Why you shouldn't apologize for loving your kids

Why You Shouldn’t Apologize for Loving Your Kids

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it,” (Proverbs 22:6). Open enrollment is underway at local schools in my area, and it’s a crazy season for many moms. No really. School choices literally make us crazy. A few days ago I got a frantic text from a friend, asking how many days a week my daughter’s preschool meets. Turns out the only options in her town are either five days a week or full days, neither of which is ideal for her family. So naturally our conversation …

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Eek-ing the Toothpaste

Many years ago, I was in charge of the newsletter for our women’s ministry at church. I enjoy newsletters. I like to read them, too! It has been such a blessing to share the stories of various women in our church and to use my gifts to do so. There is so much of this-n-that, which can be tied together into a theme–to bless, encourage and give others a reason to laugh or pause to think. I have greatly enjoyed locating such material. In one book, I found a story where Elisabeth Elliot shares a tidbit that she learned, while scraping …

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holy moms

How human moms can be holy moms

Moms welcome a new year with such good intentions for change, but before we even celebrate the birth of someone famous, we encounter confusion. Our plans to get up earlier, make our budget go further, and exercise longer fizzle out before the last Christmas clearance item disappears from back corner of Hobby Lobby. So many of our best plans depend on US, but we are, in truth, the same person we were when we hit the snooze button back in 2014. When my goals completely depend on ME, I’m destined to miss the mark. How can a mom be holy …

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The Making of a Mom ebook for ONLY 1.99 & Your Crazy, Beautiful, Amazing, Significant Role as a Mom

“You don’t work?!” “Oh, you’re just a wife and a mother?! Do you have a real job?” Have you ever heard someone say something like that? As if what you do on a daily basis as a wife and a mother isn’t significant and doesn’t involve work… We live in a world where the culture has created a skewed view of the significance of the role of a mother. In an attempt to make women feel like they can ‘have it all’ they have heaped burdens on us that we shouldn’t have to bear and deemed what a woman does in …

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how to stand firm with your kids

Exhaustion can get the best of us sometimes as moms. Have you ever seen your child misbehaving and thought, “I’m going to let that go, just this one time. I don’t have the energy to fight that battle today.”? You’re not alone, mom. I’ve done it — too many times, in fact, as my kids were growing up. Here’s the danger: “One time” rarely ends up being just one time. The more we give in to weariness, temporary apathy or fear of our kids’ anger or disapproval, the easier it is to do it the next time. We may not …

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cravings

I’m sitting in my office eating a tangerine. It’s citrus flavor is bright on my tongue this frigid winter day but what I really want is a warm cup of hot chocolate or the jar of Nutella in my desk snack drawer. I’m fighting the craving to eat right now and trying to consume this sacred opportunity to crave God instead.  It’s Thursday and quite frankly, this week has been long and full. School started back for my kiddos and we’ve had our share of tears this week. My girls switched tables at four year old preschool this week and …

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Heretofore…

“Heretofore the Lord has helped us.” 1 Sam. 7:12 Amp In all the highs and lows of the year closing, was God a small part of it, or was He in every part of it, helping you all the while? He was there, in every part of your year, even if you didn’t recognize His presence. My guess is that He brought you through many situations. My guess is that He spoke to your heart with words of comfort and peace and quite possibly discipline, encouraged you through others, gave you hope for a renewed future, and fought for you, …

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