Anticipation

I'm getting over the top excited about meeting our newest little treasure. I am coming up on 32 weeks (At least that's how far I think I am... They keep changing the due date on us. :)

Which means.... Possibly only 6 more weeks till that glorious day when another little Clark comes into the world!!!! If I didn't care so little for being pregnant, I would seriously have a dozen children in a heart beat. I can't even express with my silly words how much I love being a mom! I can say without an ounce of hesitation that it is, and always will be, the best job on earth. :)

Right now I'm sitting across the table from my little Reesie, who slept in till 8am for the first time in her entire life, so it's just her and I at the table. She spilled her bowl of cereal all over the table, asked for a napkin, and cleaned up the mess all by herself. She's only two years old and yet it is already so obvious to me that the Lord has given her a heart that wants to help and serve others. The other night while I was out, she was with Papa and the other kids watching a movie. She got up and went to the kitchen and got the other kid's water cups and brought them to them and then went back and got her own. She helps me unload the dishwasher almost every day. She helps me put the laundry in the dryer from the washer. She helps me "fold" the laundry, which usually entails her actually "unfolding" the laundry... but I'm so grateful for her heart of willingly wanting to help me that I don't mind folding the same shirt three times. She's a little gem.

Siah has become so independent this past year. He wakes up in the morning, dresses himself, makes his bed, clears the table after breakfast, and vacuums up all the crumbs off the kitchen floor with this little dust buster that we have. He takes the trash out from our kitchen to our garage. Yesterday was trash day and when we went outside Siah noticed the empty trash cans on the side of the road out front of our house. He asked me if the cans were ours and I said yes. Then without me saying a word he went over to the cans and carried them back into the garage where he knows that they go. Then he carried our neighbors up to their garage. Then he came to me and said, "Mama. I put the trash cans away. Now Papa doesn't have to do that job when he gets home." Then he went and got on his bike and road down the street.

I know sometimes I am tempted to feel sad that our little guy is growing up so fast. But then I decide instead to soak up the joys (and challenges) of each phase. If Siah had always stayed in his chubby, zealous, two-year-old phase, I would be missing out on the now. Missing out on seeing the pride on his face when he accomplishes new things... missing out on the patience and "google-ing" skills that I am gaining in this phase of his one-million-and-one-questions-a-day phase (Thank goodness for the internet because truth be told, I have no idea why or how my oven works, or the details of how pushing one little button causes my garage door to open... things Siah continues to ask me about.)...

I'm glad our treasures are growing. I'm glad that there is hope that Reesie will someday learn to speak English and we won't always have to be guessing as to what on earth she is trying to communicate. I'm glad that Siah is turning into this gentle but strong little leader in our home. I'm glad that Halee too, has a heart of service and a gentle and quiet Spirit about her. I love watching her learn and decide to be brave. We went to the doctor yesterday and on the way I was encouraging the kids to brave. They have been memorizing Joshua 1:9. On our way in the building Halee declared, "Mom, I'm gonna be strong and courageous in that doctor's room!" And she was! She only cried once when the doctor asked her to count to five and she froze up and couldn't do it. She got embarrased and started to cry. But then we said our verse and she dried up her tears and did a great job answering the doctors questions. When we left the doctors office I told her how proud I was that she had been "strong and courageous"! And a HUGE smile crept across her face... she loves it when people are proud of her! :)... And I am... VERY PROUD of her and the little girl that she is becoming!

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Wow... this turned into a very different post than I was thinking about writing this morning. I just woke up so excited and curious and a good anxious, to meet the newest little Clark. I guess when I think about all our treasures, a whole mouthful of thoughts and memories consume me and I can't help but write it all down.

We are all doing well out here in Kansas land... The slower pace, the strong community that we have found in our new church, the time that we have with each other has brought us that much closer to each other and to the Lord. Even the kiddos are getting excited to meet their little brother. Siah and Halee ask me everyday, "How many more weeks Mama until he comes?"

Today I responded with, "Let's pray for only six more weeks!" It's hard to believe that the Lord would bless us with FOUR small treasures in five short years. As I write this post I have a few tears falling out of my eyes just from the feeling of shear gratitude for what we've been given. Not a day has gone by that I have taken our treasures for granted! Love, love, love, love these little people!!!

What Siah Wants To Know

Josiah asks me questions all day long.

Today he asked me...

"Mom, Why do we get new bodies when we go to heaven? What's wrong with the ones we have?"

In the car he asked about rockets.

"Why don't lots of people get to go in rockets?"

Followed by,

"Mom, why do we have two blankets on our couch?"

"Mom, what day is today?"... "Yeah, but what's the number of this day?"

