" Do everything without complaining or arguing.”

Phil 2:14 says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing.”

I came across this scripture while reading Good Morning Girls daily devotional on Facebook. The post was about following God's will and how to live our lives by answering our daily questions using the discernment of the Holy Spirit. "Should I work or stay at home with my kids?" "Should we move our family to pursue a different job?" "What house should we buy?" and then the little things like "My daughter wants to go to a sleepover with a friend that I fear may be a negative influence" or "My son's behavior is wild and aggressive and I cannot get him to obey...what do I do?"
Good Morning Girls webpage

This scripture was apart of their post about God's will and my first thought was I have to put that on our chalkboard in the kitchen! The kids and I need to see that everyday to be reminded that we have to do things we may not want to do but God calls us to be obedient and serve him and each other. Every night when I tuck my kids in I pray with them that God will give them joy by leading them to serve others with a servants heart.  Do I set a good example of this to them? I feel like I try to help others and be a good servant BUT do I always do it with a good attitude? I'm not so sure! 

Raising our kids to be grateful and not "entitled" seems to be a very common challenge among our society. We live in a world where kids have xboxs, ipads, iphones, playstations, American Girl collections, an abundance of brand name clothing and pretty much any other new, hot item. You just can't keep up, but more importantly I don't want to "keep up." I want my kids to have nice things but I want them to learn they have to work for it! It can't just be given to them or they don't value it they way they do when they save their own money and work to earn it. Which, in our house, means they have to have chores and other ways to learn the value of a dollar. 

My three oldest kids take turns doing the laundry. They despise it almost as much as I do but they understand that when we have 10-12 loads to do a week it's too much for one person! Doing your own part is just part of living in our home. They also empty the dishwasher-the girls do the non-breakable items , Brayden does the bigger stuff and they split the silverware. Brayden gets stuck with trash and recycle duty. The joys of being the oldest! :) 

I'm slowly adding additional items as they get older like wiping down the table after meals and sweeping the floors. I really want to make one of these cute chore charts I found on Pinterest! I figure they will like checking items off their list the same way I do.

Anyway, I'm off to start another load of laundry . (That's my part...I love to see it go in the washer, I just want it to magically appear back in their closets after that!)  Hoping to get my hubby inspired to make wainscoting for our master bedroom this weekend. Wish me luck :)

Have a great weekend!
~Erin