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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

i am a mom on a mission

i am missing my young daughters tonight, olivia and amanda. they have been out of town with my sister for a week and a half. amanda, my youngest daughter, called last night right before i was going to bed just to talk. but, i knew she was feeling a little homesick. it really made me miss her more. rachel has said more than a couple of times that she misses them both too. nothing makes a momma's heart melt more than when one of her children show love and affection for the other, especially when most of the time, more bickering and frustration is shown than affection. it really touches me when i can experience with my own eyes what i already know is true. they love each other a lot.

when i think about my family, i am in awe at the intensity of the love that i have for them. i want them to grow up knowing that. sometimes, the everyday wear and tear of busyness prevents the expression of appreciation and love. i think that busyness is from the devil himself. his whole purpose is to extinguish love or the experience of it. he has been trying to accomplish that since the day we were created. he does anything he can do to prevent love from being expressed, mostly through lies and distractions.

i recently read a post written by Julianne at mom on a mission . she gave us moms a mission to tell our kids that we love them at least nine times each day. so, i decided to pay attention to myself and check to see how often i tell them that i love them. i realized that it was not often enough. i found myself telling my baby jacob that i loved him all the time. but, my older children did not receive the same quantity of those words of expression of love from me. why is that? i do not love jacob any more than i love my other children by any means. i love them all the same. just because they are older does not mean they do not need to know and hear that i love them over and over again too. if they do not hear it and know it, then they may doubt it. i do not want that. i want them to always be able to trust in my love for them. trust is the result of knowing they are truly loved.

so, i started being more conscientous about making sure that i tell them that i love them as often as i think about it. that is one of the things that Julianne said she did as well. i love being more aware of speaking my love to each of my children. hearing the words "i love you" does something inside of all of us and speaking the words "i love you" does too. the distractions and lies of the enemy are not going to work in my home anymore. help me Lord to remember to express my love for all of my children many times each day. i am a mom on a mission. i love them so much and i know they need to hear it.

26 comments:

Beth in NC said...

I know you must miss your children. I've only been away from my daughter 2 nights in a row. I can't imagine a week or more. Yikes!

I think it is an awesome idea to tell them at least 9 times a day that you love them. We shower our daughter with those words throughout the day. I need to remember to continue as she grows older.

Thanks for visiting me.

Love!
Beth

Mich said...

You are so right. We shower babies with love, but when our kids get bigger, well it gets a little harder. I like the 9 times idea.

My kids have been gone all week to camp and are coming home today. I am excited!

Angela said...

Hey Christy, I am unable to comment back to you since your email doesn't show up when you leave a comment at my blog, but I wanted to bring you the prayer I wrote on my devotional about God's love...

Father God, I praise Your Holy Name. Thank You for forgiveness of the sins that we have carried around for so long. Thank You for cleansing us from all unrighteousness for Your Sons' Name Sake, our Lord and Savior. Thank You for making ALL things beautiful in Your time. Your perfect time. I praise You Father and thank You that You have never given up on us, even when we have turned away from You and doubting Your will for our lives. My words will never, NEVER be able to express Your majesty, Your glory, Your power, Your love. It is too far reaching. You came to us, You destined us to be Your's. WOW...we are Your's and You are our's. And NOTHING can separate us from Your love."

I've been praying for months and actually sharing with the ladies in my bible study on Monday nights about grasping, clinging, accepting, the love that God has for us. To TRULY walk in His love. I think the hardest thing is for many is to truly believe, trust and believe in the love that God has for us. I praise God for opening my heart and letting me accept His abundant love and walk in it on a daily basis...

God bless sis!!

Angela said...

I'm SO like you...I MISS my children when they are away from me,,even when they are in school.lol....

I too will be a mom on a mission this summer and starting today, to consciously share my love with them in word, action and prayer...Our children do NEED to hear it each and every day,,numerous times a day..Thanks for 'sharpening' me sis. Proverbs 27:17

Andrea said...

Being a MOM on MISSION is our job from the day we concieve. Thank you for your reminder. This mission never ends. Four of our five kids are grown....and the mission lives on in and thru each of their lives.

Blessings, andrea

He & Me + 3 said...

I think that is a great idea. I was just thinking about that the other day, but about how many times I hug & kiss them...is it enough...I have been working on saying and showing them I love them. Great post.

Tracy said...

I'm always thinking do I hug them enough? So I say I love you enough?
When they get home from VBS I'm going to somther them with kisses and hugs!
Christy, would you be interested in sharing your salvation testimony on my blog? I've been posting salvation stories all week. Let me know.
Tracy

Tracy said...

Sorry for the misspelled words. Is there a spell check on these comment thingy's?

E @ Scottsville said...

The "I Love You" word is said frequently at our house. Also shown through touch... but only with my younger ones. I miss that when they get older and won't cuddle. =0(

I'm sure you ARE missing your gals. I miss my 17 year old. He won't be home for FOUR MORE WEEKS. =0(

Jennifer W. said...

What a neat idea! I do that same thing-I find myself lavishing love and on the little ones, but not so much with the older ones. Ashton in particular seems to be going through a phase where she wants to cuddle and be hugged a lot, and since she's almost a teen and I don't know how much longer it's gonna last, I try to give her as much attention and affection as she needs. Hopefully I'm doing a decent job! BTW-make sure you tell your hubby too!!!
Jen

RCUBEs said...

