Fun Fall Giveaway!

*GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED! DRAWING TOMORROW!

Who doesn't love a giveaway?!  In celebration of this beautiful fall season that's upon us and the start of our new year at Real Moms, I have something special to give away!  Is this ceramic owl candle holder not adorable?  And how bout some Harvest spice tea lights to go inside him?  And what's fall without your favorite hot drink on a crisp morning?  This mug is large, just the way I like it:).

How to enter:

1.  Leave a comment on this post telling us what you love about fall and where you plan to put this owl should you win.  This will get you one entry.

2. For three extra entries, simply submit something for the blog. (Recipe, craft idea, a verse or verses that have spoken to you lately, what God is teaching you.) Email them to me at: sarah.longoria4@gmail.com

*The giveaway will close on 9/16/13  night at 8pm (The night before our next Real Moms meeting).  The giveaway drawing will happen at our next meeting on Sept. 17th.

Happy fall! May you find, in this season of coziness, a renewed desire to draw near to your Savior and His Word.

Pastor Pep Talk- Aaron LeDuc

Pastor Aaron both encouraged and challenged us this morning in our calling of motherhood.  He first asked us to put the following priorities in the order our culture puts them in for women.

Cultural Priorities

- College (3)
- Entertainment (2)
- Travel (5)
- Career (4)
- Good looks (1)
- Marriage (6)
- Motherhood (7)

The numbers I've placed next to each is the priority order our table put them in, again the order is according to popular culture.  He pointed out how out of order this cultural order is with God's priorities for us as women, that we are fighting this cultural order on hostel ground.  He shared how comedian Jim Gaffigan talks about the way culture makes fun of or feels sorry for large families.  Add to this against-the-current battle we face the fact that motherhood is exhausting!  He jokingly gave this quote in regards to the exhaustion of motherhood:

"Imagine you're drowning and someone throws you a baby".

All joking aside, he then encouraged us that the deep rest we are looking for can only be found in Jesus, not in the things the world promises. He will give us deep rest when we abide in Him, but He also calls us to hard work in a hostel world.

In Genesis 3:15 we see the first hope of the Gospel in God's promise that the Savior will come through Eve's lineage.  In other words, children have to happen to lead to Jesus.  God could have chosen any way to put on flesh, but He chose to come through a mother, Mary.  Motherhood is a calling, the key mechanism God uses to save lost sinners.

He reminded us that motherhood is not about you, it's about the glory of God!  It's a call to full time ministry, laying your life down for His use and Glory.

Application Points

1. Lay down your life for the Gospel to your children.  Preach to them with your life.  You are always representing the Gospel to your children, the question you have to ask yourself is how well are you doing?
- Are you resentful in your role?  Your kids know where they stand with you and how you feel about them without words.
- Do you love your kids the way Christ loves you?  You may be able to fake it in front of others, but how do you love them behind closed doors?
* They know if you value their lives above your own. The call on EVERY Christian is to come and die.

2.  Know the Word. Proverbs 22:16 talks about folly being bound up in the heart of a child.  God's Word, He Himself has the power to penetrate hearts and save.  It requires repeated diligence to point our children towards fear of the Lord.  When we abide in the Word, it overflows.
- Live life with your little "cyclones" and disciple them always by knowing the Word.

3.  Trust Jesus. It's a daily act of faith, we often don't get to see results, but trust Jesus, it's His work through you! Believe His promises.  Aaron shared how Isaiah had a similar challenge as he looked at the ministry He'd been given. 

Isaiah 49:4- "But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

It was such a joy to hear from the Lord through Aaron this morning.  We hope to see you all on September 17th!

Mom Minute- Lessons From my Dad- Joani Parrish

Lessons from my Dad

  I'm not sure if many of you know, but my dad passed away last year. During this time
I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what skills and lessons in life he taught me. My
dad’s favorite quote, one I heard him say almost every single day of my life, was "You
accept me for the pain in the butt I am and I will accept you for the pain in the butt you
are." (I'm using nicer language, because my Dad was a Marine for 40 years and his
choice of words would not be socially acceptable for a REAL Moms blog post.) My Dad
said this to me for 26 years. Every time I was exasperated with him, when his friends
were giving him a hard time, even to the grocery store clerk checking out his bags (My
Dad could be a pain in the butt). I heard him say this ALL the time. I also watched him
live this way.

 Shortly after he died a friend asked me, "What is the main thing you will miss about
him?" I'm not sure if I could articulate very well at that point because I was so overcome
with absolutely everything I was going to miss about him, but now if you asked me I
would say it was: his unconditional love and support.
 Most recently I missed him when we started foster care. I could hear my Dad
building me up and encouraging me, saying things like "Wow, that's amazing!" or "You
guys are going to be great!" or "Gosh! I wish I had grown up in a home as sweet and
loving as yours." He said things like this ALL the time. He would not say, "Gosh! you
guys are going to need a bigger car" or "Isn't this going to be really hard on your
biological children?" I missed him. I missed him a lot.

 He was one of those people who knew how to just be happy for someone and not put
fears or doubts in their mind. If we bought a bigger house he would not say, "Oh are
you sure that it's not too much?" He would say "That's awesome! I can't wait to see it!"
He would truly mean it. It's not that he didn't have any concerns about me, but he never
focused on the areas in my life he was concerned about. I think he realized the world
has enough people to question you, it has enough people to make you feel concerned
about your actions, it has enough people to place fears and worries and doubts in your
mind. He made me feel like I could do anything or be anyone I wanted to be.

