Motherhood Poem by Angie Deweese

Lord, thank you for my children
Lord, thank you for all three
They are all truly blessings
 I am sure you do agree
From their cute little toes
 even nose wipes on clothes
 Baby laughs and tiny cries
the first time each one says bye bye
these moments quickly seem to pass time
really does go by so fast
They grow up quickly people say
Enjoy each and every day
and looking up, I do now see
 the oldest is now taller than me!
 the little laughs and little cries
 have been replaced by bigger guys
days of collecting leaves from the trees
are replaced by sharing my car and my keys
 Lord, help me to make memories that last
 time really does go by so fast
God protect and prepare these boys in my care
and help me hold off the gray in my hair
God give me the grace to be patient and kind
To treasure each day
To keep Your ways in mind
Lord fill me with your daily joys
Help me to love each of these boys

Pursue Peace by Angie Deweese

​The word peace is mentioned about 400 times in the Bible, depending on your translation. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23), and was used by Jesus as a greeting in the Bible. Peace be with you. I would like for my attitude when greeting others to be one of peace, and yet I feel so far from it many times. My family consists of myself, my husband, and my three boys-Devin (16), Kai (4), and Cruz (2). Like most families, we get caught up in the super speed of life. There is always somewhere to be, someone to drive somewhere, and a schedule to keep. When I walk into a room, I don't always feel like I am filling it with the peace of The Lord. Sometimes, I feel like I am sucking the peace right out of the room in my hurry to get somewhere. I am a list maker, and wake up almost every day writing down a list of things I want to get done. I love the sense of accomplishment when I mark off things from my list. That said, I have a hard time jumping from the speed of life, and the good feeling I get from accomplishing tasks, to just living in the moment and enjoying the peace God wants to bless me with by being present.

​Recently, I felt challenged to pursue an atmosphere of peace in our home. Things too often seem rushed, and I find myself hurrying through moments that I should be making memories of.  Specifically, at dinner. Our family dinners were hectic, not at all peaceful. I wanted to change that. My little guys had become impossibly picky. I was just trying to get thru dinner, and get it over with. It was a time to feed my family, or at least the ones that weren't refusing to even try a bite, and move on.  Another chore off the to-do list for the day. One evening, while throwing out plates of untouched food, I felt God tapping my shoulder.  He was reminding me of something I had been working on for over a year- to slow down. To live in the moment, and not be moving (in my mind) past the present and onto the next task for the day. Our pastor at church recently reminded us that we need to slow down our speed of life in order to invest in our most cherished relationships. Jesus was busy, yet Jesus never hurried. I was convicted.

​My youngest, and most stubborn, can last throughout an entire meal without touching his food. He will usually play with it a little, but getting it to go in his mouth for even a single bite is not always on his list of things to accomplish for the day. Occasionally, he will decide he doesn't like his booster seat. He will make his little body as stiff as a board and scream in a desperate battle of the wills. It is amazing how strong he can be at just one year old! Sometimes, he will sit in the booster seat, but repeatedly pound his fork into the table like he is tenderizing meat until he gets corrected. After that, he then chooses to sit nicely with us, or, what he mostly chooses after being corrected, is he will cry for no apparant reason and has to be put in his crib for the remainder of the meal. Not exactly the picture of peace!  And yet the Bible teaches us to have peace. 1 Peter 3:11 says to "seek peace and pursue it". We are challenged to ask for peace from God and seek it from being in His presence. We should not look to aquire peace from our situations or others around us. God doesn't teach us to look for peace by having a perfectly cooked meal, with perfectly behaved children. The level of peace in my home is determined by my dilligence to be filled by God's peace, and share it. I believe God wants us to know it is available, as long as we ask Him. I need to pursue peace every day, because it will not just suddenly slap me in the face and change the atmosphere in my home until I do.

​I committed to seek to be filled with God's peace, and prayed for wisdom in sharing that spirit in my home. God was faithful to pour out his wisdom, and help me exactly the way I needed it, with an easy and uncomplicated solution. I felt like a simple change we could try was to move our food from the stove and put in on the table.  This made a huge difference! We all started the meal at the same time, and were able to ask each other to pass things around.  The communication was already better than when all the food was left on the stove! We could work on manners with please and thank you, and waiting your turn. An added and unexpected bonus was that watching people fill up their plates even helped my picky little eaters to want to be included and try new foods! If a plate of food is set in front of them, they can, in an instant, decide if it is something they will like or not. But if food is set around them, and they watch others filling their plates, they suddenly get an excitement to be included and ask for what is there. It was amazing! Having everyone sitting also gave us the opportunity to be more consistent with praying to thank God for the food. Then, we started thinking about anything poeple would get up for during the meal and have it on the table also. Napkins, drinks, salt and pepper, everything! It was all there to pass around and share. We try to spend the meal sharing a happy, sad, or mad moment from the day. It is sweet to hear my three year old ask my husband, "What made you happy today?" It is also nice to sit down and get an entire story from my teenager about his "happy" moment for the day as opposed to the one word answer I get when I ask Devin after school, "how was your day?" And he responds "Pretty good".

