Category: Mara-Speak

Hiding God’s Word in Their Hearts

Posted on by Becky

In his article Why Memorize Scripture (which, by the way, you should definitely read), John Piper lists several reasons for memorizing Scripture:

  • Conformity to Christ
  • Daily triumph over Satan
  • Daily triumph over sin
  • Comfort and counsel for people you love
  • Communicating the Gospel to unbelievers
  • Communion with God in the enjoyment of His person and His ways

I’ve recently learned another reason for us stay-at-home moms to memorize Scripture ourselves by quoting it aloud several times a day:

  • We will be hiding God’s Word in our children’s hearts–without them even knowing it!

The kids and I were sitting at dinner. Daniel was working late. I was focused on feeding Micah, and Mara as usual was talking incessantly. She began muttering something quietly, and I didn’t pay close attention at first. So I only caught the last half.

She was saying, ” . . . workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Then she looked at me with a mischievous smile–as if to say, ‘Betcha didn’t know I knew that one, did you?’

She was quoting Ephesians 2:10–a verse I memorized almost a month and a half ago–and haven’t quoted since! It really amazed me–not that she was capable of memorizing (because she has memorized other verses). But this was one of my verses. I don’t think I ever heard her quote it while I was actually working on it!

God actually used my daughter to encourage me to keep memorizing Scripture! I need God’s Word, in my life. And hopefully, as I am faithful, my children too will reap all its benefits in the future as God takes His word and works it in their hearts as well!

‘Dirls’ These Days

Posted on by Becky

Three days with migraines means I spent three days doing as close to nothing as possible, in as much darkness as possible–so naturally I spent the remaining days playing catch up. It’s been a rough week.

Thankfully, my husband has been a huge help! Especially this weekend. Both Friday and Saturday he took both kids to play at the park. Saturday he ordered pizza for dinner so I wouldn’t have to cook, and Sunday after church we had Arby’s. Not the healthiest weekend, but hey, I’m actually well enough tonight to type up a quick post! 🙂

On Saturday morning I woke up again with a migraine, and after a couple of hours getting the kids ready for the day and getting their breakfast, the pain on the left side of my head was killing me. I had no choice but to go back to bed. I put Micah down for his morning nap, and Daniel said he and Mara would make coffee and then watch something together.

Mara loves to “make coffee” with Daddy. Her job is to push the button on the coffee grinder. This has been her job for over a year now. But the best part in Mara’s mind is not so much making coffee, as “watching something” online while they wait for the coffee to brew.

Apparently they’ve watched all the “Superman” cartoons that are online now, and they’ve moved on: to The X-Men.

Having never seen The X-Men, and thinking that sounds somehow beyond “toddler girl” level, I said to Daniel, “I don’t know if a 2-year-old girl should be watching the X-Men.”

And Mara replied, “It’s just a tar-toon, Mommy.” Then emphatically, she added, “‘Dirls should watch X-Men after they make coffee with their daddies.”

I smirked, because she was so convincing. (Who is this ‘dirl’?!?!)

Mara smiled sweetly and followed Daddy to the stairs. As she started down the steps, I heard her call over her shoulder, “I’ll be fine, Mom.”

“Mom”? Since when did I become “Mom”? She’s only two!

I really thought “Mommy” should last at least until kindergarten!!!

Random Mara Quotes

Posted on by Becky

Soooo, here’s a draft post I started months ago and never posted . . . I still want to remember . . .  so I’ll just post it now.

Explaining why she couldn’t pick up the piece of trash on the floor:

“Yucky yucky! Little piece . . .”

“Of what?” I asked. “A little piece of what?”

“Little piece of . . .  I tan’t pict it up! It’s DOSE!!! [gross]”

Explaining to Daddy that we really did make him a birthday cake, after I told her it was top-secret:

“We made TAKE!” she shouted as soon as Daddy walked in the door. Then running into the kitchen and pointing at the stove, she yelled, “TAKE in uh-nen [cake in oven].”

“No, honey, that’s not a cake,” I said, hoping Daniel wouldn’t figure it out. “That’s our dinner.” It was indeed our dinner, but Mara had gone down for a nap with the cake in the oven, and awoke to find the oven still on, and the cake hidden, so she firmly believed it was still in the oven.

She wasn’t backing down: “No!” she firmly insisted. “Not ‘not take’! Iss take!”

[Sigh.] The secret’s out.

New Names

Posted on by Becky

With the first two children, we didn’t start discussing names until we learned the baby’s gender. We’re planning to wait (once again) to discuss names, but hopefully not as long as we waited with our little preemie Micah, who didn’t have a name until he was 3 days old, and we would have had to go to court to change his name if we waited any longer to think of one . . .

But Mara is already thinking about baby names!

We were talking about the baby one morning and Mara asked, “What’s gonna be its names?”

“We don’t know yet,” I told her. “We’ll have to think of one.”

————

On an unrelated, yet semi-related, note . . .

I was sitting at the computer last week, when Mara came up to me, and in a most pedantic tone asked, “Can you say ‘MIX-ee-ah-WUNK-ee’?”

Not sure I heard correctly, I repeated: “Mix-ee-ah-wunk-ee?”

Mara looked quite pleased, as if I had “passed” her test. “Yes!” she smiled. “My name is MIX-ee-ah-WUNK-ee.”

Which seems to me a very good reason not to let Mara name the new baby

Mara’s Reaction to The Announcement

Posted on by Becky

Daniel said Mara wouldn’t understand–she is just too young. But I still wanted to tell her. I didn’t want my daughter to hear from someone else that we’re having a baby!

I told her: “Mara, Mommy is going to have another baby!”

She looked at me blankly and then said, “Can I throw the baby up in the air?” 🙁 Daniel was right. . .  She doesn’t get it. She’s “just too young.” I believe those were his exact words.

No, Mara, you cannot throw the baby up in the air.

Maybe she’ll be excited about the next one, I thought.

——–

Saturday morning we were praying before eating our french toast, and Daniel prayed, “And please keep our littlest one safe.”

Mara asked, “Why Daddy says ‘please keep our littlest one safe’?”

Daddy said, “Because Mommy has a baby in her tummy.”

Mara’s eyes lit up. “Mommy has a baby in her tummy!”

“Yes,” Daddy added, “just like Aunt Sarah had a baby in her tummy for a long time, and then baby Sophia was born.”

I had to go upstairs to change Micah’s poopy diaper.

While I was upstairs, Mara asked, “Why Mommy has a baby in her tummy?”

And Daniel just told her, “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Maybe she does get it!

————

Mara was playing in her room. She had both of her toy car seats out: Perkle Baby was in one, Pink Bear with Hearts was in the other.

Mara picked them both up, and said enthusiastically, “Now we will have Little Micah-man and Little Baby! Because I have a baby in my tummy!”