More words on child rearing . . .

My kids are NOT always "so good." 
They, not very unlike their parents, are sinners. 
They, not very unlike their parents, have the strangest ideas, and are constantly in need of grace, mercy and a good swift kick in the keister.

And somehow we "have merriment" (that's what the lady on the phone who dialed the wrong number just said, "you have merriment." What a nice way to put it!).

I had another one of those questions I giggle at later. "How do you get your kids to be so good?"
Well, sister, they certainly don't just come that way!

Here is my LONG response. 'Cause I love ya!

I was thinking about our "how to" child rearing confab and thought, 

"I'm with my children all the time."

Gene and I have not given authority to our children over to anyone else (with the exception of sometimes - grandparents, a brief stint in school, sitters - 'cause once I had a "real" job)
So, although we are not always consistent, and we are VERY fallible in all our ways - we aim to be consistant and above reproach ("He's still working on me . . .").

These children rely totally on us. To lead, teach, train, provide . . . 
We attempt to be one sided (on the same side) and focused. (Attempt!) 

We aren't striving for excellence. We aren't striving for genius. We are okay with totally ordinary. We are striving to turn their heart toward God (lofty goal!) and have them turn out to be Godly men and women (servant hearted, kind, moral, good citizens, prayerful . . .). 
Our goal is not to have raised our children but to have raised good adults. 

That's not a responsibility we just hand over because somebody else has a degree, or a background check, or a want to, or . . . 

And we seek godly counsel - Preachers like Voddie Baucham, John MacArthur, and some families - the Maxwells, Campbells, Strattons, Pearls even the Duggars - and then sometimes we have to fly by the seat of our pants and pray. (We may not agree with these people 100% on every tiny issue - but they have produced Really Good fruit!)

Proverbs 22:6 - may not be a promise but it is a great principal.

Illustration Credit

People often talk of the sacrifice that parents make. Woe to them. 
We aren't "giving up" stuff in place of the children - rather, we are blessed with children. Blessed to be entrusted with their very souls for such a short time! 
Blessed that the stuff we are "giving up" wasn't important anyway. 

The "stuff" can come - maybe - in the midst of grandchildren (greater blessings). Our reward in old age. 

It's not easy. 

Heaven's sake! What is? 

Sometimes drawing breath can be hard!

Take that breather, Mama, and get back in the fight. 

Marriage is hard. Times are hard. Jobs are hard. Learning new things is hard. Leading/ministering to a group of women is HARD. 

Raising children is hard.

You already hold the instruction book. Your already doing great. 

Keep seeking those who can give wise counsel. 

And keep your priorities straight = God's princess, wife, mother, other. 

(And when you seem me slipping on my priorities tell me!!!) 

My kids really aren't THAT good! (Goats are never mentioned well in the Bible and thus "kids")

I have a friend who's boys - big'uns - like to come over and play with us. We (the children and I) love hanging out with this family. Recently, the middle boy (about 12) was talking with his cousin about women who intimidate them. Guess who's at the top of his list? Me. And who, between Nana and Mrs. Erin is the meanest? Me again. And guess who he'd go live with if it weren't for the fact of the whole parental relationship thing? Mrs. Erin wins again. 

I've set that little (taller than me) feller straight a few times and he loves me all the more - he shows more respect. 

And (snicker) I'm proud to be the mean Mama. That's my job. 

One last thing - and I'll end this long narrative: Marriage first, children second. 

That man gets the bigger portion. (sounds silly to a mom of tiny children - impossible! But when we focus first on being the wife God made us to be for the man we are made for - being the mother to his children becomes much easier). 

(insert Looney tunes end music here) That's all! (for now)

Picture for Grandmother: Josiah's first hair cut he gave himself. Not too terrible.

Critters Kids Capture

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, So Far This Summer . . . here is a short video of some kids and critters.
The tiny box turtle - who is very fast.
The lizard eggs found hatching yesterday (some where found several weeks ago and picked up - don't do that!!! It kills the baby lizards. Just leave them alone and observe. (of course as soon as the things start to dart away they were grabbed up by dirty little hands - this morning they are still "observing" the babies). (This part of the video is over 7 minutes long - feel free to fast forward).
And a picture of Alex with a snake that he and The Daddy removed from the chicken house (not the first one this year).

So Far This Summer . . .

So far this Summer we are having a splendid time. Slower pace. 

Enjoying a somewhat empty calendar - at least as compared to the Spring we just had. 

July is already upon us!