Saying I love you to our children is the greatest positive reinforcement we could ever give, anytime,anywhere, every day. When I'm at work, I feel that love is what is lacking with those incarcerated. It's sad that some of them perhaps grew up not even knowing it. I often think, if they were loved i am sure they wouldn't be committing crimes.
I always tell my hubby and my son for us to feel like every day is our last day. Doing so helps us remember to do things in loving ways and say "I love you" that otherwise we would have forgotten to say, or even too tired to say. It is God's greatest attribute so we can truly learn from the Author of love. I am with you on your mission sister Christy. May God cover you and your family comfort at this time of separation. For a mom, 2 weeks feels like years, so I know how hard it must be! Have a blessed week and love you in Christ!!!

Heart2Heart said...

Christy,

Your words about how many times a day I tell my kids I love them, isn't enough. No where near 9 times. I am lucky if it's at least 2.

Guilty, guilty, but going to change that today. I guess we just assume that they always know that by how we treat them.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Loren said...

Christi,

What a precious post! I soo understand missing your kids when they are away! and seeing them pull together and love each other makes our mommas heart sing with Joy!

The greatest gift is LOVE....sharing, giving it to those around you is a gift from and to Our Heavenly Father! You are doing such a great job! Your mission is accomplished each time you give and pour out....LOVE.
Sometimes it with words or affection and sometimes it is with discipline or serving. There are so many forms of LOVE but I see such a heart full of it for your family and all those you come in contact with in ministry!

Blessings to you

momstheword said...

I know what you mean. I once wrote a post about "Mom's Don't Stop Hugging Your Kids" (you can do a search or look on the labels under children or teenager if you want to read it).

Anyway, when my oldest was around 14 I realized that I had stopped hugging or kissing him as much, as I thought he might not like it.

But the Lord showed me otherwise and I began to give him an occasional hug, or kiss or I love you as I walked by.

I was worried that he might think I loved his younger brother more as I cuddled with him still because he was younger.

The I Love You's were easy for me but the physical hugs were what I had gotten away from.

So I say not only say I love you but don't stop giving hugs, even at (especially at) 14!

Adeye said...

What amazing words! What an encouragement to me to be a mommy mission too.
I LOVE it!

Julianne said...

Thanks for the nice words about my post- you're so sweet. I'm the say way with my little baby too, she just turned one and I have noticed that I tend to tell her I love her frequently throughout the day (probably even more than 9 times) whenever I lift her up to hold her I usually give her kisses and tell her I love her. But my older three I don't tell them often enough. Like you said, it's not that I love them any less, I just need to be more mindfull that they need to hear it just as often as my baby. What a good reminder that kids of all ages, maybe even more so when they get older, need to hear us tell them we love them.
Julianne :)

Debbie said...

Now that is one goal I bet I meet! I say it all the time.
Dropped by from SITS.

Jennifer W. said...

I tagged and awarded you!! COme by and see!
Jen

Faith said...

Mom on a Mission...LOVE it!
THanks for visiting my blog and leaving such a sweet comment...feel free to visit any time!
I will try to get back here too.
Loved this post...I always try to make sure I meet my daughters' (2, ages 15 and 10) love languages each day. so important.....you sound like you are a great mom to awesome children! God bless you!

amanda said...

great mission!! i'm taking it too.

and have i told you how much i love you not capitalizing anything!! :0) i know i have, but i really do love it. :0)

~*Michelle*~ said...

I love it....I just blogged about how we feel it is so important to speak loving words just before they fall asleep so that is the last words they hear.

You know....as we both have older children.....how quickly the time goes by.

cherish.every.minute.
cherish.every.hug.
cherish.every.giggle.
cherish.every.moment.

Anonymous said...

Dear Christy Rose,

Children are so precious…family is precious! And I agree that busyness if from the devil. It keeps us from bonding as families the way God designed the family to be.

I noticed that my children give me little signs of how much they really appreciate and want to be loved. I am always thrown off guard by it, because somehow I think they have outgrown liking to be hugged. I am thrilled when I realize they still need me that way.

I enjoyed my visit here today!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

And as always…thanks for making time to visit me!

♥Hope

Runner Mom said...

Hey, Christy! This was a great post and reminder! Know you'll be glad to get your other babies back home soon!!

Hugs,
Susan

Julianne said...

Hey there Christy Rose!
I've tagged you in the Sixth Photo Challenge. Hop on over to my blog and take a look at my sixth photo- it should give you a good laugh today!
Julianne :)

Anonymous said...

My 11 year old twin boys don't want me to be mushy anymore but I still have the old wooden sign over their door that says "Always kiss me goodnight" and that is a rule I always keep. But I do need to say "I love you" more than I do!

Becca~CapturingSimpleJoys said...

I love this! I tell my children I love them all the time but have never stopped to actually count how many times during the day. Maybe it feels like more times than it really is? I'll have to add it up and see for sure!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. It's been a busy summer here but a slow blogging summer. I'll get back in the swing of things shortly:)