Encouragement

Encouragement · July 11, 2013

Bouncing Back When You Are Overcome

Sometimes I am overcome. Thoughts press down on me. My failures as a mom and a wife and a daughter and an employee and a friend grow vaporously before my eyes until they tower over me. I am overcome by the dark shadow of knowledge of what I have failed to do. I have spent time in this dark place. I have visited enough now to recognize when I am on my way again. I try not to allow it. I choose to bounce back to the light by focusing on my immeasurable value. As a child of God I am forgiven for my failures. I am human and I make mistakes. It is part of my fallen nature. God does not want me to waste time wallowing in dark despair. He forgives me. I have to forgive myself. I am not perfect. I have to focus on my immeasurable value in ways that are not always apparent but so very important. I have immeasurable value because I would give up anything for my child… I have immeasurable value because I will meet needs for my child… I have immeasurable value because I care for every detail of my child’s life… …

Encouragement · July 5, 2013

A Story Unfinished

Matt sent me his book, A Story Unfinished: 99 Days with Eliot as a gift several weeks ago. A friend provided this weekend on the beach to rest and read. The combination was what Matt would call a rainbow just for me. I know Matt and his story; I did not know that he had the rare gift to write words never conceived in my literarily finite mind but echoed in my heart. The page above was the beginning of what spoke to my heart in Matt’s words…

Encouragement · July 3, 2013

True Story of Kid President

Not every child can be president but they can dream and dreams can lead to other things. Such is the case in the true story of the Kid President. He needed a dream, a vision, something to do. Concerned adults in his life helped him catch that vision. They turned his disability and inability to participate in sports and physical play and created an opportunity for him. The Kid President has an amazing platform to inspire kids and who knows at the rate he is going he may actually make it to become the real President.

Encouragement · June 17, 2013

3 Ways A Mom Can Be Unperceptive

It is so hard to be a perceptive mom! But sooooooo important. I have failed at this. Have I confessed that enough over the last few weeks? I have tried to be a perceptive mom, but there have been times when I have missed seeing what is really going on in my children’s lives. When that has happened, it’s usually been because of one of these three ways moms are unperceptive…

Encouragement · May 24, 2013

The Best Way to Support an Adoptive Family

The process of adopting a child can often be daunting in itself, though the real journey for an adoptive family starts after the child comes home. It’s wonderful if you want to support an adoptive family, but be sure to keep these 6 things in mind. 1. Give them space. It’s important to allow the family bonding time with the child, so allow them the space they need to do that! 2. Watch your words. Kids are always listening, so be mindful of what questions you are asking. 3. Respect their privacy. Try to avoid asking prying questions about the child’s history. 4. Embrace honesty. Don’t judge the parents by any frustration that they may be walking through – it’s a difficult process! 5. Bring the community to them. Support the parents! Offer to make them a meal and drop it off. That is always greatly appreciated. 6. Respect their parenting methods. There will be trials that parents need to learn to correct in their own time.

Encouragement · April 5, 2013

The Parenting Problem: Fear, Worry, Anxiety, Panic

Do you ever have that nagging feeling in your gut that something is not right? Has it become a constant companion so familiar to you that you don’t know what life without it was like? Are you parenting in fear? Most of my worries follow a little pattern that includes the surprising ability to spiral out of control without me even noticing. The feeling springs up as a little pang of fear in my gut; it then grows, picking up speed, swirling into my brain and filling it with worry; then it sucks me into a funnel of anxiety, till I bottom out in a puddle of panic. When I land, I am a mess— depleted, confused, and useless. The circle of fear-worry-anxiety-panic is a circle that most moms have experience with. We love our children and it is natural to fear for them. But it is not healthy to make parenting in fear a habit. A mom must learn to leave the circle of fear and find peace in parenting. Accomplishing this requires awareness of how and when and why you fall into the circle.

Encouragement · March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!

Encouragement · February 22, 2013

When You Can’t Live Without Friends

There are times in a mom’s life when she simply cannot live without friends. I have been through one of those times. Years after I received my first pacemaker at seventeen, it gave out. I had three small children ages 5, 3 and 1. New doctors did new tests and gave me a new diagnosis. They felt that I probably didn’t need a pacemaker. They put me on steroids instead. I was not the same person. After a year, I had an appointment with my old doctor in Houston for a second opinion. We flew in for the appointment, but when we got there we had to see his partner instead due to an emergency. The partner was rather rushed and told us that if the steroids weren’t working don’t take them. Period. So I stopped. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t even really know that what I was on was a true steroid. It took six days before I felt the effects of not slowly weaning off the steroid. I became really sick. The combination of complications from coming off the steroid and trying to keep my heart beating regularly were debilitating. My children were 6, 4 and …

Encouragement · February 21, 2013

I Feel Better When I Cook

I have been resolutely cooking now for 6 weeks–not every night, just twice a week. I skipped one week because I was traveling. The results in my mind are clear–home cooking is good for the soul. Not only is it better for your health, it’s better for your family. You feel more connected. Setting the table, the smell of simmering deliciousness, tripping over hungry, hovering peeps trying to get a taste–it’s all homeyness. And I really mean this–for a working, busy mom like me I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it without eMeals. Enjoy! This recipe is from the Clean Eating Family Plan… eMeals

Encouragement · February 18, 2013

Get Less, Give More

Our giving got away from us this last year for the first time in our married life. I still get a pang in my heart about it. Since Mark and I married we have always been very purposeful about giving a set percentage, and more if needed, of our gross income to church, several non-profits, missionaries and individuals in need. We gave last year but not at the level I would have liked. The year just got away from us. The house flood and renovation were more than expected, the replacement of what we lost was more than expected and the condo rent to live while our house was completed was more than we expected. And still we were paying for college tuitions and life with five children. Sounds justifiable, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t feel that way when I sit in my new, old house. It feels selfish. I did not put the giving first. I was busy and I wasn’t thinking, I was surviving. And then the end of the year came and it was all there in black and white – the getting and the giving. We fell short on giving. I know God forgives me. …