Fresh Morning Mercy

Well! It has been a little while since I’ve posted anything! I had written a post Monday morning but decided not to post it. It seemed a little to intimate, a little to revealing… and the Carpenter said I was being too hard on myself. Suffice it to say I had been in a “Mommy Rut” for most of the past weekend. I had severely lacked kindness and gentleness – among other Fruits of the Spirit – and hadn’t been the nicest Mama. Fortunately, I am learning to say, “I’m sorry” to my dear children. It is amazing how quickly they forgive! My heart wept when my not-so-little five-year old put her gentle arms around my neck and said, “I forgive you, Mama” when I told her it was wrong of me to have yelled in anger.

The song Great is Thy Faithfulness is dear to my heart:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee!

Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not,

As Thou hast been Thou forever will be!

Great is Thy faithfulness,

Great is Thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning, new mercies I see!

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

And Monday morning I was walking fresh in His mercy, gratefully washed anew by His Holy Spirit and the prayers of the Carpenter over his wife. I want to be, to my children, like the Lord is to me: filled with compassion, not changing in character, constantly faithful and kind. I am so thankful for the Faithfulness of my Lord! When I turn to Him He does not withhold Himself! When I’m in need of His grace, He pours it out. When I ask for wisdom, He freely gives it. When I call for help, He comes, able and ready. All I have needed He has provided. Thank you, Lord!

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So, what have we been doing with new mercies, fresh each morning? Well, drinking coffee for one thing! And this morning I even ate a Lemony Christmas Cookie … of course before the kiddos got up (actually, I ate a couple)! We’ve been decorating our house in anticipation of celebrating Jesus’ Birthday, baking bread and the afore mentioned cookies, reading books, making presents, and doing bits of school here and there (and, of course, laundry).

Abigail has started piano lessons. This is going better than I anticipated! I had been very nervous about trying to teach her piano. Finally, I just jumped into it; she had been expressing much interest and I didn’t want her desire to wane. I ended up talking to my mom about when I started learning – how much did I practice (10 – 15 min a day for starters), did she stand over my shoulder and make sure I practiced the ‘right’ way (no, she had no clue what I was doing anyway), should I demand perfection before moving on to the next lesson (no, that created much frustration in me, squelching my creativity). So, by the good grace of God, I’ve relaxed and am actually enjoying this! So is Abbi. She is flying through the lessons and even jumping ahead! Yesterday she even learned “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” as well as “The ABC’s” and “Baah, Baah Black Sheep.” She couldn’t WAIT to show Papa!

Phinehas is making Abbi a Christmas present – a beaded bracelet. I am once again impressed by that little boy! He was so focused and patient! He adds the beads and I am looping the thread around to make it a looped bracelet. He especially likes the fact that he has a shortened naptime!

Liam’s new favorite words are, “atch ME, Mama!” He wants me to watch him do all his new tricks. Its funny; sometimes he will ask me to watch him and then all he does is freeze in place. I’ll wait and when nothing else comes along I continue with the task at hand. Then, almost immediately, Liam asks me to watch him again. The process is repeated over and over till finally I have to say, “You need to DO something if you want me to watch!!!”

Lydia is crawling. Well… not conventionally. She inches while on her back, arching up then pushing with her feet. I do so wish I could get a picture of that! She’ll go all the way across the floor, turning when her head get hung up on something like the couch or a chair. The kids call her the inchworm!

Well, that is a little glimpse into our days, freshly filled with morning mercy! My “Mommy Rut” is over and I hope it stays away.