The Fruit of the Spirit for a stay at home Mom

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 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

If we are to have “fruit” to show that our spirits are lined up with God’s in our walk, how does that identify with me, a stay at home mom?  It seems like I can’t have all these traits when I am just being with my little ones all day.  Here is what having “fruit” in my life would mean……

LOVE………

I have been up since 4 am taking care of the children, it is now 9 o clock pm and I am tired.  I look forward to laying down for some peace and quiet before my eyes droop shut.  When my husband asks me for some popcorn and a drink, if I can rise to my tired feet and gladly bring it with a smile….that is LOVE.

JOY……….

After finally getting the children to lie down for the evening after a long tiring day, the house is finally quiet.  The baby was needing to be cuddle all day, the toddler wanted to be held and the preschooler was getting into mischief.  Then Dad walks in the door late from work, announces that he is home and this brings little feet running out of their rooms.  Big smiles and happy laughs erupt from the little ones.  If in my heart I can see the joy that their Daddy bring to them, instead of focusing on how much work it is going to be to put them back into bed….This is JOY

PEACE…..

At a low point in motherhood, loneliness presses in on me.  I feel like the cloud of doom is pressing in on me and I just want to get out.   I long to be able to visit with my good friends for some adult time.  Time when I don’t have to be “mom.”  When I see the neighbor comes over and my husband can sit outside and talk with him for over an hour without any interruptions.  If I can be truly glad that my husband gets to encourage and be encouraged by another person without feeling the jealously that I wish I could do that, ….that is PEACE.

LONGSUFFERING….

I have been waiting all week for my husband to be able to fix the broken sink.  I have been doing dishes in our bathtub.  He has been working long hours and he finally has some time to do it.  When his Dad calls and asks if he can come over and help him right then, and in my heart I can avoid being resentful.  I know he won’t be able to get to it until next week, then this is LONGSUFFERING.

GENTLENESS…….

After a full day’s work for my husband, and he comes in exhausted and stretches out for a little rest. If I can remove his shoes without him waking, give him some covers, and take the children to another part of the home to keep them quiet.  Even though that will mean more work for me to try and keep 4 little ones quiet, then this is GENTLENESS.

GOODNESS…..

Even though we are both working around the clock doing our different jobs, if I can take the time to write him a love note to put into his lunch…….and make it a point to tidy myself up before he walks in the door and give him a nice big hug and kiss….this is GOODNESS.

FAITH…..

If I can trust and believe that God does hear my prayers for help in guidance and teaching of my little ones each day, even though Dad is gone most of the time trying to earn a living for us…..this is my FAITH that God will help me.

MEEKNESS…

If when my husband notices where I can use some improvement in my life and gently admonishes me to try and better myself, and if I can receive his advice humbly without offense.  Then take what he said and try and work at it to do better….than this is MEEKNESS.

TEMPERANCE….

When the evening hour rolls around and I am mentally deciding which task I should do to help prepare for my long, busy day tomorrow,and my husband suggests that we all take a quick trip to the park to walk. Even though, it may be a little more work, if I can gladly go without mentioning all the things that “I” need to get done and recognize that this would be best for the family as we can build memories together, then this is TEMPERANCE.

Stuck inside with lots of little ones all day….some help!

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The long days of winter can seem like they tirelessly go on and on and on.  This is especially true if you have a household full of little ones and they are just running around the house ragged trying  to burn off some energy.  In our  home we have many days where we bring in the scooters, slide over the furniture and the children ride laps around the house.  It helps to burn off some energy, sometimes ends in some smashed toes, but overall they have a fun time.  But lets just say you can’t bring the scooters in because it could cause some running over of little ones, what else can you do?  Here are thirty things we have done over the years to help occupy little ones when those long days of winter seem to drag on.

  1. Play baseball with a wooden spoon and a balloon.
  2. Let children help make Daddy’s favorite meal and set the table like you are having company.
  3. Teach children to tie shoes.
  4. Let them play with suitcases, so they can pretend they are travelig.
  5. Cut out pictures and past them into a homemade construction paper book.
  6. Visit a lonely neighbor.
  7. Make finger jell-o with cookie cutter shapes.
  8. Put a homemade gift in the mailbox for the mailman.
  9. Make face masks with brown paper bags.
  10. Pack a picnic and let the children eat it in a toy house made with a card table and blankets over top.
  11. Make marshmallow snowman with three big marshmallows and toothpicks.
  12. Make a thankful list and see how long you can make it.  Put it away as something to look back on.
  13. Play I Spy.
  14. Put potatoes in water to watch them sprout.
  15. Have a real tea party.
  16. Help them plan for company and decide the menu.
  17. Draw faces on white foam cups and plant grass seed.  You can give hair cuts to your plants.
  18. Make paper snowflakes.
  19. Teach simple embroiderl.
  20. Get a washer box to play in.
  21. Make paper airplanes.
  22. Hide a small toy and let them find it.
  23. Let them make a homemade card to mail to someone.
  24. Make your children’s favorite food.
  25. String up Cheerios.
  26. Read bedtime stories each night.
  27. Let children make notes to put into Dad’s lunch.
  28. Let the children do the dusting.
  29. Play hopscotch by using masking tape to mark off areas.
  30. Practice throwing rolled up socks into a large bowl.

Want to help build some excitement in your home?  Take these and write them on slips of paper and put them into a bowl.  Every afternoon at 2 o’clock have your child pull out a task and you can do it with them.  Do only one a day and then each day at that time they can look forward to their “fun” time with Mom.  Or you can write a different idea on a calendar to remember to do one each day.  Just something to change the monotony of boring, being locked up inside days.

I long for warmer days………….I am right there with you….from a Mom of many little ones.

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