"Mom, can I have a piece of gum?"

"Mom, when are we going to eat lunch?" "What time?" "Is it that time right now?"

"Mom, How are they making our sprinklers outside?"... "Yeah, but how?"

"Mom, Can I have a piece of gum."

"Mom, Do we have to take a rest today?"

"Mom, how does the fire come up out of that oven?"... "Yeah but how does it cook our food?"

"Mom, Why does the garage open like that?"... "Yeah but, how does that button make that door go up?"

"Mom, What do mouses eat?"

"Mom, Why does Papa have to go to work today?"

"Mom, can I have a piece of gum?"

And that...

was all in the last ten minutes!!!

Could I hire someone to please come over and just be a a full time question answerer????

Cuz Siah wants to know! :)

BMX-er

I'm not biased or possibly a proud Mama or anything like that.... But I just have to say that my Siah is AWESOME on his bike!!!!

My thought is... Siah just might be our BMX'er (I know that's not really a word, but oh well. ) We tried a sports class with him last Spring. But it turned out that his favorite part of the whole 10 weeks of class was the 30 seconds when he stood up front and received his trophy. He could often times be caught picking the grass, or pulling his shirt up over his head in the middle of the field.

Sports just might not be his thing... but on his bike... he's the MAN!!! He rides SOO fast... and he's fearless about it! I love it when he speeds past me and I can see the hugest smile plastered across his face as he rides into the wind.

Joey and Adam built a little track for their motorcycles in the empty lot next to our house. Siah loves to ride the track as fast as he can on his little two-wheeler...

Check it out!

Whoa There!!!!!

Good Morning Reesie...

Whooooaaaa there!!!! What happened to your hair????

Reesie, you put a really big smile on my face without even trying!!!! :)

View

I do quite enjoy the view from my front porch looking OUT....

But what I ABSOLUTELY LOVE more than anything...

is the view from my front porch looking IN!

It's Those Little Things

Yesterday I was putting some laundry away in my room. When I walked back into the living room I saw my two little girls laying on the floor together. Reesie was holding my Bible open upside down.

I asked them what they were doing and Halee ecstatically proclaimed, "Mama, I'm teaching Reesie how to pray!!!

"Watch," she said... "Reesie, say, "thank you Jesus.""

Reesie said, "Na na Su su."

Halee continued, "for our toys."

Reesie... "Oiyssss."

Halee wraped it up, "AMEN"

And Reesie followed.. "AMEN!!!"

And this Mama of theirs got all choked up. I mean, seriously, what Mama wouldn't be blessed to see her daughters learning to pray together??? It's these little things that I LOVE soo much about being a Mama.

When I was able to pull myself together a little bit, I hugged Halee and told her that she was the best big sister around!

I Love these girls!!!!

Adventurously Expectant

“When you face two options and each seems to please God, consider the one that displays God’s glory, power and strength. This makes room for God to reveal Himself to you and show Himself through you. God wants us to see the wondrous things He will accomplish in us. Don’t be fearful about the hard road He may ask you to take. Be encouraged and excited about seeing His divine, supernatural activity in and through you. God’s voice commands the option that will display His power. He desires to show Himself strong in you and will encourage you to do things that require trust and faith.”

(Ms. Shirer)

The past two years of our lives have seemed packed full of these types of decisions...

Should we move in with the Peeks?... I don't know Lord, it'll make me uncomfortable and cause me to think about others way more than I'm used to.

Should we have another child?.. I don't know Lord, our finances are not excessive, we already have all our kiddos in one room... (BTW, are these just things that the world cares about or are they the things that you care about?) I find myself, even now, sometimes doubting my ability to be a good mom the the three treasures that we already have... Can I really do FOUR?

Should we uproot our family and move half way across the country to help with a church and give our kids a life a in a slower paced town with a different kind of folk? I don't know Lord, it sounds JUST PLAIN CRAZY if you ask me. :)

We wisely, but maybe sheepishly in the moment said YES to all of the above...

Why?

Because... In each circumstance we "considered the one that would display God’s glory, power and strength." I genuinely think that no matter what decision we had made with any of these situations the Lord would have been pleased... and He would have continued to pursue us and use us for His kingdom either way. But as scary as those decisions seemed in the moment they also left us adventurously expectant of what God HIMSELF was going to do with little old us. You see, we are probably the most plain-jane family that you will ever meet. WE live in a simple home, ride motorcycles on the track we built in the empty lot next to our house on the weekends, eat a lot of spaghetti and french bread. OUr vacations are comprised of tent camping with friends and LONG road trips to Texas...

The world might look at us and think, "simple."

