The Lumpy Mattress Cover

In our house you can see the master bedroom from the dining room table. Because our room always on display I have become neurotic about the bed being made. But here's my secret--I am awful at making beds. It's not that I don't know the proper way, it's that I just don't care. I don't need the corners of the sheets to be perfect and I don't have to have the crisp hospital folds on the edges. All I need is for the bed to look neat. That basically means the sheets are pulled up, the comforter is smooth, and the pillows are in their place.

We have three young children so a mattress cover is a necessity (our oldest had awful reflux and his spit up stained our old mattress). We have this super comfortable quilted one on our new mattress and while it serves a great purpose, it drives me crazy! It is always lumpy. Every morning I would have to take off the sheets and reposition it to get it super smooth. But again, I don't care that much, so I pull up the sheets and comforter and smooth out the mattress cover lumps and hide them under a pillow. You can call me lazy, but unless it's sheet washing day I am not spending more than five minutes making a bed.

And as silly as that story may seem, I am reminded of how many times I have treated things in my life like that mattress cover. I have had things that needed to be fixed but for whatever reason I chose to ignore them by smoothing them to a place no one can see and made sure that I carried myself in a way that looked put together on the outside.

The problem with that logic is that my life is more than a blanket. Anyone who sees my bed would think it's properly made, the pillows and comforter hide it's secret. But my life isn't as simple as that. Sure, it's not important for you to know every bump and lump I am hiding in my life, but usually if I am so concerned with hiding my problems fro everyone else, than I'm probably hiding them from God too.

Why is it so hard to be real and honest with myself? What is wrong admitting to God that I have pain? Why am I afraid to say that I have a struggle? Am I fearful that it exposes a weakness when I say that I might not have it all together?

I shouldn't be intimidated to expose my inner self to God. I don't have to pretend I am perfect when I talk to Him. He already knows every single secret I have tucked away, but He's waiting for me to show Him.

And maybe this comes easy for you to do but I can find it difficult at times. I like to appear strong, I like to act like I have it all together, and I don't enjoy admitting I need help. So falling before God and saying that I am not always together is hard for me to do.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭5:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

But the Word of God says that I can give Him all of my cares, all of my worries, all of my pain because He cares for me. He is there is love me. When I open my heart and give Him my life He can help me. I have to remind myself of that when I try to smooth out the wrinkles in my life on my own. When I put the smile on my face that tells everyone else that I am perfectly fine,  I have to remember that He cares. When I am with Him I can be weak, He cares for me, even with all of my flaws. Not only does He care, but He wants to help. If I'm honest with Him and admit I need Him, He will help me. The help may require me to change, I may have to give up my control, but His solution is always better than my own.

The next time I have the urge to tuck away the lumps in my life I need to remember He cares for me and wants me to give Him my hidden secrets. He doesn't want me to quickly pull up the blankets and put on the pretty, instead He wants me to hand Him what is hidden underneath because He cares for me.

A Lesson Taught by a Child

With three kids in the house my husband and I are quickly learning the art of divide and conquer. We split up everyday tasks to get more accomplished during our day. Usually when bedtime rolls around my hands are full with nursing and rocking the baby, so my husband takes care of the older two boys. Their bedtime routine is normally a time for devotion, a couple of books, and a bedtime prayer.

The prayer is usually led by my husband and occasionally he has them repeat after him. We're trying to teach them the importance of prayer and we hope that it eventually sticks and they learn to pray on their own.

Recently, I was able to join them for their prayer time and my oldest said he wanted to start the prayer. I was surprised at how well he did leading us during that time. My heart was overwhelmed when he slowly thought about each word he was praying. He wasn't quoting a prayer he memorized, he was praying every word from his heart. He thanked God for the day he had and for the blessings He gave us. He remembered his daddy's back has been hurting so he prayed for God to heal his back. He prayed for God to keep us safe through the night and then paused and added a request for God to keep everyone in the world safe. He continued to pray and at the end he asked God to put angels around our home. I listened as his younger brother then wanted to pray on his own just like he heard by example.

I walked out of their room with a spirit of gratitude that my children were learning how to pray. The following night I was feeding the baby and again I heard his little voice coming from his room praying on his own. I was filled with conviction by his method of prayer. How many times do I skim through prayers simply listing my requests? How many times do I sit down to pray and start praying out of memorization? When is the last time I sat and thought about each and every word I was praying?

We teach our children to be respectful during prayer. We teach them that we are speaking to God and that means we should focus and pay attention. But so many times I have found my own mind wandering as I speak words that I'm saying only because they are familiar and comfortable.

My God deserves a little more focus from me. Prayer cannot become a task I check off a list. My words need to be intentional. My thoughts need to stay focused.  My prayers cannot be words spoken in vain. I need to display my reverence for God by giving Him my best--my best thoughts, words, intentions.

Every night before bed we are teaching our kids to pray by repeating after us, listening to us, and talking to them about the importance of prayer. But this week the roles were reversed. My child prayed a simple prayer, but it was a deep and thoughtful prayer. And through his prayer he taught his mom a lesson. This momma was reminded about the beauty and the importance of prayer, a lesson I needed and was taught by such a small child.

Truly, I say to you unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:3 ESV

Caring for Our Kids the Way He Cares for Us

Today's post isn't a devotion or any deep thought, but I hope it's  a post that encourages moms who have multiple children.

My middle child is my wild child. His personality is big and his voice is even bigger. He feels everything passionately-he can make me laugh and want to pull out my hair all in the same minute.

 I recently had a few minutes alone with him while his older brother was out doing birthday shopping and his younger brother was napping. During that time we had fun together--we shared peanuts, split a hot dog and actually talked. He would stop shelling peanuts to lean in for a hug and pause between drinks to tell me he loved me. I was honestly surprised at how pleasant our lunch was together.

I realized then how hard the transition to middle child must have been for him. His older brother is six--he gets to play t-ball, he gets to skip nap time, he has the ability to help more, and he is obviously more independent. His younger brother is not even three months yet. He consumes the majority of our attention at home and easily grabs the admiration from strangers while we are out. None of this is wrong or intentionally hurtful but my son is feeling the shift in his role. He's no longer the baby but also not old enough to be like his big brother. Some of his wild behavior is just a cry for the attention he was used to receiving.

I feel as if I'm not always doing the best I can as a mother to my children. As a mom it is my job to make him feel loved. I am aware that the world can't stop and focus solely on him, but I can take time to make him feel special in our world.

And while this extra time may seem difficult to find in my already chaotic world, I have the best example of this individual care from God.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew‬ ‭10:29-31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God has time for me! Anytime I stop and talk to Him, I know He's listening to me. And not only does He listen, He also cares. When I'm down, I can feel His presence wrap around me. When I'm sick, I know He's my healer. And even when I'm happy, I can simply praise Him and feel His joy. My God cares about me, He always has the time and attention that I need.

This example of His love challenges me to be a better parent. I have more than one child but that's not an excuse for my attention to be non existent. If my God has more children than I can imagine and more needs to tend to than I ever will, and can still stop and know the number of hairs on my head, then surely I can make sure my children know that I love them all the same.

Moms, this week I am challenging all of us to find a way to make each of our children know that we notice them. It doesn't take a lot of time--ask them about their day and actually listen, put down our phones and color with them, or just walk by and hug them unexpectedly. Let's give our children the same attention that God kindly gives each of us.