Parenting
Faux Fur, Siblings and the Search for Significance: Do I Matter?
The argument must have lasted for 10 minutes.
And that’s an incredible length of time for such an inane debate. My son contended the fur trim on his coat was real; my daughter insisted otherwise. But I was suspicious of his vehemence and sidelined him afterwards for a conversation about it.
“I think you knew it wasn’t real,” I probed.
“Yeah,” came the bashful reply after some careful inspection of the carpet at his feet.
“So, why did you keep saying it was?”
“Because I wanted to be important.”
I was flabbergasted both by the candor and the self-awareness. Read More
Fold ’em
My four children were all between the ages of two and five.
Simply venturing out into the world required the equipment (and courage) of Seal Team 6. Armed with diaper bags, snacks, toys, books and what little remaining patience I could muster, I’d run only the most critical errands. I’d select the grocery cart that resembled a Hummer, buckle everybody in and try not to take out entire end-cap displays as I whipped around corners. Read More
Feet
I’ve spent the week walking in Job’s sandals as I prepared to teach his story to two classrooms of high schoolers. (Check out Launch Ministries Christian release time Bible classes.) It’s a tough book to immerse one’s self in, so I’ve been on the hunt for some levity. Perhaps you, too, will get a giggle out of this snippet of my life from days gone by. (If you need another laugh, check out one of my most popular posts ever here.)
My second daughter has two different sized feet. Yes, this is common, but hers are dramatically different sizes. Prior to moving to Boise where Nordstrom is conspicuously absent, I was willing to shell out the extra bucks to buy her shoes there because they’ll sell you two different sized shoes as one pair — as long as the feet measure more than 1.5 sizes different. And hers did. Read More
Sticky Note Prayers: Lessons in Perseverance
I couldn’t quite decide if it was obnoxious or darling.
My daughter just turned 11. She’s normally the hardest of my children to buy for as her tastes change frequently. This year, she had very definitive ideas about what she wanted. And she let us know:
I found a small yellow sticky note on my laptop screen one morning: “Mama, can I please have bunk beds for my birthday. It doesn’t cost money, it only costs time.” Read More
Let the Children Come…
It was so comfortable. Having the necessary funds to bankroll college for our two daughters set aside before they were even in kindergarten gave me tremendous freedom with our finances. All we had to do was let a meager interest rate do its work for the years that lay ahead. Read More
Does God still like me?
He was devastated. I was exasperated.
Sitting on the edge of my son’s bed, I looked into his eyes. He
knew I was upset. Yet another day with multiple food allergy infractions. His inability to control his impulses around food frustrates me for the obedience issues, but even more so because of the adverse impact on his growth due to nutrient malabsorption. We’ve seen God’s redemption and work in these issues, but it is an on-going battle that is likely to plague him for years to come. Read More
Memory Upgrade: Foreheads, Hands and Doorposts
Please tell me I’m not alone. It happens to me at least daily:
I might be standing in the kitchen when I realize I need to close the window in my child’s room before the morning air wafting through the house gets too hot. Making my way around the corner, I climb the stairs. I reach the top and when I find myself at the end of the hallway, I cannot – for the life of me – remember why I’m there. The sheer number of purposeless trips I make upstairs each day could almost justify eating an entire bag of Peanut Butter M&M’s. Almost. Read More
School Bus Redemption: Allergies, Bullies and Opportunities
Does God really work all things together for our good? Even the paltry stuff of school bus drama?
He doesn’t always let us see how He’s doing so, but His Word says He will, indeed, redeem all of life’s events for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). I revel in it when He gives me a small glimpse of this kind of redemption.
My son suffers from a list of food allergies so long even an Iron Chef would get his spatula in a twist to cook for him. Read More
Debit Cards, Silence and Hasty Vows
It was strangely silent. The kids made scarcely a noise as we drove home. They knew I was troubled by not being able to find my debit card. I was distracted by the thoughts of potential fraudulent use.
The moment the car ignition was off, my daughter sprang to the front seat to hand me a note. Words scrawled on the page explained both the hush and the tears running down her face.
“I told God I wouldn’t talk until you found your card or got a new one … I was trying to show Him my faith in Him … What if I can’t do it? … What have I done? … I’m scared.”
Permitted with Purpose
Why did God make me this way?
This was my child’s lament in the throes of algebra-induced frustration. I tried (unsuccessfully) not to cry, too; I ache for it to be different for her.
Despite her struggle, she acknowledges God’s power to cause a change in her abilities. Yet, she was, to some degree, blaming Him; her comment indicts God for not allowing it to come easily for her.
I am powerless to change this for her. I know that God can, yet to this point has chosen not to. I felt my role was to help lead her to see what God was accomplishing in and through it. When I asked what she thought, she came up empty. I reminded her that God made her perfectly, wonderfully (Psalm 139:14), and shared with her what I have observed: Read More