SING, SING, SING!!

What happens in your mind when you hear these words:  “I am stuck on bandaids cause a bandaid’s stuck on me”.  How about this, “My bologna has a first name….” Or this, “Like a good neighbor, _________.” Did you finish that line? Did you sing them? OF COURSE YOU DID! And why?  Because it is MUSIC – and music lives in our brain in an INDELIBLE way. 

I, like most other children, learned this early.  Many of my earliest memories are musical – my mother tells stories of me at age 3 singing “Jesus Loves Me” at the top of my lungs to anyone who would listen, at the grocery store, at the gas station, out the window to passersby. I would lie in bed at night and recount the events of the day in a “song”. 

Later, as a mother of preschool children, I always looked for a way to make “the job a game.”  AND MY METHOD IS ALWAYS MUSIC! (Mary Poppins helped)

Probably, you know all this – so why am I reminding you? Because we, as parents, have a job – a responsibility:

TELL YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT THE LORD. (Deut 6:7)  

Using music is the fastest, and most permanent way to get information and God’s truth into the hearts and minds of little ones.  Find a melody – any tune – make it up or use one you know – and SING what you want to say – and then, THEY WILL LISTEN!  It does not have to rhyme – or be anything particularly lovely, just SING. 

With my own children, I always sang a direction: “time to take a bath now, a bath now, a bath now, and you will have some splash now and have big FUN”  (did you make up a melody to that?) I think this is what the Word of God means about a “new song”. Ps.33:3

“Sing to the Lord a new song….. “

Did you know: a 2year old can sing a melody! They may not be able to pronounce all the words of a song, but they can sing – they are BRILLIANT! 

Start early!  Find Bible verses that you think your little ones should know – and sing them.  Do you think they can understand?  Consider this:

“From infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which were able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”  2Tim. 3:15

What a priviledge we have to sing to our children about the Lord – to teach them songs to sing about the Lord – and to teach them songs to sing TO the Lord.

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to SING praises to His name.” Ps 92:1

“O come let us SING for joy to the Lord, let us SHOUT JOYFULLY to the rock of our salvation.” Ps 95:1

“Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth... Come to Him with joyful SINGING” Ps.100:1-2

“Sing songs from your heart to Jesus. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.”  Eph 5:19 (THE MESSAGE)

Start today!  SING YOUR WAY THROUGH YOUR DAY! I promise, you will see a difference in yourself, in your children, and in your home:)

Grocery Shopping CAN BE FUN!

I like to EAT :) , which means I COOK, and therefore... I must GROCERY SHOP.  I don’t hate the grocery store (especially when they give samples!), the relaxing music at my favorite store always slows me down - and I look at people around me.  Lately, I have seen more and more mommies, with little ones, who do this:

Walk in - child on hip or by the hand - pull out cart - plunk child in cart - reach into purse or diaper bag for phone or ipad or any device with a screen - push “ON”- give to child - start shopping.  NO TALKING. 

Have you seen this? Do you DO this?  Believe me, I get it! We are BUSY -  stuff to do, meals to cook, laundry, gotta get through this list, collect coupons,get home asap, go, go , GO!

WAIT! - Don’t miss an opportunity -  A creative way to talk to your children about the Lord!!  Deuteronomy 6:7 says, “Talk about Him when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, get up in the morning, when you lie down at night, and when you are AT THE GROCERY STORE! (i added to the scripture just a bit) .  AND, consider  Romans 1:20, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities ... have been clearly seen in what has been MADE....”

So what does this have to do with grocery shopping?  TRY THIS:  LOOK at what has been MADE!  As you walk through the produce - notice SHAPES, and COLORS.  Tell you children, “God MADE this.”  Have them touch and smell and see....THANK GOD for your eyes and nose and fingers:)  Feel a potato.  Touch an onion, Smell some fennel (I love fennel!).  Play the “I SPY” game. What is orange? What is yellow? Have them close eyes and smell mint, basil, or cilantro.  Thank God for your tongue - we can taste all the good food God made.  Go to the Dairy - ask, “Where do we get milk, and eggs?  Thank God for cows and hens, and farmers!  Make animal noises. Go ahead - embarrass yourself!!  Your kids will LOVE YOU! (I should know.  I dress in a costume and embarrass my kids all the time!)

 A GREAT ADVENTURE in parenting is looking for and finding GOD IS EVERYWHERE!  One of Miss PattyCake’s song’s says this:  “Everywhere you look you see - in colors, numbers, ABCs, Everywhere you look you see, God loves you and God loves me!” 

Now - were all my trips to the grocery a “glorious parenting experience” ?  HA! no. I always HOPE for successful teaching moments, even the time my son knocked over a display and sent jars of spaghetti sauce crashing!  What a mess. But I put on a brave face and said...  WOW!  RED IS EVERYWHERE! Clean-up on aisle 3....

A Scary Cat Day

It was nearly noon and the trip to the grocery store had taken longer than I wanted. All three of us were cranky.  Grocery shopping takes more energy than I ever think it will. And, it really wears out the children!  I finally checked out, wrestled them into the car, and drove toward home.

“Mommy, I’m hungry. I‘m thirsty too. How long till we get home? Will it rain today? What color is the moon? Do fish have teeth? Christopher won’t be quiet!”  (Do questions ever end??!)

Even getting out of the car is a chore!  My 10 month-old son was fussing loudly and was heavy on my right arm in the car carrier while my other arm was loaded with grocery bags.  “Go straight into the house please,” I instructed  27 month- old Marilyn who  slowly walked up the front porch stairs in front of me. I felt like a shepherd, herding her toward the door…time for lunch and naps. “Please hurry! Mommy is TIRED”.

She suddenly stopped, screamed, and ran to the other end of our wide front porch. There was a kitty near our front door. Not our kitty – a strange kitty– a big, hairy CAT.  She was terrified!   Speaking soothing words to Marilyn, I walked calmly past the cat to the door.   It looked at me – I looked at it – it didn’t move.  I unlocked the front door being careful not to drop bags or baby. “Come on sweetie, mommy sees the cat.  The cat won’t get you.”  I shooed the cat. It lazily walked a few feet from the door.  Marilyn was not moving.  “Honey, I wont let the cat hurt you.”  “The CAT, THE CAT!” she wailed.  Holding the door open I said, “The kitty will not hurt you, just please run on into the house.” “NO, NO, it’s a BIG CAT!” she whined.  Frustrated, I said, “Marilyn, look at me. Don’t look at the cat.  Walk to ME and come in the house.”  She didn’t move.  (Arms are aching now).  “Please honey – don’t look at the cat.  I will not let the cat hurt you. Look at me.”  I was begging…rather LOUDLY now – the baby was crying and I was on the brink....  “SWEETIE!  If that cat comes anywhere near you, I will KICK IT AWAY!”

Finally!  After much coaxing she took a tentative step, looked at me, then the cat, then me, the cat, me, cat, and RAN past me into the house.  WHEW!  I turned to the cat, stomped my foot and said, “SCAT”!  The strange cat flew off our porch – we never saw it again.

Later, I pondered that episode, and had an “AHA” moment. (I hope you have those occasionally).  How like our Father to show me something profound in a typical “mothering” day.  A silly cat moment became this lesson:  I am that scared little girl – afraid of the “cats” in my life. The Father is urging me, “Look at ME – not the cats.  Keep your eyes on me – I will not let the ‘cats’ hurt you.  Walk the way I will show you. I am a good shepherd, herding you to a safe place.  I have set before you an open door. Trust ME, rely on ME”.

WOW - I have found ‘mothering’ to be the place where I learn the most about God’s ‘Fathering’.

Today, in your mothering, ask the Father to show you how your parenting can reflect His parenting.  He is able to KICK THE CAT!

“I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me, because he trusts in Me.” Isaiah 26:3

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing… He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of “CATS” I will fear no evil, for He is with me….” Psalm 23:3NIV

A Miss PattyCake Blog!!

Well friends – and I call you friends knowing, “My friends are here!”  Here I am to chat with you.  Encouraged by my family and friends, and driven by desire to share with any reader that TRULY, Miss PattyCake IS…

MORE THAN A NURSERY RHYME!

Here, I hope to introduce myself – my JEAN self - to you, and tell you some of the wonderful / fun / life-changing experiences I have had during  17 years of being “Miss PattyCake”.  

To begin – I want to tell you this:  There is a big, fat “WHY” behind the “WHAT”  of Miss PattyCake.  The “why”  began in 1991, when our daughter was born.  At that time, I was one of the worship leaders at my church in Franklin, TN, and I understood the importance of “singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.”  My life had been profoundly affected by Psalm 40:3, “He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of PRAISE  to God…”  So when our daughter came along, and shortly after (16 months) our son was born, I knew it was my job to teach them all about God, and have them join me in PRAISING HIM.

These 2 verses became, for me, the foundation of the “WHY” of Miss PattyCake:

Deut. 6:5-6 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all you soul, and all your strength.  And now talk to your children about the Lord. Repeat these commands again and again.  When you rise up, and lie down, when you are on a journey or at home.”

Psalm 8:2  (The Message) “Nursing infants gurgle choruses about You. And toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk, and silence atheistic babble.”

Our Father has given us (parents) the ENORMOUS responsibility to teach and train our little ones.  Miss PattyCake is here to assist!  I LOVE the privilege of speaking into the lives of little ones.  I LOVE helping moms and dads as they labor to obey God.  This is the reason I keep puliing on my tights, sliding my feet into those “Mary Janes”,  putting on my smile and reminding US ALL -  we have “2 hands to clap, 1 heart to love, a voice to sing, sing, sing – and every song can give THANKS and PRAISE TO GOD!

EVERYDAY IS A PATTYCAKE PRAISE DAY!