Subscribe today for your FREE copy of… FACING YOUR FEARS – 31 STORIES FROM M.O.M. eBabies + iTeens + YouToo: Kids and Cell Phones – the WHY I couldn’t wait to see Annemarie’s face as she opened her final 8th grade graduation gift. The video camera was rolling and my husband was strategically positioned to catch close up photos. “You have to guess what it is before you can open it!” I said, handing Annemarie a simple gift bag. When the bag began ringing and vibrating, she almost dropped it in surprise. Shock and comprehension …
A Mother’s Heart…The Smell of Freshly Sharpened Pencils
“It’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it!” (Eccl. 11:9a TLB) Those of us in, ahem, our later years were deprived. Deprived? Yup. We didn’t have things like… air conditioning computers videos or DVDs chat rooms and social media big screen TVs (or color for that matter) games like Wii text messages iPods cell phones – ‘cause the only blackberries we had came out of grandmother’s garden! Forced to be outsiders, we actually got exercise by running around playing tag, kick ball, or roller skating. We circled the neighborhood subdivision on our bikes until …
eBabies + iTeens + YouToo: See Mommy Text & Day 6 Giveaways
Today’s Great Giveaways! 3 CD Set, Let’s Get PURSE-onal!, Personality Puzzle for Parents of Preschoolers, and Raising a Reader By: Cheri Gregory In these 3 power-packed CDs, Cheri not only helps moms be better moms by understanding themselves but she also shares the primary goal and two major needs of each Personality type so moms can understand and relate to their children better. She also presents 2 parenting DOs and 2 parenting DON’Ts for each one personality type. And in Raising a Reader, Cheri helps moms develop a love for reading in their children. Just Enough Light for the Step I’m …
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 …
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 …
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. …
In my weakness…
I was a new mom trying to nurse my daughter and she wasn’t latching on. On the verge of tears, I wasn’t helping the situation by getting discouraged. My husband Mike tried to encourage me, while I tried to remember what the nurse told us… It wasn’t supposed to be this complicated, was it? God, please help, I prayed. Pleeease help this to work… How could something so natural be so hard? Worry started to set in and I wondered how things would turn out. What if it doesn’t work? What if I can’t do this? Here I’d been a mom …
I Have Hope
“My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23 It was quiet, too quiet. All the rush of people in and out of the room the days before had all come to an end. The darkness, even the newborn bed that was made specifically to be lit up and warm was completely dark and still. My eyes went back to the unlit lamp over my son’s …
To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool in the Summer
The theme song to a popular kids’ television show sings, “There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it.” That may or may not hold true for us homeschoolers. Since we have freedom to work with a much more flexible schedule than those in traditional school systems, we have a choice: to homeschool or not to homeschool during the summer months. I have been homeschooling since 2000. Over the years, we have worked our calendar a variety of ways. In the beginning, I worked an office job, so our dedicated school days …