I'm "great" and terrible, but thankful for HIS mercy and grace

Today I had some sweet moments with a few children where I thought I was a great mom, and soon after, I had an interaction with a child that went poorly and I felt like a terrible mom.

And, so I swing.... between feeling proud of what I do one moment, and then ashamed of what I do the next.

So, instead of wallowing in pride and guilt, I'm trying to preach the gospel to myself this afternoon.  I repented for my sin, and I confessed my sin to the child I wronged (after they woke up from nap time), and now I will trust my Savior.  Do I believe God's Word is true? 

Romans 3:23-24  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:8  But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 


1 Peter 2:9-10  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Philippians 3:8-9  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Lord, thank you for your grace, that today, while I sin, you died for me.  You paid for me, even though I fell short in the past and am falling short every day, and will fall short into the future.  Your Son, your beloved Son,  Jesus (I can't imagine giving up a child, for anything, let alone for the sin of the WORLD!) He redeemed me, He gives me peace, He gives me hope.  I am your daughter, I am part of your people, chosen by you and I am BLESSED to receive your mercy (you holding back your punishment) and grace (you giving me good that I don't deserve).  I am found in YOU, thank You, Father God.  You are so good to me, that by faith, I am counted as yours, belonging to you.  Thank you Jesus!

The reason I'm writing to remind myself of the truth that I believe.  It is good, freeing, peace-bringing and life-giving for me to confess sin and remember the gospel. 

Nicknames

Around here, nicknames just seem to fall out of my mouth once, then another time, and before I know it,  they are used everyday.

Here are the latest nicknames for my kids:

Rebekah:  I love her full name, but in reality, we usually don't call her by it.  We usually call her (and she calls her self) Bekah.  Hannah calls her Bekah as well.  We also will say Bekah-boo, Boo, The Boo, Beck, or Rebek-cute (this one is an oldy but goody).

Hannah:  The progression started like this - Baby-kins, Hannah-kins, and now it is Kins, The Kins, Kinsie, or we even use it as a adjective, i.e., "That's a Kinsie-like thing to do."  (like throwing/dipping things in the toilet...Kinsie-like.)  :)

Daniel:  The newest member of our family has some too.  The girls call him Dan-o, and so now we do too.  We also like Daniel-buddy, Danny Boy, Little Buddy, but Dan-o is my favorite. 

I call Chad "the Honey", and he sometimes calls me "the Cute".  So then, the girls were "the Little Cutes".

My dad still will remind me that he used to call me Cookie.  (I don't remember the story on why, but I do remember being called Cookie).

The girls call my Mom "Grammonica" - a blending of Grandma and Monica (her name).  Its cute.  

Family nicknames are so much fun, and a small everyday way of showing our kids and each other love.