Ode to the Morning Nap

In the last week, my almost-two-year-old son has dropped his morning nap (without adding any additional afternoon or nighttime sleep, mind you) and learned to open doorknobs.  That effectively turns any semblance of normalcy around here on its head, thank you very much.  And so I bid farewell to our friend, the morning nap, with a heartfelt tribute....

Oh, Morning Nap, how I need you desperately and loathe you in the same breath!  That blessed hour of near-peace that always gets in the way of any possible outing.  I mourn your loss with a sigh of relief.  If only you had magically transplanted yourself next door to Afternoon Nap.  Instead you ran off for greener pastures and left me with a whiny leech completely incapable of entertaining himself for two minutes.  But I'm not bitter.  We're moving on, whole mornings available for wandering.  This is better. Right?  Oh, Mourning Nap!

Jesus' Fear-Fighting

I was reading in Matthew 10 this week when I was struck anew by the second half of the chapter.  Starting in verse 16, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the unpleasant reception they will receive when they go out in His name.  They were going to be hated, flogged, persecuted, handed over to the government, betrayed by family--some seriously scary stuff.

He prepared them, armed with knowledge.  Then He comforted them with truth.  The hairs on their head were numbered.  His eye is on the sparrow, so you know He is watching you and great is your reward when you are persecuted for the sake of our Lord.  They would truly find their lives when they were willing to lose them.  And He was backing them up...with all the power and authority that came with that.

I can just imagine the disciples' eyes getting wider and wider as Jesus laid all the scary reality out for them.  Sort of like A's eyes got wider and wider as I talked about fire escape plans.  I imagine a few of them lost some sleep to fear of the possibilities, just like she has.  I imagine they all had to repeat the truth to themselves more than a few times.

Thanks, God, for sharing this with me.  Just a little reassurance that it's okay to prepare my kids for reality, scary as it may be.  And thanks for reminding me that you give us truth as the best weapon against fear.

100 Day

We recently celebrated 100 Day at our little homeschool.  I could not be more relieved to have reached this milestone.  We had done "number of the day" activities for every number leading up to this big culmination of the marvelous phenomenon that is 100!  If I ever have to do "number of the day" again, I think I'll move to Mars.

Making necklaces with 100 cheerios

Showing off our hats with 10 groups of 10

How far is 100 steps?  Can you see them waaayy down there?

Did I Tell You the One About...

So I finally got about a bazillion photos off my camera and realized I had failed to tell you about C's fourth birthday party...

She had a hard time deciding on a theme.  See if you can guess it from the photos.

If you didn't get it from that last one, then I may as well just tell you.  It was a "purple party with baby animals and a side of Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon."   Very memorable, to say the least.

And she got her first bicycle, complete with a basketful of ponies.  It was a good day to be the sweetest four-year-old I know.

Second Generation Fear-Fighters

Okay, so just a few more thoughts on fear because we have had a big dose of it around here this week.

I know it is my responsibility as a parent to prepare my kiddos for the real world where scary things sometimes happen.  I have procrastinated in a bad way on some basic safety stuff because I don't want to introduce the very kinds of fear that I sometimes struggle with.  Can't I keep it all sunshine and roses for them?

I finally bit the bullet and covered fire safety during school last week.  We got cartoonish books from the library, I downloaded fun activity pages from the internet, we went to the fire station for a tour and cheesy photo ops, we made a race out of practicing our escape plan from the house.

My all-too-grown-up firstborn wasn't haven't it.  She knew good and well that fire is scary, painful business and she made it known that talking about scary stuff was not fun and games and she didn't want any part of it.  We had an uphill battle (that we're still fighting) to convince her that preparation is a good tool for fighting fear.  Knowledge may be power, but it was not very comforting to her.

By mid-week, I had the opportunity to hand down my fear-fighting tools (see what I did there? fire-fighting, fear-fighting...never mind).  As she cowered in her bed, unable to sleep, I told her about how we use truth to fight fear, putting it on like a shield and sword.  I spoke God's truth over her and gave her the tools I've used so often...talking to God about the fear, being the boss of our thoughts and making them obey the truth, singing true songs, and praying for others to take the focus off ourselves.

I picked up a new tool at the ladies' retreat I went to last weekend.  The speaker told us not to ask "What if...?" but "What would a good God do if....?"  I decided to lay this tool on the table for A.  We went there out loud because I knew her little female mind had already gone to the worst case scenario (though her worst case scenario was much easier to talk about out loud than mine).  What would our good God do if all your stuffed animals burned in a fire?  What would our good God do if our house was ruined?  What would our good God do if we got hurt trying to go out the window?  He would provide above and beyond what we could ask or imagine and let us tell the story.  Maybe that story would help someone else love God.

I don't want to pass on fear to my kids.  I'm praying hard about how to tell them what they need to know without filling their hearts with fear.  But I'm so grateful now for my own fear struggle and the tools of truth I have been given.  I wish they didn't need them, but I'm glad I can pass them down to my daughters especially, for this seems to be a battle uniquely faced by women.  I pray my girls will wield their weapons with growing trust in their power.  Together we are mighty Princess Warriors of Truth and the lies of fear will not hold us! (cue patriotic musical crescendo)