Rhyming rhymes at meal time...

My 4yo thrills to all things silly. For example, Dr. Seuss is a favorite of hers. Especially enjoying made-up words herself (ie. Gogi. This is a word Elaena likes to say when she just wants to laugh. Yep. Gogi. Gogi- Gogi. See it works!) books such as There's a Wocket in my Pocket, just give her a warm fuzzy. Recently, Elaena has introduced us to a constant banter of mealtime wordplay (think Fezzik from Princess Bride) where all things said by her must be replied to in rhyme. Meals go in their mouths more slowly but the giggles come out quickly!
So Here is a "Poem" for my Silly one.

Now's the time for a silly Rhyme
about my giggly little Girl-y

Who knew the Q. Bee
Was out of tea?
Who could guess this of her Hall?
Who opened the oven door too soon
Who caused her cake to fall?

"What! NO tea!" said the astonished Q. Bee
And on the night of the Poetry Ceilidh!

(Enter Princess Elaena thoughtfully.)

"We can make Coffee." says she,
with a smile and a nod,
"In a pinch it's as fine as Ceylon,
especially with a bit of whipping cream charm
And finally the cake: viola! no harm!
berries and pudding in layers will bless
its falling into a yummy success."

And so the Ceilidh was performed without Tea.
by the fairest and brightest of Bee's friends
and when the finale was spoken with glee.
Princess Elaena went to bed with ne'er a plea.
Having happily made every amends.

"Poetry" is such a loose term, is it not!? =)

Thoughts on RESPECT from my reflections on The Excellent Wife.

I thought I'd share a bit of personal epiphany from the first BBC MOMS this past Tuesday. Our speaker was Cynthia Francis and her talk was titled "The Excellent Wife." (Prov 31)

One of the sections of Cynthia's talk that stood out to me was her exhortation concerning Respect. She stated the obvious by saying that God knows us! And that He knows how important being loved is for us. AND, maybe not so obvious to us, He knows our men! He knows how important respect is for them. (she recommended the book Love and Respect by Eggerichs) Thus, the commands of Eph 5:33 are appropriate to both our needs and our husband's needs. They Need to be respected, just as we NEED to be loved. For a man, to live in a marriage without respect is like what a woman would experience to live in a marriage without love. (she paused to reflect on Ps 63:3 as an encouragement to any women who may face that)

There's NO "IF CLAUSE" for either of us. Our society definitely allows wives an "if clause" along with the idea that respect must be earned. In my notes I boiled down to this: "respectable" or not, we Honor our husbands because 1)God gave them the position as husband and 2)God commands us to honor them ::period:: not IF they Love us, or IF they deserve it, or IF XYZ from him first...

So, life application for me personally?

Well, I don't honor him "perfectly" (I know, I've shocked you, right? - haha), and Cynthia's words definitely exhorted me to want to have his heart "safely trust" in me more and more, and to want to be intentional in finding ways I can honor him better! But kidding aside, respecting Matt is generally "easy" (he makes it easy and I am overwhelming blessed!!!). BUT I don't remember the last time- or if I've ever actually- told my husband "I respect you" or something similar in words. I know this may sound Cheezy, but It occurred to me, as I processed these thoughts, that MAYBE I should. I like being told that he loves me IN WORDS-- on top of being shown. =) So I thought perhaps he'd like to hear the WORDS from me about how much I respect him and some of the reasons why... He did. It was a sweet moment.

I'm so thankful Cynthia focused on this in her talk. It was a blessing to my husband and thus to me and our marriage. There were many other noteworthy exhortations, but this was the one that played out in life-application 101 for me that same evening. Oh, to be a more "Excellent Wife!"

Context for raising children.

Contemplating a great quote from a good sermon. Gregg Harris (Rebelution boys' dad, Josh Harris' Dad) Sobering. Challenging. Praying for God's Context for raising our kiddos.

God gives children to us in order to increase the impact of our lives on this world. You realize that the greatest thing you may ever do in your lifetime is raise your children? …Whatever you may accomplish in your lifetime, as wonderful as it may be, I want to tell you something, it may be primarily CONTEXT for raising those children. And that its greatest contribution may not be what it accomplishes in your lifetime but rather the inspirational and the instructional value that is has in the life of your young people. One generation after another is affected by the passion and the obedience of faith of the generation that preceded it. –Gregg Harris

I pray we will be stirred up to be inspirational and instructive in wisdom and godliness.