IT WON'T BE LIKE THIS FOR LONG

Who here likes to drink COFFEE? I know I do, and a PERK is to have the opportunity to drink it while it is HOT! FOR ME....that seems to be a rarity these days! However I am starting to learn to enjoy my cold cup of coffee...keep reading to see what I'm talking about!

Anyone else like to take a shower? Without an audience.....? When I say audience..I am talking G rated here. Some of you might be thinking I am crazy...however when I say an audience, I am simply meaning that I leave the door open and gate off the living room so that my 2 kiddos don't hurt themselves or each other while I am getting clean. I also like to close the door from time to time when I am going to the restroom. However, that just rarely happens these days. I do have to remember to close the door when we have company over! Am I exhausted? You betcha! Who isn't? I am willing to bet that I am not ALONE and there are A LOT of other exhausted Mommies out there! Even if you are not a Mommy or a wife , I know how you feel as LIFE just gets busy and we lose focus from time to time.

So, the other day I decided that I needed JUST a brief moment of alone time. I reached up on the bookcase and dusted off (literally) a Women's devotional book. I thought the title was so fitting for me... "15 Minutes of Peace with God" by Emilie Barnes. It should be noted that I also had a devotional book about having "quiet time" with God, but I just wasn't feeling that there would be a quiet moment just yet.
I held the book in my hands...... and did something I have done in the past with devo books and my Bible................... held it unopened and closed my eyes and asked God to "show" me what HE wanted me to learn today. Then I opened it up to the lesson on "being a Living presence."

I have to admit I wasn't feeling "the peace" just yet..... as I had just put one of my children into time out and I was in NEED of a "Mommy-time-out" just a break before I pulled out my hair! This devotional talked about Psalm 127 1-5.
Here it is from the CEV version:
Only the LORD Can Bless a Home
1Without the help of the LORD it is useless to build a home or to guard a city. 2It is useless to get up early and stay up late in order to earn a living. God takes care of his own, even while they sleep. 3Children are a blessing and a gift from the LORD. 4Having a lot of children to take care of you in your old age is like a warrior with a lot of arrows. 5The more you have, the better off you will be, because they will protect you when your enemies attack with arguments.

The author of my devotional went on to tell a story of a young mother who was inquiring about the path of raising children. She was told that "the way IS hard and that she would be OLD before she reached the end, but that the end would be much better than the beginning" This young mother was very happy and she WOULD NOT believe that anything could be better than these years. HOLD THE PHONE.......wow that was convicting to me as there ARE times that I do not feel the way she did... I KNOW my children are a BLESSING however I admit that I become so tired and run down quite often. TOO MANY women and parents have forgotten or have NEVER KNOWN the promise of the LORD...that children are a gift . They are the fruit of the womb. Many young mothers are completely frustrated with life because children take so much time from their day.

REMEMBER we won't always be in this phase... ENJOY the children while they are young because as they get old we (parents & children) will face new sets of difficulties.
ALSO...as stated in Psalm 127, we MUST have the help of THE LORD!!! Without HIM we are wasting not only our time but our children's time as well.

As I am thinking about all of this...... I can hear "Hootie" (Darius Rucker) in my head. I'll spare you from typing all of the lyrics as I have already rambled on plenty...

But, here are a few of the lyrics from his song "It Won't Be Like this for Long" that pretty much sum up the fact that life is quick and we need to enjoy every PRECIOUS minute that we have with our little BLESSINGS!
" It won't be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
And this phase is gonna fly by
So he's trying to hold on
It won't be like this for long
It won't be like this for long"

I am learning that it really doesn't bother me to drink my coffee cold, admittedly I would prefer for it to be hot. But today as I am drinking it and I can hear my children playing and singing in the background...... I am reminded that YES!! IT IS WORTH IT! Children are a gift from GOD! One day soon they will be all grown up and I want to have peace knowing that I have taken care of the SWEET blessings that GOD has entrusted me with! So, if you ever want to grab a HOT cup of coffee....and have a "MOMMY time-out" because we ALL need one..give me a CALL because from time to time I do like to enjoy HOT coffee! May God Bless You and Your family today!