Showers of Kindness

So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 1: 6-8



Jeff does the putting the kids to bed thing most every night.

He enjoys it and is very good at it!

He is much more patient with the water/bathroom requests, squabbling, and random chit chat that goes on (and sometimes on and on and on...).

I am more like "you have two minutes to get in bed. Quick go up to bed, turn off your lights. If you stay in your beds monsters will not bother you. They only bother kids whose feet touch the floor. Love you. Good night. No water. You will not thirst to death before tomorrow...but if you do I promise the funeral will be nice...Just GO TO BED NOW PLEASE."

Umm...yes I do say the monster part...umm...and the funeral part...

I am not running for mother of the year or anything as you can tell.

So you see I am not the 'put the kids to bed' parent in this house.

But there are a few times here and there that Jeff is gone or busy that I do put the kids to bed.

For years I used to think I had to mimic Jeff's bedtime ways.

That would get me so stressed and frustrated and feeling like a loser for hating it.

Then I decided it is ok not to be like Jeff.

Jeff is beloved and special and fun but Jeff is Jeff and I am me.

So

I decided to figure out my own little routine.

It had to be something I felt in control of not controlled by the kids.

It had to be orderly.

I also could not do it with the 7 younger kids all huddling around me.

Stress.

I decided to split the group in half and do two shifts which lowers the stress greatly and actually takes less time than doing the whole group together.

I have been reading through a short book called Right Choices: Helping Kid's Live Gods Way, then doing a popcorn type prayer thing. I have recently decided to break down the book of Ephesians and read a part of a chapter each time I do bed time duty.

And I do a last chance call for bathroom use and water drinks to ward off any tears ten minutes after lights go out.

Ha and I will get up and leave the room and turn out the light quicker than a lightning strike if there is even the slightest bickering or fussing going on.

They do miss Jeff and his patient gentle ways at bedtime but I am glad they are not protesting my ways when Jeff is unavailable.

It works.

Which is my long winded explanation to the verse above!

Of course,I needed the perfect picture to demonstrate how God showered his kindness on us.

Lily fit the bill!

Warmly, A Dragonfrye Mom