Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Parenting”
As a young mom, I had no idea that my mood could and would set the temperature for the entire house; actually I wasn’t aware yet, but I was the therMOMeter of my home. If I was in a bad mood, it eventually bled over and made everyone else have a bad mood too. My boys were little when I decided to test this idea out. I decided that no matter how I “felt” that day I would take a few notes and see how quickly my attitude started affecting how the kids (and even my husband) were behaving in …
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Proverbs 1:8 NIV Sweet mamas, oh how I wish we could sit down over a cuppa coffee and talk through these together. I don’t have all the answers, but if you’ll let me, then I’d love to share with you 5 of the things that I wish my mom had told me when I first got married and started having kids. My “babies” are now almost 21 and 19. By all accounts they are “adults” and so I’m coming to sit alongside you as a mama …
My eight-year-old heart thrummed excitedly inside my chest. My body practically vibrated with excitement. It was Christmas Eve. Thirty years later I pray my heart will thrum excitedly and my body vibrate with expectation on Christmas Eve as well. This time though I hope my excitement isn’t because of what lies under paper covered packages, but something far better. In fact I pray I live all my life expectant – pregnant with the promises of God. Ready to go through the painful labor the Holy Spirit will bring upon me to birth something new – a healed relationship, an adjusted …
The living room twinkled in hues of blue from our eight foot tall white Christmas tree, decked out in blue lights peppered with homemade ornaments. Tori Grace sat at its feet, tucked in between the tree and fireplace. In all her silly brilliance, I laughed over her funny story when I said, “Baby girl you are so beautiful,” but her response caught my eye. Ever so quickly, she set her jaw and froze over the compliment before smiling and saying, “I don’t like that.” “You don’t like it when mommy says you’re beautiful? What about when I tell you …
Christmas is next week. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in all the things we have going on during the holiday season: Parties Family get-togethers Gifts Cookies and other goodies Local holiday events Church or school programs All of these things are wonderful, but if we’re not careful, we can easily get so wrapped up in these that we let the most important thing slip by. And what is that most important thing? It’s seeking after Jesus and teaching our children to do the same. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things …
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 NKJV Chances are if you’ve been around any mom of faith then you’ve probably rubbed up against this verse a few times. It’s sort of like the parenting “go-to” verse. It’s a great truth that I’ve clung to many times while raising my boys…but, there’s one part of it that I never fully was able to grasp until now. Here’s what I’ve been learning on my twenty first year as a mama bear, we can train up …
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3 (NKJV) First time obedience is a goal parents desire for their children. Parents desire it so children learn to respect authority, for their safety, and our sanity. However I often wonder if the goal for first time obedience removes the human element from our children. Children are not robots. They have plans, desires, dreams, and wills of their own. Therefore children will get frustrated when …
How do you greet your husband when he comes home from work? When he walks through the front door is it just business as usual? Or, do you celebrate his return with a hug or a kiss? Better yet, how do your children treat him? My dad worked long hours as a truck driver. When he came home at night my sisters and brother and me made a beeline to the front door to greet him with arms open wide. As much as I’d love to tell you we were just an incredibly loving …
Without a doubt being a mom is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had in my life. Never would I have imagined the sheer number of emotions and the intensity each one brings with it. It’s true, motherhood is hard work, and it’s time for moms to stick together. It’s my heart that by coming to you as a “seasoned” (that’s a nicer way of saying “older”) mom and sharing a little bit of what I’ve learned on the journey of being a mom. Here’s what I can tell you…it doesn’t get easier. Yeah, not the answer you expected, …
