Guest Blogger: my sister, Laura Jones

Life with Littles

I have to admit that I am quite overwhelmed and intimidated by blogging. I am sure that I will never have a blog of my own because of this.  The battle to not compare and to show your true self, is extremely difficult in this tech age that we live in. Even though many people find the balance well, I know it is best for me to live without the daily journaling/updating of having a blog. That said, it is fun to let anyone who cares into a little snippet of my wild and crazy glorious Life With Littles…….

My cup is full at the moment with a 4 year old, almost 3 year old, and  1 year old. They are full of energy, laughs, disobedience, and fun!  The summer is a fun change of pace without a few of our typical weekly activities, but with all of my kids at home all year, not much changes for us day to day. Except for a rare occasion, we are home together all day everyday. Even though I am not signing on any dotted lines about whether or not we are going to Homeschool indefinitely, for now, I am sure of doing preschool at home. I love the simplicity of our days, and the fact that every day is different and new. We are just home…outside picking blackberries, riding the golf cart around the property, swimming, learning to read, watching letter factory, playing, pretending, baking, and just doing life together. There is not a lot of guess work. We do get the itch to go eat lunch out or get together with friends at the park, but most days I am happy to just be home. I love home.

But we do not sit around making daisy chains and sharing our toys perfectly and always speaking kind words to each other. I would love to say that is true, but it is far from it. We live very messy, very imperfect lives. But we have a Savior that is so faithful. He gives us a new day full of Grace to begin again, and try to live more Holy than the day before….to hold my tongue better today than I did yesterday….to speak to my children gentler and to discipline more consistently. That is the goal. To be changed.

There are many of my friends here and in other places that are in this same stage of life, and so I simply wanted to share a few thoughts and books that have truly impacted and encouraged my heart lately. I have been struggling with perspective and my words lately. The Lord, just in the past week has been reminding me through His words in Proverbs, just how important the tongue is and keeping my mouth closed.  There are so many verses in Proverbs that speak to the benefit of kind words and to holding your tongue. I am attempting to hide these words in my heart and teach them to my kids, because it has been so convicting. His word is such a sharpener in my life.

I have been extremely encouraged with these 3 books.

Large family Logistics
by Kim Brenneman

Weatherproofing your heart
by Gigi Graham Tchividjian

Loving the Little Years
byRachel Jankovic

They are all written by moms who wrote down their thoughts while they were in the midst…in the thick of it. They are not looking back remembering only the sweet moments but they are knowing the day to day challenges of having young children at home. One of these books had a chapter titled “Life with Littles” and I realized that is exactly where I am at. It helped give me perspective on my day to day routine and expectations of myself and my children. I also love each of these books because they don’t just say it’s hard and to pull yourself up by your boot straps and get through it. Instead, these women have pointed me to Jesus and my constant need to be changed in order to shepherd my children as He would have me to. It is a big job, but such an unbelievable opportunity and privilege to be sharpened and transformed myself through these little years.