Our daily bread...

Disclaimer: this is a long post:)

This morning I woke up and rolled myself out of bed.  It was still dark outside, and I really just wanted to curl up in my bed and go back to sleep!  BUT, no need to live in dream land!!:)  There was clearly much to do!  Get breakfast made, lunches packed, children dressed, retrieve a pencil from 2 girls that thought they needed to fight over it this morning.  Yep, a pencil. Sometimes you just gotta shake your head and say an extra prayer!:)

I love to wake up early.   Before the hustle and bustle begins in our home.  It's my time to gather my thoughts.  My time with the Lord.  Our mornings are actually pretty low key.  I try to have lunches made and in the fridge, snack bags made for the week, and clothes out for the week to keep stress to a minimal.  I have discovered, I don't like starting my day with added stress that can be eliminated if I just do a little extra prep work!  It works for us and for that I am very thankful!

This morning I was reading from a book about teaching children the word.  About pouring your love for Jesus and his word into your children.  Into our daughters.  How can they have a love for the word if they are not taught and shown the importance of knowing God's word.  I know some mornings there may not be enough time to sit and read the Bible to our/your children.  But, I was so encouraged this morning that the time spent reading the word to our children is not the most important thing.  Our daughters need to see that God's word is so important to mommy and daddy that no matter how busy we are, we always take the time to speak truth into them.  Whether it be just teaching them a verse and what it means, or share a Bible story with them.  They need to see that Matt and I make spending time with Jesus a priority.

Here is the verse that I shared with Alyssa on the way to school.  It spoke so close to my heart today that I wanted to share it with her.

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you may grow into a full experience of salvation.  If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  1 Peter 2:2

We have indeed tasted that the Lord is good.  He's been soooo good and sooo faithful.  I have also experienced, just this week, what it feels like to not crave the word in a way that it fills my life and my heart in all that I do and say.  I have been busy.  That's actually an understatement!  I have been real busy, but lets face it...whose not?  I have not spent my mornings pouring God's word and his truth in my life.  Starting my day with Him.   I have let all the busyness (good busy) keep me from Him, and it has been obvious in my life.  I have felt down.  I have lacked JOY.  I have felt stressed.  I have had less patience.  I have had a more negative attitude toward my husband and my children.  All because I neglected the spiritual milk that I need.  To get me through my days.  To stay solid.  To walk upright.  The milk I need to fill me!  Nothing else can fill me.  Nothing else satisfies.  Nothing else gives me pure JOY.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.  Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Proverbs 4:25-26
  

I have known this to be true in MY life- I must start my day with Jesus.  Not finish my day with him, but start my day with him.  If I start with Him, I am more likely to produce the fruit of the spirit in my life.  If I wait till bedtime, I have more than likely struggled through a day that could have been much more smooth if I would have just began it in the word and in prayer.

I want this blog to be real.  It's our life.  It's my struggles.  We are by no means a perfect family.  We do not have perfect children. But we are real people.  I  never want to portray something that is false in our lives.  We are a work in progress.  The Lord deals with us daily.  I'm thankful he does.  I would never want the Lord to let me get away with my selfishness.  The Lord is far greater than holding on to my wants and desires!

Just wanted to share my heart today!  Have a great day!!