You Sure Look Beautiful Today!

    On Sunday, I decided that I'm turning my house into a home. A home that my husband and children can't wait to return to after a long day at work or school.  There are several different "acts" that I plan to carry out to help me accomplish this.  I originally planned to work through these acts very slowly - like maybe one a week. However, I never realized that just a little effort could make such a gigantic difference in our "home". Who would think that by me making a decision to not raise my voice or use words that are hurtful could change things in just 2 days? Dylan asked me before bed, "Mama - wasn't today such a good day?"  That makes me want more - it makes me feel so good to know that my effort makes my children feel so good. So, today I have decided to pray and think about my next "act". I want to pray that I do each act with the attitude that I should - out of love and not out of routine. I want my husband and kids to KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that each act is out of love...not out of routine. 

  So, act # 2....Compliment your family. Not as a whole, but each one individually. The email says to "Focus on the positive things that they are doing, don't reinforce the negative ones. Put little thank you notes in lunch boxes or where they can find them. Tell them just how proud you are of them." This sounds so easy. It almost seems like "what's the big deal"? However, life gets in the way and I seem to get too busy washing dishes and folding clothes to stop and tell Scotty that I appreciate him when he gets home from work. Or maybe I get too busy brushing hair and washing faces in the morning to remember to tell Madi she looks beautiful before she leaves for school. How about dropping Dylan a thank you note for being such an awesome big brother! Maybe I could stop what I'm doing for 30 seconds to tell Dustin thank you for helping me switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I could tell Tucker that his smile brightens my gloomy days! Am I really so pressed for time that I don't have time to stop and do these things? If so, maybe I need to step back and reassess. Maybe, just maybe, I have my priorities all wrong.

   For the next couple of days I'm going to be sure to compliment each of my family members for great big things and for little tiny things. I'm going to make sure that they know that their presence makes me bubble over with joy, and I absolutely can't wait to see just what kind of impact this will make! 

Seek first God’s will in our family and the other things will come as He desires.  - Matthew 6:33