 This lesson he taught me has been such a gift in my life. It gave me confidence
when I was a loner in high school, it gave me courage to get married and not fear the
constant stream of divorces that plagues my family. Many of my choices and the
confidence I can put in them are because of his unconditional love and acceptance.
Most importantly, it has greatly affected my view of God. Rather than thinking of God as
someone constantly judging my actions, I hear God as an unconditional lover of my
weary broken soul. He was the kind of person I want to be, the kind of friend, wife, and
mother I want to be, and with the grace of God I hope to see him someday and thank
him.

~Joani

Mom Minute- Danielle

I don’t have to be Super Mom

As I’ve been thinking through what God has been teaching me lately, the phrase ‘I don’t have to be Super Mom’ keeps coming to my mind. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the transition to motherhood has brought with it a lot of humility for me. God has graciously given Lucas and I two babies born only 14 months apart, and our babies just turned 2 and 1 this summer! As the last few months have provided more time to breathe, I’ve had time to reflect on God’s faithfulness to me this past year, and I wanted to share briefly about some things I’ve learned.

Being a mom of young ones has really opened my eyes to how self-sufficient I try to be! No other season of life has brought such weariness, confusion, and humility for me (along with a lot of joy!!), but God has been kind and faithful to show me how desperately I want to run my life. God has helped me to slowly start to lay down my idols of independence, control, and comfort, and to see that there really is more joy in a life marked by dependence and humility!

I’ve also found myself desperate to try to be a ‘super mom’ in the midst of all the newness of this new season.  I feel like I am constantly bombarded with messages that cause me to feel like a failure if nursing doesn’t go perfectly, if I feed my kids anything but organic food, if my kids aren’t always dressed super cute or having perfect attitudes, if my house isn’t perfectly clean, etc etc. Can anyone else relate to this feeling?? After months of attempting to be the kind of mom I thought everybody secretly expected of me, I’m finally understanding the Gospel more and how it relates to motherhood. What’s actually true of me is that I am terribly sinful and that I will continue to be in this life. I will never be a perfect mother, and I’ll never live up to all the expectations I try to place on myself. BUT, I’ve found myself more hopeful than ever in a God who is constantly redeeming my life – in all its weakness and sin – and He’s working out His purposes in my life and in my children’s life for His glory.  And now, there’s also hope for me to be a mom who feeds her babies good food (or whatever!) because I want to love them and take care of them, and not because I need to do it to earn Jesus’s favor or to avoid the condemnation of my peers or myself. So, if anyone is actually reading this J, my hope for this fall season is to find myself delighting in my weakness because I do have a super, perfect, wonderful, redeeming Savior.

Also, listed below are a few quotes from Elyse Fitzpatrick that I have loved lately! Thanks for reading!

Danielle Yaege

“Only the Gospel will warm your affections so that you will long for an opportunity to be near Him, to rest your head on His chest, to feel the warmth of His nearness, to let Him put His arms around your drooping shoulders and say, ‘I’m here. You’re mine. Soon these interposing years will end, and your faith will be sight. Stay here by Me for a while and let me give you My strength. See how I love you.’” (Comforts from the Cross)

“…He has promised to use everything in your life for your good and His glory. This is the kind of watchful, fatherly love He has for you. He is the perfect parent, and this record of perfection has been transferred to you, if you have put your trust in Him. Your children’s salvation doesn’t depend on you any more than your own salvation did. He’s a wonderful Father. You can rest in His everlasting arms-now.” (Give them Grace)

You Will Blink

I'm sure you've heard it said that you will blink and your babies will be heading off to college.  I know I've heard it a bunch and if I'm honest, there have been a few weary days when the saying makes me do rapid blinks in joke!  But friends, as my first baby turned nine a couple of weeks ago, the saying started to really sink in and it's not so funny anymore.  This precious little bundle, who kept me up countless nights and prevented many household chores from being accomplished, is now this beautiful nine year old who actually helps with chores and sleeps perfectly every night.  This once needy baby now has completely different needs and gives me completely unexpected joy through our maturing relationship.  I write all this to encourage you in days that seem to drag.  The days may seem to drag, but the years really do fly.  And even though you might not be able to imagine it now, you may really want to go back in time some day, even if just for a moment to inhale that newborn smell or squeeze that rascally toddler, so ask God to help you find the joy in "now", I know that's my prayer every day. ---Sarah

Summer Highlights

Here are a few pictures from a couple of our Real Moms summer park dates, submitted by Jenny McElwain.  If you have similar pictures from our summer events, please email them to me and I will add them to this post.

Boredom Buster- Put Them to Work!

We all loathe the sentiment our kids spout far too easily during the summer, "I'm bored!"  Maybe you've run out of paper for them to cut or new books to capture their attention for more than a minute.  Or maybe the cartoons have been on a little too long.  Whatever the case, I've discovered something that my two and a half year old loves to do, and I get to teach her something valuable in the process, a win, win!  When her older siblings are busy and I just can't be her entertainer, I put her to work... and she loves it.  She especially loves the activity pictured here.  A bucket of water with a drop or two of dish soap and a squeegee is all you need. I tell her I really need her to clean the house walls, that it would really help mommy and make the house look so nice.  She will stay at this activity for an hour if I let her!  Another indoor cleaning task she loves is wiping down the table and chairs with a little bucket with soapy water and a small sponge she can easily squeeze out.  She also loves to help me unload the dishwasher.  Work looks like fun until they think otherwise, so go with it!  Happy boredom busting!  --- Sarah L.