Sometimes motherhood is wonderful. Sometimes not so much. We all know that nothing in life is perfect. Still, nothing points out how completely 'un-perfect' we are like seeing your worst faults lived out in front of you in your children. You know what I mean. That character flaw that you've worked so hard to overcome (or at least hide) in your life. For some of us (at least for me) that includes a long list of rough edges God's been working on smoothing for a very long time. Often, these tend to be the greatest points of contention between a parent and child. Seeing your sins walk around the house really makes them difficult to avoid. As a compassionate mother, my heart is grieved to think of the struggle this child will have if this area of their life reamins unchanged. As an adult, I know the difficult path that lies ahead and so I pray that God would change me and help me as I seek to guide them.
As you can imagine, life in our house can sometimes be chaotic. With five little ones, now ranging from 6-9 years of age, things can be crazy. Getting ready to go anywhere is always wild. Meals are great examples of moderately controlled chaos for us. It was in the midst of one of these meal times that I learned a great lesson in life and motherhood and humility. Lunch is generally very rushed for us. We either need to finish quickly so we can get back to school or we need to hurry through lunch to get to the rest of the mile-long to-do list for the afternoon. Either way, it is wild. There is that quiet moment of prayer when we thank The Lord for our food (yes, all five of the kids insist on praying), but that tends to be the only quiet moment. I set each plate down for each child and they begin their lunch, by the time I set a plate before the second child, the first is now thirsty and asking for a drink. Because of my lack of spacial awareness, in attempting to make plates and fill glasses at the same time, accidents sometimes happen. At one such time I very brilliantly said to the children, "Can't you get a drink for yourself. I am not your servant."
It was in that moment that the Holy Spirit impressed a great truth to me. It was as if God asked me, "You're not their servant? Why not? Don't you want them to be servants? Didn't I command you to be a servant to all?" I'd like to say that I instantly realized my error and corrected my attitude, but that isn't exactly what happened. One of those rough edges I was telling you about came up again at this moment (the self-justifying). "But, Lord, they need to learn to do things for themselves. I can't do everything. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. They are capable of doing something around here." That sounds good, doesn't it? And putting into my argument true statements made me feel better about my attitude. I felt justified. Still, as the Spirit of God worked on my heart, I realized a greater truth. The world needs great workers and great leaders, but greater than that, it needs great servants. Yes, Lord, I want to be a servant. My prideful flesh rejects servanthood, but what is motherhood but serving? Yes, Lord, I want to raise little servants for You and the best way to do that is to be an example for them. "Lord, help me today to be a servant and to have a servant's heart. Help me to model for my children what being a servant really means."
"And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Mark 10:44-45
Many curriculums offer reading and comprehension drills, but they are generally sold as consumables and can be expensive. These e-books are excellent because they can be used over and over for one low price. I love the convenience of e-books especially when it comes to printable workbook pages. 
