Teaching Tools

A mother wants to raise her children the best way she can, and knows how.  I am not going to go into my own family dynamics while growing up, but I will say that the way I was raised...well, my obedience was demanded of me.  In some ways, it was easier for my parents.  They never had to actually think ahead of us kiddos.  We were therefore taught that any other type of obedience was not obedience at all, but disobedience.

As a student teacher, one of the tools I learned is that if the students, themselves, were not focused on where they needed to be, concerning the lesson that was trying to be taught, the ideal thing to do was to use that as a learning opportunity and a teaching moment.  Then, a few minutes later, redirecting them to the actual lesson.

The same is with raising a family.  Now, granted, the last few days have been a little frustrating, but after giving it some serious thought, I realized that more than likely, I had gone my "own" direction, neglecting to consult my husband first.  Not only that, but despite the fact that I do not want to raise my children the same way I was raised, the true issue was not that I was frustrated with my children concerning their behavior, the true issue laid in the fact that I was frustrated I was fighting the way I was raised with how I WANT to raise my family.  Both can not win.  There will always be a winner.  There will always be a loser.  No wonder why my kiddos are acting up!!!  They are receiving mixed messages from myself and my husband!  If my husband I are on the same wave length, the children's' behavior will settle down because they have noticed that Mommy and Daddy can not be pinned against each other.  If we are not, then we receive the opposite reaction of what we truly want.

Yes, children should be obedient, but we all have different ways of learning.  I learn in a visual/kinesthetic way, but someone else may learn by books, etc.  The same is with obedience.  If we are flexible, and give where we can (in other words, saying "Yes." more than "No."), the kiddos wont feel as if they have been controlled all day when something majorly important comes up, and the answer has to be "No.".  In short, there will be no fight.  I personally, am not perfect at this.  It is a constant daily lesson I learn and struggle with.  However, that does not mean I do not demand obedience.  It just means that we get to our destination a little differently than expected.

Stories Of My Life

I am not so big on sharing private stories in my personal life, I always felt like it was something for other people to just be nosy about, that it was not any of their business, but  at the same time it just depends on the story, and whether I want to share, etc.  With that said……..

With my 4th baby, it really starts a month before he was born.  Last month, we had the inside of our house renovated.  During that time, my attitude, due to being close to having my baby, and hormones raging, began to change from that of having energy to that of being grouchy and tired all the time.  Not to mention, being very uncomfortable.  It is, however, all worth it.  If it was not, I would not have 4 children, currently, and planning more.  Anyway, a couple weeks after the renovations were completed, we had our church mission team go to South Africa for a week, and my husband’s high school reunion.  The week our mission team left, I was ancy because my doctor was out of town, and I did not want to have a stranger deliver me.  Well, nothing happened, for which I was thankful.  The following week, at my prenatal, my doctor reassured me he was on stand-by for me, and gave me “permission” to go into labor the coming week.  That following Saturday, we went to my husband’s reunion I mentioned earlier, and I had told him several times earlier in the day that if he and his friend jinxed me, like they were talking the previous Sunday, and my water broke while we were there, I would slap the both of them.  Needless to say, they survived the possibility of being slapped…my water did not break.  However, later that night at home, I began to feel sick.  When I went to the bathroom, and puked, my water broke…at 2:00 a.m.  At about 3:00 a.m., because my contractions were very close together, we left for the hospital, to which we got to about 30-45 minutes later.  Since this was my first baby after my miscarriage last year, I was scared that something bad was going to happen, even with having faith and a sense of peace come over me that nothing would.  My labor with baby #4 had similarities, and non similarities to that of his 3 older siblings.  With baby #1, I was screaming to get him out,  With #2, I had some complications, and almost gave up pushing.  With #3,  I pushed 3-4 times and had back labor.  Back to #4…just like with #1, I screamed to get him out, plus I was saying mean things to my husband, which I had never done before (ie.  “Shut up!”, “Do not tell me that!” {not to push}, etc.).  Unlike with #2, I had no complications, and like #3, I had back labor that traveled around to my hips/vagina area, and pushed very few times (2-3 times).  I really thought that my doctor was going to miss the delivery because I wanted to push so bad, but the nurses were telling me “No.”, and to breathe through them.  That….was very hard to do.  No worries though, I made it through them, and my doctor delivered my 3rd little boy at 12:22 p.m., after nearly 10.5 hours of labor, in room # 5, the same room his big sister was born in.  He is very healthy.

I am now expecting Baby “#5” (I miscarried in May of 2012), and we are very excited…IT IS A GIRL!!!!!!

