Update + Reads

Yesterday was another wonderfully easy task for me! Hooray! 

Considering it was Friday, I was glad for something simple. 

5K+

So, what did I do yesterday? 

I cleaned out my car. There were a few tasks to choose from on the list and that was one of them. I typically clean out the car every week or so anyway. Yesterday I didn't bother getting out the vacuum, but I cleaned out all the trash and took in everything (toddler shoes, books, etc) that needed to go back inside the house. 

It was really nice actually, because Little E got to play outside in the driveway while I cleaned...before the storms hit! So, she got to play and I got my chore done--win,win!

Now, I am really excited to share something I have been reading with you! Its a recommendation actually!

Last June I attended to Gospel Coalition Women's conference in Orlando, FL. I heard tons of speakers and learned a lot, but the one session that totally stood out to me was the one that Jessica Thompson and Elyse Fitzpatrick did. They have written a book entitled Give Them Grace: Dazzling You Kids with the Love of Jesus.

you can click the photo to go straight to the amazon page

and buy the book!

I started the book right after the conference and am just now getting back into it. 

I feel like I can't tell you enough about it and, at the same time, I can't quite put into words what is so great about it! 

I think, coming from the Christian background that I came from, the biggest thing is the emphasis on grace and not on rules. Here are some of the quotes from the book that have really moved me. 

"Jesus Christ has already done all the work that needed to be done. When in great relief from excruciating agony of soul he declared, 'It is finished', it really was. This is the message that we and our children need to hear over and over again. 

We have reminded you of this because every human heart is always and ever drawn to law...our hearts chase after rules--not because we ever really obey them but because we think they make life manageable...We love to try to approve of ourselves and control others by generating more and more rules. 'Our desire to please God, combined with the human bent to prove our acceptance by comparison with and control of others, makes us factories of human legislation.' "

"Paul is telling parents to daily proclaim the message about Jesus to their children and to warn or rebuke them when they forget to live in the light of what Jesus had already done. He was telling them to tether every aspect of their parenting to the gospel message." 

"Notice carefully that in every case the answer to the question of meaning is never primarily our obligation but rather promises of God's grace."

That is what the book is about--not creating little pharisees that know the rules but don't know Christ, but rather, tethering EVERYTHING to the work that Christ has ALREADY accomplished on the cross. It isn't about us--it is always about Jesus. 

How freeing is that as a mother? 

Here's the kicker--YOU, the mom, need Jesus in the same way your children need Jesus! We are all sinners and He is the only savior! In order to parent our children, we must understand our frailty and helplessness...and theirs as well! In their own flesh, they are completely captured by sin and unable to obey. Only in Jesus do they have the power to overcome sin. 

Okay, I'll stop my sermon there.

Let me just encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read it! 

It will encourage your soul and strengthen you if you are weary in training your children (which, admit it, it happens to all of us!). 

The book has been a huge encouragement to me as I dove back into it this morning.