FROGS

I realize it's been since January that I've posted anything. Believe me when I say that life with 1+triplets doesn't leave much time for blogging. Here is a quick update then I'm on to the real reason for this post.

January marked the beginning of homeschooling in our house. Luckily, I started with kindergarten so we had the spring to take things pretty easy and be VERY flexible with the schedule. We also found ourselves facing a mystery illness for my dad. Turns out he had advanced brain cancer and we lost him at the end of February. Again, thankful for homeschooling because this meant we basically took the last half of February and first of March off for all that. I'm so grateful that he met the babies and I have pictures of him holding them. Ironically, I was about their age when my mom's father passed. The rest of the spring has been busy but good. I ended up with knee surgery at the end of June and am happy to say that less than a month post-op, I'm doing great and far better than the doctor ever expected. Praise God for His healing power and knowing this busy momma doesn't have time to get down!

So, the reason for this post is FROGS. We've all heard the acronym F.R.O.G = Fully Rely On God. As a mother of four, I know first-hand that my life is impossible without God. But that's not what I'm talking about.

What if God makes us frogs? I'm talking about fat, green, slimy, croaking bull frogs. How often do you find yourself feeling like a frog? Maybe you are jumping for joy one minute then swimming through murky water the next. I sincerely hope that you aren't eating bugs though! More importantly, God sometimes treats us as the frog in a pot. If you've ever heard of how frogs are cooked, you know what I'm talking about. If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, he will jump out. If you put a frog in a pot of cool water, he will stay in. He doesn't notice that you are slowly turning up the heat. He has no idea of the destiny that he is now moving toward. Eventually, he is fully cooked and becomes nutrition for the person who eats him.

The other day, I was doing the diaper assembly line and realized that I have become the frog in the pot. God started me out in comfortable water where He knew I would stay. I had one child and a fulfilling career. The water felt good. Slowly, God moved my soul and placed it on my heart that we needed another child (the first temperature raise). Then we found out we were pregnant, then it was triplets (big temp rise on that one), then it was hospital bed rest for two months with complete faith that God had His hand on my babies. Once the babies were born, the temperature in my "pot" continued to rise as we have been through the first year, are working on walking and have now introduced homeschooling and cloth diapers into the mix. People look at my life and say, "Wow! I don't see how you do it!" My answer is always simple, "It's by the grace of God." You see, it's HIS pot that I'm in. He is the one slowly adjusting me and preparing me for every temperature change. Three years ago, I could not have done what I'm doing now. I hadn't adjusted to the new temps. How often does God give us a challenge (put us in a pot) and we immediately try to jump out? There are also those times that God puts us in the pot and doesn't turn up the heat just yet. As we "cook" in preparation of the destiny He has for us, we find that we can do more and more. It's actually a very empowering feeling! The hotter the water, the more we have been relying on Him. Eventually, we get to a point that we become "food" for someone else. Not literally, but spiritually. I think of what a better, different mother I am now than when I first started. I don't worry about as much. I focus on time with my children and not fussing about the house or tied up with work. I now think about how I'm spiritually, mentally, physically, and educationally feeding my children. As their mother, I am their nourishment.

God has a different path for all of us. We are destined to be parents who work, stay at home, get involved in sports, teach our kids the arts, etc. You get my point. The important thing is that we follow His path in our parenting. We need to be the frogs in the pot. By allowing Him to turn up the heat, we become better parents because we are relying more on our Father. How hot is your water right now?


Oh . . . we also added a dog to the mix this past weekend!