“Bless you both,” I heard as my husband, Dave, and I opened our eyes after praying over our dinner in the Seattle airport food court. I looked up to see an elderly gentleman and his wife beaming at us from the next table. Instantly, we had something in common—God! When Dave and I acknowledged the husband’s comment, his wife gleefully added, “And I said to my husband, ‘Look they’re holding hands while they pray!’”. As we chatted with the couple, we learned that they were from Canada and waiting to board a plane to Orange County, our former home. I …
Lunchbox Love Notes For Your Kids
It’s that time again. The kids are back in school and with that our mommy calendars immediately start to fill up. New routines. New bed times. New nightly stress about homework and even after school activities. Oh how I love the smell of a freshly sharpened number two pencil (no really, I do) and also dislike all the anxiousness that surrounds the back to school season. Did we get all the supplies on the class lists? Are we going to miss the bus? What about classes, did they get the classes they needed or the teachers we wanted? Breathe in …
How to be a Parent Teachers Love
Teachers hope and pray they’ll get at least one of “those” parents in their classroom. A sensitive, enthusiastic, flexible parent has the potential to make all the difference in a teacher’s year and, as a result, in a child’s year too. Prize parents don’t brown nose in hopes of scoring top grades for their child or the lead role in the Thanksgiving play, but they see themselves as an educator’s resource able to lift a teacher’s load and support their school. You may not find “Awesome Parent” on the teacher’s supply list, but every educator longs to receive the gift …
Real moms praying for real teachers
If the sand is running through the hour glass of your summer, it’s likely a teacher is in your future. For children in traditional style classrooms or co-op groups, another adult will direct most of their school days. In the days of the one room schoolhouse, everyone knew the teacher, but in modern times, few parents have a close relationship with the educator who will invest so much in their child’s growth academically and otherwise. Real moms want to know, “Who is this stranger who will imprint herself (or himself) on the life of my child? Does this real person …
That Gigantic 3 Letter Word…JOY
Her words broke my heart. I wanted to cry as I listened to her pour out her raw feelings to me. “I’ve lost my joy and I don’t know how to get it back.” This sweet mom was hurting in her marriage. She and her husband needed help. She didn’t enjoy being married to him. She didn’t like the kind of mom she had become and she craved joy. What is it about this little word that when it is missing we seem to just exist through life? What is so important about this 3 letter word? I understand where …
Praying For Your Kids: Simple, Specific, Power-Packed Prayers
For years I had heard it said that we needed to pray for our kids. I get that, and I completely stand behind that thought process. What I didn’t always understand was the beauty and wisdom that came from praying simple, specific, power-packed prayers over my kids. It took a lot of reading, praying and talking with my husband, but over the course of all that investigating we discovered there were some very practical things we wanted to pray for over our boys. It actually fit perfectly with my M.O.M. Mission Statement (see my post in May 2013) and very …
Mom Mission Statement…and why it’s important to have one
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NLT Mission Statements — Most businesses have them, ministries have them, and so do …
See the BOID!
“My sister was carrying my daughter, Kim, down the hall of a hospital. Little Kim was looking back and saying, “See the boid!” (bird – she couldn’t yet say her Rs). Gail turned to see what bird could possibly be in the hospital, and there stood three nuns. Kim thought they were penguins.”* My friend, Sandra Chapman, shared this story in the “Laugh Out Loud” section of The Plan A MOM in a Plan B World. IT’S GOOD TO LAUGH, DON’T YOU THINK? I remember the day when my children, Taylor and Lauren, were little and the milk spilled …
EXPECTANT: Growing a life while growing a family
A track-mom friend stood by the fence as we cheered our senior girls across the finish line in their last high school race last night. And then my friend did something I didn’t expect. She reached over and hugged me, smiling with teary eyes. Then I did something I didn’t expect. I had a flashback to bottles and blankets. Swallowing a surprise gulp of my own, I reminded myself that this growing up and moving on thing is good. We don’t have children to keep them forever, but when my husband placed our baby girl in my arms over eighteen …
Did She Just Say That?
“Satisfy us with your faithful love every morning. Then we can sing with joy and be glad all of our days.” Psalm 90:14 (NIV) When my daughter made a statement one day that didn’t line up to God’s truth, I knew the day had come where outside influences were pressing on her heart and mind and she didn’t know what was true to combat what was false. Instead she was operating on what others were telling her. This generation (those born between 1982 and 2002) has been called the Mosaic generation. Taking bits and pieces from friends, media and their own …