Do you know that moment when your porch turns into a kid jungle? There are kids climbing, doing chalk, looking for bugs and shoes strung all over. In these moments, you wonder if you should use another door to join them outside?
This is often my front stoop. I love it. On any given moment our front door looks like it should be a playground or at the very least, a back door. The chaos is my crazy beautiful life. Each one of those pairs of shoes belongs to a child I love. Each flower-pot was painted by one of those beautiful children (or myself).
The other day there was great excitement over a black beetle maneuvering through our flower pots. As the boys scrambled to catch him, one of my flower pots was broken.
These are the moments as moms we have a choice on how to react. Yes, the kids could look for bugs in better places. It doesn’t matter how many times I encourage it. They want to be where I am, so if I am sitting there…they are close by. It wont be like this always, so I am soaking it up as it is my season to enjoy their presence. After the broken pot, the kids looked at me. They were watching to see how I would respond. It was only a $0.79 pot, but they knew it was mine and that I had asked them to look for bugs in the yard. I chose to practice what I am so desperately trying to teach them…Patience and Grace. Words have power. The power to up lift or the power to bring down. So, I quickly said it was no big deal and we could fix.
This is how we did it.
I started with pulling out my superglue that I call my concrete to keep the kiddos out of it.
I then ripped fabric like I did on my Love Sign till I had a pile of fabric scraps.
I painted a little mod podge onto my pot, and stuck a fabric strip on top. I slowly did this all the way around my pot. When I did a complete circle wrapped around the pot, I slanted my strip to go a little further down the pot till the pot was completely covered.
Next, I added more mod podge on the bottom of the pot and curved my fabric over the sides and let it dry completely. Once it was dry, I painted the whole thing with a coat of mod podge, to protect the fabric. I let it dry. Put my plant back inside it, and it was done!
I actually love how the flower pot looks with my Hello Flower Pot even more now! The kids are actually more careful now around the pots, since I have fixed this one. I wonder if it’s how I responded or just that they finally see why I was asking them to move off the porch to continue their search.
When something breaks, it is often easier to just throw it out and get a new one. I love how in this moment I saved some money by fixing my pot and hopefully demonstrated something powerful to my kids as well. We always have a choice in choosing how we react to our circumstances… Choose love friends!
Creativity is a complex idea. I think most people think of creativity as literally pulling out craft supplies and creating something awesome. Creativity can look different, and that is something I have been learning. I like how Wikipedia defines the word CREATIVE: “a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created (such as an idea, a joke, an artistic or literary work, a painting or musical composition, a solution, an invention etc.). The ideas and concepts so conceived can then manifest themselves in any number of ways…”
God is in control of our lives. He has my kids in the palm of his hand, and he is their protector. I do my best, but then I am reminded I am not their Savior. In all my deep talks, I was reminded the other week that some of my well thought out and intentional moments with the kids may not even be the most meaningful things. In a moment of exasperation of asking, pleading, and enduring an unusual amount of timeouts, I asked my foster son what was going on. I will never forget what he said. He said, “I think I need some Jesus music”. It still brings tears to my eyes as I replay this story.
I made this sweet little sign to hang in my office as a daily reminder that I can be creative right where I am now. In the moments where kids are my entire day, I can still be creative.
Now, when I look back I wouldn’t have the picture any other way. It sums up where I am at. Four cute, sweet kids that I love and adore and we are not perfect but doing the best we can to remember love is patient and God is not through with any of us yet. As you are making it through your day, know that I am thinking and praying for you that you would be filled with “a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created” and that it makes a difference for the people around you!
When I look at our kids, I see my little super heroes. They make it easy because they like to dress up and pretend to be caped crusaders all the time. But their playtime roles are not really what I’m talking about. I’m talking about their beauty, their strength, their innocence, their creativity, their joy, and most of all their ability to love. They inspire me all the time.
I don’t know where you are at in your life with God or if mentioning Jesus makes you uncomfortable. I understand if that’s the case. There’s a lot to be confused about when it comes to faith. But one thing I can tell you, letting the thought that God has a plan for me, he has good things for me to do, and that he calls me his masterpiece take root in my heart has been life changing. When I doubt, struggle with my shortcomings, and start to believe that I am a failure, I hear that whisper in the back of my head that tells me “You are a masterpiece”. The truth that through Jesus I can be changed and made new, I need that. The hope and belief that my life is about something bigger than me, that was planned long ago, that’s thrilling. I want in on that.
So, when I think about my little super heroes and all that they face and are going to face in this world, I want this thought burned into their little hearts too. No matter what happens, no matter what someone tells them or does to them, I want them to know inside and out that they are a masterpiece. I don’t want them growing up thinking they are perfect, but I do want them to believe they are special. They were made intentionally and they have been invited into a life of hope and purpose regardless of what their circumstances may be telling them in the moment.
Another passage that provides so much clarity for us comes from 1 Corinthians 13. If you’ve been to a wedding in the last 100 years you’ve probably heard this one a few times. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
While Caleb knows and can recite most of the passage, the other kids know “Love is patient. Love is kind.” Even our foster son that has been with us for a month has this one down. When tension rises and tempers start to flare over something, someone usually breaks out in a quick reminder “Love is patient! Love is kind!” Sometimes they say it through gritted teeth and locked jaws or with a little eye roll, but they say it and move on. Other times I step in and say “why did you ______? What is Love?” They will answer and my follow up question is always “was _______being patient/kind? (whichever applies)” It gives some reference to go and parent off of.
Life gets messy, right!?
I spared a little pride by not showing them at their worst state (AND with toys all over). You know what I am talking about. Having three young kids, two medium size dogs, and a crafting heart-everything shows on our dark hard woods.
This thing cleans it all. Big and small.
One of my favorite parts of the