Mother of The Year

Ok, so that is not a title that will be bestowed upon me any time soon!  I was giving my 3 year old a bath... and when I say "I was giving" her a bath what I mean is that I had run her bath water, thrown all her toys in the water with her and had stepped into the kitchen to start dinner.  Now before you go calling Child Protective Services bear in mind that my bathroom is within eyesight of my stove so she was in sight the entire time.  Now that we are done with the legalities....  Brooke says to me that she has to go potty so being the responsible mother that I am I tell her to get out of the bathtub, be sure to step on the bathmat so as not to fall, and go to the bathroom.  So she does and about 3 seconds later I hear the most horrific scream you can imagine.  I run the 4 steps it takes to get into the bathroom and gasp at the sight.  My sweet Brooke is sitting on the toilet with her knees bent up into her chest and her bottom is sunken into the toilet (I feel sure it was actually in the water. 
Let that sink in for a minute, feet are level with her head, holding on to the side of the toilet for dear life, wet bottom.  Yes my initial reaction was "What in the world have you done?"  I thought this was going to be an easy fix.  I thought I would simply take hold of her hands and lift her out of the toilet have a quick chuckle and return to my Hamburger Helper.  Um,  no that did not happen AT ALL!  I tried that approach and she only sunk deeper into the toilet.  It was about that time I realized that although I was sure this would make for a hysterical story later, this was actually not the least bit funny.  I took hold of her around the chest under her arms and again tried to free her from her porcelain prison and again no luck.  I began to panic.  I pulled and tugged but it seemed that every time I moved her she just sunk deeper and deeper into the toilet.  For a split second I actually contemplated calling 911.  All I could see in my minds eye was the jaws of life and a chainsaw coming at my precious little girl who was scared out of her mind.  So with renewed determination I again tried to lift her out, again, failure.  I then did what I should have done in the first place.  I let go of her and simply said "God, I can't do this, you are going to have to do it for me" and with that I told Brooke to hold on to my neck and don't let go no matter what.  She looked at me through her tear filled eyes and said in her quivering 3 year old lispy voice "I won't wet doe Mamma" so she grabbed hold of my neck with the grip of a grown man and I put my arm under what was still visible of her legs and squeezed her legs towards her chest as hard as I could and finally.... freedom. 
I then inspected the damage, she was pretty bruised up on the back of both of her legs and on her back from where she was wedged in the toilet seat.  But other than that and some left over tears, she was fine.  She just kept saying, "That really hurt Mamma" :(  Poor baby. 
At this time she had only been going to the potty consistently for about a week so I just knew that this traumatic event would send us strait back to diaperville.  This time I learned my lesson.  I immediately prayed, "Lord, please work your magic with this memory in her little mind and do not let this affect her potty training progress" 
Well I'm happy to report that we have not taken even one small step backward with her potty training and we even sold the last of her pull ups in a garage sale a couple weekends ago! 
So the moral to the story is what?  PRAY!!  So many times God seems to be our last resort as opposed to our first resource.  Why is that, we are really stupid sometimes!  I mean we have the creator of the universe at our disposal, and yet we want to rely on our own strength and wisdom to solve our problems.  I mean seriously? 
Well I propose to you that if I can pray for God to help release my 3 year old from the grips of the toilet and He answers immediately.... He can surely help you too!
Be Blessed Friends

Time... what's that??

When I quit my job in November to be a stay at home mom I thought I would have so much extra time on my hands that I wouldn't know what to do with it all.  And that was the case for about a day and a half!  I would like to say that it was not all self inflicted but that would be a lie.  I found myself taking on tasks that were really meant to glorify me, make me feel useful or important.  That's not the reason I quit my job in the first place.  I quit my job so that I could be here for my husband and daughter full time.  This blog post is a sort of "re commitment".  I need accountability from people who read this blog, I need someone to say "Kristan, have you read a bible story to Brooke today?"  I need someone to say "Kristan, when is the last time you said something encouraging to your husband?" 
Don't worry, I'm not putting all the responsibility on you and taking none for myself!  I have recently deactivated my facebook account.  That was crazy!  I have received as many phone calls and texts in the two days that I have been facebook free as I used to get in status comments!  People just don't seem to understand that for me Facebook was almost like an addiction.  I would wake up in the morning and immediately reach for my phone to see what happened in FB land after I went to sleep, and what had happened to those souls who woke up before me.  I would spend hours a day looking at the never ending threads of comments left on mine and other's posts.  I would have a thought or hear a quote and immediately think to myself "wow that would make a clever facebook comment".  It was ridiculous!  My poor husband and daughter would be talking to me and I would literally not hear them because I was so engrossed in what I was reading on facebook.  My husband works crazy long hours and when he is home he would want my attention, naturally!  Well that was fine, I had no problem giving him my attention.... as soon as I finished the comment I was making, or reading the rest of the thread I had started a half hour earlier.  I would take any opportunity to sneak a peak when he would leave the room for even a minute.  That my friends is as much an addiction as drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes!  After several long conversations with a good friend who was also struggling with the same issue I decided it was time to rip off the proverbial band-aid and get rid of facebook.  I thought it would be hard.  I thought I would miss it, I thought I would think about it day and night, wondering what everyone was saying or doing.  It has been much the opposite.  I realize now that before it was a burden to always feel the need to know what 200 + people were posting to the Internet, then wondering what their friends had posted about those posts and so on and so on.  After I clicked the "deactivate" button it was like an instant sigh of relief left my chest.  I no longer have that burden, I no longer know or care what everyone has to say about every waking moment of their lives.  I no longer know or care what all their friends have to so about their every move!  It's GREAT!!!
Now I'm not judging those who still have facebook.  I don't think it is an addiction to everyone and I have seen many cases of ministry happen in my own life due to facbook so I'm not advocating that everyone get off facebook.  I'm simply stating that in my own life I felt this is what the Lord was telling me.... if you are spending more time doing anything, weather it be facebook, blogging, reading, watching tv.... whatever, if you are spending more time doing anything other than worshipping, glorifying, and praising Me, then I am not your God.... all that other stuff is your god.
OUCH!  Yeah it's time to make some changes!
Be Blessed Friends!