A week for my family. (22-29)

For the past few days–catching up again, but also going to post ahead, since it’s going to be a busy week 🙂

I’m thankful for parents who are still married after 26 (right?) years. Who love and serve each other faithfully. I’m thankful for my parents who love and serve their kids, who demonstrate God’s love in a multitude of ways. I’m thankful for my mom’s preserverence, frugality, and her sense of humor. I’m thankful for my dad’s love, his desire to grow up his daughters to know what it really looks like to be treated well and to challenge and encourage us to be bold and to use the gifts we are given. I’m thankful for the way they love my children.

I’m thankful for in-laws who encourage us to be great parents and spouses. I’m thankful for the grace they show one another and for the many conversations about life. I’m thankful for their appreciation of the uniqueness of each one of my kids. I’m thankful for their ministry in restoration of broken people.

I’m thankful for the Patton side of the family who lean on one another and value relationships. I’m thankful for their friendship and encouragement.

I’m thankful for Daniel, my brother in law, and my sister Mada who have been there for my family in the craziest of chaotic moments. Who “drop” in whenever they are needed. I’m thankful for their goofiness and the way my kids love them. I’m thankful for their extravagant giving and for their friendship.

I’m thankful for my sisser Juice. Her infectious laughter and hilarity. I’m thankful for her many really good impressions. I’m thankful that she loves being an “Auntie Jujy” more than anything in the world.

I’m thankful for Clint, my artist brother in law. Who genuinely cares about people and the injustices of the world. I’m thankful that he sees the world differently than the rest of us and creates art that captures just how beautiful seeing the world differently is.

I’m thankful for Caleb, my other brother in law and the attic-dweller in our home. I’m thankful for his servants heart. His encouragement. And his teachable spirit. I’m thankful that he loves my kids and doesn’t mind waking up with them in the middle of the night or watching them so Cole and I can have date nights.

I’m thankful for my baby sister Abby. I’m thankful that she is a great aunt at age 7. That she loves to play and “babysit”. I love that she is gregarious and intelligent.

I’m thankful for my sister cousin Cheyenne. I love her unique perspective and her love of people. I love that she befriends everyone she comes into contact with.

Yup, it’s true, I’ve a pretty amazing family!!

Sleep, sanity, husbands, and daylight savings. (13-16)

James Bryan Smith in A Good and Beautiful God says that, “Sleep is an act of surrender. It is a declaration of trust. It is admitting that we are not God (who never sleeps), and that is good news”.

My late evenings are generally filled with the need to stay up longer to be more productive and do grown up tasks such as chores, and reading, and catching up on all the “grown up” shows. Most of my daylight hours are consumed with children, toys, stuffy noses, and dirty diapers–So this makes sense, but it ruins me having a normal bedtime. Sleep for me is both a best friend and a worst enemy. I need adequate sleep and yet, usually sleep is the first thing I give up to meet needs: my needs and my family’s needs.

Let’s be honest, this sleep deprived mom is usually slighty (And by slightly, I mean extremely) cranky. The sound of cranky kids to this sleep deprived mom is usually a panic invoking invitation into borderline insanity. (Can anyone relate?).

James Bryan Smith is right. Sleep is for me a need. A need that I had never placed in the context of trusting in God. As a mom, I need sleep to be my best friend because it shows my kids that I am surrendering my worry my cares and my anxieties and placing my complete trust that God has it under control. No amount of reading or chores will ever make me better; not a better mom, friend or a better wife. Usually, in fact, the opposite is true: sleep deprivation makes me worse at both.

Lately, my husband and I, have challenged ourselves to get more sleep. That means that we give up grown up tasks have a dirtier house, and are calling ourselves “old” because bedtime is now strictly 10 pm.

Sometimes though despite my best efforts sleeping does not work. This weekend was one of those times, sleep was my enemy. No matter how much I tried tossing and turning, my husband was still snoring and talking in his sleep, my 11 mo old thought 3 am was a good time to be awake, and no amount of trying to fall asleep was working. I found myself frustrated and very awake until approximately 4 am.

You know what was amazing? Even though my sleep deprivation was out of my control, I was able to gain an hour because of daylight savings, my hubby woke up with our kids and let me sleep til I naturally woke up.

Today I’m just thankful for sleep, husbands, and daylight savings. And that I get to keep my sanity for one more day. 🙂

Psalm 4:7b-8 “At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep, For you, God, have put my life back together.”

