My Mommy Week with God's Grace & some Hebrew notes

edit- he's home!! I wrote this earlier today ;)

Richie has been gone for several days and tonight he comes home. We always look forward for when daddy comes home from his work trips. I hate to say it, but I'm awaiting his return more than the kids I think. And since he's gone during the days for work normally, the kids get lost in their worlds playing that they don't seem to notice too much. Me on the other hand, I get worn out. I always wonder where my energy is. After my lovely one Cup of Joe, my 'mister ess' of the morning, I get some good energy to clean and tidy up. After it wears off though, it's hard to stay on any task. I don't take naps in the afternoon. Pace is pretty much done with his afternoon naps. If we're out running errands he'll usually fall asleep in the car for a bit. I'd rather him sleep good at night, then popping out of his room 5 times before he falls asleep.

And of course, when Richie's gone, the kids are sick. Josiah and Luna both had fevers this week so they have stayed home. With them home, forget about tidy-ing up. The house stayed a mess which was fine. I did manage to clean up some of my messes, like the bathroom drawers and sorting through Elee's and Josiah's clothes. That's always a huge, daunting task, but I'm so glad that it's done. All I have to do now, is buy some totes to save the clothes for Pace. Right now, they are in nice piles in the hallway. And it always brings me back to thinking and praying for more of God's grace. He always seems to give me a little more when Richie's away. More energy even when I'm tired and 'spent', more time with the kids, even though I want that time to myself, more patience even when I feel I have none to give.

I have to say, I'm so thankful for my friends here. Three of my lady friends from church called me to check up on me. Our Pastor called too and told me of the woman's conference this weekend (we missed church because Richie left at noon on Sunday). This is another reason why I love smaller churches!! I'm really excited to go this Saturday. It's an all day event, including lunch. The lady that is giving the conference is visiting from a Calvary Chapel in Florida and gives these conferences all the time. I can't wait to see what's in store! What a perfect weekend to have some time with other lady friends and some time to myself and the Lord.

I used to write my favorite quotes or sayings of the day/week a few years ago. What ever happened to that? So, here's my favorite conversation of last week...

Richie was away for work for two nights, and this was during one of those nights as I was tucking them into bed. We prayed together and when I prayed for me and Richie to be the best parents for our kids, Josiah quickly said, "Amen", in the middle of the prayer. I laughed to myself..well maybe out loud a little too. I wonder what prompted that 'Amen' so quickly. After we were done, I asked Josiah, "So, if you could change anything about our parenting, or about how I do things, what would it be?" I was waiting for anything. Honestly, I love having these kind of conversations with the older two kids to get a little glimpse into their minds and hearts. With no hesitation, Josiah said, "Nothing". So I said, "No seriously, if there was one thing you'd want different, what would it be?" He said, "I wouldn't change anything, I like it just how it is", with no hesitation in his voice and a big smile on his face. I tell you what, even though I was ready to hear a different response and for him to tell me some gritty stuff, my heart melted.  I told him that if there ever was anything that he could talk to us. I say that all the time, and they really do tell us things.  It's so hard to know what your child is thinking especially when they are more 'quiet' about 'real' things. My biggest hope is that they will come to us when there is a real issue. Right now, we talk a lot. I hope that it continues and that they know that they are free to come to us with anything. I'm sure they'll look back when they are older and say, "man, you guys did this or that and it was meeeessed uuup"!!! Honestly, we are messed up! However, I always remind them (and myself) when they make mistakes and when I make mistakes that we're not perfect. That I'm not a perfect mom, daddy isn't a perfect dad, and they aren't perfect kids... that no one is perfect but God and the Son he sent as our Savior, Jesus. Doesn't that take a lot of pressure off of us? Because it's not about us, it's about God's grace that we don't deserve. And about God's grace (grace, mercy, lovingkindness) that he freely gives to us. And when we take that pressure off of ourselves, and just keep on keeping on...knowing that we are not going to be the 'perfect parent' it opens us up to truly live in God's grace.

Here's one of my favorite verses...

Lamentations 3:22-24 (Taken from my Interlinear Bible in Hebrew/English) Everything in ( ) and italics and bold added by me.
22 It is by the kindness (Khas-day) of the Jehovah (Jewish would say Adonai here) that we are not destroyed, for His mercies (Rakhemav) never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness (Ah-mone-tay-kha): 24 Jehovah (Adonai) is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him.

I'm a little very rusty with my Hebrew but here's 'a breakdown of some of the words in this passage. 
My friend Randy, had me memorize this verse in Hebrew years ago when I was using the language on a daily basis (Richie learned the verse too).  I have no idea how to officially write the Hebrew word into 'English' letters, but the Hebrew letters are correct.

חסדי ~  His Kindness (Khas-day) -  Kindness (Khesed) or 'Grace' as some people say. However, חן ~ (Khen) is Grace which literally translates to favor - For example the names Jonathan and John have this as the root.

רחמיו ~ His Mercies (Rakhemav) -  One cool thing to note is that rekhem literally means womb. Like a mother's womb that she bears her child with. I love thinking of it like this because I can relate to that! Isn't God's mercy amazing??? (Rekhem)

אמונתך ~ His Faithfulness (Ah-mone-tay-kha) -  Faith is Ah-moon-ah which is the same root of the word we say every time after prayer, the word Amen!!!!