Staying Focused

Life is always full of milestones. This week Gianina got her first taste of "solid food." It was a lot of fun to watch her reaction to this new experience. I was anticipating a quick introduction to the rice cereal without a lot acceptance. So far she has proved to not be very accepting of new experiences. However, this was a different story. She grabbed my hand that was holding the spoon and shoved it in her mouth. I could not keep up with her at all. She finished what I had made and would probably have eaten more.


That is how we are to be with God's word. Hungry for more and trying to shovel it in faster than we can read. I know I struggle with reading daily. There are times where I can go the entire week without touching my Bible. How sad, we have all the answers to all our struggles right at our fingertips. God's living word ready for us to read. So, why when I get busy and need him the most do I forget? Ah ha it is the cunning scheme of the enemy, to distract us and make us forget what is most important. We should not be so distracted that we forget to seek the one who spoke creation into existence. We should be focused - like a horse with blinders on. Just a thought to ponder as I watch how my little one devours food.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:33

"But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." - Luke 12:31

Mommyhood - Death to Self

My Father-in-Law preached last Sunday on Dying Daily. It is continuous not a one time thing. Something many and I have heard before but this week the message had a much larger impact on me than usual. As I began to realize that I as a parent have a responsibility to teach my kids to die to themselves daily. What an awesome responsibility! I know that several times this week I have failed to die to my desires, wants, and attitudes. I also know that being able to identify when you screw up so you cannot do it again is a very important step in spiritual growth. I later Sunday afternoon, was talking to Kinza about what she learned from the message (kids in our church sit through service instead of going to Sunday School) and she asked me how we are supposed to die every day. I then explained how it is spiritual and we have to die to our own desires and attitudes every day and have Jesus’ desires and attitudes. What a deep conversation to be having with a 6 year old! After she left the room, I began praying and really seeking the Lord. How do I truly show my kids what this means? I know I need to be the living example and I know I am far from it on most days. So… throughout the week, God has been showing me. I have seen a lot of my spiritual ugliness this week. It really saddens me to see how far I am from dying daily. In addition, I saw how to show my munchkins how to die daily.

All week, Kinza has been struggling with her attitude more than ever. She has several times this week shown an ugliness that I once had as a kid and brought into my adult life. So, every time I recognized a training moment, I took it. Every time, I talked to her about our conversation about not having our attitude but setting it aside to have Jesus’ attitude. It has been a long week for both of us. I know that we are both far from being the flawless gems that God has created us to be but knowing that I am taking a step in the right direction makes me feel good.

I am growing in Christ as I am teaching, guiding, and training my kids to grow in Christ. If I fail to grow in the Lord daily, I am failing my kids. As a mommy, I do not want that. My heart is that I will fully die to my flesh daily and continuously. Dying to yourself does not happen just once and then you are finished. It is a daily, hourly, every second of every day process. I have to be continually reminded to die to myself and to take on the likeness of Christ completely.

Lord help me with this seemingly impossible task. I am sure to blow it everyday, but I am confident in your promises to continually forgive me and give me the strength to carry on.


Colossians 3 is a really good chapter for this area. It is more than one verse so I am not going to quote it. However, if you want a good read there you go.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 --- “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

Mommyhood Perseverance

As mentioned in a previous blog, Vincenzo does not eat salads; in fact, there are very few produce items he will eat. Every meal I prepare includes some type of produce. I encourage my kids to eat as healthy as they can, in spite of several little systems of sticker charts to see how much they are eating in each food group and always talking about how healthy fruits and vegetables are, I still cannot convince my son to eat a lot of produce. We do not really ever do dessert in our house, except very occasionally. I refuse to use dessert as a reward for eating healthy food. I do not want to encourage the kids to eat everything on their plate no matter how full they get just so they can eat something they will enjoy more. As parents, Mario and I feel it important not to teach our kids to overeat but to eat until they are no longer hungry. Our rule has always been we make the meals - you can choose to eat it or choose to be hungry. Okay, so I set everyone up for the happenings tonight at dinner. We had pizza as I decided not to cook tonight. I included raw baby carrots for dinner so a vegetable would be eaten. I did not expect Vincenzo to eat his carrots as I have only seen him eat one since he turned 3 years old when he boycotted all fruits and veggies. Tonight - HE ATE THEM ALL!!!!! Yep he joyfully ate all the carrots. I have been persevering in this for a long time. I have always been very stubborn to make anything work. I was seriously starting to think that my son is more stubborn than I am. However, today he decided to eat the carrots all by himself without me begging him to eat just one. I persevered and saw the reward.

