This is not an ordinary "look how my mantle is decorated" post. (Although it's probably my favorite one I've ever done, just because I love the simplicity of it.)
This is about the sign on the mantle. And about the power of words in our life. I painted the "All is calm, all is bright" sign about a week before Thanksgiving and was so happy with how it came out. I didn't paint it because all is
actually calm in our home these days. (Believe it or not it's FAR from it sometimes!) I painted it because I want to remain calm inside
despite whatever is going on around me. Call it my personal motto for this season in life. I'm tired of letting external factors and the emotions of those around me dictate the state of
my spirit.
I love my three baby boys with my whole heart, but I'd be lying if I said that having three little boys four and under was easy. It can be stressful and exhausting if you let it be. But that steals the joy right out of it to be in that mentality. There is so much JOY to be found in having three little boys all home with me right now too, and I don't want to miss it. So when all three are crying at once, or somebody hit somebody, or I just put the baby down so I could make the other hungry boys lunch and the baby gets woken back up and is screaming and I can't make lunch very fast with just one hand while rocking back and forth to soothe the baby and I can't hear myself think because those other boys are breaking the sound barrier with the level of noise that has just errupted in our house (and yes, I know that you don't break the sound barrier with noise, you break it with speed...) And I feel like I could scream myself, this is what I start to think:
"They are all safe. They are healthy. They are clothed. They are about to be fed. There is nothing to be seriously upset or worried about. Don't let yourself get all bent out of shape right now." And then I drown out the noise in my own head with whatever worship song comes to mind first. Or I pray. Sometimes silently, sometimes out loud. Sometimes with a sense of humor, sometimes with my emotions barely hanging on by a thread. And those words of worship, or prayer, or praise have the power to change my heart, change my emotions, and change the atmosphere in our home. And that sign is a reminder on my wall to choose to be calm. To choose to make our home "bright".
The amazing thing is, since hanging it up, and since making it a point to be the calm anchor in our home rather than being drug around by the changing emotions of toddlers, our house has
become much more calm!
I heard
this song on the radio the other day and just loved it. Here are the lyrics:
Some days, life feels perfect.
Other days it just ain't workin.
The good, the bad, the right, the wrong
And everything in between.
Though it's crazy, amazing
We can turn a heart with the words we say.
Mountains crumble with every syllable.
Hope can live or die
So speak Life, speak Life.
To the deadest darkest night.
Speak life, speak Life.
When the sun won't shine and you don't know why.
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted;
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,
You speak love, you speak...
You speak Life, (oh oh oh oh oh oh) You speak Life. (oh oh oh oh oh oh)
Some days the tongue gets twisted;
Other days my thoughts just fall apart.
I do, I don't, I will, I won't,
It's like I'm drowning in the deep.
Well it's crazy to imagine,
Words from our lips as the arms of compassion,
Mountains crumble with every syllable.
Hope can live or die.
So speak Life, speak Life.
To the deadest darkest night.
Speak life, speak Life.
When the sun won't shine and you don't know why.
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted;
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,
You speak love, you speak...
You speak Life, (oh oh oh oh oh oh) You speak Life. (oh oh oh oh oh oh)
Lift your head a little higher,
Spread the love like fire,
Hope will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the words you say.
Raise your thoughts a little higher,
Use your words to inspire,
Joy will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the things you say.
Lift your head a little higher,
Spread the love like fire,
Hope will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the words you say.
So speak Life, speak Life.
To the deadest darkest night.
Speak life, speak Life.
When the sun won't shine and you don't know why.
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted;
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,
You speak love, you speak...
You speak Life, (oh oh oh oh oh oh) You speak Life. (oh oh oh oh oh oh)
You speak Life, (oh oh oh oh oh oh) You speak Life. (oh oh oh oh oh oh)
Some days life feels perfect.
Please listen to it, it will make you so happy :)
Speaking of listening to music, the other night Shaun and I were driving to home group and all three boys were crying in their car seats and Shaun looked at me and reached for my hand, smiled through the noise, and turned up the volume on the radio. He is one awesome husband :)
One more thing to add: I have learned that reading parenting books and getting advice of "what to do in certain situations" from others just doesn't seem to work all that well for me. It leaves me frustrated and upset when it doesn't work like it's "supposed" to. The BEST piece of advice I have ever heard is to take your kids to the Word in every situation, no matter how old they are. Speak scripture. Pray. And I understand why now. It's because the Word has power, it changes things, whether they understand what's happening or not. On Sunday morning I was getting all three boys ready for church and into the car by myself because Shaun was on the worship team and had to go early. As usual, crying broke out as I tried to wrestle them into their car seats in their big coats. "Mommy it's too tight!!" "Mommy my pants are falling down!!" "Mommy, I, tan't, see, my, back!!" and "I, tan't, see, my, chin!!" are some of the sentences that were being yelled through the wailing. My reaction was totally not me, it was the Lord. I just started praying out loud. "God, thank you for these tight car seat straps that will hold them in and keep them safe if we get in an accident. And thank you for car seats, they are expensive and we're blessed to have three of them. And thank you for big coats to keep us warm when it's freezing cold outside. Thank you for this beautiful van to ride in. Thank you for a church family we love, and a place to go to worship you this morning....." As I finished praying everyone had stopped crying, even Jaden. We rode to church in a beautiful, peaceful silence save for the worship music playing on the radio.
Ok, one more thing... In this whole quest for joy and peace to take over me and translate into our home, I have started praying over Drew each morning before we even go downstairs to breakfast. He really can set the tone of our day with his attitude and whether or not he shares or is happy because Isaiah tends to follow whatever he is doing. I have really seen joy begin to take root in him, and his beautiful smile when it lights his eyes is one of my very favorite things to see.
I don't want you to think from this post that my kids cry all the time. They are fun, energetic, happy boys, but they are also 4, 2 and 6 weeks old, and controlling their emotions just isn't even in their field of view at these ages. Whatever they're feeling, they let it out. And for whatever reason they all tend to be feeling the same way at the same time a lot. I mean, what the heck, at twenty six years old I am not all that good at controlling my emotions! Jesus is just doing something in me where I am learning that I just want Him to consume me. Less of me, more of Him. It's so, so, SO much better that way!
