The bestest Mother's Day ever!
I'm a little late in posting this, but I couldn't help but tell you about what a wonderful Mother's Day I had. Jesse and Kathrynne decided Saturday afternoon that they were going to treat me to a special Sunday lunch. So off to the store they went to buy the necessary ingredients.
They returned with everything to make some of my current favorite cravings: Barbecued Meatballs, Twice-Baked Potatoes, and Strawberry Shortcake. Jesse bought an extra large package of strawberries and fresh whipping cream just for me. Yummy! Finally, after seeing so many mouth-watering pictures on Tammy's blog, we had some strawberry shortcake of our own:
Jesse and Kathrynne also proudly presented me with, what else? Haagen-Dazs icecream. I haven't tasted that stuff in years and boy it is good! No wonder the price tag is so high for the tiny little container. They had also gotten me a special loose tea brewer - something I'd had my eye on for a long time but didn't want to buy because, well, you know how frugal I am. I was so surprised that Jesse even knew I'd been eyeing it and then that he had gone to the trouble to buy it for me.
After church on Sunday, I was relegated to the couch while they prepared lunch and served me. Talk about getting the royal treatment! I felt completely spoiled!
But the two best Mother's Day gifts of all didn't come in the form of tangible gifts or food.
The first gift was from Kathrynne on Sunday morning. We had gotten to church early to help with set up and, after that was taken care of, I sat down and started reading Kathrynne's Bible verse book to her. When we got to her favorite verse page, for the first time in her life, she quoted all of Ephesians 6:1. Usually she has only said, "Children obey..." But Sunday morning, she quoted every bit of the verse to me! How it warmed my heart!
And the second gift was from my husband and happened Saturday afternoon. Jesse and Kathrynne had brought home some fresh corn on the cob from their shopping venture. They had both gone out on the deck to shuck it and while I was working in the kitchen I heard the most beautiful father-daughter conversation taking place. Not only was Jesse teaching Kathrynne the proper way to shuck corn, but he was explaining to her Who made the corn, how it grows, and the spiritual significance of reaping and sowing. Then he got out his Bible and started reading and sharing with Kathrynne verses on planting corn and reaping the harvest.
He didn't know that all the while I was listening in to their conversation. He was just being the great father that he is. Having these conversations with Kathrynne is not something that is out of the ordinary, this is just part of how he lives out Deuteronomy 6 every day of his life as a dad.
As I listened in, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude that God has blessed me - unworthy me - with such a wonderful husband. A husband who takes time to bless me - even in little ways like Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Who takes time to pray for me, love me, encourage me, feed me with the Word of God. Who is so kind and compassionate when I struggle, who loves me inspite of my many short-comings, and who constantly gives to me again and again. And not only that, but a husband who is such a wonderful father to our little girl and baby on the way. Who is never too busy to take time to just enjoy and make the most of the little moments in life - moments like shucking corn on the deck.
So this Mother's Day, like never before, I realized how incredibly blessed I am. I don't deserve to be a wife and mom. I don't deserve the wonderful husband I have or the beautiful daughter I have. I don't deserve to be carrying another precious child in utero. But God, in His mercy and grace, has seen fit to bless me with this calling. How I desire to be faithful. In my own strength, I am unable. But through God's strength, He can enable me to be a wife and mother who brings glory to Him.
They returned with everything to make some of my current favorite cravings: Barbecued Meatballs, Twice-Baked Potatoes, and Strawberry Shortcake. Jesse bought an extra large package of strawberries and fresh whipping cream just for me. Yummy! Finally, after seeing so many mouth-watering pictures on Tammy's blog, we had some strawberry shortcake of our own:
Jesse and Kathrynne also proudly presented me with, what else? Haagen-Dazs icecream. I haven't tasted that stuff in years and boy it is good! No wonder the price tag is so high for the tiny little container. They had also gotten me a special loose tea brewer - something I'd had my eye on for a long time but didn't want to buy because, well, you know how frugal I am. I was so surprised that Jesse even knew I'd been eyeing it and then that he had gone to the trouble to buy it for me.After church on Sunday, I was relegated to the couch while they prepared lunch and served me. Talk about getting the royal treatment! I felt completely spoiled!
But the two best Mother's Day gifts of all didn't come in the form of tangible gifts or food.
The first gift was from Kathrynne on Sunday morning. We had gotten to church early to help with set up and, after that was taken care of, I sat down and started reading Kathrynne's Bible verse book to her. When we got to her favorite verse page, for the first time in her life, she quoted all of Ephesians 6:1. Usually she has only said, "Children obey..." But Sunday morning, she quoted every bit of the verse to me! How it warmed my heart!
