When I was a young girl, all I wanted to be when I grew up was a mom. While my friends were making plans to have a career or be someone famous, I day dreamed of being a mom and what my family would look like. We would have the perfect house complete with a white picket fence. I would drive a minivan and volunteer for local charities. I would greet my husband at the door every evening with a kiss after his long hard day at work. I would have a girl and a boy (because isn’t …
A teachable change of seasons
Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn. We’ll watch the leaves dry up in the waning sunlight, just to be pinched off their twig by a gust of chilly wind and tossed to the ground with a crunch. Winter will follow, with life lurking beneath what appears to be dead. This is the perfect time to help our children understand the truth of life out of death. God has shown us His redemptive plan through His own creation and the change of seasons. Are you ready to watch the show of color that comes with Autumn? This year, do more …
Understanding for unfinished plans
It was my great plan that fizzled out. With one summer left to spend before my sweet girl left home, I chose a book about prayer for the two of us to read together. I would make a deposit in her heart that would bring a return long after she carried her crates to the dorm. But then we went on vacation, she got a job, and I got busy, and somehow, before I knew it, we had to take those crates for college. My good intentions failed, and I was left with a barely read book on prayer. Maybe …
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 …
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 …
Why Moms Should Keep Their Promises
“The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them,” (Proverbs 20:7, NLT). I spent fifteen dollars on a snow cone. Crazy, right? Of course this wasn’t just any snow cone. This was a super-sized, rainbow flavored, tantalizing treat scooped into a commemorative Tinkerbell mug. Yes, my husband and I took our girls to the Disney on Ice show, and one glance around the arena told us we weren’t the only parents forking over ridiculous cash for souvenirs. Why? What kind of mother buys a fifteen-dollar snow cone? A good one, I think. Not because good mothers pay …
Heightened Awareness: Living Life in the Midst of the Unknown
© Angela Farley | Dreamstime Stock Photos RF-LL Most of my life is lived in a constant state of heightened awareness. At any given moment I am painfully aware that I could have to drop everything and be in the middle of a medical crisis. Truth be told, that is pretty much true for any of us, especially moms. Our kids are in a state of constant movement and yes, at any given time, they could get hurt. For me, it is the same, except that I have also experienced this medical crisis too many times. In 2005 my oldest …
Don’t Lie to Me
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ,” (Galatians 6:2). I want to chat with the new moms out there. Seasoned moms, pull up a chair, because we’re all in this together. Are you comfy? Let’s talk. Motherhood isn’t easy. It’s not supposed to be. Caring for children is a physically grueling, emotionally draining, and spiritually challenging round-the-clock job. I don’t know who might’ve told you otherwise, or how many women withheld this bit of information when they gushed over your adorable baby shower gifts, but I’m here to set the record straight. …
Come Away With Me
Every week or so, I feel a strong tug on my heart, a prompting from the Lord, to COME and GET AWAY with Him for awhile. I may be dropping my kids off at school in the morning (it may have taken 14 years, but we are finally out of the baby/toddler/preschool stage!), and I hear His voice, quietly beckoning me to come on a walk with Him. So I do! I grab my journal and Bible (and camera!)—sometimes even buy a nice cup of coffee for the time—and I drive to a nearby park called Fox Run. It is …
If Birthdays Make You Sentimental
I’ve discovered a crazy thing about kids. They just keep growing up. Today I’m baking brownies for my firstborn’s sixth birthday treat. Next week, baby sister turns three. I call this “birthday season” in our family, and every year it melts my heart to a nostalgic puddle. To me, birthdays aren’t just childhood milestones. They’re a chance to shout, “Yay, God!” for creating each daughter unique, beautiful, and according to his perfect plan. More than that, I celebrate my girls’ birthdays as a type of anniversary for me—(1) the day I entered motherhood, clueless, bidding a shocking farewell to my …