by Kimberly | Oct 20, 2014 | Books, mothering, parenting
Sometimes it may take me a while to get to a book, but God knows why he had me pick it up at that moment. I’ve had this book for a while, and just really picked it up in earnest this weekend. As you can see by this review – I’m done with it and it has many underlines and !!! sections!
Kimm Crandall is a mommy of four – and a funny one at that – and one who knows her weaknesses and is steeped in the Gospel. And even though she has written a helpful and gracious book, she would probably tell you herself that she needs to practice and rehearse the gospel every day (even after she wrote the chapter on rehearsing the gospel).
I liked this book because she shared stories I could relate to – even though her kids are definitely older than mine. She pointed me not to my mistakes and where I fail every day as a Mom, but instead she pointed me to Jesus – who is perfect in every way and intercedes for me as my Great High Priest.
I liked it because it was short and practical – two things I need as a Mom to two active toddler boys.
I liked it because she encouraged women to be honest with other women – and to use wisdom in sharing – but not to hold on to this idea of perfection that we seem to do so well in many of our churches.
I would recommend this book to any mom but especially ones who are :
1. Like me, in the throws of teaching two boys what it means for mommy and daddy to have authority and how they won’t get everything they want just because they throw a temper tantrum.
2. Like me, who loves their to do lists and hates it when everything isn’t marked off by the end of the day.
3. Like me, who knows the Gospel but still needs help in accepting it every day and also passing along that acceptance to their husbands and children. Oh, ladies – how I struggle with that. Teaching my boys to obey and listen and accept authority – and doing it with the love of Christ in my actions, words, and tone of voice.
Here are some of my favorites from the book:
“God’s faithfulness is not measured by tangible blessings. It’s measured by his character and his promises to us.” (22)
“God’s grace leaves us with nothing of ourselves but all of Jesus.” (32)
“Grace is a mystery so disturbing I can’t bring myself to look away.” (44)
“When you know you are being pursued by a merciful admirer, the lure of sins’ crude pleasure loses it’s sparkle.” (51)
“Take off the strong mother mask and embrace your weakness. Stop hiding the very inadequacy God wants to use to display the Gospel.” (61)
“Everything in Scripture points, not to our obligations, but to our Redeemer,” (67)
When you live in light of the Gospel – you are set free from your incessant need for approval.” (93)
Live in light of these truths – grounded in the Word and the Gospel.
(Thanks Kimm for providing me with a copy of this to read. All comments and thoughts are my own.)
by Kimberly | Oct 13, 2014 | glory and grace, Kids r Readers 2, mothering, parenting
Today my little boy turns one. One. Seriously?
And I think to myself I’ve had one year to teach him – to love him – to pour into him. What is he going to remember?
I hope he will remember the love, the kisses, the midnight feedings, the giggles and tickles.
What I hope he will always remember is that fact that his mommy and daddy love Jesus. We want him to know the truth of the Gospel. How will we do this?
We will pray that with endurance we will talk about the Gospel and live the gospel out in front of him and his brother every day they are with us. How can we do that?
Teaching him (as little as he is): the authority of God and His Word – and the love of the Father.
1. Use a chalkboard in your dining room to learn a Bible verse a week.
2. Sing songs in the car that speak of God’s love.
3. Watch shows that teach good things – and then talk to them about how the Gospel intersects with that.
4. Pray with them every chance you get.
5. Read Gospel-centered books to them – and teach them about God while reading any book you can.
by Kimberly | Oct 11, 2014 | mothering, parenting, Shepherding Children, Uncategorized
I will be the first to admit of multitasking while my boys are awake. If they are playing, I am on my phone, cooking dinner, cleaning, reading a book, etc. And I’m not hear to lay blame on anyone else who does that. Rest in grace, friend. Walk in grace. Live in grace. That’s what my husband tells me.
Here’s what I am learning: let there be kisses. and tickling. and book reading.
My older son who just turned two is just now loving to bring me a book (usually the Wheels on the Bus) and pat my legs which is asking me to put him on my lap so I can read to him. I first told him no, then immediately was so convicted by the Spirit that I’ve not told him no since. It devastated my heart that I would tell my sons no to something as fun as reading a book to them just because I wanted to do something else. So, even today, as he finished lunch, he ran and got a book, and we read and sang and played with cars at the table while his little brother tried to hold his sippy cup and ended up getting more milk on him than in his tummy. That’s life.
Much of this denial that I give my sons is based on two things:
1. I think what I have my schedule is more important. Blogging. Writing. Cleaning. Being entertained with social media. It all comes down to pride. I don’t want our family’s schedule to be dominated by the boys – but I do want there to be much more book reading, hand holding, tickle fests than instagram feed reading. What do I want to communicate: verbally and non-verbally to my boys? That they are important and time with them is something I cherish – or that things and strangers are more important? What you communicate in your actions also gives you the door to speak the Gospel into their lives every day.
2. I try to fill our days with too many things. We love to be out and about during the days that Daddy is working. We’ll either go to the park, the mall, the zoo, Bible study at church, the gym, the river, etc. Atlanta is full of fun activities for families – so we take advantage of many of them. But, then when we are home I have so much to get done. I’m not thinking about stopping going so much – I just will have to limit what I think has to be done. I’m reading Challies’ series on getting things done and it helps me to realize that I’m not God and won’t accomplish everything. And everything doesn’t have to be accomplished. Energy is a commodity too.
My boys won’t be little long. The days are sometimes long and I look forward to having breaks with friends or solo times for being in the word or just running errands. But, I love their laughs and hand-holding. My Mister said last night that we better relish the times that they are excited to see us when we pick them up – because that always won’t be the case. I know it won’t be forever and my boys will stop wanting to sit on my lap for reading sessions, or stop laughing when I tickle them, or they won’t want me to kiss them goodnight.
Until then, let there be kisses. Everything else will wait!
by Kimberly | Oct 7, 2014 | Bible, glory and grace, mothering
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
to stick it out through the hard times
Lamentations 3 – The Message
I know several friends, many of whom are new mommies, that struggle with the day to day like I sometimes do. Our kids are small, our husbands work long hours, sometimes other jobs are also on our agenda for today.
My one piece of advice that I was given that I also share the most with these friends is this:
You only need to get through today.
God gives grace enough for today – and tomorrow, you know what, HE is faithful to give more grace and show us his radically new mercies that enable us to fight the enemy:
Exhaustion
Impatience
Fatigue
Worry
Fear
Selfishness
His mercies are better.
by Kimberly | Oct 5, 2014 | mothering, photo shoot
A beautiful park and a beautiful Fall day and a beautiful Momma and her family – made this a wonderful first maternity photo shoot for me. Thanks Jennifer for not having baby Cook yet and for sharing your life and family with me. Will be looking forward to meeting you cute new son and bringing you macaroni and cheese – because we know that that meal makes all things better!
My prayers to our faithful God for knitting your baby beautifully and for protection over the next few days or weeks. And strength – can’t forget strength!
by Kimberly | Sep 30, 2014 | food, mothering, parenting, Shepherding Children, Treasured Traditions, Truly Families
Family and food. Those two words often go together for most people. Whether you wake up and cook pancakes on Saturday mornings, have a weekly pizza night, or always make certain Christmas cookies around the holidays – there are some things food always brings to the table. Maybe you always go to a certain restaurant for special meals, or maybe you have your grandmother’s recipe for gingerbread and her worn cloth apron that she would wear as she labored hard over her yeast rolls. Smell in the memories.
Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of these. We loved food – don’t get me wrong. There are a few things: smoked mullet, Granny’s chicken and rice, and Dad’s creole black eyed peas every New Years. Those are good traditions and I even introduced my mister to Papa’s smoked mullet a few years back. However, I want more.
As a wife and a mother of two littles, I want to create traditions, with the OK of my mister, that will do two things:
1. Provide a way to create memories for our family.
2. Help us to see the goodness of God to our family.
Here are three that we have started, and I will explain these two above points as we go along.
Weekly Pizza Night : making it, Little Caesars, store bought – just a night for pizza (and leftovers of course). Who doesn’t like cold pizza for breakfast. Hold the olives, please!
Weekly trips to Trader Joe’s and Ray’s Donuts. I am so grateful that my husband makes time to keep the boys while I go grocery shopping. I seldom go with them anymore because even if I’ve just fed them, they will eat the produce in the cart. Not going to happen. But, I like taking them to Trader Joe’s on Monday mornings. We get TJ cinnamon cookies, try new products, and make all the clerks smile. Building relationships. Its important. And happy boys. Also, we’ve started going to Ray’s Donuts in Marietta (amazing donut holes) one day each week. Nothing fancy, but good donuts. We spent 1.80 this morning, hung out with some friends who joined us, and ate donuts. It was so much fun wiping down my boys’ fingers with a wet wipe because they had glaze in between their little fingers and on the corners of the their lips.
Homemade Pad Thai for New Years. I am definitely southern and like greens and black eyed peas – but I wanted to do something different. So, last year the Mister and I said we would do this. I want to teach my boys to love it – and to teach them to love the different cultures of the world.
Our family is just starting out, but so far I’m building relationships that can hopefully spread into opportunities to share the gospel and I can teach our boys to be thankful for pizza, donuts, and pad thai. God is so good to us. Whether its an additional 5$ for pizza on a Sunday night – where we can rest and enjoy one another and not dirty up a kitchen – or 1.80 for a mid-morning, mid-week fun time with mommy with sticky fingers. These boys will have memories.
What food memories are you creating for your family? We will install more just waiting to see what yumminess!
