Life’s What You Make It!

So my life is definitely not turning out like I thought it would be but that rarely happens right?  The Bible tells us “many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails,” (Proverbs 19:21).  My family and I have found this to be so, so true! We are here for the kingdom of God and that is our purpose to glorify Him. I was an early childhood teacher and loved that teaching allowed me to be creative and work with little people. I thought when I had kids I would run, jump, and play with them…not what multiple sclerosis has allowed my body to do. I was very bitter and didn’t think the things I can do with my children are very important. However, God is teaching me that my children will learn compassion and what it truly means to love and serve Jesus because they see people help their mommy and they see their mommy struggle each day.

God has blessed my husband and I with three wonderful children and it’s our responsibility to teach them how to serve in the kingdom of God. I try to do several things that teach my children what it means to love God and love others.  I started “The Dumpe Family Blessing Jar” a few years ago. My family writes down blessings God has given us and puts them in the jar. Many times the blessings are playing with trucks and drawing with chalk outside! We read them in November and December and add new blessings that start in January.

We also have a “family prayer jar.”  I took pictures of our extended family members and glued them on popsicle sticks (you can get a lot of pictures from Facebook). My kids choose a family to pray for during the week. We also do the same thing with our Christmas cards. (I put them all in a box and we choose a family to pray for.)

I also just started a “fruit of the spirit jar” with my kids to help with discipline. I put each fruit (from Galatians 5:22) in an envelope and the kids take turns pulling out a “fruit” everyday (love, joy, peace, patience, etc…). I make an effort to look for that particular “fruit ” in their behavior during the day. If I see it, they get to put a pom-pom in the jar, and when the jar is full we do something fun. For example, they just filled the jar with pom-poms and we took them to get pancakes!

I am also trying to be intentional with teaching my kids to “let their light shine” (Matthew 5:16). We always put out water bottles for the garbage men, treats and notes occasionally for the mailman, and we bring a treat every Sunday for the man that sells newspapers at the intersection near our home. We also carry granola bars to give away if we someone that might need one while we’re driving.

Lastly, every day I love taking my oldest to school in the morning. It sounds weird and I do love to have them all at home (most of the time), but it’s caused to me to be very intentional. When we leave for school, we put on our armor of God and shake the fruit of spirit all over us (Galatians 6:10-20 and 5:22). We take turns praying for our daddy, teachers, and classmates. It is about a five minute drive to school, so I’ve learned to be pretty concise.

I hope these ideas are helpful for your family! Please feel free to share your ideas with me. As I said before, this is a completely different life than I thought, however God has entrusted my husband and I with three wonderful children! It is my joy and responsibility to teach them about the kingdom of God.
In Christ,

Haley

“I urge you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God.” Ephesians 4:1