Obedience

Psalm 30:5
"For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning."

I have been meditating on this verse as I continue on this great spiritual journey. Each day is new and different. I never know what the day will bring when I wake up in the morning. But I do know that the Lord always brings joy...even to a tough day. If I obey Him, I find that the blessings are numerous. Being a stay at home mom with no extra things going on is a challenge for me. My kids have my complete and full attention. I have been able to study them and pay attention to them and their needs. What an amazing gift for someone who would have lost out on these precious years because I had too much going on...too many commitments. I almost made that mistake. But God brought me here and I have a second chance to really pay attention and interact with my kids all day every day. They needed me and I needed this time with them.

I dove into the second parenting book, Raising Godly Tomatoes. The author talks about tomato staking your children, which means keeping them close and doing obedience training with them. The idea is that once they demonstrate obedience with little things that you can give them a little more freedom as they grow and develop. I have had to release All of my old parenting habits and try out the new ones. I am amazed at the changes already. Today we spent the entire day home so I could practice tomato staking with Mya and Sara. What a rewarding day! They are picking up quickly that I will not give them any warnings and that I do not get angry when I discipline. My stress level is completely different. Although this is hard work right now, I know that God's joy will come in the morning as I move closer and closer to demonstrating Godly parenting with consistency.

Today it was close to 100 degrees, which we aren't used to. And the pool was closed due to cleaning. So the neighborhood kids did not know what to do with themselves. Their parents were inside all day, which frustrates me. The kids are starving for attention and structure in their lives. And it is summer so they don't have much going on. This afternoon we had four additional children in our house for six hours and their parents never came to check on them. As I am doing the tomato staking with my kids, I see the other kids want the same attention from me. Although I am sad for them, I am so grateful that the Lord put us here so we can provide a comfortable place for them to be. The kids stayed until bed time so they could hear me read stories to Mya and Sara. I want nothing more than to stay attentive to my kids and make sure that I tomato stake them with love and obedience.