Are You Broken?

  “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”  (2 Corinthians 4:7) Two compassionate dark eyes squinted while looking for a particular clay jar in a large storage room. This man knew each of the shelved vessels intimately from His time bent over His potter’s wheel. He skimmed the shelves looking for one that refused to attract attention to itself. He hoped to find a large vessel, a bit broken, and covered with just enough dust to be overlooked and unnoticed by the untrained eye. Then He …

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Raising Brave Kids

She mounted the twisted iron ladder to the monkey bars. Surely she could slip and smack her nose. So I yelled to my six-year-old before she reached the second rung. “Be careful!” Those words fly out of my mouth about a hundred times a day. When my daughters dance dizzy in the living room, run barefoot through the yard, fumble with poster paints, or beg to pour the milk—my mommy reflex blurts, Be careful! Accidents are not on our agenda today. The way I see it, God entrusted these children to my care, and I am determined not to mess …

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5 Ways Laughter Protects a Mother’s Heart

As a mom, I have days where the smallest thing blows up to huge proportions ( is that just at my house?). I become wrecked with emotion and feel like my heart just can’t handle anything else.  When this happens, Satan attacks my heart as a mom. I feel guilty, overwhelmed, and anxious about the choices I make. I don’t see the joy in motherhood, I just see the hard. I’ve only been a mom for three years but the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is to let go.  If I don’t loosen my grip on life, I’m not going …

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Praying For Your Kids: Simple, Specific, Power-Packed Prayers

For years I had heard it said that we needed to pray for our kids. I get that, and I completely stand behind that thought process. What I didn’t always understand was the beauty and wisdom that came from praying simple, specific, power-packed prayers over my kids. It took a lot of reading, praying and talking with my husband, but over the course of all that investigating we discovered there were some very practical things we wanted to pray for over our boys. It actually fit perfectly with my M.O.M. Mission Statement (see my post in May 2013) and very …

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Five Things I LOVE About Being a Boy Mom

My desire to have three boys and three girls didn’t last long. After my first son was born I quickly decided that I wanted to be a boy mom. No girls for this girl. At least that’s what my plan was at the time and although I didn’t realize it, it seemed to be God’s plan too. No ruffles, dresses, patten leather shoes or barrettes. No way. Not for this momma. My shopping cart would overflow with jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes and an occasional dress shirt and tie. And I was happy about that!  Still am. Not that being a …

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Icy Pop Fun

Wow! June is already here! Our gift to you today is an easy, fun summer project you can do with the kiddos!  Beat the heat with these easy, inexpensive and oh-so-tasty ice pops! Jello makes these cool treats less drippy. Let us know what you think! Ingredients 1 unsweetened Kool-aid packet,   1 (3 ounce package) fruit flavored Jell-O mix 1 cup white sugar (reduce if needed for taste),   1 cup boiling water 22  paper drinking cups (3 ounce),    22 craft sticks Directions In a large drink pitcher combine jello, Kool-aid, sugar and boiling water. Stir until dissolved. …

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Mom Mission Statement…and why it’s important to have one

4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NLT Mission Statements — Most businesses have them, ministries have them, and so do …

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Mother’s Day and Leukemia

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia hit the Mayer family full force on September 26th, 2012.  Daniel, the youngest of four boys and only four years old, is in the battle for his life. Submerged under the unrelenting vice of suffering, how does a mom walk this road with her family? Here are some answers from his sweet momma Kelly:  How did Leukemia impact your Mother’s Day? Leukemia really affected Mother’s Day this year but in a fairly roundabout way.  I guess “strain” is the best way to say it.  Leukemia puts a big “strain” on everything and everyone.  Relationships within our family …

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How a Wiggles Movie Changed My Life

“Please, Mom? Pleeeease?” My daughter pleaded as she climbed into her car seat. Since buying our first minivan, I’d come to appreciate all its amenities but one—the built-in DVD player. That thing was a source of constant battle. Every time we boarded the van, my children asked to watch a movie. And every time I replied, no. Because good parents don’t let their children watch television in the car. My Perfect Parent Handbook has lots of rules like that. Good parents don’t buy sugary cereal. Good parents don’t let their children wear pajamas to the playground. Good parents have a …

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5 Ways Twins Can Change Your Life

Some people call me a superhero, doubly blessed. Others say I have my hands full, double trouble. Hi, my name is Christen, and I’m a mother of twins. Before I had children, I had heard rumors that motherhood was the most challenging and rewarding job on the face of the planet. I was the newlywed that thought I could handle the challenge of being a mom; that it couldn’t be that hard. I had illusions that the reward part of motherhood would be more often than the challenge and my children would be well behaved, athletic, musically-talented, smart, and successful …

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