Washing Dishes

"Attitude is a choice."

I love today's girlfriend devotional.

I'm one of those that sees the glass as half full--although I must admit there are times when I don't think that.

You always have a choice. Do you see the cloud or the silver lining? Do you see God's promises of healing, prosperity, provision, salvation, comfort -- Or are you too consumed by your despair and life situation. There is always a choice.

I noticed a difference in my attitude when I started to give thanks at the end of each day for the things that happened during the day. Even if it was just a good hair day (which for a person with naturally curly hair and obsessive compulsive tendencies doesn't come very often). It's amazing once you start listing them how many of them there are.

To connect with this month's theme, handling stress, I wanted to mention the stress, not only of seeing the positive in the negative (the opportunities we often miss), but also the stress of spending more time with our children.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to tackle my housecleaning, which I had let go in the stress of working. But, as my focus turned to possibly hosting a women's Bible study in our home and as I anticipated baby Brent crawling on our floors and as I decided to let my OCD nature take over to get the house in some semblance of order...I decided to start with tackling the dishes.

I HATE washing dishes. Now, we do have a dishwasher, but there are always pots and pans and several other things (baby bottles) that need to be washed everyday. So, I recruited my 12-year-old son to dry. We spend time watching movies together - a lot of movies. But because we're focused on what's on the screen, we don't really talk about anything - though I think just spending time with him doing something is good.

Anyway, I have discovered that now I love washing dishes and I notice when I'm washing them alone, how lonely I am without my son there. It is a chance for us to talk and get to know one another. To connect. The other day I was surprised when my son came running into my office flabbergasted at a news report he'd just heard about people losing their jobs. It made me realize how important it was to connect with him. That he could feel comfortable coming to me with anything -- even his anger that people were losing their jobs.

I no longer see washing dishes as a burden. Not only do I have empty sinks, empty/tidy counter tops and stove tops. I also have a connection with my son that I didn't have before.

Parenting with Prayer by: Kimberley Payne

Parenting With Prayer

Awhile back, I prayed to be a better parent and felt as if I was failing miserably. I had limited energy and could take only so much back talk and negative attitude. The kids were filled with a spirit of rebellion and anger. I put myself to bed before the kids one night because of my frustration with the situation. I was not enjoying my children. My frustration rose as I tried to deal with them in my own strength and not rely on God’s strength.

I lived like that for two whole weeks. First, I prayed to be a good parent. Then chaos erupted. The enemy attacked me and challenged me to be a good parent in the midst of upheaval. Of course I failed.

But had I called on the Lord’s strength instead of my own, I could have better handled those two weeks. The battle is not only between my children and me. It’s a spiritual battle over us between good in us and evil. I am no good in a spiritual battle without God.

I felt beaten, drained and grumpy. I was in my own strength, so instead of praying to be a good parent, I needed to pray to be a praying parent. I needed to realize that each day belongs to the Lord and each battle is His.

It shouldn’t be a struggle for us to raise our children. We need to pray for them to be free of enemy influence. We need to pray to strengthen their character to empower them to deal with enemy influences on their own in our absence. We need to pray for energy and enthusiasm from God everyday. The enemy would like nothing more than for us to be tired and frustrated with our children. He wants to steal our joy, rob us of a wonderful time in our lives, and kill our enthusiasm.

God wants to fill us with peace, joy and love. He tells us to enjoy our children and He will take care of the battle. We need to turn to Him, the Father, to care for our children and do as He instructs us to do as parents.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4 NIV).

Kimberley Payne
www.kimberleypayne.com