What do you get when you mix two young children, one tired mom, and a Christmas to-do list? Definitely not peace on Earth. “Don’t step there!” My hand jerked toward my toddler’s ankles, but too late. Her foot crunched a row of Christmas ornaments arranged meticulously on the rug, prepped for hanging. “I sorry, Momma!” Her sock hovered over a sparkly blue star, crushed into five pieces. “I told you to stay on the sofa! Sweetie, if you want to help Mommy decorate the tree, you need to be very careful around the ornaments. Now it’s broken.” Her bottom lip …
Preparing Your Kids To Be Mission Minded
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 NLT Missions trips will change your life. They will wreck you. You will never be able to look at poverty the same again. You will be compelled to do something about it. Your days of sitting by thinking there’s nothing that I can do to help will quickly be erased from your thought process…you will be determined to make a difference. One day. One child. One step at a time. That’s what has happened …
I Should (Not) Do That
I suffer from a common condition. It’s called “shoulditis”—otherwise known as I should do that disease. Symptoms flare up under the most ordinary circumstances. When my friend calls to say she’s taking a Zumba class, I think of how long it’s been since my Nikes hit the gym, and my own voice whispers in my head, I should do that. When I scroll through Facebook and see a dozen photos of cutesy craft projects other moms created with their children, I’m deflated. I should do that. When my parenting magazine plugs a recipe for brownies using hidden carrot puree, I …
Why You Should Get Involved In Your Kids Ministry
When we, as parents, partner with our local churches we can make an even bigger impact in the spiritual lives of our kids. No, I’m not just saying that because I work in Kids Ministry but because I have stood on the front lines every Sunday for the last ten years watching families come in and out of the church and miss the connecting piece between church and home. Can I speak the truth in love for a minute? Families want us, as the church, to teach their kids about God, His love, His grace, His mercy and His …
Loss of a Baby
For the waves of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me; the cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, yes, I cried to my God; and from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help came into His ears. 2 Samuel 22:2-7 Decaying oak leaves permeated the air as I sat alone hugging my knees close to my chest. A crisp, fall breeze combed through my hair as if trying to untangle my raveled thoughts. A year of bitter trials left its …
Lunchbox Love Notes For Your Kids
It’s that time again. The kids are back in school and with that our mommy calendars immediately start to fill up. New routines. New bed times. New nightly stress about homework and even after school activities. Oh how I love the smell of a freshly sharpened number two pencil (no really, I do) and also dislike all the anxiousness that surrounds the back to school season. Did we get all the supplies on the class lists? Are we going to miss the bus? What about classes, did they get the classes they needed or the teachers we wanted? Breathe in …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …