Uninvited Diagnosis

  She was tiny, frail and unable to meet any of her developmental milestones.  I knew her biological mom had used every drug imaginable during her pregnancy.  Nevertheless, the neurologist’s diagnosis cut through me.  Our adopted daughter would struggle through life with brain damage. Two years later, another uninvited diagnosis forced its way into my world. It came from a high-risk pregnancy doctor that rushed into the room after a longer than normal ultrasound. He dug the ultrasound wand into my swollen belly while still chewing his half eaten lunch, “Absent bladder…hernia…heart on the wrong side.  Most likely Trisomy 18. The …

Share

Teamwork – Lessons from a Toddler

While learning to walk, Jonathon had clung happily to our fingers, leaning on us for support. We had held him safely between us. Now that he could walk on his own, however, he wanted nothing to do with either parent. If I carried him, he squirmed to get “down.” Once on terra firma, he scurried away as fast as his wobbly legs would carry him. Terrified for his safety, I dashed after him, clamping my hand around his chubby fist. Then I endured ear-splitting screams of protest as he tried to free himself from my restrictive vice grip. (Oh, and …

Share

Of Tempers and Toothpaste

We are running late. She’s still in the bathroom. Door closed. Dawdling, I’m sure. I knock gently and turn the knob. Not. I barge in just in time to catch tongue against tip of toothpaste tube. I smile sweetly. “What are you doing?” Not! I yell. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” I take the tube from her hands and toss it into the wastebasket. Not. I snatch it and hurl it into the bathtub. I later retrieve it and toss it into the wastebasket. “What are you doing?” I ask again. Softer. Sort of. “Getting toothpaste to brush …

Share

10 Valentine’s Day Ideas for the Kiddos

Do you remember what Valentine’s Day was like when you were a child? Handmade heart-shaped cards, Sweathearts conversation candies with phrases like, “Be Mine” and “LOVE” impressed on the front, and a hollow chocolate heart Momma placed on the dining room table that day. As moms, we love to make holidays fun and even educational for our children. So with Valentine’s Day looming largely over us, The M.O.M. Initiative is sharing 10 Valentine’s Day Ideas for the Kiddos. 1. Go old-school. Have them cut out heart-shaped cards from red construction paper and write a sweet note to their friends and family listing …

Share

What’s For Supper? Don’t Panic Mom, We’ve Got It Covered!

It’s 3:00 in the afternoon….do you know what you’re having for dinner? If fast food restaurants are currently flashing in your mind, let me introduce to you a new way of cooking. Freeze ahead meals. The Betty Crocker or June Clever era is over, gone are the days of spending hours over cook books, planning meals, and creating gourmet suppers that you have on your nicely dressed table, with neatly dressed and quiet little kids. Instead my days are filled with the frenzy of shuffling kids from one appointment, to the next activity, while stuffing laundry into some convenient closet, …

Share

A Tough Kind of Love

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. –Galatians 6:7 One of the most difficult facets of parenting is found in moments of having to demonstrate tough love. One such form of tough love is in allowing our children to take full responsibility for their actions, including any consequences that ensue. As a mom, it is often much easier to jump in and run interference or make excuses for our child’s behavior than it is to allow him or her to go through the pain of the consequences. It starts …

Share

Show Me Your Friends, I’ll Show You Your Future

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV In our home, when faced with making a decision or setting rules for our children, we tend to measure them by two categories: negotiable and non-negotiable. Here is an example of a negotiable: My middle son Jake, at thirteen, was a drummer in a worship band. As a band member the only garments he wanted to wear were hideous skinny jeans, a t-shirt and an equally hideous headband. As a mom who, in some ways, took pride in how our family presented ourselves, this was a hard …

Share

There is No One Right Way

My belly bulged and my heart swelled. Excitement tingled in my every pore. I had everything mapped out in my head. Excitedly I typed out a birth plan – full of my ideals of natural birth and no needles in my back. My husband and I took a natural child-birthing class. I read parenting books and listened to seasoned friends. I knew what I would and wouldn’t do. I thought I was a prepared mommy. Then my stubborn first-born chose not to come. A week after my due date my doctor induced my labor and my labor did not follow …

Share

10 Scripture Memory Tips

Have you’ve ever wanted to memorize Scripture but didn’t think you had the time? Have you ever wished you could come up with an easy way to help your kids memorize Scripture. Memorizing the Word doesn’t have to be hard. Using the ideas below, you and your family can make Scripture memory fun as hide God’s Word in your hearts together! 1. Take your weekly memory verse with you wherever you go.  Review it at every stoplight. You’ll be surprised how much you retain! If the family is in the car together, take turns saying your memory verse at each …

Share

Fostering in our Future

Over 500 children in Knox County are cared for by foster parents, but more await  loving homes. One mom opened her heart and home to children in need of love and found that her own birth family received the blessing, too. With so many children worldwide in need of a home, maybe fostering will be part of God’s beautiful future for you. By Featured Guest: Tara Dovenbarger “I could never do that.” As a foster mom I hear these five words in my daily conversations.  Doctors, friends and even perfect strangers are curious, and somewhat perplexed, about how I am …

Share