This Week's Lessons & Experiences

This week:

· My little girl won the award for whiniest kid on the planet. She was constantly upset the majority of the week. She threw her food, or wouldn't eat. You could just look at her and she'd start crying. She would only "behave" if her tv shows were on, not ours. To an outsider (and to us), she was being bratty. God is testing and teaching me patience and compassion. There must be something wrong. There is *some* reason why she is behaving the way she is. It is my job as her mother to figure out the problem and do my best to solve it while lovingly disciplining her when she does wrong all at the same time. How is this bringing glory to God? I honestly can't tell you but I do know that He is teaching me and molding me through this experience. Once that is done, I will be better equipped to serve Him more and hopefully, I will be a better mother.

· Several of my cheerleaders were missing from BOTH practices. Why does this matter? Because they have a competition in three weeks that they are not prepared for and when they don't show up for practice, we can't do the full routine. It really is frustrating but there isn't much you can do when these kids have the flu and actually cannot come. Competition is something I hate. Seriously. High school cheerleading showed me how competition can ruin what cheerleading is about if the conditions become out of control. To me, cheerleading is not even about competing against other cheerleaders. It is about building school spirit and cheering on your team. To me, as a cheerleader, you are there to build excitement. Competition doesn't really do any of this. I don't like it. BUT, I was convinced to let these kids do it because it is important to them. God is pushing me out of my comfort zone. I'm not sure if he's teaching me a lesson in that sometimes we need to do things we don't like in order for some good to come, or if he is teaching me patience and understanding.

· Tuesday night I worked really hard to take an amazing snack spread to METime. I made chicken salad sandwiches shaped like hearts, had chocolate covered strawberries, and assorted fruits. I'm not the world's greatest whiz in the kitchen so I was really proud of myself. 90% of the ingredients were organic and everything was completely healthy. Later in the week I found out 5 of the moms at my group were sick with "stomach" problems. I know all my ingredients were fresh and several people ate the food without getting sick, but I just can't let it go. I feel guilty that these people ate food I made and then were sick (be it the food or not). As trivial as it seems, God is teaching me that things aren't always as big of a deal as I make them. He is also teaching me that no matter how hard we work, sometimes things just don't go right and we have to accept that and move on.

· This week (or maybe last weekend) Ansleigh received a package in the mail—no, not from Ebay—but from my sweet friend Cathy's little girl Maddie. Maddie is exactly 14 days younger than Ansleigh. The package, obviously was from Cathy. It had a book (I Love You Through and Through) and a heart shaped ring pop with a note from Maddie to Ansleigh. It also had a book in there for me to read. I grew up with VERY generous parents and I like to think of myself as more of a giver than a receiver, but it was amazing how BLESSED I felt just from receiving a simple packing. God is teaching me several things just from this. One, you don't have to live down the street from someone to have a good friend. Two, sometimes you have to not be the giver and just be the receiver in order to get a blessing from God. Three, little things matter—telling someone when you thought about them during the day, sending a simple gift, sharing God's love and practicing true friendship.

· This week we got confirmation of my sister's pregnancy (YAY!!!). Pregnancy was really a challenge for me….you know, I hated it. I'm a studier. I study everything, I read everything, I ask everyone everything. I also really like sharing what I've learned with people. I learn lessons from watching other people's mistakes. My sweet sister is not like that. She doesn't study things. She doesn't really ask people. She is more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of girl. I feel urges to call her and tell her to start limiting her intake of that nasty diet coke. I find myself trying my best to tell her what NOT to register for because she won't need it. God is teaching me that people don't always need to know the same things I felt I needed to know beforehand. People are different. Some people need to learn from their own mistakes. And most importantly, God is teaching me to BE PATIENT (a reoccurring theme, I think). When she wants to know something, she will ask me.

What did God teach you through your experiences this week?