I have always been a perfectionist. I guess it comes with being the oldest child, especially growing up in a family that tried to maintain a wonderful outward appearance while crumbling apart on the inside. I've carried that legacy, or should I say bondage, right into my own family. I have never felt so inadequate as the day a nurse handed me my newborn son, and I looked at him and literally thought "Now what am I supposed to do with this?" You would think that ten years later and with another child under my belt, I'd feel equal to the task of mothering. But I still struggle with my mommy alter-ego. You know, the one who shows up to point out everything you're doing wrong. She keeps me down and focused on how NOTHING I do measures ... Read More...
8 Ways To Show Your Kids The Love of Jesus
If you divided up mothering into all of its individual tasks, you'd get quite a lot of pieces. There's disciplining, training, nurturing, diffusing tantrums, wiping, consoling, teaching, and did I mention disciplining?! There's also the daily tasks of managing a household thrown into the mix, which includes cleaning, laundering, cooking, budgeting, etc. In this busy season, we often focus on what is grabbing our attention right now. We try to keep all the balls in the air, and honestly it becomes overwhelming at times. But at the end of the day, the one thing that truly matters is whether our children felt loved. And not just emotionally connected, but loved like Jesus loves. We can be the hands and feet of Christ to our own kiddos. One ... Read More...
7 Biblical Principles That Will Change The Way You See Education
Education is a hot button topic these days, with new reports coming out nearly every day about the violence going on in schools, as well as the controversial things being taught there. More and more parents are pulling their kids out of public school to homeschool them. Nearly everyone agrees there is a major problem with America's education system, but aren't sure how to go about fixing it. But maybe it doesn't work because it was broken to begin with. Since the word "school" isn't specifically mentioned in Scripture, we tend to think the Word of God is silent on the subject of education. The Bible doesn't mention "credit cards" either, but it is full of warnings not to borrow money! These principles must be followed if you want to ... Read More...
3 Important Things You Can Learn About Parenting From Deuteronomy
It was the beginning of a long week after a particularly emotional, stressful weekend. I wasn't exactly looking forward to dying to self that day and teaching my children spelling, math or reading. In fact I was feeling a little bit more like, "I deserve a break!" My son began struggling with a math problem that he didn't understand, and instead of patiently explaining it to him, I opened the teacher's guide to the page with the answers and slammed it down on the table in front of him. Immediately convicted of the way I had acted, I apologized and gave him a hug. Then I softened my tone and walked him through the problem. But my heart still wasn't right. When the kids took their usual snack and play break, I headed to my room to pray. I ... Read More...
6 Parenting Mistakes You Should Avoid
I've heard it said, "Parenting is like folding a fitted sheet. No one knows how." It can certainly seem that way these days while we're trying to raise well-behaved, respectful, obedient and godly children. We know where we want to end up, but we don't exactly know how to get there. Parenting experts swear by all kinds of tips that actually seem to be making our kids worse. As parents we mean well, but sometimes we're just stuck in a pattern that we can't easily recognize. I've messed up on my own parenting adventure and made mistakes I wasn't even aware of for a long time. I still continue to miss the mark (that's where God's grace comes in), but I've realized over the last decade there were several things I did that were ... Read More...
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