But with the Lord in our hearts, He looks at us and wants us to know that he thinks, "extravagant."

We have a new adventure at our finger tips right now.

Should we homeschool this year or send Siah to school? I don't know Lord... I'm gonna have a newborn and Joey is working a lot these days... Is it plausible?

I am starting to discover that either answer would be pleasing to the Lord. For some the adventure would be in trusting God to send their treasure to school. FOr others their trust in GOd would grow in saying "yes" to homeschool. For us, we're going to jump out in faith through homeschooling.

Over the past few years each time that we have chosen the path that would require our family to rely more on the Lord and less on ourselves we have been blessed beyond anything that we could have imagined. Joey and I went on a date a few nights ago (A precious new friend from church offered to hang out with our kids so that Joey and I could go out! What a treat! Thanks Dani!). On our date we were talking about how things were going, living out here. Then Joey pointed out how blessed he has been to see how joyful I've been since we got here. He shared with me how he's noticed a contentment in me, patience in me, tenderness in me. And let me tell you, that that is 100% Jesus at work in my life!!! Because with all that is going on in my life...

The three small children that ask me a zillion questions all at once, all day long...

The baby growing in my belly that moves around like a crazy man and tempts me to feel grouchy and irritated...

The stretch marks, the tightness in my skin, my body molding itself into a shape that makes me feel more like an excessively large watermelon that wins first place at the country fair, as opposed to the sexy, red rose that I would like it to be...

The unfamiliarity of our town and getting around...

The house that seems to have a constant stream of, let's just call them, "special needs," the ants in my kitchen, the dirt that blows in through our front door that isn't sealed properly that they have supposedly "fixed" three times, the very unpleasant stench that lurks around the outside of house at night.

But I am finding that all those so called "trials" are just being eclipsed by God's glory. His extravagant love for me and his desire to captivate me daily with that glory has changed my insides completely.

So here we go again... Leaving Comfort For Courage...

I took these pictures of our treasures running together in tall cattails behind our house yesterday. I love them because they are such a visual to me of what it looks like to be adventurously expectant of what God has for our lives. I don't want to miss out on seeing God's glory because I'm afraid.

I've mentioned this before, but I want to bring it up again. My kiddos are so used to having so many boundaries when they go outside. We used to live on a blind corner where cars would race around so fast that our kids had VERY defined boundaries as to where they could ride their bikes and play in our front yard. And now that we are out here, we are surrounded by giant fields that I can imagine seem endless to our children.

They have not yet ventured all the way across the field behind our house.

But each day... They get a little more adventurous...

When they are together, they venture out a little further... when they realize that they are standing in the field alone, they quickly run back towards the house where they feel safe...

With Jesus in our hearts, we can make it ALL the way across the field...

We might stumble and fall along the way....

But it's worth it....

"God wants us to see the wondrous things He will accomplish in us. Don’t be fearful about the hard road He may ask you to take. Be encouraged and excited about seeing His divine, supernatural activity in and through you."

We are adventurously expectant...

I can't wait to let you know how it goes. :)

Feeding Giraffes

On Mother's Day we went to the zoo for a few hours. My Halee-belle was not feeling so well so she sat in the stroller the entire time. But the other kids and Papa and I fed the giraffes and enjoyed each others company...

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is much smaller than what we were used to in San Diego. But it has some really sweet treats about it... One being, that you can feed the giraffes without having to pay an arm and leg for a special tour. Even Reesie fed one of the huge giraffes... to tell you the truth I was kinda surprised that she wasn't scared off her rocker when the 18 foot animal lowered his head and sucked that cracker right out of her hand with his disgustingly long tongue. But she didn't even make a peep. In fact she kinda gave that giraffe a nasty look... like.. "you big, old, men giraffe, you just took my snack." :) It was actually kinda funny.

I love doing this kinda stuff with our kiddos. And I love it even more when Papa gets to come with us. We're so blessed to be able to feed giraffes on our days together!

Here's one of the cute baby giraffes...

Reesie and I looking at the the monkey's

Two of my sweet treasures...

Reesie and her Papa...

And my little boy who seem to me to be getting bigger by the second.

And that was our day together at the zoo!!!

:)

Resources

Some of my favorite parenting resources besides the Bible are...

1. Shepherding A Child's Heart by ...This book is an incredible reminder that my goal as a mom is to get into their heart so that they will desire to fall hard after the Lord and make the right choices on their own as opposed to simply focusing on changing their behavior. Every poor behavior has a heart issue attached to it. Deal with the heart issue, and the behavior will most likely change itself. SUCH A GOOD BOOK!!!