​As a result of these small changes, my kids are starting to eat better, listen when others are speaking, ask and wait when they want something, and maybe even enjoy family dinners just a little. We still have meals that are, let's say, challenging. But, then there are those priceless times, when the meal actually does feel peaceful. When we can live in the moment of the meal, and slow down the speed of our day. Where one person talks at a time, and someone at the table is unusually quiet.  I look over toward my youngest, and see him  sitting nicely in his seat and folding his sweet little hands asking us to pray. Sometimes he does this two or three times during a meal!  He loves to throw his hands up at the end and shout "Amen!" It is moments like that to help remind me what a blessing it is to slow down, be present and engaged, and pursue peace.

​

Introducing....

I am so excited to introduce an amazing woman who is going to be blogging with me this year :)

Hi! My name is Angie Deweese.  I am 35 years old, married and have three kids. I have been married for almost 5 years to Brian, and have been blessed with three boys, Devin (16), Kai (4), and Cruz (2). Some of you may have already done the math, but to clarify for others, I had Devin when I was 18, still a senior in high school.  He and I basically grew up together. I journeyed thru the next 12 years of my life as a single mom. God was faithful to bless us and we learned to trust Him with everything. From health and a job, to friends, family and each other, we learned that without Him we are so weak. Our strength is a direct result of how much time we are spending with our Heavenly Father. At a very young age Devin would ask me for a baby brother. He couldn't understand what the big deal was, "let's just get one!" he would say. I would briefly respond by telling him that was something he needed to ask God for, and I believe that's what he did!  He continued to randomly mention that he wanted a brother through the years. I believe God put this desire in his heart. He never stopped asking! Evenutally, I started spending a lot of time with a friend I had worked with for ten years. His name was Brian.  He came with me to Devin's soccer games, family events, and pretty much anywhere. He was sweet and respectful to me, as well as fun and playful with Devin. Brian quickly won both of our hearts, and Devin (9 years old at the time) cornered Brian and asked him if he was going to marry me. Out of the mouths of babes!!  After several months of processing this idea, Brian did ask me to marry him! We married, quickly became pregnant and finally, after 13 years of waiting, Devin's first baby brother, Kai, was born. The next year we had another baby boy, Cruz. Once Cruz joined our family, Devin made sure to let Brian and I know that he thought there were plenty of babies in the house.  Brian agrees.......I am not so sure.  I would like a house full! We will see!

I look forward to blogging once or twice a month, and pray God encourages at least one other mom through the words I write. I have days I feel organized, self-controlled and productive (maybe not all those in one single day), and others when I fall short of all those things and have to put myself in time out to try and reset.  My desire is to grow closer to The Lord and for my kids to embrace that same desire. To search His word for truths on how to live, and not worry about what "others" are doing. To create an atmosphere of love and peace in our home, and forgive myself when I fail miserably and have to apologize. I hope my failures and successes encourage you to continue fighting for the hearts of your kids and minds of your husbands.

Many blessings,

Angie

Welcome!

Hello MOPS!

I have been on a mission to start this blog for our group for the last year... atlas BLOG :)

Here you will find my thoughts as well as some guest bloggers on life, motherhood, food, marriage, love, family, ect. We do not want to limit what or who God can reach through this. 


Summer is over and fall is on its way. I always love the hustle and bustle of this season. We get our schedule back in sync and open new chapters. I am also excited because it means a NEW MOPS year is beginning!!! :) If you have not heard yet, WEVE MOVED! We are now at Cornerstone Assembly off of Atlanta Hwy. (near Nichols Diner!)  Your steering team has been hard at work this summer in preparation and prayer for this new theme! We cannot wait to see you soon!!

Open House is TUESDAY AUGUST 26th, at Cornerstone Assembly - 10am -12pm
First meeting will be held on Sept. 9th at 9:30am, MOPPET drop off will begin at 9:15am!

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