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Mother’s Day 2022
It’s been a crazy, busy weekend, yet a blessed and incredible affirmation of the value of all that I have invested over the years, and even still today. I’ve never been an easy mother, but I’ve loved and devoted myself to each human God has placed in my care, whether born from my womb or otherwise. There are few investments into humanity that can change the world more than our wholehearted and sacrificial investment into rearing children that will grow into adults that care about other humans, who know the value of hard work and are willing to sacrifice for the betterment of others. It’s quite an adventure at times,…
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Remembering Brendan (3/24/1990-3/12/2011)
He was a preteen when we met; daring and feisty with a true dislike for being told what to do. As challenging as he may have been in those years I was married to his father, there was an endearing soft side that emerged when others were in need or he was helping with his littlest sister. I can still remember his smile, the way he could do almost anything he set his mind to, and how excited he was to get his driver’s license on his sixteenth birthday. He was generally messy, enjoyed junk food far more than any person should and would argue about the silliest things, yet…
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The Way of Progressive Parenting
I’ve been mulling this piece over in my mind for months, but couldn’t quite get to the root of what was troubling me. It’s not that I’m so closed-minded to new ideas that I can’t accept anything beyond what I’ve always known. To the contrary, it has been through this openness that God has rid me of many selfish behaviors and reformed my mind to his truth. It is also through his provision that I finally gained clarity into what has been disturbing me in the newer philosophies on parenting, which are probably not so much newer, just more pervasive. We live in a culture where many believe the old…
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The Life of a Child
I’ll be the first to tell you living with three young children is challenging. They are constantly making demands, throw annoying tantrums and have difficulty listening when you tell them to do something. Then just when you think you’re at the end of your sanity and patience, you look into an obscure corner of a room and notice little toy soldiers surrounding a blue beast and suddenly your heart warms and you can’t help but smile and maybe tear up a little. The innocence of a child is priceless and to be cherished. Jesus even told us we must become as children to enter the kingdom of heaven. At that…
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Only the Best
Tonight as I was feeding my littlest miss and cutting up her broccoli, I paused to consider what I was doing. I think most probably prefer the broccoli flower over the stem, though for me it goes beyond preference. I love broccoli, but I don’t want to eat broccoli stems and it’s crazy annoying to open a bag of broccoli only to see that half the bag is stems. I willingly pay more to avoid this disappointment. Yet, as I was cutting up broccoli for the miss, I was giving her all the flower and eating the stems myself. It’s what I always do. Sure it’s a trivial act of…
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Are you Living Like You’re in the Army?
There used to be an ad for the Army that suggested enlisted individuals do more before nine a.m. than most people do all day, with the tagline “Be all that you can be”. I suppose the ad was intended to inspire, but it just made me feel guilty, like I really needed to step up my game if I didn’t want to be like all those other slovenly Americans. It probably sounds a bit ridiculous, but the truth is I’ve always carried this oppressive feeling I had to prove myself, driving me to become this perfectionistic, over-achiever that rarely rested. In my mind, I was singing Ethel Mermen, “Anything you…
