21 days of prayer for sons

has God heard my prayer, or what? i have been in such a dry spell lately, and to make it worse, caden has been quite the challenging 4 year old lately. i mean, look at him, he's gorgeous, sweet, sometimes tenderhearted, and so lovey. but then, there are those crazy times where i just don't know what to do with him. i cry and cry as i hold him down to spank him. we just aren't getting it right now.

so, i prayed to the Lord, and he heard my prayer. Brooke McGlothlin is a contributor to http://www.themobsociety.com/ website. i get their email devos daily, as well as follow them on facebook and twitter. their nuggets of scripture and words of encouragement have lifted my spirits many times. Brooke has written a book called, "Warrior Prayers: praying the word for boys in the areas they need it most." this book (a $6 digital instant download) can be purchased by going to Brooke's website. There is a 21 days of prayer for sons challenge/adventure starting tomorrow, april 1. each day for 21 days, there will be a prayer guide covering 21 areas where our boys need the most prayer. i am committing to prayer, 10 times a day (using the 10 scriptures provided each day) for my two sons. if i had to guess, it wouldn't hurt to pray these prayers over our husbands, either. just sayin.

from her book (that i've just pulled hot off my printer only minutes after buying it!):

Are you a mother of boys who often finds herself wanting to waive the white flag in defeat? Do they drain you, overwhelm you, steal your heart, break your heart and cause you more anxiety than you ever dreamed possible?

Maybe you only have one boy amongst a sea of estrogen and you just can’t figure out how to respond to your boy in a way that affirms all that is good about his masculinity.
There are so many books out there today on the topic of parenting boys that I can’t count them. Nor do I have time to read them all. But even if I did, reading these books and putting the solid tools in them to work still doesn’t come with guarantees.
Knowing this, it becomes quite clear that there is only one thing we can do…
Plead with God.

Pray.

“The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:17.

It’s our hope.

and i'm so thankful for the hope that we have. God answers prayers. i pray that my heart is softened and challenged as i pray for my sons over the next 21 days. will you join me?

thoughts

i am only three blog post into this new journey and i'm already hitting a writer's block. i have a lot of things floating in my head right now. many things that have to do with sweet t. many things that have to do with my role as a wife and as a mother. i'm at a weird spot right now. i have this desire to grow in the Lord and be a better mom and wife. to study more and to help others more. i then have these times when i get so overwhelmed with all that lies ahead of me in these journeys that i don't even want to start the journey... crazy, i know.

without going into to much detail, because i can't, i'm wanting to share my frustration. our legal system sucks! we are caring for a child full time whom i love like my own. we get very little financial help, and there aren't too many people volunteering for the midnight feedings that are still occuring most nights. i get it. we volunteered and i don't expect too much help. we are doing this out of obedience to God. He'll take care of the kudos part later... you know what i do expect though? high standards. i want him to be in a home where he is loved more than life, where he is prayed over, where he can sleep in peace, where his lungs are safe from smoke, where the threat of spounge bob is the worst thing he could be exposed to. (we don't watch spounge bob, by the way). can you pray for wisdom for us? sometimes the not knowing, the he-said-she-said, and the continual dhr visits wear on me.

so, that's my beef. pray with me, for me, for josh, and for everyone else involoved that God will be glorified, that t will come to know Christ at an early age, and that there will be peace in our home.

and, just because you listened to me gripe, I'll include something cute... pictures of sweet t.

ok. my next posts will be about something fun and light-hearted, i promise. i'm thinking maybe something funny about the big kids. caden has been saying the craziest stuff lately (like telling me he the other day that he was going to scream bloody murder three times!) where do they come up with these things? :)

busy

anyone with me? b.u.s.y. i am so guilty of not slowing down. i don't sit down, i don't rest, and this, my friends, causes me to be very tired. i am so guilty of trying to hold it all together on my own. i'm strong enough. i'm capable enough. i've got this! again, i ask... anyone with me?

through some recent fortune, josh and i have had the opportunity to work backstage at several of scott dawson evangelistic association events. we've met several awesome people (toby mac, jeremy camp, casting crowns, the skit guys and more), but our favorite guys have been the group kristian stanfill. the guys are so funny, personable and down to earth. but more than that, they can lead a group of teens into the thrownroom of God for some amazing worship. their new album, mountains move, is no exception. here are the lyrics to my favorite song from the album.

holding my world

And this is Your world, you made it
And all of creation is breathing because You sustain it
Jesus, by your powerful word
You spoke out the earth and the heavens

So I will not worry or fret
My God is the God who will never forget
All of His goodness and all of His promises
He's holding my world in His hands

And these are Your days, you give them
All for Your fame and all for Your glorious kingdom
Jesus, You have ordained
All things to dwell in Your purpose

So I will not worry or fret
My God is the God who will never forget
All of His goodness and all of His promises
He's holding my world in His hands

And I am your child, beloved
And all of my days, my future is laid in your promise
Jesus, to the end of the age
I am not alone or forgotten

So I will not worry or fret
My God is the God who will never forget
All of His goodness and all of His promises
He's holding my world

am i so busy that i forget that i don't have to fix it all? do i remember that "my God is the God who will never forget?" my days and my future are in HIS hands. what is my worrying, or fixing, or running around going to do to improve my walk with the Lord? nothing. not one thing.

i'm praying that God will continue to prick my heart in times where i am focused on the wrong things. things that are good can still be the wrong thing to focus on. slow down. look to Him. He is holding your world in His hands.

bring on the messes

we are at that stage again... time for sweet t to start eating food. after several not very successful attempts, i think we have the hang of it...

while i think we still need some practice, we are well on our way to big people food one day!

If you can't beat 'em...

i'm starting to feel a little bit of a failure. those of you who know me, know that I don't usually do journals or keep a good calendar or remember details from past events (important or not). so. back in december, when we brought sweet t into our house, he came with a baby book. i never kept a baby book with either of my kids (i know, horible mom). but, for obvious reasons, i wanted to keep one for sweet t. he's been at our house almost 4 months. have i written in it? nope. thought about it, yes.

i also read in a baby magazine the other day that you should go to facebook and do screenshots of cute posts that you had posted and maybe forgotten about as a way to keep up with funny things. not sleeping through the night, eating cereal for the first time, cutting first teeth, taking first steps... all things i probably mentioned on facebook. too bad that i was a little slow jumping on the fb train.

so, here we are. you've landed on this blog thing called 'the way of the whitts.' not sure what you'll find here on a regular basis, but i am going to try my best to start documenting life, mostly by photos, but also by lessons learned and adventures travelled.

thanks for joining with us on this journey!