Mother's Day Blessings

It's Friday!

Does that mean anything to you?

In our house, it means very little...except that the grocery stores are a bit busier, and all the neighbor kids are at home in the middle of the day. With Real Gil working very unusual hours with no routine, his odds of being home on the weekend are no better than on a weekday. So, while the world around us seems to shift, to take a deep, relaxing breath on Fridays, we don't.

How about your family?

Whatever your weekend looks like, whether its full of routines or surprises, I hope it's filled with lasting memories and True Peace.

Here are a few of my favorite reads this week if you are interested...

• A great little article by a preschool teacher. Kids, especially her students, seem to be so full of gratitude. Is this contagious?
• Do you nag encourage your kids to do chores? If so, here's a free chart system for chores.
• I'm not sure what was more interesting in this article about birth control - the article itself, the related articles at the bottom of the post, or the comments at the very bottom. Can you tell I'm remaining vague and neutral on this issue? Not sure I will ever be brave enough to blog about my own personal opinion (and it is just an opinion, to be sure). I'll just refer you to thought-provoking articles and leave it at that for now. :)
  
• With just over a month to go in active missions before returning to his family, we are praying daily for Uncle 'Keve in Afghanistan. And sometimes, when we are brave enough to look, we check this list and pray for the families of those who have died for our freedom, for the freedom of women and children in faraway places.
• My husband, dear man that he is, thinks I might be a bit paranoid because every six months or so, I check our local registry of sex offenders. So far, it has not amounted to much except that I have a few faces in memory and I have changed my running route a bit to avoid one street in particular. Perhaps this is a bit extreme. It doesn't freak me out though, it kinda helps me to feel proactive. If you are so inclined, here is the link to the national registry. You can type in your address and see a map of your area.
• Do you have Lego fans in your home? Every month, Lego publishes printable instructions for various Lego creations. These work great in a homeschool workbox or just for fun, or both. Check them out here.
• My mind, and heart, have been distracted this week as we have watched our dear home-away-from-home, Nashville, literally fill with water. With a few phone calls in to those neighbors who lived in our neighborhood in West Nashville, we have yet to hear how they fared. Our old home was directly across from the Harpeth River and we wonder how it stands today. And we are praying for strength for our loved ones there.
  

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers. Remember when we all desperately WANTED to be pregnant, to be wished a "happy mother's day." Now, we get it. So, I'm thankful that God blessed me with the title of "mother."

But no matter what titles we carry and no matter the weight behind each one of our labels, might our first and foremost title be "beloved of God." So thankful His love is insurmountable, far-reaching.

"...I will call those who were not My people, 'My People.' and her who was not beloved, 'beloved.'" Romans 9:25

Resting in my Beloved,
Karen