When life is difficult and rewarding

 In my forty years of life, I have come to the conclusion that life can be difficult and rewarding.  There are things that can make life both difficult and rewarding.  

For example, when you have more than one child, you can guarantee that they will fight.  If you add to the mix that the children are all the same gender and essentially stair steps in ages, and well you get the idea.  I love my children very much, don't get me wrong.  I just wish that I could go one day without them fighting with each other and getting on my nerves.  But, I do not think that will happen anytime soon.

Then again, these children of mine have rewarded me with tons of memories.  And there is nothing that I would not do for them.  The one thing that is the most rewarding to me is when they decided to follow Christ and accepted him into their hearts.  I was such a proud mama on the day that they made that decision and then later got baptized.

Now some people would want to crucify me for taking them to church and what have you but, you do you and I'll do me.  Personally, I believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.  I had an aunt that has long since passed who was the one that was instrumental in getting me involved in church.  I made the decision myself to accept Christ and get baptized.  And my children did the same thing.  

I leave a lot of decisions up to them to a certain point.  For example, if they want their hair cut, that is fine with me.  Now with their current ages, I will not let them dye their hair.  They also will not be getting a cell phone until they get a job and can pay for it themselves.

I know some people are probably freaking out about that last comment but hear me out.  I never had a cell phone until I was in my 20's.  By that time, I was able to pay for it myself.  I want to instill the same thing into my children.  I want them to become self-sufficient and not rely on others for the things that they need.

This is also one of the reasons why I have been teaching them how to cook for themselves and wash dishes.  My mom and grandparents taught me how to cook and wash dishes.  One of my fondest memories of my grandfather is him letting me cook my breakfast before school.  Now he was in the kitchen the whole time that I was doing this but, it gave me a sense of pride to be able to do something for myself.  And I love seeing that proud look of accomplishment on my children's faces when they do something for themselves.