in our household.

~Speak over your children Words of life, the Holy Spirit will wash their hearts and minds and cleanse them because the truth will set them free to be victorious and mighty men/women of God that they are.

~Pray scriptures all the time over your children.

God’s Word is alive and active.

Hebrews 4:12 says:

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power {making it active, operative, energizing, and effective}; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and (the immortal) spirit, and of joints and marrow {of the deepest parts of our nature}, exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Psalm 1:2-3

My children’s delight and desire are in the law of the Lord and on His instructions and teachings they habitually meditate day and night. They are like trees firmly planted and tended by streams of water ready to bring forth fruit in their season. Their hearts shall not fade or wither and everything they do shall prosper and come to maturity.

~You are not under the curse.

Jesus nailed it all to the cross and you do not have to accept generational curses. Jesus nailed those also. You are the blessed descendant of Abraham and all his descendants are blessed by the blood of Jesus. God sees us in purity because of the blood.

~Speak faith over your children.

The Lord has not given the spirit of fear but of power to love and complete peace and rest in the mind. The Word is working mightily in your family. Ps 138:8 the Lord will perfect that which concerns you! He covers it all! You just rest in Him, trust Him and keep your angels working the Word; they are in the Lord's hands.

~WATCH YOUR WORDS.

You and your husband must be accountable to one another about your Words. Life and Death are in them! Keep a watch. If you abide in Him and HIS WORD abides in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be done for you. Whatever you ask for in faith, believing, you will receive. You are a thinking spirit, believing spirit and talking spirit. If you think right, you will believe right, if you believe right, you will speak right.

~Proverbs was written for boys

It is intended to help fathers and mothers instruct and prepare their sons for godly manhood.

I pray this will strengthen you. Stand firm with the Word.

New Season, New Beginnings

This is the beginning of our new season. Our previous season was filled with oatmeal kisses, and luckily I still get some of those.

I am a mother of all boys. We have four boys ages 9, 8, 6 and 22 months. We are raising mighty men of God. They are set apart for His glory and purpose. They are more than conquerors. How fitting that tomorrow we are starting the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons.

We still have lots of adventures ahead of us. I am looking forward to rest of this journey.