I love the beginning of the school year. The blank notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, and crayons that haven't lost their tip remind me it's a fresh start. With that fresh start comes a hidden danger. It is the same danger that occurs when you have an empty plate at the beginning of a long buffet line! The danger is to fill your plate to overflowing when you see all that is available! Out of excitement, you either get more than you could eat, or you get to the end and realize you didn't leave room for the one or two things you really wanted! The same can happen in life. We fill our life plates with all the things that are available never stopping to ask ourselves, "Is my plate getting ... read more
The Flowers are Gone!
Last week I walked past the garden center at Walmart and realized everything was gone! Instead of a beautiful assortment of flowers, all I saw was empty metal shelving! I was shocked! I thought for a minute, and then it hit me - summer is over! Before we know it, hot temperatures will surrender to milder ones, long sleeve shirts will replace short sleeves, and my taupe colored toe nails will hide behind my closed toed shoes. I don't know about you, but it felt like summer was just getting started! Suddenly, all the time that I thought I had is now gone! This time of year causes many of us to reflect on life. This week some moms will send their little one off to kindergarten wondering ... read more
6 Tips for Helping Families Survive Busy Summer Activities
Summertime can pose new challenges because of changing schedules! Summer camps, vacation, VBS, and other events can cause life to get chaotic fast! (Especially when you are just as busy as your children). Here are six tips I have found that help makes the busy weeks less stressful! 1. Lower Your Expectations This is one of my favorite pieces of advice I have received! When we are going into a busy week I know a few things that will happen every time: my younger children will be irritable from lack of sleep, my house will be messier, and there will be more obstacles in communication with my spouse. Decide from the beginning to not let the extra clutter and fussiness ruin your time. 2. ... read more
What Would You Do?
Several weeks ago a friend I met through blogging asked me to be on her book launch team. I am a big fan of Shauna Letellier's writing style, and I couldn't wait to see how she made the Bible come to life. In her book Remarkable Faith, Shauna explores the stories of "eight nameless examples of faith." Each person she writes about is "identified not by their names but by their afflictions." The story of a father and his demon-possessed son in Mark 9:17-27 caught my attention. Until now I haven't studied the story in much detail. However, Shauna writes about this story in such an amazing way that I found myself consumed by it! Imagine that you are the parent of a boy who is ... read more
Lessons I Learned From My Dad
With Father's Day approaching I couldn't help but share the life lessons I have learned from my Dad. 1. Always make time for your children - Growing up I knew that if I ever needed my dad he was only a phone call away. It didn't matter what was going on. He could be in charge of a meeting or on an important business call, but if I needed him, I had his full attention. 2. Communication is important - When I was in college, my dad wrote me every single day of my freshman year. Everyday after class I would walk into our campus post office, open my mail box, and find a letter written on a yellow notepad in black ink. Sometimes the letters were short, sometimes they were funny, and sometimes ... read more
Bread, Fish, and Faith
"Loaves and fishes that is what I tell my children all the time." Those were the words of a sweet friend during a deep conversation we were having about life. My friend has children that are older than mine, so her insight and wise words are deeply valued. Over the next few days, I just couldn't get that phrase "loaves and fishes" out of my head. I prayed, "Lord show me what you are wanting to teach me." He did. The phrase "loaves and fishes" references the biblical account in the book of John. To summarize the story, Jesus feeds 5000 plus people with a little boys lunch and still has plenty of food left over. On the surface the story presents a simple but powerful message. Jesus can ... read more
You Are Needed
Every few years my husband's family has a good old-fashioned family reunion. I absolutely love those weekends. I married into an amazing family, and they have accepted me with lots of love and kindness. During a family reunion weekend several years ago, there was a group of us sitting on the back porch talking. I am not sure how the conversation began, but someone mentioned their age. It turned out we had someone from each decade of life represented. We had someone in their teens, twenties, thirties, and at least one person all the way up into one their seventies! We had the best conversation laughing and talking that evening. It was a beautiful moment when age was an apprecaited factor ... read more
To the Mom of Little Ones Going on Vacation
Every year when vacation time comes around I remember my first few vacation years with little ones. In my opinion the word "vacation" shouldn't be applied to a trip with small children. It is like applying the word dessert to a bowl of carrots. Dessert is a term that describes gooey chocolate cake warmed to perfection with a big serving of vanilla ice cream right beside it. In much the same way, the word "vacation" arouses visions of quiet time, reading by the ocean, the sound of the waves, nice uninterrupted meals, and sleeping in late. My husband and I were married for a few years before we had children, so we were able to take a few vacations with just the two of us. One week at the ... read more
Not Home Yet
Last year we moved and my phone didn't get the memo that it had a new address. Somewhere in the settings of my phone, our old address was still programmed as "Home." Now anytime I turn my phone on, my google maps tells me it will take 2 1/2 hours to get home. I could have changed the setting and entered my new address, however I didn't. I actually liked the reminder that I am not "Home." Isn't that what the Bible tells us? This world isn't our home. It is a great reminder on those days when evil seems to win or when we can't make sense of things. I have always loved the quote by C. S. Lewis, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation ... read more
You Never Know Who You are Raising
On April 29, 2011, the world watched as Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, married Catherine "Kate" Middleton. The ceremony was viewed by tens of millions worldwide. For those who are old enough to remember Princess Diana, the ceremony also held a sense of nostalgia as Prince William married a commoner, much like his mother. Kate Middleton, the eldest of three children, was born to a former flight dispatcher and a flight attendant. While her parents would later start a business which would bring them monetary success, her upbringing was from an upper-middle class perspective. As I watched the news coverage that day I was captivated. Who wouldn't be? The whole setting is a modern day ... read more