Friday, June 23, 2006

THE JOY OF FRIDAY!!!

There's nothing better than the end of the week, at least for me. It usually means I can stay up later, the kids can stay up later too, and yes I know a lot of parents don't agree with having their kids up late, but mine only get to do it every friday and saturday night, it's sorta like a family tradition.
We play games together or watch a movie or whatever, but it's enough to make us feel connected after a crazy week of running around with everyone doing their own thing.

Thank you all for the comments on yesterday's post, I think Liz opened up a can of worms for me and I just ran with it, literally spilling worms all over. (not really, but you get the idea)

Just got back from the park with the kids and Veronica and her kids. It was really nice to take them out first thing in the morning and let them have some fun instead of being stuck in the house. Boy are we gonna miss them when they move in August. Another hard part of being a military family! Go check out her blog and see those gorgeous kids, gotta love the red hair on Sydney (reminds me of my red haired princess).

After lunch we're going over to their house so the kids can play in the sprinkler outside. No it's not just a normal lawn sprinkler, it's one of those new ones that wiggle around like crazy LOL
Don't worry I will take the camera, I'm sure there will be lots of good moments to capture and then share on the blog.

Nothing much planned for today, just having some outdoor fun with the kids and then the usual house cleaning, you know, the joys of being a housewife.

Don't forget to check out my "Everyday Things" post below and on my food blog you can find my Five Ingredients Friday too.

With all the organizing and cleaning I've been doing here, running around with kids etc, I really feel that I've slipped a bit from my closeness with God. I wouldn't have known it before because I remember that when I didn't have that close relationship with Him, I didn't know what I was missing. Now that I do, I know what I'm missing out on and it's a HUGE change in my day to day.

It pretty much changes everything, your whole perspective and way of thinking. It's like removing that armor and leaving yourself vulnerable to attacks. So last night as I went to bed, I closed my eyes and started to pray, only there was a problem, I couldn't seem to do it. Anyone else ever feel that way???
It's like I knew what I wanted to say and who to pray for but the minute I opened my mouth it would become an inaudible jumble of weird-make-no-sense words, or I would fall asleep for a minute, wake up to realize I was trying to pray and have it happen again. Boy nothing like that to bring back the reality that the devil really tries to cut your happiness and any form of communication with the Lord.

After about an hour of struggling with this, I practically BEGGED God to please help me out here, it really felt like a deliberate attack, knowing that I was already feeling distant from Him and trying to make sure that connection was completely broken. What a scary feeling!!!
I do remember after a few minutes, that I was able to pray, honestly and straight from the heart, no more stumbling and babbling on my part, just pure emotional beautiful words that said everything I was feeling and prayed for those who were in need. Thank you Lord, for yet again coming to my rescue....I have to say though this Christian Damsel in Distress role is getting pretty old!!!

Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

1 Peter 5:8 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

But before I close this post, I want you to think about something. If you are not being attacked by the devil, then he obviously isn't worried about you, and if he isn't worried about you then maybe you are NOT defending God and living for God the way you should, right???

If I find myself in his little black book of souls to torture, then at least I know that I'm doing something right by God because let's face it, he obviously sees me as a threat.

2 Timothy 2:3 - Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

YES, I will and I will gladly put up with the devils deliberate attempts to bring me down, because I know that I will always come out winning!!!

God Bless,

4 comments:

Nicole said...

Thank you for your beautiful post! You don't understand how bad I needed that today. I am not at all close to God right now. I feel so distant, and I am not sure how I got here. On the outside, I think it looks like I am close to Him. But I'm not really. I want more for me and my family in general. I want to be the BEST mom to my kids and know that they are seeing me love HIM in EVERYTHING that I do. Even in typing this out, I want to erase it and go to another blog that is more comfortable for me to think about. It is emberrassing to me to write these words. I pray to be closer to Him today. Please pray for me! Thank you again for this post Sandra!!

Lora said...

Thank you so much for your encouraging blog! I am so glad I stumbled upon it. I am also a 31 year old stay at home mom of 2, seeking to grow in my relationship with the Lord. Keep up the great work! You are a blessing!
Lora
eagerhands.blogspot.com

Dr.John said...

Don't give the devil too much credit. Some of it is the old Adam in us breaking out. The good news is that God goes on loving us even when we have a hard time loving him and as you discovered will break in to let us know we are loved.

Looney Mom™ said...

EEEWWWW, I hate worms; I hope I didn't make you make a big mess!

And I know what you mean about the trials. All we can do is learn day by day - pray for strength for TODAY and don't worry about tomorrow. It's a hard lesson, but I pray I'll get the hang of it soon.