Pajama Day & new bible study

(this post is a day delayed due to typical distractions that come along with having kids)
McKenzie is not usually a picky dresser.  She will generally wear whatever I decide to "put on her".  Well, this was not the case today.  For, you see, Today was "PAJAMA DAY" at pre-school.  For some reason she decided to go all DIVA on me.  "No Mom, not that!!!"..."I can't wear those to school"..."I want to wear my priness pj's".  "Okay, Whatever!" I responded.  Unfortunately, the top to her princess jammies were in the washing machine, so after some fierce negotiations, she finally settled for the "Puppy Dog with hearts" jammies.  phew.
I thought pajama day was supposed to be easy!  :-(
When we arrived at school, she thought it was pretty cool that all her friends were wearing PJ's and even more cool that her teachers had dressed in their jammies too!
Macy was in the "jammie" spirit as well and stayed in her comfy-cozies as she was going to play in the nursery for a couple hours.
My sister and I started a new bible study today & as you can imagine the free child care which is provided, is certainly a benefit.
The 2&1/2 hours of McKenzie's pre-school time used to be "productively" spent either at Macy's private OT/PT/Speech sessions, at the grocery store, working out, or running other errands of which I'd rather not have my ancy 3 yr old tagging along.
I decided it would be just as productive to join this bible study group and really take some time to focus on ME and strengthen my relationship.with and understanding.of God.  Not just know and understand his word...but make every effort to "live" it.
To "fill my bucket" if you will!
Through this in-depth 11 week study of David, without going into too much unnecessary detail, my main goal is to dig a little deeper, gain a richer connection and at least come away with a few "take-aways".

Here are a few bullet-point-styled take-aways from yesterday's lesson (these are mine, I am not sure what the other gals "took" from our time together, but this is what stuck out and resonated with me):
1)  There is a difference between "appeasing" God and "pleasing" God.  On a personal note, my mind reflects on my style of parenting.  I think all-to-often, I try to perhaps "appease" my girls too much.  Maybe just do what they want to get through a specific situation, rather than put forth the full amount of effort/energy to just do something the "right/appropriate way".  Take the short cut...good "short-term", not.so.good "long-term" fix.  hmmmmm.  Sound familiar to anyone else?  Thought so, we are human after-all!  I don't think I'm alone here...I will try my best at "pleasing" them each day, rather than simply "appeasing" them.  Easier said than done, I KNOW!  :-)  But hey, it's something to think about.

2) A good leader doesn't just lead...he LOVES.  Again, I applied this theory back to my "mommy-style" afterall, this class is about what you make it and choose to get out of it.  I need to fill my mommy/wife bucket!...a good mom doesn't just "parent", she LOVES!

3)  Throughout the course of this bible study, the end goal is "SEEKING A HEART LIKE HIS".  If  you try to take on a job/task that is BIGGER than your heart, that alone will crush you every time.  When confronted with said job/task, it doesn't matter what condition your heart is in, it doesn't have to be "good"...it may be crushed, broken, bruised, calloused, on-fire, doesn't matter.  JUST BRING THE WHOLE THING!!!!  Again, breaking this down internally and thinking about myself and my situation, I can't help but think about the condition that my heart was in when Macy was born.  That first moment I held her in my arms my heart was about as PERFECT and as "on top of the world" as any heart could be...amazing how fragile and vulnerable our hearts are...crazy to think that in a matter of seconds mine went from perfect to broken, crushed & shattered upon hearing those two words that forever changed my world.  Down & Syndrome.  My heart is in a MUCH better place today.  In fact, it was quite resilient and bounced back to "good" status rather quickly.  It is still slightly bruised and a little bit calloused (who knows, it just might always be, we'll see), but all-in-all good.  Not perfect, but good.  In any case, it is what it is...and  
I make this promise to my girls...I make this promise to my husband...I make this promise to MYSELF.  I, today, tomorrow and EVERY day thereafter promise to bring my WHOLE heart into everything that I do as it pertains to the well-being of my family.

Thank you friends for listening to my rambling.  I've been carrying these thoughts with me all day and now that I have gotten them off my chest and "down on paper", I must say I feel better.  I am not a big believer in "New Year's Resolutions"....but since I have this statement written down and "published" here, I am going to try and genuinely live by this motto (this year at least)  :-)  Here's to putting a little more "HEART" and "PASSION" into everyday life.  Bringing my WHOLE Heart into every scenario.