The Motherhood Journey Newseltter Week 6

^“ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Ephesiand 6:10-11

Hello sweet Mummas,

Hope you are having a fab week. I have a thought I wanted to share with you. A week or so ago I was called a ‘super mum’ from another mother when I told her that I homeschool. This is a common phrase used in the motherhood space. And although it is meant to be positive it is mostly used to bring seperation and I think allows the person who is saying it to not need to ‘measure up to someone else’s standard’ by defining them as ‘super’. Along side being so passion about not having comparision in motherhood, but instead celebrating each others gifts (for I could definitely look at this mummas life and point out things that were amazing that she does and either celebrate them or just define her as ‘super’ and then by default deciding in my mind that I could never do those great things that she does cause Im just not good enough). As each of you know (from knowing me in person or listening to the podcast) I am in no way super or different. I still poop, have a nice saggy tummy with stretch marks, kids who dissobey and moments where I get angry and frustrated. However I am intensional (which is something every mum can be) to pursue the things which I think bring life. I walk with the Father and surrender myself to Him through the good and the bad and His Grace not only catches me, but lifts me higher so that I can grow in beauty and strength. For that I am very thankful.

Tomorrows episode on the podcast ill be sharing a very hard moment I experienced last night with the kids - what happened, how I broke and then how the Lord brought the pieces back together so that in my failing I could leave that situation with forgivness to myself and the ability to keep going forward pursuing truth and goodness. Its not about how much you fall, but that you always get back up again! and YES ITS CORNY! But thats just me haha!

Real Life in the motherhood journey:

A little glimpse from our week!

This week has been fun (and had sickness mixed into it again unfortuanntly. But we go on!!)! We have had fun family time, snuggled up next to our fire, had slow days in the sunshine (this is the power of long days at home with no plans. You can get everything done and then truly just rest with the kids like tea picnics in the backyard, sitting on the grass hill chatting and sitting in the sunshine reading my book). Alongside this I have been busily working on a little side project I am excited to release to you guys soon. Its been consuming most of my thoughts honestly - and has been sooo fun! We finished with a ‘bike school’ run by Brad on Saturdays and church on Sunday as per usual which there was a surprise jumping castle. yay!

Kids Snack Ideas:

Our kiddos eat alooooott and so they have morning tea and afternoon tea and usually something to eat in-between. Since I am making 3 meals a day/2 snacks a day for them all, if they want food in-between these times than they are allowed a banana or carrot. This is our standard rule otherwise I feel like my kids wouldn’t stop eating haha. They get it from Brad and I, we are both massive foodies.

Our usual go-to snack plates form morning tea or afternoon tea:

Vegtable: carrot/cucumber
Cheese: cheedar, fetta or brie
Fruit: apples, watermelon, grapes ect (whatever fruit we have)
Nuts/dried fruit: Roasted almonds, sultanas, dates ect.
Baked good: Will share some goto recipes bellow
Snack: sometime the kids will get snacks like sweet and salty popcorn or ‘healthy’ chip snacks but usually this is rice thins with different toppings.
Smoothy: Usually banaana but sometimes with choc protein or berries mixed in.

Some of our fav baked goods:

-Hazels Anzac cookies
-Super healthy Chocolate zuccini bread
-Chocolate chip cookies
- Sourdough raisin bread
-Bananan muffins

And some recipies for this week of other snacks:
-sourdough crackers: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-crackers-recipe
- Blueberry muffins: https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-blueberry-muffins/
- GF choc chip cookies:https://thebigmansworld.com/healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Walking in His truth:

This week Gods has been speaking to my heart through the passage in Ephesians 6 - the Amor of God!! We all know this passage well - and yet it’s so beautiful when the Holy Spirit lights things up to our eyes and brings us more and more truth although it’s the same words as before. Help us to see more clearly Father! I encourage you to go read all of Ephesianss 6: 10-18. There are SO many great points from this passage and I think I’ll do a future podcast to dive into it deeper. But for now, two things I want to point out is;
1. The battle is in the Spirit
2. Our job is to stand and resist

1. So often we get obsessed over people, circumstances and ourselves. But none of this is our problem. What matters is whats going on in the Spiritual realm. What the enemy is on the prowl to destroy. Often his targets is healthy marriage, healthy family, faith, and a dedicated pursuit to the word of God ect. When we stop and realise there is a bigger picture going on it helps us release such a strong grip on the circumstance and instead choose to be holy (different) to the world around us. We respond with grace and love because we are determined to not partner with darkness. We see that healthy marriage is more important than being right, we see kindness being role modeled is more important than snapping at our kids ect.

2. Secondly, we dont need to DO we need to RESIST. We need to resist temptation to grumble. we need to stand firm that we will be the person we want to be even when things feel tough. We need to learn what the Word of God says and then pursue standing in it. And remember we all fall down, thats okay, just get back up and stand again! His grace is enough, you don’t need to do anything.

Love always
Ellie from - The Motherhood Journey x

p.s Im always here for a chat! My heart is to go deeper with you mummas in these emails. So if anything stands out to you or you wana chat more, shoot me back a reply! I love journeying alongside you.