I am counting down the days. WOOT WOOT! School will be back in session soon. This year, I will have a 7th grader in public school, a kinder-gardener and preschooler (Oh! And did I mention my handsome man will be in school too?). Three days a week, they ALL have to be out the door on time, dressed, lunches in hand, homework ready, and preferably with smiles. But the key to being efficient and getting out the door in one piece can be a little tricky.Between my mom friends here on TMI and on Her View From Home, I’m sharing my organizational …
Unruly Junk
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 When we moved into a new house last year, I picked out the ultimate junk drawer in the kitchen. It was deep and wide, just like the song, and I had visions of junk dancing in my head. It was in a perfect spot to catch random school supplies, warranties, pens that were low on ink, and the occasional quarter. I loved that drawer until the day a bag of pastel, foam letters exploded inside it (or shall I say that a “certain triplet” dumped …
Pure Possibilities
Ephesians 5:3 states, “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” “Mom, is it even possible for me to grow up being sexually pure?” was the question my 13 year old son asked me that stopped me in my tracks. As we sat and talked, I was reminded of the real battle each of our sons and daughters have every day. The sexually tempting billboards along the roads, the relentless commercials flashing sensuality on TV, the constant drumming of sex …
Who’s Your Mama
Who’s Your Mama? In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5a I really hate TV shows and books that are about an adopted child being reunited with his biological parent. The stories tend to reinforce an adopted child’s fantasy that all will be well once the biological parents are found. But mostly I am turned off by these accounts because I feel a little threatened. Since I was in third grade, I knew two things. I wanted to be a teacher and I wanted to be a mom. I went to school, …
eBabies + iTeens + YouToo: Questions About Kids and Technology
I first heard the term “Generation M” while reading the 2006 Time magazine article “The Multitasking Generation.” The explosion in technology, I soon discovered, brought with it dozens–even hundreds!–of new questions I needed to be asking as a parent. It’s easy to mistake kids’ technological sophistication for maturity. Parents and teachers often back way off because they feel like kids are so far ahead of them. But kids have no idea the kind of firepower they’re playing around with. Adult guidance and wisdom are not obsolete. Kids need us now more than ever. As part of an ongoing series called “eBabies …
To Count or Not to Count
It was hard not to notice her struggle, since she and her husband sat across from us while we all waited to board our flight. Her little princess was Pottery Barn catalog pretty, but she had an attitude that shouted “Diva!” With a patient voice and bottomless bag of tricks, the mom was trying to work her magic (emphasis on “work”) before we ever approached the plane. Nothing worked. Just then, she found hope in the form of another “traveling mommy.” Different kinds of moms Traveling mommy #2 took a different approach. She was streamlined. She was in charge. She …
5 Myths About Mentors – Myth #2 Mentors Are Old Women Who Meet With Young Women at Church
“The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to bediscreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” Titus 2:3-5 Mentoring. It’s what we are called to. We, meaning the church. But could it be that our affinity for attending ‘church’ in big buildings with convenient classrooms has confused what biblical mentoring is at its best? When I was a young mom, a whirlwind of activity …
A Mother’s Heart…Spiritual Rearing
In 1956, he was a young preacher at the age of 37. He preached twenty-six services over four weeks in Louisville, KY. My parents and grandparents held a large reception for him when he came to town and I vividly remember meeting Dr. Billy Graham. I remember shaking his hand and looking up as he towered over my tiny body. I stood in awe. I don’t know that any words came out of my mouth. As I looked into his crystal blue eyes, I thought I had just met Jesus! I don’t think my parents took me to the crusade. …
An Interview With Suzie Eller About Moms Together
Hi sweet moms, Steph here. I’m super excited to share with you an interview with someone who has become near and dear to my heart. Suzie Eller. I ‘met’ her a couple years ago through cyberspace when we were both new grandmas and not long after that I was blessed meet her in real life at She Speaks. Suzie’s love for God and her passion to minister to the hearts of women drew me to her. She radiates with the love of Jesus and she truly is inspiring. Suzie Eller is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and writer. She’s published five books, and …
It Can Be A Lonely World
Motherhood can be lonely. Can’t it? I mean, who counts the places that they’ve nursed a baby? (raising a sheepish hand.) Who cheers for their toddler going potty and makes a phone call to Daddy while he’s working just to brag on it? (the other hand…) While we know other people travel these roads, it can seem like not another soul is on the same journey that we are as parents. Parenting came seem to be a lonely job. But can I interject that being the mother of a special needs child is even more lonely? Those feelings of “Our …