Monday, May 12, 2008

What a fantastic weekend!


Here are some much better pictures taken by my mother in law!

What a fantastic weekend! My brother, his wife and their 3 boys got here Saturday evening about 5pm. We had sushi for supper (except Aaron and the kids, they had hot dogs). After supper we put the littlest kids to bed, called a babysitter and then took the older 3 kids to the hotel and we all went swimming - loads of fun! Sunday morning came and I was only a little bit (dripping with sarcasm) nervous about giving my testimony... I just tried not to think about it and whenever I did, I just said a little prayer that God would give me the words to speak and that I wouldn't cry to hard, or talk too long! The message was really great and got me thinking hard about my first responsibility aside from serving God. Being a keeper at home. Titus 2:4-5 "That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." I just got thinking about this not long ago after reading someone else's blog entry about it but yesterday's message really convicted me. God has a plan for everyone and His plan for women is to care for their home and their children. I always felt that I was already doing this and was happily patting myself on the back for being within God's will. What struck me was whether or not I'm doing an adequate job of it. Sometimes we just get so busy doing things that we forget that we are not just babysitters of our children, we are here to teach them how to love God. We get caught up with what we'll feed them, if the house is clean, the laundry done, changing diapers, wiping noses etc that we ignore them. (for me it was putting my 2 yr old in front of the TV and then when I got rid of the TV I just spent all day talking on the phone or playing on the computer) I've decided I need to be much more present as a mother and so this morning I shut the ringer off on my phone, called no one and have only just sat down at my computer because both kids are napping. Danielle and I had a lovely morning! This isn't just about getting along better with my children either. The bible shows us that the consequences of not adequately training (lots of ppl hate that word in reference to children so I'll also add 'teaching' as a suitable alternate) our children are serious. Look what the bible says about it....

1 Sam 3:13 "For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not."

Its our responsibility to restrain our children, this verse doesn't talk about the children being judged for being vile, but their FATHER for not restraining them!

Prov 29:15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."

This makes me think of all the times that I've said to myself "how embarrassing".

Prov 29:17 "Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul."

I want my children to be a delight unto my soul! I am going to try to memorize these verses so that whenever I think "my child is just terrible!" I can remind myself that it is MY responsibility to keep my children from making themselves vile... they won't turn out to be nice people all on their own!

Ok now on to the fun part. After the service I was called up to give my testimony. I think I basically said everything that I said in my first blog entry. It wasn't as hard as I thought and I only cried a few times. After I was done Aaron got up and asked to have his church membership reinstated. (if you want to know why his membership had been removed, read this lengthy article and it will make sense http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0626.htm ) The parts of his testimony that really struck me was how he said that it all started with just not reading his bible everyday. Then he stopped listening in church and stopped seeking God first in his life. Quickly sin crept into his life as he started just doing what HE wanted to do. It makes me realize how we need to guard ourselves that we don't compromise what we believe. After he gave his testimony I went down and got changed into an old skirt and t-shirt to get baptized. I was last. The water was warm and I could see Aaron, holding Danielle, while standing next to his Dad, who was holding Jack. Aaron pointed me out to Danielle who looked at me and then proclaimed "Mommy!" with a big smile across her face. My brother came to the front of the church and started taking pictures. Pastor Reaves asked me a few questions to assure that I understood why I was being baptized and confirm that I knew this made me a member of the church. I voiced my understanding and agreed to becoming a church member and then he said those words "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost" and down I went... And up I came! What a wonderful reminder of Jesus' death and resurrection... I know I'll never fully comprehend the depth of His love for us.

After the service I was welcomed into my new family with loving arms! My brother and his wife joined us at my in-laws for a nice big roast beef lunch and loads of fun and visiting. While we were there Aaron's sister presented their mom with the gift we'd all chipped in for - a porch swing to go on the deck that my FIL is building for her. My MIL presented me with a surprise, a plaster mold of my kids hands! She had snuck them off to do it while I was sewing over there the other day... it was a lovely surprise! All the kids had a blast jumping on the trampoline, swinging and sliding.

Here's a picture of my mother's day gift!

Photobucket

Thats it I think.

5 comments:

Deborah said...

Congratulations Nadine!! You sound so happy, and I'm happy for you!
I really like what you said at the beginning..about being a keeper at home...it's so true...we can be at home, but still not doing all that we should be doing, as moms...Great post!
The mold of the kids hands is so nice too...joanne's so good at stuff like that..I bet she's loving having grandkids to do things for and with.
Keep posting, I keep checking in!

Deborah said...

Hi again, I just added you to my blogroll...Thanks for joining!

NiftyMama said...

Yes, I think that Joanne is absolutely LOVING being a grandma. In her yard she has a trampoline, 2 swing sets and a slide.

TO BECOME said...

This is my first visit to your blog. I have enjoyed being here. I love your Mother's Day gift. I have 5 that look something like that from my 5 when they were very young. I treasure them so much. Have a great day. connie from Texas

NiftyMama said...

Thanks so much for stopping by!