2.Don't Make Me Count To Three by Ginger Plowman. This book started to make sense to me when my kids were three and four years old. It says a lot of the same stuff as Shepherding A Child's Heart does but it gives a lot more specific examples. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! It is my absolute favorite out of all the books that I have ever read about parenting. She writes in a way that makes sense to my brain and my heart.

(I love it so much that I loaned it to a friend so I don't have a picture of it...)

3. Ginger also makes this calendar called Wise Words For Moms that I LOVE! It's a two page calendar that has a list of behaviors that young kids might be struggling with. Next to the behavior it lists a few meaningful questions that you can ask your child about that particular situation and then it gives scriptures for the behavior that you want them to "take off" followed by verses for the behavior that you want them to "put on" instead.

When I first got it I would leave it in the bathroom and I would literally read word for word out loud to my kids whatever it was that they were struggling through. Now that I've read it so many times I am able to talk through some of the issues with my kids without having to use the chart but it has been EXTREMELY helpful to me as a mom who did not grow up in a Christian home. (Neither of my parents became Christians until I was a teenager, so I feel like I have had to start from scratch when it comes to figuring out how to raise my little ones in accordance with God's Word.)

4. Proverbs For Parenting by Barbara Decker... What I love about this one is that it is ALL scripture! It doesn't have anyones opinion in it. The author has come up with a bunch of topics that most kids struggle through and has found, and listed several scriptures that deal with each topic. Although many other books have been helpful resources, ultimately I want to raise my kids in accordance with the Word of God... This book does exactly that... It leads me straight to His Word!

5. The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo... The funny thing about this book is that I got it because I thought it was a book about how to deal with a child who is struggling with anger. It turned out to be a book that the Lord has used to help me tremendously through my own anger issues (that I have shared about several times on this blog.) If there is anyone out there who has ever said, "I never really struggled with anger until I had kids," then this book will bless your socks off if you're willing to really hear what it has to say.

6.Priolo also wrote a book called Teach Them Diligently. It gives some practical ways on how to use the scriptures to train our children. It's got some good stuff in it but you have to be careful to not get overwhelmed by all it's "suggestions." Just take one idea at a time and once that idea is well implemented then you can add in another idea.

7. How To Be The Parents Of Happy Obedient Children by Roy Lessin. This book is farely similar to Shepherding A Child's Heart. It shares a lot of the same thoughts but just uses different examples. I appreciated the thoughts that the author had in this book.

8. The last book kinda through me for a loop when I first read it. Like all things that I read I just have to take some things with a grain of salt. This book has a good foundation and I know that the authors have a true heart for the Lord. Some of the ways that they put their ideas across didn't settle right with me. But the reason that I am putting this book up is because Michael and Debi Pearl have an INCREDIBLE website that I just LOVE.

nogreaterjoy.org

It has hundreds of articles about raising children of all ages! You can seriously look up any issue that you might be going through with any age kid and they more than likely have an article on it. And what I really like about them is that they know God's Word like the back of their hand and they support all of their thoughts with scripture!

These are some of my favorites... I hope that God uses this small list to bless some moms who might happen to stumble upon this blog sometime soon.... and maybe even bless one of the ones who stop by frequently. :)

Parenting

Parenting can be a pretty tricky job. Every treasure has his or her own set of issues. They have their own strengths and their own weaknesses. And although all my treasures are extremely close together, I still find myself forgetting and having to retrain myself in how to deal with situations with each child and each stage.

Little Reesie has developed this super yucky attitude over the past few weeks! It's seriously not my favorite. But it has brought some good things back to the forefront of my mind that I have not thought about in awhile.

I have been thinking about how much of parenting starts with me. It's starts with training myself... training myself before I even attempt to begin training my children. I have to ask myself brutally honest questions like, "Is she picking up on that attitude because of an attitude that she's seeing modeled by me?" Or, "How is my tone? Am I speaking in a tone that's worthy of being mimicked?" Or "When I am disciplining my little Reesie, is my heart in the right place? Am I doing it because I'm angry and annoyed at her actions and attitudes, or am I doing it because I am passionate about her heart and am concerned that what's in her heart is not only not a blessing towards others but neither is it a blessing for herself."

Once I can truthfully answer these kind of questions, I then have to figure out how on earth I'm going to retrain this heart problem in this child. Not only I have forgotten what I did with Siah and Hal at this age to change this behavior but I wonder if the reason that I forget with each kid is because it's God' way of showing me that I need to come up with a new approach to really get into this treasure's heart with this situation?

I honestly have no idea what I did with Siah and Hal when they started pitching fits and making a really ugly, grouchy face, and crossing their little pudgy arms when I asked them to do something. If I ask Reesie to put her baby away because it's time to do something else, She'll stiffen her body, chuck her baby across the room, and then glare at me with a nasty look combined with a "what are you going to do about it" look. This happens several times a day.