The Littlest Little (12)

While standing at the sink this morning doing dishes, I turned to the side and noticed a little pair of eyes peeking out from around the doorjamb. I smiled and received a very guttereal raspy giggle. Then, the eyes disappeared behind the corner, again. I waited for a few seconds and they peeked out again, I smiled again and said, “Judah, I see you”.

He giggled some more, and disappeared again. This time, I snuck around to the doorjamb, and startled him by peeking around first. He then began to laugh so hard he fell from his hands and knees to be laying flat on his back. His chest and body convulsing because of his out of control laughter.

Fast forward twenty minutes. I’m sitting in a chair and he crawls towards my lap. I begin to point out, “Nose. Eyes. Mouth” and he leans in and places his little clammy palm on my face and inches his fingers by my lips. He knows what is coming, I open my mouth and nibble on his fingers. The deep giggling initiates and soon after a few more nibbles he is unable to hold himself upright as he is so taken over from his laughter.

Judah is my calmest child. There is no need too great or situation too perilous that a little waiting won’t fix. He’ll wait patiently and play with the toys in his vicinity and wait until my eyes catch his. Then his countenance changes his whole being shouts, “Experience joy, mom. Smile, just for me”.

Even when he’s in trouble, he somehow manages to turn me saying, “No, Judah” into a silly mess of giggles.

I’m convinced that this is why God placed him in my care. In the midst of all the Chambers chaos, God gave me a little beacon of a daily dose of silliness. Now, don’t get me wrong all of my children are silly and hilarious in their own way. But, Judah is my daily reminder to laugh. Laugh purposefully. Laugh often. Laugh over the truly funny. Laugh when were tired. Laugh when it hurts. Laugh when I’m in trouble. Laugh when there’s nothing left to do, but laugh again. Judah’s mission in life is to laugh and to make sure everyone else is laughing around him.

For that, I am thankful.

 

Psalm 100:1-4

 On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.

 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.

 Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.

 For God is sheer beauty,

    all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

(The Message)

My littles (praise pact day 9, 10, 11)

I’m a little behind on my praise pact. The past few days my kids have not been sleeping well. So, I have been slurring words and drinking gallons of coffee and have been in no way capable of holding a conversation let alone type anything read-able.

But here are my praises for the past two days and one for today.

I’m thankful for my son Oren and his gentle heart towards others. I love that he cries when others are hurt because he empathizes so deeply for them. I love that when someone is our house is upset or a small war has been waged over who is playing with what baby, he comforts. He tells them, “I know you were arguing and she hurt you, but you have a baby now. Go ahead and give your sissy a hug and a kiss.” I am thankful for his gentle encouragement and I love the gentle leadership he offers his younger brother and sisters.

My oldest daughter (by 30 sec), Cadence, is a joy to my soul. I’m thankful for her big partially swallowed smile and her big blue eyes. I’m thankful for her caring spirit and her to keep her siblings in line and for graciously sharing how they should best do that. I’m thankful that she by nature is a caregiver to her siblings and will make sure everyone has a blanket, a sippy cup, new clothes, etc before she will have hers. I’m thankful for her sweet snuggles and her silly sense of humor.

My heart is full of thanks for my youngest daughter, Addilynn and her infectious giggle. I’m thankful for her artistic expressions of her “art” along my walls, her wardrobe choices, and her crazy dances. I love that she loves to be different and find her own way to do things. I love that she is not afraid to laugh over the silly and bring an element of silly to the serious moments. I’m thankful for her ability to express her feelings and wear her heart on her sleeve.

He fills my life with good things. Psalm 103:5

 

Can you guess who will be featured tomorrow?

Praise Pact: Day 3

My praise pact day 3:

Today I’m thankful for growing pains. The last few years have been full of growing pains of varying degrees. From challenging pregnancies, to relationships, and home-life, career and at times I’ve wanted to throw in the towel. But, from those challenges and growing pains I’ve learned what it means to be content, to trust and rely on God and His unfailing mercies and strength. I have learned that there is joy and peace in every circumstance even when it seems bleak. For that, I am immeasurably grateful and thankful.

Psalm 107

The Message (MSG)

107 ^1-3 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
from the four winds, from the seven seas.

^4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

^10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God’s Word,
for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

^17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

^23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

^33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

^42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.

 

What Growing pains have you experienced the last year and what has God shown you through them?