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Creating Space When Your Season Feels Too Full
Life only gets busier. People told me that in seminary. Moms said that to me in the newborn stage. I knew it was coming in the pre-k years. Now it’s here. With three young and growing kids, I spend my days running from one thing to the next. I struggle to create space for my soul to rest and reconnect with the Lord. So I’m getting creative. It’s a work in progress to be sure. But I know I need space. Here are five ways I’m creating it in a hectic season. Get up early. I know this one isn’t for everyone. If your children wake up at 6am or…
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Pursing Fruitfulness in our Children’s Discipline
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. — Hebrews 12:11 Every time God disciplines one of his children, he has a clear goal in mind. He wants us to bear fruit—to become more and more like our holy God so that we exhibit the characteristics that he so perfectly embodies. As Christian parents, we seek the same goal. Although we are broken, imperfect people, we seek to see God’s fruitfulness take root in our children’s lives. But how do we get there? How do we pursue fruitfulness, especially as we…
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How Mothers Reveal the Image of God
Motherhood reveals the image of God in a profound way. I witnessed my friend, Melissa, mother her kids. She peacefully prepared three plates of food for her young boys. Yogurt. Chicken. Ketchup. Noodles. They sat around and ate while trying to teach the baby to say “Bible” and instead he shouts, “Jack, Jack.” The room laughs. Later that night she held her toddler on her lap for sweet face-to-face time before bed. He curled into Melissa like her lap belongs to him. It does. Her arms, her face, her knees that bend low to listen. Her hands that hold the book at bedtime. In some ways her body belongs to her…
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Why Pushing Hard Isn’t Always Worth It
“Push.” We hear it everywhere. This simple word has become a mantra for how to get more out of life. Push yourself at the office until you get the promotion. Push yourself to create a Pinterest-worthy home. Push yourself to do one more load of laundry, send one more email, do one more thing before bed. Push. Push. Push. It’s the drumbeat that drives our lives as we put one more thing on our already packed to-do list. And it seems to work.After all, isn’t it the pushy entrepreneur who lands the big deal? Isn’t it the pushy mom who has the more accomplished kids with the prettier birthday…
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Getting Over Mommy Guilt
It’s real. That pain in your gut feeling that you don’t teach enough, bake enough, snuggle enough, read enough, pray enough — and generally aren’t enough. Mommy guilt plagues us as we do our daily chores and celebrate milestones. The pressure to do more than we can, be more than we are, to give more than we have wells up from within. It leaves us feeling hollowed out, empty from trying to meet expectations that we can never quite achieve. Whether you’re a seasoned mom or just starting out, the daily challenges of raising kids wear on us. We’re tempted to absorb every stumble and struggle—telling ourselves that if only…
