Eagy Family Blog

God’s been working on my heart lately…and I’m so thankful!  I just posted something similar on our lady’s church blog, so this may be a repeat for some of you.  Well, I really have no idea how many of you ladies read this (except for Michelle and Heather, “hello!”).  So anyway, it’s worth repeating - if for no other reason than it’s what God is doing in my life today.

I’m with my kids all day, every day - with few exceptions.  They see happy Mama, frustrated Mama, pleasant Mama, hurried Mama, impatient Mama, and not to mention angry Mama.  I’d like to say that happy Mama and peaceful Mama stick around most of the time, but it seems (more than usual) lately the other not-so-fun mamas have crept in.  God is teaching me to model humility to my kids.  When I sin in front of them, I’m choosing to confess my sin, ask for forgiveness, pray for sanctification in that area and talk about the grace Jesus gives us with my kids. It would be easier to ignore my unhappy attitude or brush off a harsh comment I made to my kids.  But I’m finding LIFE when I stop and confess my sin, explaining how Mama was wrong and needed to ask for forgiveness.  In this way, I hope to be teaching my kids that we all sin - no matter how hard we try not to - and there is forgiveness and grace for our sins.

Now if I could just get better at this in general!  For some reason, confessing my sins to my kids is easier than to adults.  Lord, help me to have a heart of humility!  Whew, pride is an awful thing.

Thankfully Hannah and Gabe are extremely gracious and forgiving.  They move on sooner than I’d like sometimes!  Thank you, Jesus, for “moving on” without dwelling on my sins, for steadfast love, for how you’ve removed my sins from me as far as the east is from the west. “Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9

If you didn’t already know, I’m a faithful reader of the Girl Talk Blog.  Here’s a plug: www.girltalk.blogs.com  These 4 ladies make me think, point me back to God, speak the truth of the Word, and inspire me to be a better wife and mama!  If you haven’t bookmarked their site, I’d suggest doing it!

On to why I decided to post today…yesterday’s post on the Girl Talk Blog was about priorities.  They listed out several priorities that any Christian woman should possess:

•    Grow in godliness.
•    Love my family.
•    Serve in the church.
•    Fellowship with Christians.
•    Evangelize non-Christians.
•    Attend to my work.
•    Care for my physical health.

I’m realizing after praying over this list that “attending to my work” often comes first for me.  Yuck!  Sometimes even before “loving my family”.  I LOVE the order of this list.  I’d say it probably doesn’t need to look identical for every woman, but the model has value.  It was inspiring to me that growing with God is first (easy to say, harder to model throughout the day), followed by loving my family.  It’s the next three that got me thinking: Serve in the church, fellowship with Christians and evangelize to non-Christians.  In their model, those come BEFORE attending to my own home!

I know this list isn’t trying to say “let your house go to pits, don’t keep up on laundry, throw together a meal when necessary…” because those things are a blessing to my husband and children.  A clean, restful home, clothes neatly hung and ready to be worn, and warm, thoughtful meals bless my family.  But I’m seeing an eternal perspective in this list of priorities that I hadn’t given its due weight.

And I’m not trying to ignore the last one: caring for my physical health.  Although I do stink at that one!  But it made the short list, and I know it’s important.

I just thought this was good enough to share!  Hope God speaks to you through it, too!

Gabe has been talking about his birthday ever since Christmas. We explained that after Jesus’ birthday, it’s Gabe’s birthday…but I think he’s decided that the whole month of January is his birthday! “Two birthday, chocolate cake” is his favorite phrase. We hear it often. Like a broken record some days!

Gabe has become such a sweet man. We’re thrilled he’s talking so much - and I think he is, too. He asks for something like “Help lid please. Hard. Got it!” And smiles and goes on to something else. Like “Mama, juice please? On counter, too high. Shank you!” He loves to “call” people on the phone: “Hi, Shauna! Ya, no shanks, ya, what doin? OK. Bye!”

Gabriel, I have loved watching you learn and grow in leaps lately. You bring so much joy to my day - sweetly talking to Abigail and giving her toys, following Hannah everywhere, always looking for a moment to sit close to Mama or be held. You are a precious gift, my little man. You are gracious to me when you “pee pee froo” (pee through his diaper) because Mama forgot to change you amidst the craziness. Everything you do is with excitement - and volume! You love being on the go - being hauled around to stores and the library (”no home, new store”). It’s fun to see you gravitate toward boy stuff - tools, balls, whacking stuff, shooting dart guns, fixing things, cars, big fire boots, swords…but you’ll also let Hannah pretend you’re her lamb when she sings Mary had a Little Lamb, get into the doll house, push babies around in the stroller, and wear Hannah’s tiara.

But my favorite thing about you? Your million dollar smile. You melt my heart, handsome man. Mama loves you - sooooo much!

Happy Birthday, Month Buddy!