Honey, the Kids Shrunk Me!

“Mom, I think you’re shrinking.” My firstborn stands beside me, the tip of his blonde head occupying the space above mine. He casts me one of his infectious grins as he puffs out his chest and holds his shoulders tall to prove the truth of his declaration. I stretch myself up on tiptoe so I can look my sixteen-year-old in the eye. Then, I return his goading with a playful punch and remind him that “sometimes the best things come in small packages…” But what I really want to say to that growing boy of mine is that it’s his fault. …

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I Just Need 15 More Minutes!

Can you give me just 15 more minutes? I whisper a prayer, grabbing my phone so I can slide the little button under my original alarm setting. I simply need more time to prepare.  Time to prepare so I could face another day of different. As I lay there, I can’t go back to sleep as I had hoped. Instead, I begin to pray; asking the Lord to heal my family member who is sick, a job for a friend who needs to provide and a prayer for me. Prayer to have the discipline to get out of my bed. …

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Hold On Loosely, Don’t Give Up Hope

Moms of teenagers and adult children, oh how I would love to pull up a chair beside you, pour a cup of coffee and commiserate over this new season of parenting you’re in. It’s not an easy transition by any means but I’m hoping that as we sit and visit that you and I both will learn a little bit about how to hold on loosely in this season when you feel like giving up hope. Chances are if you are a child of the 80’s, you’ll remember a song from the band 38 special called, “Hold On Loosely.” In …

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No Time for Hurry!

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4 NLT).  Hurry. Hurry! Hurry!! Life is so often a big hurry!  After our children are born we can’t wait for them to sleep through the night. Then we are anxious for them to sit up. Then to crawl. Then to walk. It is so exciting to watch for the next milestone in their development, but often we look too far into the future. It is easy to push our children along too quickly without waiting for God’s timing.  When my first son, Luke, was a …

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Letting Go is Hard to Do

  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:8 ESV) From the moment of giving birth, the hard process of letting go begins. Having a hard time letting go? Here’s help! #moms #motherhood Click To Tweet I remember when my son was first born not wanting to let him out of my sight. I would drag the car seat into the bathroom when I needed to take a shower, and constantly risk soaking the throw rug by peering around the curtain to make sure he was …

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Let the Education Begin

Motherhood. We tend to think of this as a season for teaching. We bear the responsibility for a tiny life and for the next 18 years – or more accurately for the rest of our lives – it is our responsibility to guide, correct, and teach these God-given blessings. That’s what I thought anyway. It didn’t take me very long after giving birth to my first son to realize that the one who was going to do most of the learning was ME! One of my favorite sayings when coming upon a new challenge quickly became, “No one tells you …

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TherMOMeter: Setting The Temperature In Your Family

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 …

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5 Things I Wish My Mom Had Told Me

 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 …

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Every heart is Expectant

Expectant devotions for new and expectant moms

How far is the distance between your parenting expectations  and your reality? Becoming a mom has a way of surpassing and squashing our expectations at the same time. It’s a weird and wonderful thing, this journey of growing into a mama. For those just starting out, it helps to have a guide for growing your own life while growing your family. EXPECTANT, 40 devotions for new and expectant moms, is that guide. Whether we join the adventure biologically or through adoption, experience has a way of changing our expectations. Honest moms who can remember will admit to announcing they would …

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