One of the challenges that mom has given me is to anticipate the lessons our children need and teach them before that time. She points out that in many ways its easier to teach a fourteen year old how to drive than a sixteen year old. If I don’t want my sixteen year old daughter [...]
Filed under: Modesty and Purity
On occasion, I’ll reread something I’ve written and been completely unable to decipher what I intended to say. That’s how I felt last night, so I actually deleted my post (it was that unintelligible to me) and will repost something like it on Friday. Hopefully it will make sense. Today is Wisdom Wednesday, and I [...]
Filed under: Communication and Meaning, Wisdom
We’ve been listening to the Little House on the Prairie series in the car. Since I enjoy children’s literature, I find the development of spirited heroines in the twentieth century to be greatly interesting. We like Laura, who speaks her mind and isn’t content to sit in a corner to sew demurely. Mary seems pale [...]
Filed under: Modesty and Purity
It’s Wisdom Wednesday, and here’s the good question I try to ask myself at least once a week: How is Scripture specifically changing me this week? No good being vague: I’ve been more diligent… I’ve been more patient… Better to be specific: When I started off angry because I wasn’t getting my way, I remembered [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized
This morning, I drank my coffee and did not feel one bit more spiritual. I knew from my lack of energy last night that I was likely going to be battling a hormonal shift, and I could already feel myself accepting in resignation that today was “not going to be a good or profitable day.” [...]
Filed under: Wisdom
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how my children respond to sinning siblings and friends. When we sat at lunch last week, I spent some time talking about the responsibility a mom and a dad have to teach and discipline their children. (I’m really interested in their responsibility, but talking about something they need to know [...]
Filed under: Getting Along, Humility
Typical Scenario: David is instructed to pray with siblings and start eating lunch while mom finishes folding clothes. Mom enters the room five minutes later to find no prayers said, a few nibbles out of Bethel and Laurel’s sandwiches, no prayer said, and David trying to keep a grip on his sister’s hand. When asked [...]
Filed under: Getting Along
It has been fun to watch God answer prayer regarding friends, just in this last week. God allowed me to see occasions where young people my children admire greatly demonstrated genuine Christian love and character. I bragged for a long time about those friends on the way home from church, and told my children how [...]
Filed under: Friends
I am not merely a babysitter. I’m merely reminding myself of definitions here. We know how important definitions are, don’t we? My mother gently reminded me of the distinction when I was talking about the overwhelming task of shaping desires and occupying minds. “You’re not a babysitter. Being a mother is a lot more work!” [...]
Filed under: Introspection
More than ever I can see the difference when my children are doing something that they understand and agree with, and when they’re doing something only because I say so. I’m not talking about cleaning their rooms, either. (I won’t complain if they suddenly develop a love for a clean room.) I want them to [...]
Filed under: Emotions
