Risen Motherhood.

I have mentioned Risen Motherhood on this blog before, but it's good enough to mention again. (In my post, I mentioned I was sad that there weren't more than five, because that was their initial start up, but guess what? They continued and now there are 40+ episodes! Yay!) If you haven't listened, I would highly recommend. Check out their site here.

This weekend, Kley graciously took Norah to our local Kid's Gym (which is amazing and she loves that place- she was literally shaking in excitement to go), so I could clean the house in peace. It was amazing. I love having Norah around as my little sidekick/helper, but occasionally it's nice to move at an adult pace vs. toddler. While cleaning, I listened to episodes 33: Intentional Motherhood Starts At Day One and 35: Putting Your Marriage First- Giving Your Husband More Than The Leftovers. (Apparently I accidentally skipped one. Oops.)

Both were extremely good and very much what I needed to hear. I loved how the intentional motherhood one talked about how what you do with young children is absolutely important, even if your children are too young to understand. They mentioned how it can feel like the mission or teaching your children about Christ doesn't start until they are older, but our kids learn so much from a very young age, even more than we realize they are picking up. So what you do matters, even if you only have tiny babies at home. A good reminder for me, and especially with the twins coming! God is not limited by age or maturity- that really stuck out to me.

The putting your marriage first one was a good reminder too. Obviously I do think that is really important, but it can be easy to let that slide with young kids in the house. They talked about how your children's needs are so prevalent and immediate, that your husband's more subtle, though necessary, needs can slide away more quickly because your husband won't just throw a tantrum like a young child can. They offered more practical advice to serve your husband, such as simply asking him, "What's something I can do for you today?" or, "What's a small way I can serve you today?" and then talking about that in a praiseworthy way in front of your children, like how daddy asked me to do this and he does so much for our family, so this is a great way we can help him.

Check out these encouraging podcasts!