Out of all the adjectives my children could pick to describe me several years ago, I don't think "fun" would have been high on that list. "Stop running around and get ready for bed!" "Be careful. You're going to make a mess." "It's not time to fool around and play now. It's time to be calm." I've said all of these phrases at one time or another to my kids. Out of context, they are understandably normal things a mother would say to her children to redirect them to pay attention or begin a task they've been asked to do. However, in my haste to maintain order and discipline, I frequently ended up putting the kibosh on their joy. I believed that efficiency was the highest priority in my homemaking, so I became a multitasking queen. And ... Read More...
6 Myths Christian Moms Believe
So often there is a disconnect between the mom I am, and the mom I want to be. Or make that the mom I think I ought to be. A lot of times, I feel like Julia Roberts' character Isabel in the movie Stepmom. In the opening scene, Isabel is frantically trying to get her live-in boyfriend's two children ready for school. She struggles with making them breakfast, getting them dressed, and even finding the youngest child, who has hidden himself in one of the kitchen cabinets. She has a moment of panic when she realizes that she hasn't washed the daughter's shirt for Purple Shirt Day, and as she suggests that the girl just wear orange instead, she's met with eye rolling and obvious disdain. Then in the middle of all this chaos their real mom ... Read More...
7 Tips For Spending Time with God as a Busy Mom
For the last post in the Rock Motherhood Biblically Series, Mariann Foster of Our Start has put together some practical ways we can spend time with God daily in this busy season of motherhood. Because you can't be your best as a mom without staying plugged into the One who gave you this calling, right? As a mom, I know days can start with a bang before you even climb out of bed. It's easy to get caught up in all the tasks that need to be done. And you may even forget to spend quality time with the Lord. But spending time with God is the only thing that can give us the energy to make it through our busy days and weeks. Here are several tips to help you carve out time to spend with God each day and renew your strength as you pour into ... Read More...
3 Ways To Keep Your Joy This Season
It happens every year around this time- the Christmas season burnout. I start off bubbling over with joy and intent on focusing on the Nativity, right after putting up the tree and all the decorations. I'm on top of making each day of Advent meaningful. I execute crafts and lessons that center around Jesus' birth. As it draws closer to Christmas, however, I start fearing I won't get to everything on my checklist. My mind races as I mentally plan out how I can cram all of those special activities and memories with my children in the days left until December 25. Then I get stressed, doing the very things that were supposed to help me focus on the true meaning of this holiday. My natural inclination is to do more, when in fact I ... Read More...
What The Christmas Story Reveals About The Family
An unmarried, teenaged girl. A poor carpenter pledged to be her husband. Two of the most unlikely people chosen to birth and be responsible for the upbringing of the Savior. Even though we know how the Christmas Story unfolds, we still marvel each year at what seems to be so unexpected. We say, as the song goes, that it was "such a strange way to save the world." But is it really that unexpected? All throughout the Old Testament, we are told of God's plan of salvation beginning with the promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:5. From his line of descendants (as numerous as the stars) was to come the long awaited Messiah. The Gospel of Matthew starts out with the genealogy of Jesus, revealing Christ's family tree. It strikes me ... Read More...