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The Path to Sticky Faith
Do you want the children you influence to have real faith that sticks throughout their teenage years and beyond? Can you recognize what is pulling them away from that? We live in a pull-apart world. Many teens who were raised in churched homes walk away from their faith when they leave home to go to college or beyond. I know you do not want that. To stay on the path to sticky faith, you have to make choices for yourself and for them. Desiring Sticky Faith for Your Children I loved being a mentor mom for a “Moms Together” group at a local church. I learned so much from these…
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Releasing “Mom Guilt”
Once upon a time I served as an educator. While serving a special needs family, the mom revealed to me that she felt like her daughter’s disability was a punishment for her own sins. This mom was steeped in deep grief, somehow allowing herself to believe that she was personally responsible for her child’s cognitive disability. I knew her to be a healthy mom in a healthy home environment. She was actually a wealthy mom with all the comforts this modern world offers. Despite having the American dream, she was unable to enjoy the rich blessings of her life due to this story of guilt she had written for self. …
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Renewed vows to my kids.
Please Welcome the words of my dear friend, Laney Wooten. Laney lives outside of Longview, Texas. She is wife to Jon and Mom to six energetic children, with a mosaic of special needs and talents. Her beautiful words are encouraging and full of promise for a bright, blessed year in this journey of parenting. Well, I’m about 15 years in to this mothering thing and I’ll admit, I’m getting burned out. I know I’m not the only one either. You, like me, probably feel like you’ve just loaded the billionth pile of laundry fully aware that you’ll see it right back in the same place tomorrow. Maybe you’re stuck in…
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A Baptist, A Methodist and a Catholic sit down at the Thanksgiving table
While it feels like there should be a punch line to the title, in truth I’m not that clever. The reality is that Thanksgiving is fast approaching and the ability to offer a space for everyone in our home is no joke! While Thanksgiving itself doesn’t discriminate, we have the unique opportunity to choose just how “open” our homes will be. The guest list is likely just as colorful as the decorations and dishes themselves. Politics and religion are our favorite divisive topics, but in reality the possibilities for bias, exclusion and disagreements are endless. If we will take the time to examine our hearts the Lord will reveal the…
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Preparing kids for the Lemonade Stand; Parenting from a place of your Redemption
Our recent adventure in parenting involved trying to decide how our boys could have summer jobs despite their young ages. What began as a way for our kids to sell the flowers from their garden morphed into making homemade jellies and apple butter. Turns out that making jellies and apple butter is hard work, and it is not independently done by young kids! After several weeks of working in the kitchen, the boys created a nice stash of apple butter to take to market. We added fresh baked cookies and banana bread to our menu and carefully worked late into the evening on Friday night preparing for the Saturday morning market. …
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Taking Responsibility for Our Choices
“God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 God made humans different from the rest of His creation. In His loving kindness He made man in His own image. What a gift that is. Yet in that very gift he gave us another gift, the gift of choice. Every day we all make hundreds or maybe thousands of choices. Many of them are done without a thought. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always think about what I am doing when I do it; especially if it is something that I do all…
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Parenting inclusive kids in a cancel culture
I distinctly remember a birthday party in elementary school that I didn’t get invited to. I’m sure there were many I wasn’t invited to, this just happened to be one I knew about. It was one of the cool ones that involved a limo, in elementary school! And, we lived in the country. So, the limo was extra impressive. It was one of those moments in life where the event was special so the guest list was particularly slim. It was a small school, and I’m pretty sure my personality made me believe I was friends with everyone. At the time, some of my closest friends got to ride in…
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Confidence Rightly Placed
Recently, I came to the end of my backpacking skills. As I faced terrain that was new and difficult, I found myself desperately depending on the Lord for everything. My fear of slipping, tripping, falling, and even collapsing hurled me at the feet of Jesus. Praying to, singing about, and reflecting on Him enabled me to endure the physical, emotional, and mental challenges. “And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places” (Hab 3:19) pounded through my mind and heart multiple times. I wasn’t hiking Mount Everest, but this trail was my high place! Fear is common to humans. Fear can come…
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Traversing Change in a Changing World
Letting go and holding on are very important skills for traversing a world of change. The amount of baggage they carry can make all the difference.
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Kids, Critical Thinking and Christianity
My five-year-old rushed into my room after finishing up a bible study with my husband to proclaim, “Mommy… you are breaking the law of God!” My first inclination was, What in the world is my husband teaching the kids? My second gave away my pride. Who does this kid think he is? It would have been so easy to reprimand my son for calling into question my righteousness before the Lord. I could have sent him away and told him that he cannot disrespect mommy like that. Earlier that morning I disciplined him for making a wrong choice. In doing so, I hurt his feelings. My husband has been going…
