His mercies are new every morning!

Some days are easier than others,

and some weeks are waaaay easier than others!!!

Seems that after weeks of vacation

and incredibly busy weeks at home -

finding our new summer normal has been incredibly hard.

But I think we are getting there. 

Today Elijah said,

"Momma, I'm trying to not get in trouble."

and that makes me happy -

all I ask is that we all try!

No one needs to be perfect,

but we need to try to learn from each other

and try to be respectful to each other.

Which also means me being respectful to my kiddos.

Some days it is just hard to not want them to obey at my first request -

or my second, 

and soooo hard at my third request...

but I have to remember that my kids have not had good experiences with 

authority in their past.

Obeying meant that they did not have a voice,

that no one wanted to hear what they had to say.

They respond defensively 

rather than listen to learn how to make better choices.

I am not naturally a patient person,

nor do I have a gentle spirit. 

This is something that I have to pray for daily,

and weeks like this past week - 

moment by moment. 

I am incredibly excited, yet terrified 

 to go to 4 days of intense training with Dr. Karyn Purvis -

is it going to be rough! 

Humbling myself to learn how to better parent my kiddos 

is going to be hard! 

I will be packing a ton of tissues as I know I will be broken again and again,

and reminded of all the mistakes I have already made.

Thank God HIS mercies are new every morning and 

and thank God that my children are very forgiving - 

and allow me to make mistakes,

apologize 

and try again too!