Grace

I have been trying to get on to blog for days. Life is busy. What's it going to be like when Holden is born in three months. WEll busy for sure. BUT We will find our new groove then. Exciting news in our family. My neice Lorelei was born yesterday. My baby brother Seth is a proud new daddy. We took a quick trip down to Lakeland to see her. I got to hold and kiss that precious girl. Jamie and Seth are tired but doing great!! I am so happy for my little brother and his sweet sweet wife. As for the Spive Tribe, me and my boys are doing wonderful. Billy is enjoying his new position at work and staying busy. He really thrives on helping homeless veterans and God is really using him in his field. I am super proud of how hard he is working lately and still comes home so I can get to my meetings and is such a hands on daddy with Tanner. I love how excited Tanner gets when he looks out the front window and sees daddy pull up. I am really enjoying Tanner these days. He holds full conversations with me. Today he helped me work in the yard. I love working outside. I mowed, blew off the drive way, pulled weeds, and watered plants. Tanner pushed a rake around and explored his surroundings. I love days like today. Just hanging out with my boy. I am excited to be raising two boys. I wanted another boy. Its just so fun. I am reading an amazing book titled Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel. I read it before when I was pregnant with Tanner but something told me I needed to read it again. God is such a forgiving and loving God. He is a God full of GRACE and MERCY! Do I parent like this? Not hardly. Do I behave like this in my marriage? Nope not like I should. I want to. I am striving for it. I want to have this in my friendships and all relationships with family and everyone in my life. God is revealing so much to me through this book and the scripture in this book. We get so caught up in rules and keeping things a certain way or maybe trying to keep up with the Jones that we fail to see what God may be calling our specific family to do. He talks about the biggest warfare going on is inside our kids. It is important to protect our small children from society and the harms and dangers. It is also importnat to send them out into the world as strong kids secure in God's LOVE! A light for those who may need it. I am asking God everyday to use me and Billy the way he sees fit. Thank goodness God never gave up on me. Thank goodness my family did not either. God's way has been so much better than mine. It is not about religion or following rules. It is about loving my boys the way God loves me. Completely and deeply. Touching their hearts and not smothering their spirits. I hope I can be that kind of mommy. I will never forget a sermon I heard on the comparison trap. Our culture is BIG on that. I am going to ask God to guide me on what works for our family. And encourage others on what works for theirs. In recovery we know that resentments and un met expectations can be our biggest downfall. In the last 8 years I have really learned and continuing to learn to embrace diversity. Not just accept others for who they are but praise them for it!! Tanner is loud, he is smart, he is funny, he is a joy, he loves people, and he loves out doors and books. As his mommy I pray I can be encouraging, guiding, and full of grace. I also pray for wisdom in discipling him and Holden too. In his book he says that when we accept our children as they are, we reflect the kind of love that God has for them. It's the kind of love that will carry them through the good times and the bad times for the rest of their lives. Grace-based families are homes where children are given: 1)freedom to be different 2) freedom to be vulnerable 3)freedom to be candid 4) freedom to make mistakes. This is how God is with me. With all of us. This is how I desperately want to parent my boys. Will I fall short? YES!! Will God forgive me and help me move on. YES! I will close with this. God made us all so different. In our culture we criticize those differences. But thats what makes life wonderful. He has designed us that way. This passage in Peter is my prayer for my own life this week and how I treat others. Especially my husband and two sons. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:8-10)