We interrupt this summer.............

We interrupt this fun summer for an injury………….

My four year old son loves to play with his brother. They played a little too hard last week at my parents’ house. We thought he pulled a muscle in his arm. He was favoring the other arm, and would complain when you would pick him up.

Yesterday, I was planning on taking the boys to the pool. I was getting him dressed when he complained about his arm. This time, I noticed a knot on his collarbone. Having had a broken collarbone before, I knew this was not good.

I was absolutely hysterical. How could I have let him go around with a broken bone? What kind of mother am I? Then, worrying they would think I am a bad mom and call social services.

We made an appointment with the doctor and headed over. The doctor took a look and knew that his collarbone was broken, but wanted to get x-rays to make sure the shoulder was okay. If the shoulder was the problem too, then we were looking at having surgery with an orthopedic.

We went and had the x-rays. It was just the collarbone. He is now wearing a wonderful sling to hold his shoulders back to let the bone heal properly. I told him that the sling would hold his broken bone together while God fixed it.

The worst part of the day, me getting hysterical. Did I think that God did not know about this ? Did I think He was not taking care of my son?

God did take care of it all. My son was calm and cooperative. The doctors, nurses, x-ray tech, and people in the waiting rooms all commented on how good he was. They said that most kids would be screaming and trying to get away, especially when they put the sling on him. But God was with him, giving him peace.

My wonderful friends at church had been made aware and were praying. I asked them to pray for him to be calm. God answered those prayers. I need to remember the calmness and peace I saw in my child, and try to learn from it..

There is always a lesson in everything in life. God teaches us His truths through our daily lives. We need to pay attention and learn.

I wonder what my next lesson will be.

ME....ME...ME!

Me first! That’s mine! Don’t touch me!

Ahh…..the sounds of playing children echo through the house.

The US Army has nothing on motherhood. “The hardest job you’ll ever love!” I think they stole the motto from a mom. The hard thing about raising a child is the delayed and intangible results. God is using me to shape these little boys into future men. It is not as much about the children they are today, as the adults they will be in the future. I am thankful that my boss, God, has given me the guidelines, the Bible, to carry me through this endeavor.

In recent years, God has created a hunger for His Word in me. (That will be a subject of another post on another day!) This has changed parenting. It has helped me to point the way to the final authority, God. It lets us show our children a God that cares about everything in our lives. It shows God as He is, loving, merciful, and yet just and disciplining. Our oldest has some problems with fear, and when he has problems, I always ask “What does Joshua 1:9 tell us?” and he can quote it and tell you that there is no reason for fear, for God is always with us. I also point out, that God knew Joshua was scared or He would not have told him not to fear. Another example is the MEMEMEs! This is a battle right now. We need to think of others first. We are working on Matthew 20:25-28 right now. We need to learn to be a servant. It must be sinking in a little….my youngest came into the kitchen the other week and wanted a juice box. I told him he could get one out of the fridge. I watched as he walked back out, arms full of four juice boxes. He had taken one to his brother and cousins that were playing in another room. It might be something small, but it showed me his heart, that he was thinking of them.

Now, just so you don’t think I am preaching, I could write pages on things I have done wrong. I could not tell you how many times I have answered “Because I said so!” instead of taking the time to look at my children’s hearts. I am sure I have ignored things I should have dealt with, but I know they will come back again.

In case you didn’t know, God has a wonderful sense of humor. The exact behavior He is disciplining me over, He has me discipline my children over. He wants me to get the point…..it’s not pretty to act that way. The lesson He is trying to teach me, He does so through my children.

You see the lesson of “Me first” is a lesson of dying to self. The lesson He teaches me today and everyday…. Galatians 2:19-20 “For through the law I have died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

I am not trying to stop a behavior from my boys; I am trying to change their hearts. God wants the same thing from me, my heart.