The Pails in my Bucket List.

Everyone has a bucket list, right?
(The list of things we'd like to accomplish before we
"Kick the Bucket.")


After breakfast in the morning,
I try to make time to read my Bible and pray,
asking for wisdom and patience
so I can be a good mother.

Mothering does not come easily.
I have my own things I want to do,
and I get greedy about them sometimes often.

God kindly reminds me of the things I need to remember.
I need His reminders, daily,
or I forget to keep the important things
on the forefront of my brain.


(I am sure this list is not all-encompassing:
it's just the list of necessities for bringing up the kids,
something I'd like to see through before I "kick the bucket,"
God willing.
The kids are like the pails in my bucket list.)


The Pails' "Needs" List.

 1. Give me good things:

good food,
good times of learning,
reading books,
singing,
laughter,
games.

Give me the gift of enjoying childhood.

Give me your time.

 

2. Give me good abilities:

to do things I didn't think I could;
to feel strength in my muscles so I can ride a two-wheeled bike,
put wheels or blades or skis or running shoes on my feet,
use my arms to throw, or catch
so that I can be in awe when I see how much more mighty
is the strength of God.

Put a crayon in my hand,
a brush dipped in paint:
let me feel the joys of colors
so that I can see the amazing beauty of the Great Creator
in all of creation around me.

Give me work to do so that I can feel the satisfaction of accomplishment,
the rewards of diligence,
the value of being needed and doing my part.

Give me songs to sing so I can fill my lungs with breaths of melody.
Teach me an instrument to master
so that I can appreciate the beauty of many working together to orchestrate one song;
so I can bask in the wonder of the praise of birds,
the cadence of the waves hitting the shore,
the lullabies of a brook,
the soulful strings of the cricket,
the drama of the wind,
the crash of thunder,
the rhythm of raindrops.




Teach me to read and write;
to love learning and never stop;
to look for knowledge and find it;
to love truth.
Teach me how to ask for wisdom from God
so that I can better myself and those I love,
to improve circumstances,
to solve problems,
to attain the seemingly incomprehensible.






Teach me to embrace adventure;
to be brave;
to do things that are good for me,
even if I don't want to;

to eat foods that are nourishing without complaint;
to conquer fears
with you there beside me,
so I see that it is possible.





Teach me how to feel empathy for another.
 




Teach me to know my limitations
but to continually stretch and expand them
when it is for good;
to look beyond the pessimists,
beyond the failures that I do make,
to absorb the losses;
to see that God holds the answers to the "impossible."
Teach me to get up
and try again.




Teach me
so that I can realize that the highest intelligence of mankind
is like
one
word
compared to the vast encyclopedias of God's great knowledge.


"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?..."
Psalm 8:4

And yet, God loves us:

"But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that,
while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8

3. Give me good values

the values of the Bible,
godly values:

Guide me into loving God first
and also, to love other people as I love myself.
I don't need to be taught to love myself,

that comes naturally,

(just ask my siblings if you don't think so)...

...but I do need your love,
your love demonstrates to me God's love.

Love me when I am good and when I am bad
by disciplining me and guiding me
with consistency
and with love
and with patience.




Hug me and kiss me and hold me
so I know the comfort of never being alone
because God is always there
even if there are times when you might not be.

Help me to see that although I am only human,
and I do things wrong because it is natural to me
that God is perfect
and He expects perfection in heaven.

But He knows we can never be perfect.
So He gave us a substitute,
His Son,
perfection,
to take my place
if I just realize this and accept this truth
so that I can have
the forgiveness and mercy of God,
and
the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.


Teach me to be thankful for all things,
to pray continuously,
to increase in faith by reading the Bible and hearing it preached,
to do what is right
no matter how lucrative, convenient, or gratifying doing wrong seems to be.





Teach me honesty,
hard work,
patience,
peacefulness,
forgiveness,
joyfulness,
diligence;
yet in all these things,
to be humble.

Teach me to owe no man anything

except compassion;

to not be enslaved to anything:
not to appetite,
to power,
to lust,
 to sleep,
to sorrow,
to bitterness.
Show me that true freedom is a gift of the heart,
a gift that only God and His ways can give.

Give me your best.
Teach me all these things,

by your example

and you will give me all that I could ever want in this world.
 
Teach me,
by holding my hand in yours.

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