So, let's catch up...

In May we celebrated the marriage of my practice baby. The
little baby my aunt entrusted to the teenage me, the baby I hauled around (then called our Granny because I had no idea what I was doing), that baby is now a grown-up, married women. And I'm so tickled for her.

She is precious and has found a sweet, manly, God-fearing, young man to spend the rest of her life with. (Heart swelling).

And my own dearly beloved, darling, preacher, handsome, fun, sweet, loving, manly-man was the dude who hitched them together. He's pretty impressed with them too! 
I was the preacher's wife, the "go-fer", the general "what'd'ya'need-er." And HAPPY.
  
The little girls were flower girls (or fairies or hobbits). 

The big girls greeted people, and had them sign the book and pointed them in the right direction (the wedding was outside - in the woods). 
The big boys were in charge of the last minute handling of our video camera (they need more practice - if anybody would like low-budget cost friendly filming they are available). 

And the little boys, well, they stayed out of trouble (as far as we know).

The whole shebang was just perfectly lovely.

Another baby cousin, a rare site, made a surprise entrance!

Top left, Seth waiting to surprise Sarah; right OH YOUR HERE!; bottom left Trying Not to Cry

 And the mother and father of the bride carry lighter pocketbooks now but are really holding up nicely (and still have all the hair they started with). I remember when they came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and they have been such a wonderful example to me in so many ways. 
Recently, after the wedding-dust had cleared a little, the children and I spent the day with my aunt and little cousin (the brother of the bride). Can't wait to do it again.

And some more sweets for you eyeballs . . .

The Brown Girls

Uncle Doug and Daniel

Those Dunagan Children
Larry, Joyce, Audrey, Juanita
Melba & Carolyn

Skipping down the barefoot trail
(they finally got to go EAT!)

Baby Sarah's wedding day

The day after the wedding we celebrated our 7th Familiversary!
Left over cake at the park with family. 

Part of the clan: Jagdeep, Cindy, Carolyn, Erin (me), Kathy, Audrey, Joyce (my mama), Mike, Melba, Kelly

Leftover wedding cake to celebrate!

My Alex, Cindy's Sean, Audrey's Daniel
Can you tell they are cousins?

Melody, Lora, Jacob, Josiah, Tara, Joyce (aka Grandmother, aka MOAJ)
Caitlyn, Jorja, Lizzy, Aunt Carolyn

Sweet Music - Ava, Kyla, Autumn

 Then a trip to a museum and eating at the Cracker-barrel. 

Those Brown Children get schooled 1900's style.

We snuck in a little swimming that weekend too.

Jacob

Josiah & Lora

Gene and our posse

We continue to minister at the nursing home in Royston every Friday night. And June 1st we began having church at Victoria Bryant State Park in Franklin Springs. We've had campers come every week and some weeks a friend will show up. 

We have enjoyed meeting believers we may never see again this side of heaven. And the services are just wonderful.  
 Gene made a YouTube channel this week and plans to post his sermons there.

During Vacation Bible School at Poplar Springs
I taught the tiny-chillins (18 months-3 years old) and Autumn helped. Ava helped in the 4-5 year old room (so she had Jacob and Josiah with her).
We all had a great time being "Secret Agents" for the week.


In Other News:

The boys raided my cardboard and made armor.

Gene bought us (me) a dulcimer. 

Elijah and Alex went to a half-day football camp. 

Elijah wants to play more, Alex, not so much.

While switching places with our new driver 

something happened to my NEW phone . . .

A picture's worth a thousand words.

We went to the Shriner's Parade in Helen

and saw our very own Shriner.

Papa & some baby-Shriners

Lora got pink boots for her birthday and when I cleaned my room 

(I CLEANED MY ROOM - it's a really big deal and Gene is giving me a hard time about telling everybody - 2 sweet friends, one of whom has had a tour and told me how proud she is - it's that big a deal - I even cleaned the closets and hung curtains - Gene's is "thankful" and happier - but since I don't want to make a liar of him I'm telling EVERYONE - at least 3 more sweet people who read this blog - Hi Mama!) I found another pair of pink boots for Jorja. 

We've seen LOTS of snakes, turtles and lizards. 

Here is a small sample - if you get creeped-out easily scroll down faster now..

The tiny turtle we are "studying"

Note to self: if you find lizard eggs just leave them alone.

Another King Snake - whose tail was
going up the back of Alex's shirt and made him
wiggle after this picture.

One more!

That's all folks!