I know that the key for every kid no matter the situation, is consistency. If I am going to bother training her heart to respond differently to my commands then I have to be committed to teaching her until her heart has softened and her behavior has changed. Let me confess that with the task of being consistent with three small treasures, it is a HUGE challenge for me to make this commitment. But a wise friend so graciously encouraged me that this commitment to consistency could possibly be the most important commitment that I have at this stage in my life. So if that means that I am going to be late getting out the door, or that I have to hang up the phone with a friend, in order to follow through with the discipline action that I have begun with Reesie, then those are the things that I must give up in order to be consistent.

A few of the steps that I have decided to take with Reesie's current heart issue have caused me to think ahead. When I know that we are have to go somewhere within the hour and that I am probably going to come face to face with Reesie's attitude, I give myself some extra time. I check my own heart and pray that the Lord will allow my words, my tone, and my actions to be pleasing to Him. Then, I start to make my requests of her a half hour before we need to leave. I make my expectations of her very clear. And I make sure that she knows exactly what's going to happen if she chooses to have a poor heart attitude towards me or any other family member.

Thus begins the process...

This morning was a perfect example of what I have been spending so much of my time doing. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and I took all three kids with me. We had to leave the house at 9:30am. At 9:00 I warned Reesie that we were going to clean up and put our shoes on in 5 minutes. I encouraged her that when it was time to clean up she needed to respond to Mommy JOYFULLY. I asked her if she understood my words and she responded joyfully, "yes Mama." Then I reminded her that if she did not respond joyfully, of exactly what the consequence would be. I asked her again if she understood my words. She responded joyfully again, "yes Mama."

Then five minutes later came around. I told her it was time to clean up. She stiffened her little body, chucked the toy that she had in hand across the room, threw herself on the floor and began whining. My heart sunk with disappointment... But I quickly walked over to her. Picked her up off the floor. Swiftly but calmly gave her that consequence that I had promised her if she had made that choice. Then joyfully explained my expectations once again. Then explained that the consequence would be double the next time. Then joyfully asked her for the second time to clean up her toys.

Within the next ten minutes, this whole scenario happened six more times. Each time I spoke joyfully, followed through with consequence, and restated my expectations. Then gave her another opportunity to respond to me correctly.

Finally, the sixth time came around. And after another joyful command out of my mouth, Reesie dried up her tears, got a smile on her face, and joyfully put the rest of her toys away. Then, on her own, found her shoes and asked me to help her put them on.

Let me just say out loud that the process is NO fun! Often times, half way through, I begin to question myself. I begin to doubt that what I'm doing is working. I wonder whether or not the consequence that I chose for this particular child is the right one or the wrong one. But then... in time... there's fruit. My treasures are very young, but they are very very smart. I have discovered that often times they comprehend way more than I give them credit for. Training their hearts takes A LOT of time. But I can genuinely say that there is not much else that I would rather be doing at this point in my life.

Siah is five now. I can totally see the fruit from all the time that we have spent over the past four years with him, patiently training his heart. He's a kid. He still gets an attitude here and there. I know there will always be seasons where issues flare up... but the foundation with Siah has been laid. He can trust me. Consistency is so much more than just changing a behavior. It has built trust between Josiah and I. He knows that I mean what I say and I say exactly what I mean. He still has the option to disobey, and sometimes he still chooses that option. But guess what, I'm 30, and sometimes I still choose that option with the Lord. But the gift that the Lord has given me, and the gift that I hope to give to my children is one of trust. Knowing that I have the freedom to be foolish only makes my foolishness more foolish. Although Reesie might not be able to have a philosophical conversation with me about what it means to be wise verses what it means to be foolish, I believe with my whole heart that we are laying a foundation for her. That even as early as two years old, she can begin to understand that it is much better to be wise than to be foolish.

Some verses that we have been repeating a lot around here are...

For the kiddos...

"I will hurry, WITHOUT lingering to obey your commands." Psalm 119:60

" The WISE in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruins." Proverbs 10:8

For Mama and Papa...

"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." Proverbs 29:11

"The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law!" Galatians 2:20

The word of God is my greatest tool as a mom. His word has given me everything I need for life and godliness! EVERYTHING!!! Including being a mom to my precious treasures.

Lord, how I need your wisdom, your grace, your kind and gentle words, to daily fill my heart, so much so that it overflows out of me and splashes onto the children that you have so generously entrusted me with. Thank you Lord for being with me each step of the way as I waddle my way through parenting!