Judging other's parenting will come back to bite you in the butt...
Letting your toddler try a new "healthy" food in his car seat is NOT the best idea...
Of course I wanted to go to the grocery store today to catch the sale on it's last day. I had great intentions of walking there early in the day...instead my older son and I made dinosaur cookies. My next plan was to go without the kids as soon as hubby got home from work...which of course didn't quite come together as planned. Final plan was that we would all head out together. There were only two stores to go to...how bad could it be? I thought it was a good sign that when we pulled into the 1st store there was a huge fire truck parked at the back of the lot. Liam loved looking at the big fire truck and as we walked in three firemen walked out of the store. It was a fun experience for a 2 year old. I only had like 5 things only my list...simple I thought. Turns out Liam was in a super excitable mood and wanted to run from one side of the store to the other. I know I've done it...looked out of the corner of my eye at parents who let their kids, especially their boys, run wild around the store. In my mind I determined that I would NEVER, EVER let MY kids do that. My kids were going to be well behaved little angels who who stand quietly by my side holding my hand. And the truth of it is that Liam really is one of those little angels...through nothing that I have done.
A friend of mine once posted the following on Facebook and I loved it so much I have to add it to this post...
Why are we so judgemental? What makes us think we are or can do so much better job than anyone else? I am learning more and more everyday that the only way I make it through the day is by the grace of God.
So, here we were two capable parents and our son was running up and down the aisle. Fortunately, he wasn't screaming. I do have a personal rule that I will leave a store no matter what if my kiddos get that disruptive.(probably until I get knocked off my high horse on that one) We managed to get out the door without anything being knocked off of shelves and nothing being broken.
Going into store number two by myself seemed to be the wisest decision so I left hubby and kids in the car and dashed in. This store has lots of bulk items and gummy bears being my son's favorite. But wanting to be a healthier mom I thought I would pick out a piece of dried fruit for him to snack on. Papaya was on sale so I picked out a spear for him to have on the way home. Bright orange it looked like the perfect tempting snack for a two year old. And the idea of it was. He grabbed it with a huge smile and took a bite. Which was quickly followed by one of the most upset faces I've seen in a while. Out it came spreading it's orange glow with it. I attempted to get him to spit as much as we could into a garbage bag. Of course we still had this huge spear of papaya so I offered it to my husband who casually remarked he never really cared for dried papaya, but still took a bite. I thought, well, maybe I should try it too. And a bit I took...followed moments later by me spitting into the garbage bag too.
Have you ever wanted to spit out something you thought God gave you? I mean we think, hey it's from God, it's good for me, I'm sure it'll be good. Starting to feel like it's more what the circumstances of life dish out to us that don't taste so good. Even if something looks good, doesn't mean it is good. I think God is often the one that is holding the bag for us to spit bad stuff into. This is my simple reminder to not swallow all that life dishes out. Reflect before you taste on where it came from and see if it really came from God. If it didn't...toss it into the garbage, don't even take a taste. And if you do taste it, God will be there holding the bag.
A friend of mine once posted the following on Facebook and I loved it so much I have to add it to this post...
A few years ago I remember going to the store and wondering why some women go out in sweats and no makeup. Couldn't they spend a minute on themselves? Now I understand. I am one of those women.
Why are we so judgemental? What makes us think we are or can do so much better job than anyone else? I am learning more and more everyday that the only way I make it through the day is by the grace of God.
So, here we were two capable parents and our son was running up and down the aisle. Fortunately, he wasn't screaming. I do have a personal rule that I will leave a store no matter what if my kiddos get that disruptive.(probably until I get knocked off my high horse on that one) We managed to get out the door without anything being knocked off of shelves and nothing being broken.
Going into store number two by myself seemed to be the wisest decision so I left hubby and kids in the car and dashed in. This store has lots of bulk items and gummy bears being my son's favorite. But wanting to be a healthier mom I thought I would pick out a piece of dried fruit for him to snack on. Papaya was on sale so I picked out a spear for him to have on the way home. Bright orange it looked like the perfect tempting snack for a two year old. And the idea of it was. He grabbed it with a huge smile and took a bite. Which was quickly followed by one of the most upset faces I've seen in a while. Out it came spreading it's orange glow with it. I attempted to get him to spit as much as we could into a garbage bag. Of course we still had this huge spear of papaya so I offered it to my husband who casually remarked he never really cared for dried papaya, but still took a bite. I thought, well, maybe I should try it too. And a bit I took...followed moments later by me spitting into the garbage bag too.
Have you ever wanted to spit out something you thought God gave you? I mean we think, hey it's from God, it's good for me, I'm sure it'll be good. Starting to feel like it's more what the circumstances of life dish out to us that don't taste so good. Even if something looks good, doesn't mean it is good. I think God is often the one that is holding the bag for us to spit bad stuff into. This is my simple reminder to not swallow all that life dishes out. Reflect before you taste on where it came from and see if it really came from God. If it didn't...toss it into the garbage, don't even take a taste. And if you do taste it, God will be there holding the bag.
I think this post lends itself well to setting priorities in our life & protecting them. Maybe create 2 posts out of this one. One about judging others and then another about even when things look good and are 'godly' it doesn't mean they are intended for us!
ReplyDeleteExample: Volunteering for church functions is a good thing. However, when volunteering/leading studies/whatever it is; (no matter how good of a cause) overtakes God, your husband, or your kid(s) on the priority list you know you have to step away. Spit it in the garbage. Not only are you harming your own ministry, but you are also taking away from someone else's ministry opportunity. Someone who could afford the time, while yet keeping their priorities in line could have stepped into that role & been more of an honor to God. Often times we fail to bring God his fullest glory possible because we spread ourselves so thin.
Just my 2 cents :)