Tragedy of an unfamiliar shirt

I do not understand why wearing a shirt for the first time causes such tragic moments. Real tears, people. Boo hooing.  "I don't want any cee-wul!" (cereal) Morning meltdown. Couldn't get out of him why the shirt was so offensive. It looked ok. Long sleeves are not something new. It had a monster truck on it. The tag was already cut out. No clue what the issue was, but it was a loud, tearful issue nevertheless.

 

Very frustrated today with willful sin. I have some sin in my life that I cannot seem to shake. Satan has his hold and he is really twisting the knife. I'm trying to figure out what the heart issue is here. Why I can't seem to get self-control in this area. Its Biblical, self-control, so I know it is possible. I find myself wondering if God is as tired of hearing me repent for this same thing as I am of hearing myself repent. Every morning starts off well, and then sometime in the afternoon/evening, I lose it. So so frustrating.

 

I want a 5 step process. I want a beginning and end date. But that is not really how perseverance is won. I wish I could see the end and know I get to conquer this. That would give me more confidence to keep trying. More trust that God is not giving up on me.

 

But I do know that God is already standing at the end. He is proud of me, seeing how I grew through all of this. So I have to trust him. And I do have a manual. Its God's word. I have decided to start reading it with the mindset of what he has to say about this issue of mine. I'm praying for clear heart to hear what he has to tell me through his truth and to APPLY it.

 

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Swords, pizza and privacys

Most people have a morning routine. Some get up and get the coffee started. Others go straight to the shower, or to get dressed. Some even go exercise before starting their day. My Tyler? He goes into the playroom to find a sword. I turn around and see a little wake-up face, bedhead walking passed my door into the playroom. Then into our room he comes with Frog and a toy sword. My Ty.

 

My Ty also has taken to calling his little boy parts his "privacys." Oh my.

 

Braden has grown up so much in the last few months. You can see his maturity in his behavior chart at school. No yellows for a month! We celebrated by going to Ci Ci's pizza and playing some driving arcade games after pizza. Yum!

 

As I was walking through the house this morning, fixing lunches, hanging up towels and picking up Lego men from every flat place in my house, I was reminded how I almost didn't get to have this job. I almost didn't get to pick up yet another half damp towel, or find some Lego guy pieces under my pillow. I am so thankful this morning that I have little shoes to put away, swords to gently untangle from little sleepy grasps at night, piles of toy cars to move so I can get into my closet. So thankful God blessed me with these little ones. Overjoyed He trusted me with the job of kissing bruises from running into coffee tables, wetting down unmanageable hair, one-more hugs before bedtime. Unimaginable love for little napes of necks concentrating on building a Lego "set," little hands asking me to pull off or snap on too many Lego arms to count. Squirmy bodies jumping full force on me anytime I near the bed or floor.

 

Thank you Jesus for my little boys.