David came to me this morning, troubled. It seems that the girls were playing right outside his door this morning, hoping he would wake up and play with them. He was certain they had come into his room, and was bothered that they denied it. He was sleepy and grouchy. So he cuddled up in [...]
Filed under: Getting Along
Yesterday, I gave each child a third of some glorified silly putty I bought for Lee awhile back. They played with it and I talked. Maybe they liked playing with the silly putty (I told them they could only play with it when we were talking about the Bible), or maybe they just wanted to [...]
Filed under: Family Devotions, Salvation, Using Questions
This year for Thanksgiving, we didn’t have any verses to read aloud at the table. We didn’t take turns sharing what we’re thankful for (although we might do that another day). We didn’t read any Thanksgiving books this year (maybe next week). I didn’t have hors oeuvres that look like turkeys. We didn’t have Thanksgiving [...]
Tags: Thanksgiving
Filed under: Mom Time
Today, I want to think about the relationship between physical and spiritual development. Several years ago, my father-in-law agreed to repost an article on a forum that I wrote for. I thought it was interesting, but my oldest child was two, and I didn’t understand the article as well as I do now. [P]hysical maturity is [...]
Filed under: Child Development
A few years ago, I found this passage: The King of Assyria is threatening God’s people, and good King Hezekiah is badly outnumbered. And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. [...]
Filed under: Introspection
On the way home from church the other night, on a whim, I asked the children, “What verse would you think about if you were having a hard time being kind to your sister or brother?” The children were all stymied. “Children obey your parents”? We talked about some better possibilities. Then I asked, “Can [...]
Filed under: In the Car and on the Go, Scripture Memory, Using Questions
I’ve been thinking about my desire to be more patient with my children. I’ve been praying about it, but then I started thinking more deeply (forgive me– I think more at certain times of the month!) Is prayer the only thing I can do to be more patient? We talked a little bit about teamwork, [...]
Filed under: Emotions, Getting Along
A concept that my mom spends a lot of time with in her book is teamwork. We hear of teamwork in the corporate world frequently, but it’s not common to talk of it in parenting discussions. I know that I’m more inclined to see myself as a CEO (Go clean your room) than a coach [...]
Filed under: Chores
When God doesn’t give wisdom, I sometimes discover that I want wisdom for the wrong reasons. Not getting what I’m asking for motivates me to examine our motives again. Do I want well behaved children because they are embarrassing me? Do I want my children to be saved in order to validate my approach to teaching [...]
Filed under: Wisdom
It’s easy, when we are newly aware of our need for wisdom, to become overwhelmed with what we don’t know. We see our lack of wisdom and can be discouraged because we know we need it. But God’s timetable is not ours. He always has a reason for not giving wisdom, and it is always [...]
Filed under: Wisdom
