Hello . . . . . . is anyone still out there? . . . . Hopefully you will be willing to brush the dust off this blogspot, grab a cup of iced whatever and enjoy!

As the weather warms and gives us a foreshadowing of the lazy days of summer, I can't help but get excited about enjoying those days with my children without the burden of school work and art classes and music classes and youth group. I get excited thinking about playing mud wars in the "way-back", setting up lemonade stands on the corner, swimming at all hours of the day, and sun bathing on the chicken roof drinking pickle juice. ( don't knock it 'til you've tried it!!) I realize that I am not normal. Sadly, I hear many moms talk of their dread for the summer months; the months when their children are home from school and can't seem to find anything to do but sleep, eat and watch TV. I just want to take a few moments to encourage all of you who read this not to miss the opportunity you have this summer to tie strings of fellowship with your children.

Dan and I have spent many hours this past spring preparing and teaching on child training. If you were at any of those classes, you heard us say that all the training in the world is useless if you haven't taken the time to enjoy your children. Yes, it is possible to force obedience and immediate compliance without fellowship, but what you will end up with is a 12 or 13 year old who can't wait to get out of your house of tyranny. Our goal is to bring up children who want to obey because they don't want to break fellowship with us. I don't know any young children who don't long to see a reflection of joy when they look into their mommy and daddy's eyes. What do your children see?

I have to admit that, on a bad day, mine don't always see joy. Sometimes they see my irritation because I have laundry to fold and their needs are getting in my way. Sometimes they see my fatigue because I have been teaching them from early in the morning and its now 5:00 and I haven't made or even thought about dinner. Sometimes they see my stress because the paycheck didn't go as far as we needed it to and we have to figure out which bill is going to go unpaid. I'm sure everyone would agree that these are all legitimate "joy-stealers". No one would argue for a minute that these things are not important. But what do the children think? What do the children see? They see my irritation, but they don't know that it is the laundry I'm irritated with. They see my fatigue, but they don't know its the schoolwork that's tired me out. They see the stress, but they don't know that the root of that stress is financial. All they see is a reflection of irritation, fatigue and stress. On a bad day.

Fortunately, I have grown a lot in my mommyhood and I don't have many "bad days" anymore. In fact I stopped using that language completely. I won't call it a bad day because as long as there are hours left in the day I have a chance to turn it around.

So what do you do when the pile of laundry is taller than your tallest child? You pull it all out into the family room, turn the music up loud and have a laundry folding party!! What do you do when you have been working hard all day and have no idea what to do for dinner? Make PB&J's, throw a blanket down (inside or out) and have a dinner picnic. What do you do when your money is tight? Sit down with your kids and let them help by praying with you and talk about what an honor it is to watch how God will provide your next meal. I promise, He will show you miracles!

Then you watch the miracles that begin to happen in your children. Watch the joy that dances in their eyes because you included them in your life. Watch how they will do things with no other purpose than to please you. And when they get that look of approval or the hug or the "thank you" watch them burst with pride. And then watch it again and again!

Someone sent me an email recently that included this poem:

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by, 'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.

He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.'

We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal, My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. 'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,

'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'

By this time, I felt very small, And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed; 'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.

'Are these the flowers you picked for me?' He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'

I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'

He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway.'

I said, 'Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'

Convicting, isn't it? It was for me.

Here are my plans for the summer: Play and play hard!! Swim in the pool, wallow in the mud, and drink pickle juice on the chicken roof! Will you join me?

Blessings, Trina

More soon, I promise!!