And the second gift was from my husband and happened Saturday afternoon. Jesse and Kathrynne had brought home some fresh corn on the cob from their shopping venture. They had both gone out on the deck to shuck it and while I was working in the kitchen I heard the most beautiful father-daughter conversation taking place. Not only was Jesse teaching Kathrynne the proper way to shuck corn, but he was explaining to her Who made the corn, how it grows, and the spiritual significance of reaping and sowing. Then he got out his Bible and started reading and sharing with Kathrynne verses on planting corn and reaping the harvest.
He didn't know that all the while I was listening in to their conversation. He was just being the great father that he is. Having these conversations with Kathrynne is not something that is out of the ordinary, this is just part of how he lives out Deuteronomy 6 every day of his life as a dad.As I listened in, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude that God has blessed me - unworthy me - with such a wonderful husband. A husband who takes time to bless me - even in little ways like Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Who takes time to pray for me, love me, encourage me, feed me with the Word of God. Who is so kind and compassionate when I struggle, who loves me inspite of my many short-comings, and who constantly gives to me again and again. And not only that, but a husband who is such a wonderful father to our little girl and baby on the way. Who is never too busy to take time to just enjoy and make the most of the little moments in life - moments like shucking corn on the deck.
So this Mother's Day, like never before, I realized how incredibly blessed I am. I don't deserve to be a wife and mom. I don't deserve the wonderful husband I have or the beautiful daughter I have. I don't deserve to be carrying another precious child in utero. But God, in His mercy and grace, has seen fit to bless me with this calling. How I desire to be faithful. In my own strength, I am unable. But through God's strength, He can enable me to be a wife and mother who brings glory to Him.
posted by Crystal Paine at 9:55 AM
14 Comments:
What a beautiful Mother's day celebration! Thanks for sharing.
Trixie
How blessed indeed!
Crystal,
Your post was so touching! God bless you!
God gives us so many blessings even though we're undeserving... it would be so good if everyone thought that way, instead of moaning about things they 'deserve' and don't have.
What a wonderful day!
What Bible verse book do you have? I am always on the look out for these kinds of things as finding good ones is so hard!
(God's Wisdom for Little Girls by Elizabeth George is also very sweet with great pictures)
You are indeed blessed! You have what many wish they had and I personally wished I had had when I was your age and a young wife! (Though God is good...He has given that kind of husband to me in latter years....same man, just changed)! Your children will be so blessed with such a dad too!!
What a wonderful day or weekend it sounds like. I also was filled with gratitude by the little things my children and hubby done. I was very sick with the Pregnancy this Sunday and I felt so drained but I still relaxed and felt very loved and blessed.
Chrissy T
Crystal, i don't normally read this paper, but my DH brought it to my attention. Turns out that some congressmen are trying to live on a "food stamp" budget for groceries as some sort of political stunt. I can't help but think they have a lot to learn from the Paine family! Instead of dolling out the money, maybe the government should be focusing on the more important things like protecting the family unit.
god Bless,
Suzy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501957.html?hpid=topnews
Thank you for sharing about your Mother's Day, Crystal. What a blessing that your little one is growing in Him. What another blessing it is that your husband invests so much precious time into Kathrynne's life. Thank you for your example of Godly motherhood.
What a wonderful day you had! Such a blessing.
Sweet post, Crystal. I posted the dvd on Monday, air mail, so hopefully it will be with you soon.
I'm so glad you had a wonderful mother's day Crystal - you deserve it! That was so beautiful what you wrote about being grateful for your husband, daughter, and baby on the way. May we always be grateful for the wonderful blessings God brings into our lives!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Mother's Day Crystal. And, what a special tribute to your husband too!
What a cute picture of Jesse and Kathrynne together! I had a similar experience recently where I overhead a conversation between my husband and my two year old little boy. They were playing with toy cars and my husband was quizzing him on what color each car was, praising and giving positive reinforcement as he identified each one correctly, and then went on to talk about Who made the colors, which then led to a talk about Noah's ark and the first rainbow.
It brought tears to my eyes! After my husband and I both grew up with distant fathers, it's so touching to see my husband "breaking the cycle" so to speak and truly embracing Biblical fatherhood in the fullest way, even when we are "just" at home and there isn't an audience.
These are the instances when we especially need to build up and express our love and appreciation to our guys. We live in a world where children are not always valued and the role of father is minimized. It's critical that we as wives and mothers emulate a loving, encouraging spirit.
Wow, I was skimming down the page, checking out all of the neat posts :D, and I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of the strawberry shortcake, LOL! Glad to hear that you had a blessed Mother's Day! And...MMMMMM!
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