I love you for who you are.... (MyPicture:His Words)

.....not for what you do.

Such an important message to give to our children and in fact to everyone in our lives.

Nothing should depend on what a person can do or what they can provide or how they might make us feel.

Love needs to be given without any conditions attached to it and it needs to be humble and pure.

This is the message I have heard time and time again this week. I need to show my children (and my husband) my absolute love and support for them without any strings attached.

Last Thursday morning I went to a coffee group with a group of predominantly Christian women and we were talking about blocks in our lives and achieving what we desire.  We got on to talking about the negative messages we give ourselves and the rubbish we feed in and then believe. We also talked about how key messages in our lives have sunk in, perhaps things teachers or parents said when we were young and usually our parents said them without any intention of malice but the actual message often gets lost in translation and we are left with a lasting feeling of not quite measuring up in a particular area.

This led on to myself and another lady talking about how important it is that we do not set our children up to believe that they have to achieve or do anything specific to be accepted and loved by us. They compare themselves to each other and to those at school and that makes it tough enough already. We therefore need to be careful to make sure we compliment them for who they are and the wonderful qualities that make them them.

JJ I love you because you are my first born, my longed for son, you have a fabulous sense of humour, you are a sensible young man and a joy to be around or have a conversation with.

Miss M I love you as you are feisty and full of spirit. Every day with you is an adventure and you show me the world through your eyes, you are always willing to help me and you give great cuddles.

Miss E I love you as you are kind and loving in nature, you are fiercely protective of your twin and adoring of your brother. I've never felt as loved as I do by you. I also love your tenacity, you won't give up without a fight.

Thank you my three babies for the richness you bring into my life.  Mummy xx

This post is for my Sunday series My Picture: His Words.  Each week I post a  photo I have taken and match it to some bible scripture related to where God has talked to me this week.

If you want to do the same, please do.  Leave me a link n the comments and I'll add in your URL so others can come visit you too.

Have a wonderful week ahead, may you feel close to your loved ones. Mich x

My picture: His Words

The rain has kept on coming this week and this has meant we have mostly stayed home. With dh at work all week the kids and I have had a lot of time together, we have crafted, played, cooked and snuggled and in the main it has been great. However they have gone a little stir crazy and it was so nice to get out for a good long walk when the rain broke on Friday.

The girls saw those puddles and the glee shone in their eyes. We agreed to do our walk first and then they could do puddle jumping and get soaked near home before stripping off. I was really struck by how they just jump right in and enjoy themselves, no second thoughts, no worrying about what others think - they just go for it and I was reminded that is what God wants me to do. Listen to Him and then jump right in and go for it - whatever it might be!

Join in
I've not created a linky, but if you have a post then leave me the URL in the comments and I'll come visit and add a real link into the body of this post, so you are always here for others to find and you get a nice bit of real google juice from it!

Hop over and visit Suzanne at Nuggets of Gold to see her stunning photo and what words she has matched it up with.

Wishing you a blessed week, Mich x

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My Picture: His Words - Beauty

You may well wonder why I'm posting a picture of a mushroom my blog but this week my lesson from the Lord has been about looking for beauty in unexpected places. When you really open your eyes you can see beauty all over the place and it does not have to be classically beautiful. God sees what is in us and that is what is important to Him.

Do you fancy joining in with me and sharing any lessons you have learnt or words of wisdom you have felt shared with you. Just post a picture and some God inspired words and link up.  Then of course visit anyone else who happens to link up (I can't imagine there will be that many of us!).

Have a blessed week, Mich x

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!

Not So #SilentSunday - The beauty of the trees

Just look at those shadows

As I sat alone on a bench in the grounds of my home the other morning, I started to pray. It was one of those days when I was not sure what I would say so I just started to thank the Lord for all I could see, hear and smell. It went something like this -

Thank you for bringing me here to this amazing place Lord, thanks for the birds singing, the mist on the grass, the magnificent swan in the front water, the noisy geese flying overhead and the moos from the cows in the next field. Thanks also for the lilies in the water, the scent of the firs and in fact all the beautiful trees, oh yes the trees Lord, nothing in your creation is boring.

It was that last thought that really struck me, nothing in God's creation, in nature, in the flora and the fauna is boring. Every item is unique and interesting. I started to look at the panorama I could see in front of me, at the strong vertical lines of the cedar tree, at the triangular angles of the firs, at the 400 year old mighty oaks standing tall, at the drooping branches of the weeping willow hanging over the water.  Each one different and each beautiful in its own right.

After a while I got up to walk back home and I headed through Target woods, I stood under an oak tree and admired the shiny and smooth acorns, so green and growing larger by the day. I saw then a small sapling next to it, a few years back an acorn must have taken root and now it sits in the shadow of its parent tree, two trees the same but so different.

I started to think about how interesting trees become as they get older, they lose branches, gain bulbous growths and become twisted and out of shape. Most of the trees we have in the 220 acres here could not be described as perfect specimens of their species but all of them could be described as glorious works of art.

As I walked back home I mused the point that all trees are  glorious works of art and that it is right and perfect they are all different. This got me thinking about why so many people want to be the same, what is it that makes slim the right way to be? Who says my hair should not be grey? The older the tree in the forest the more interest it holds for me as I imagine its history, surely that is the same for older people? The wisdom and experience they hold makes them beautiful and interesting and unique.

I need to remember the lesson of the trees and know that I am beautiful because I am God's glorious work of art.

Psalm 139: 13-14
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Looking out across the lake

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!