Retread
Well with all the intensity of the last few months with Dan’s hip situation I have completely missed my 200th post . By the way Dan is now taking a daily walk to the mail box with a cane down our driveway hill and all. He is doing fabulous! Anyways I thought I would go back and look at my first attempts at blogging, and pick out a post that most of you probably haven’t read as a retread post in honor of my 200th post. The interesting thing about this post is that some of the very same subject matter is now a focal point in my life once again. I have another little grand on the way in May...Avey Rose. And my youngest daughter Jenna Dear is leaving in two weeks to go to school and live in Seattle. All I can think about is how is she going to survive on her own with out her dear mamma…right? What is really bugging me is how am I going to survive with out her…;(
Below is a tribute to my own mom and all things mothers and daughters…sigh!
Years ago I was asking a new friend of mine who was known to have a gift in intersession and prayer to teach me how to really pray and intercede. She said something’s are better caught than taught. She explained to me that I would learn better by spending time with her in prayer, learning by experience and example, much more than she would ever be able to teach or explain with words. She was right, after going to the throne room with her just a few times, I gain great insight and experience that mere words could never have conveyed. I have noticed over the years that in life many things are better "caught than taught". When the Bible tells us our lives are like a living epistle, it is so true. I think parenting and the best kind of teaching come through observation. My beloved Italian momma who died of cancer 18 years ago this spring still impacts my life in many ways by the life she led as my mom. As a teenager, the last thing I wanted to do back in the day was be like my mom. She drove me crazy in so many ways. For instance she was this super obsessive clean freak. Actually I must have driven her crazy. I was one major slob. To this day the only reason I keep a fairly clean house is not because of her nagging. That never made a single dent on my conscious, oops! What got me finally was living on my own, after only a few weeks of glorious slobville, I found I couldn't stand it. I couldn't enjoy my messiness because after having lived in her home I couldn’t stand living in filth. Those were her words ;>) I couldn’t believe myself when I began to get all bothered about a clean house. And so the saga continued. My daughters too are messy and I drove them nuts trying to teach them how to keep a fairly neat bedroom. It did not work. But I knew one day if I just kept up my end of the deal by example they to would catch the clean thing. Sure enough my daughter Megan’s first quarter away at collage my diligent example paid off. She found herself one day scrubbing down her apartment going on this major cleaning binge , when she realized in the middle of her obsession, she had become her mother!!!!!!!!! We both had a good laugh over that. I was outwardly sympathetic, but inwardly my heart was shouting hallelujah!!! Well 18 years after my mother’s death, I still live a life impacted by her example. As I enter this new stage of grandmother hood, I think of her often and find myself mimicking her ways with my own daughter. Enjoying all the love and support I can lavish on her without overwhelming her. Letting her find her way, but when she asks, I am there with hands wide open. I felt the need this Mother's Day to pay a tribute to my mom. I am still very much gleaning from all her examples that were caught not taught by the life she led and the love she gave so freely. Thanks Mom!
P.S. I have been bugging Jenna about her messy room lately and warning her about living with room mates and all...we will see how this one does...lol!
P.S.S. I tried this new widget thing below that is whacking out on this post...I might have to ditch it, but it was what made me think of a retread post.
11 comments:
Ohhhh, so that's where bloggers have been getting those... And here I just streamlined my blog so that it would load better and you're tempting me with that cute little widget.
Just loved the retread. I turned into my father who was obsessed by cleanliness in my youth. My mother had better things to do and still does. Her home is clean enough, but she's always got a project going somewhere.
I also had a laugh at your daughters' experience. I imagine that Jenna will find herself in the midst of a cleaning binge, too.
Yay for Dan walking all the way to the mailbox. That is impressive. It won't be long and he'll be wanting to jump out of a plane or something.
What a sweet name for your new grandgirlie. Just love it!
Great post - and I'm happy to hear Dan is doing so well - hooray!
That is an interesting widget you are trying out - I hadn't seen that one before. Of course, I clicked on the one about loving the smell of old books!
Congratulations on the new baby on the way too.
Congrat's on 200 plus posts! And your retread is great. There's some things I hope have transferred to my kids...and then there are others I pray they never picked up on.
Your grandaughter will have a lovely name...and just perfect for a spring baby.
So glad your hubby is getting along just fine.
I am glad you stopped by the cafe. I'll be back (if I can find my way).
In the mean time I may need to pick up that link within widget...love it!
I am having fun seeing some of you try the new widget. I still don't know why mine went in triplicate when I reposted. Anyways I am even having fun looking at some of my own old posts this way...the mind forgets at my age :]
I'm glad you posted this as I missed it the first time round. My sister and I tease each other like this: "You are turning into mom!"
I like that, caught not taught. How true, how very very true.
Excellent post.
That was very well-said. I absolutely remember in my early twenties, newley married, thinking, " Oh, my gosh I sound like Mom." My mom was and still is a neat freak and I want, but don't quite achieve everything being neat. I have learned so much from all of my female role models. Just amazing, beautiful things that enrich my daily life.
Congratulations on 200 posts! And this was a goodie!!
So beautiful about role-modeling for our girls! Your granddaughter will have a very special name!
blessings,
kari & kijsa
Great post! Hopefully my nagging about always keeping the house clean will pay off with my girls! They do well with their rooms because of a bribe we have going on...but I have to constantly stay on them with leaving their belongings just anywhere around the house.
I came over from the comment/recipe you left at Sandy Toes. I always enjoy her recipes and especially this crock pot recipe she just posted. I also wrote yours down and wanted to thank you! I picked up a Pork Loin just the other night and thought about cooking it in the crockpot. I ended up putting it back because I didn't have a thought out recipe for it in the crockpot. So, again....THANK YOU! I will be going back to Kroger tomorrow and picking it back up!
Have a great weekend!
By the way, your daughter and her sweet baby girl are both beautiful!
Congratulations on your 200th post. Thank you for re-sharing these thoughts. It is so true that what we do speaks more loudly than what we say, and to be consistent in modeling in our parenting is ever important...but it sure is tough some days, the being "consistent" that is.
So fun to have a new grandbaby coming....beautiful name....and glad to hear that hubby is doing well..
Intercession! One of the greatest Intercessors (besides Jesus of course) to my mind was Rees Howells. I met his son once well after Rees was dead. Rees incidentally began The Bible College of Wales. He always believed that intercessions (as oppposed to intercessary prayer) were put on us by God. We did not go looking but responded when they came. His first was for a lady with tuberculosis. God asked Rees if he would be prepared to take on the TB into his own body to see the lady saved and set free. After some deliberation he said Yes. That was the beginning of a life of intercession.
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