Emma Grace.....

This is one of my kiddos I care for.. not mine but close enough.

I have had her since she was 4 months old and now she is five and

going on 16.... She came today with her hair already done by herself. It was fabulous pigtails that a very independent five year old could do. Her daddy asked her if she wanted me to redo her hair... She said no and we said great. Later at breakfast she said Mrs. Paige would you braid my hair? I said of course. Then we tried and it was not working so she said how about pig tails? I said sure. I wish I would have taken a picture of her pigtails too. (next time) It is funny how you care for children and yet they are the ones who teach you. I am studying about Martha and Mary and how not to be a Martha... I as a woman who loves the Lord and wants to glorify Him have such good intentions to guide my children to Love the Lord. But, I can be an independent fixer too and go about my business without asking God for help. I get distracted from focusing on Him and really seeking after how He wants me to be. I don't allow His hands to make the way. I learned a deep lesson about just humbling myself and crying out ABBA. He will help me and do it better and far more efficient than I ever could. He is helping me to be still and sit at His feet and ask Him, How am I to do this Lord? Just trust and obey... In my own strength my ways look like Emma's ponytails not quite right yet with His hands making it .... it comes out a lot smoother and shinier..

2Cor. 12 9-10 " But ( God) said to me " My Grace is sufficient for you my power is made perfect in weakness," Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for when I am weak than I am strong.

Emma I pray you will know the Lord so much better than I someday.

This week at our house...

Here are a few of the things we accomplished this week. Enjoy!

We finished the kitchen and the cabinet. Parker learned to ride his bike without training wheels.

Have you been Washed?

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27

As a mother I remember the care I took in bathing my beautiful baby boys when they were infants, making sure to get soap and water in every crevice and wrinkle on their chubby baby legs, and also making sure they were well rinsed in every crevice. As my boys are growing into young men, I now have to trust them to bathe themselves. Now I try to remind them before they shower, “Use soap all over and wash in all places.” Other times I ask lovingly when they have finished, “Did you use soap all over?” Sometimes they have to return to the shower because they did not use soap. This is not an uncommon happening among children because I have heard the same kinds of stories from my friends and other mothers. I have even heard that some children will go as far as washing their arm but nothing else because they know their mother will smell their arm to see if they have bathed.

These bathing experiences bring the scripture above to mind. Do we use our “soap”, which is spending time in the word, to allow God to cleanse us in every wrinkle and crevice of our hearts? Do we allow His word to wash us clean as Christ wants? Or are we like some children, just showering without soap or just washing our arms only to live a life of hypocrisy?