Stop And Smell The Roses!

I'm linking up with Jen at Almost Gypsy Soul for Soul Food Friday: What Feeds Your Soul. Check it out!

Stop And Smell The Roses!

Let's be real here... Motherhood is always foreign to a new mom, regardless of how many books you've read, babies or kids you've baby sat, how many nieces or nephew's you have, how many classes you've taken, or how many TLC shows you've watched or how well you "think" you're prepared for the way the little life will change your view of pretty much everything.  But there's good news, there's been a ton of women who've been there too, and they learned and they can help you.  The other good news is, it happens pretty fast and it's like something or someone is yanking you by the hand dragging you around showing you what to do; it's called being a natural.  It's not easy in the early days, but you do what comes natural and you figure out how to do things and what should be done next, sometimes you have encouragement (a screaming baby) and you figure it out, sometimes faster than others.

Fast Forward 17 months...

Stop and smell the roses!  When you have a "do it myself" toddler nothing is done very fast.  But it is important for their learning when they want to "do it myself".  Lately I have been trying to get him to hold my hand when we are walking around the yard or if we go on a short walk around the block.  Although it takes longer for him to walk with me than for me to carry him; he is learning about his surroundings, and learning to behave.  And it's not just him learning... I find myself looking around at my surroundings taking in God's beauty, the individual blades of grass, the rocks on the ground, the leaves on the tree, the feathers on a bird, and not just noticing the grass, the ground, the trees or the birds as a whole.  Looking at life through Cooper's eyes is so rewarding, everything is so interesting and beautiful and often taken for granted!  I challenge you to look at life through a toddler's eyes, slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. 

Stop.And.Smell.The.Roses!

Matthew 6:25-34

New International Version (NIV)

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.