I have been teaching my kids to persevere in everything. I am always encouraging them to finish the job, project, or whatever until it is done. With anything, it is easier to convince them to finish something fun over something not as fun. Sometimes they will want to quit a board game before the end but I am there telling them they need to finish, just for the principle of teaching them to “keep on keeping on” (to quote Veggie Tales). It is important always to finish everything in life. I want them to be known as people who keep their word. I know that if they are finishers in everything then they will be known for being reliable in adulthood. Another way they can emulate Jesus in everyday life.

I am so glad that Jesus finished everything. What if he decided he just could not go through with dying for our sins? How scary of a thought is that?!? We would all be destined for eternal damnation. However, Jesus is so much a finisher that he suffered through torture and death so that we may always be forgiven. He is a “man of his word” too, he did just has he promised and conquered death 3 days later! I know I still need to work on persevering in everything. Mommyhood is good at teaching me to persevere. To get up every 2-3 hours to feed the baby and still wake up in the morning to take care of the other munchkins. To keep doing laundry even though it seems like that will never have an ending (the dishes have that same problem). And most importantly, to keep on keeping on teaching and training my kids no matter how hard it may be. I will never stop training them to be responsible people who are living Bibles for all to “read.” I know in the grand scheme of things my son eating some carrots is not that huge but, the underlying factor that he knows I will always be consistent and will not give up on training him is so huge. It is another example he can remember when he thinks about how I will not give up on him - more importantly is that he is learning how God will not give up on him.

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Hebrews 10:35 & 36

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

2 Thessalonians 3:5

Mommyhood Distractions

I find myself being busy a lot lately. Always trying to hurry so I can get to the next task and accomplish more in a day than humanly possible. I have been catching myself not letting the kids help me and just doing it myself because it will be done faster if I just do it myself. As when I get help, it is actually a lesson in how to do whatever it is that I am doing. I want them to be along side me when I am doing the things that make life happen. I want them to learn how to be self-sufficient and know that the clothes do not magically make it back in their drawers all washed and folded. The dishes do not clean themselves and, meals do not appear with the wave of a wand. I enjoy my time with them as we do these things together and I teach them the skills they need to succeed in life. But lately, I have been finding that I am pushing them away, telling them to go play and let me just work. They have been confused and frustrated that I am doing this but I have been in such a hurry, I haven’t even noticed the expression on their faces just the obedience of them leaving me alone to do the work myself. (My kids are great at obeying but that is for another blog.)

Why have I allowed myself to be so busy and not spend that time with them? I have been telling myself that I am trying to get things done faster so I can spend more time with them. I am convincing myself of this deception. Being busy and not being in relationship with my kids is harmful to them spiritually. I am letting the enemy come in and take a foothold in my relationship with my kids. This is what he wants; he wants to wedge distractions and frustrations between my kids and me. If he does that then he will have a foothold on them. I need to stop and be still with them. Slowing down and allowing them to come along side me again. Doing all the tasks I do together and not allowing anything to come in the middle of my relationship. My relationship with them is an example of the relationship that they have with Christ. If I allow that wedge, that wall, then I am going to show them how to allow a wall between them and their Savior. They need to learn through my relationship with them how to hold fast and build that relationship with God.

It saddens me that I have even allowed this cycle to start. I am glad that I am recognizing it so that I can correct the problem, rebuild what I am loosing, and grow from there. The enemy is after my family as he is after every family. He knows that if he can break up the family, he can accomplish his destructive mission.

So now, I am going to go and do the tasks that need to be done along side my little ones. I am going to build that relationship so that it is impenetrable. While keeping my eye on the eternal goals and not on the worldly goals of just finishing the tasks so I can move on to the next.


“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Colossians 2:2-3