I realize more and more that I am totally blessed “More Than I Deserve”, and I am truly grateful to the Lord for blessing me and my entire family.

“Lord, Once again…THANK YOU!”

Surprise, Surprise!!

My due date was September 19nth.  My baby girl came on August 16nth…her big brother’s birthday.

I started bleeding Friday due to losing my plug, and was hurting.  We went in…they said I was 2 centimeters, 50% effaced, and was told they were just bad braxton hicks. I went home, but had horrible scream wrenching pain Saturday morning. Neither my husband nor I realized I was in labor due to being told the above information the previous night.  A shower and bath did not help at all, and due to the pain, I was literally wanting an epidural, which would not have been able to get because I was not in labor….or so we thought.  I started to go get ready to go back to hospital….my water broke. I then felt like I had to go #2, but didn’t realize my baby was starting to come until I felt her head. My body took over, and I personally, did nothing. My body pushed once…hubby delivered at home, but it was not planned!!  LOL!!! All within 3-5 min of water breaking.  The ambulance came, but due to my hospital rejecting me, we were transferred to Otto Kaiser Memorial, and then to Methodist.  Otto Kaiser was not, and is not, equipped for situations such as this one.  They said that it was medically necessary to airlift our daughter to the other hospital because her sugar level was low due to not latching on right after birth.  However, when the team got there, they informed us that if they had known we wanted to ride with her, they could have come by ground.  That frustrated us to no end!!

At Methodist, the most frustrating part was that we were receiving mixed stories on when we would get to go home.  However, with each step, God was there, and we totally saw his hand at work in everything.  From the car seat test to taking over the feedings to finally coming home within a week of being born.

All the praise and glory goes to God, and we get the joy!

With Baby #6, because of our fear of having another unexpected home delivery, I was induced 6 days before my due date.  At about 5 pm or so (I would have to look up the time he was born, our 4th son was born in Room #3.

With Baby #7...also a boy, he tried to come early...at 32 weeks to be exact.  My doctors got the contractions stopped, but it wasn't until after he was born that we discovered as to why I was bleeding.  Apparently, instead of being in the center of my placenta, his umbilical cord was on the edge.  So, every time he would move, the cord was pulled, and I would then bleed.  The first doctor I had after I was transferred to another hospital, declined to give me medical treatment for the headache I had.  So when I finally did get something to help with the tremendous pain I was in from the covering doctor, I had a huge dizzy spell because they gave it to me at a speedy rate.  I changed doctors due to "medical negligence".  Fast forward to 4 weeks later.  I did make it to 36 weeks and was able to deliver my son with my ob/gyn of 6 going on 7 years.  15 hours and 15 minutes later, along with an epidural, baby was born.

Than you, Lord, that hat he was healthy and had no immature lungs.

Too Late

I have never heard of stories like this before, until the other day, but some old “friends” of ours saw my husband at work the other day.  They told him that last month was a hard time for them.  Her father had died, but what made it really hard was that he had died…….unsaved.  They had tried witnessing to him, but he wanted none of it.  On his death bed at the hospital, they said that he was screaming out in pan and from the heat of Hell!  It was as if he was in between Points A and B.  I asked my husband, if he had wanted to, if he could still cry out for mercy and get saved, but hubby said he did not think so because the man was so set in his ways that God had given him u to a reprobate mind.

How scary is that?  When I heard the story I was creeped out.  Oh yes, I know where I am going, but if I didn’t, and was unsaved, a story like that might just be what the Lord would use to bring me to his salvation.

Don’t wait until it is too late,  All you have to do is…

A - Admit that you are a sinner.

B - Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.

C - Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

I have never heard of stories like this before, until the other day, but some old “friends” of ours saw my husband at work the other day.  They told him that last month was a hard time for them.  Her father had died, but what made it really hard was that he had died…….unsaved.  They had tried witnessing to him, but he wanted none of it.  On his death bed at the hospital, they said that he was screaming out in pan and from the heat of Hell!  It was as if he was in between Points A and B.  I asked my husband, if he had wanted to, if he could still cry out for mercy and get saved, but hubby said he did not think so because the man was so set in his ways that God had given him u to a reprobate mind.

How scary is that?  When I heard the story I was creeped out.  Oh yes, I know where I am going, but if I didn’t, and was unsaved, a story like that might just be what the Lord would use to bring me to his salvation.

Don’t wait until it is too late,  All you have to do is…

A - Admit that you are a sinner.

B - Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.

C - Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

                                    

John 3:16-18,36

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God….He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

The Meeting Place

It was December 24, 2006.  Christmas Eve.  Sunday School had started, but that did not stop my husband from coming.  He had been fighting with the Lord on whether he should attend or not, for he did not want to come to our fellowship just to meet girls.  A little side note here…some friends of his had told him that one of the elders at this church they had visited, had a daughter about his age.  Finally, as always, the Lord won.  When my husband walked in the door, literally, every body stopped and stared.  My hubby voiced that he thought he would come and join us, which of course, he was welcomed to do.  The whole lesson was started all over just for him.  At break time, everyone surrounded my husband.  Everyone…being my nephews and niece.  I hid behind my dad, but I knew immediately that the “guy” that just walked in, was the one that my Lord had chosen or me before the creation of time!  While we were talking, he asked about the game square we had on the floor for our AWANA program.  Because he thought it was something we had for cult purposes, we laughed and explained it to him what it was for.  After learning the true use, my hubby explained that if it had been for cult related purposes, he would have turned around and left….just as fast as he had walked in!

I had stated I knew immediately that my hubby was going to be my hubby the moment he walked in the door.  “How did you know?”, you ask?  Well, I am happy to tell you.

When I and my sister were little, our dad told us that we should start praying for our husband’s salvation because he was probably alive “right now”.  Both my sister and I took it to heart, and both our husbands were saved soon after we started praying for them.  However, I did not take to heart what our dad told us until I myself, was saved.  Afterwards though, I started praying with all my heart.  The result…my husband came to know Christ when he was 16 years old.  I then was led to pray that he would bring my husband into my life.  Each time after that, when we had a visitor come to church, I asked the Lord:  “Is this the one?"  The answer was always "No”.  Until….I met my husband’s best friend.  Oh, yes, the answer was in a way, still the same, but in a way, different.  Instead of being “just "No.”, it was “No, but soon."  So, I kept waiting, and praying.  Then Hubby came.  I of course asked the question again.  This time…."YES!”

When I told my hubby the above story, I asked him:  “What would you have done if I had come up to you that first day, and said that I was your future wife?"  He responded by telling me that he would have thought I was crazy, and backed off, and said hello and good-bye…all in one sentence.

To this day, we joke about it, and…probably always will.

We started courting in April of 2007.  To spare you the long story, and to avoid disrespect of others involved, I will shorten it up….

Our courtship was very controlled.  My hubby and I, once we got to know each other, were not allowed private time together.  It was so controlled that all our emails had to be Carbon Copied to our chaperone, and if our conversations were not heard, we would have to repeat ourselves.  Oh! And….we were not even allowed to talk to others about our relationship…even with our immediate families, and when asked, we were not to lie, but not divulge either!  What!?  How on earth do we do that!?  We got to the point where we just were totally hones with others who were interested.  The end result was me having to leave that controlled situation and live with my brother and sister-in-law for the 6 months leading up to our December 2008 wedding.

Needless to say, it was an awkward and frustrating time, but exciting at the same time!  Because we knew that we were doing what the Lord wanted us to do!

Through The Glass Darkly

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, and when I say a lot, I mean a ton!  About three weeks ago, we sent our mission team to Bela Bela, South Africa, and not that I am unsupportive of spreading the Gospel, but I was bummed, and honestly, my attitude was not 100%.  When I questioned myself as to why my attitude was semi-raunchy, what I discovered was that I was bummed because most of my friends were on the mission team, and were now out of state for a short time.  Plus, Satan was whispering in my ear, causing me to feel like some on the mission team thought that they were entitled to go.  However, after I realized te error in my ways, I corrected my attitude with the Lord’s help.

The Lord knew I was going to be lonely.  Sunday, the day after our mission team left, I made a new friend.  Her mom has terminal brain cancer, and with in the last week, she has really opened up to me, saying she is concerned with how her dad is burned out with caring for her mom, although she understands why he does not take a break.  He wants to spend every minute that he can with her because she may no longer be here that much longer, AND he is scared to trust anyone…even if the help is offered.

I myself, am working on trust issues due to being hurt multiple times.  Truthfully, I do not really care for my story.  I have in the past, questioned why my story IS my story, but now, after making a new friend, and talking to her for several hours this entire this week while the Africa team was out, I am beginning to see through a glass darkly, and am beginning to understand why my story IS my story.  Because of my background, and the help I have received to move on, I am able to offer some insight as to why people are feeling the way they do, and “acting the way they are”…like with my friend’s dad.

Conclusion:  The Lord Is Awesome!!!!