As my kids have been getting older, I’ve been thinking about ways I can help them identify the truth in a world of half-truths and confusing misinformation. Pray for them The biggest thing I can do is prioritize praying for them . God doesn’t want them to believe the world’s lies either, and He knows what they’re hearing all the time, everywhere. I’m trying to trust that He’ll prepare them for whatever they’ll need, just like I’ve seen Him prepare me for situations that I never could have anticipated. And one of the ways I can build that trust is
Category: Blog
My blog articles spanning a variety of topics, from parenting advice and thoughts about mom life to Bible insight and more.
We live in a culture that tells us to “cancel” those we disagree with and hold angry grudges against those who wrong us. But holding grudges is bad for our health. As Rene Schlaepfer pointed out in Chasing David : A 2019 report in the Journal of Psychology and Aging found that holding grudges is dangerous to your health. Remaining in the state of anger is associated with chronic inflammation and other illnesses. The effects intensifies with age; in other words, the longer you hold a grudge, the sicker you get (page 113). What Jesus Said About Forgiveness Jesus talked
I originally posted this on my previous blog, My Life Commentary , when my first child was 9 months old. It was encouraging to see how much I’ve grown since being a new mom 9 years ago. I still have a lot of questions about what’s around the corner and what life will look like as she and my other two kids continue to grow, but the reassurance from God has grown as well! I’ve seen Him equip me in ways I never could have imagined, and have no doubt He’ll continue to prepare me for what’s coming around the
Have you ever felt like you’re in a season of waiting? Like you were in a holding pattern before a big change? That was me last fall, when I started doing Priscilla Shirer’s Elijah study with some women at my church. I felt like God was preparing our family for something , like a big change was just around the corner. Like he was preparing us to leave this church family we’d been part of for more than 10 years. Then, during week two, we started studying examples of God’s preparation during separation, and I felt like it was exactly
It’s easy to feel like who you are gets lost in your role as Mom. It can feel all-consuming–especially at certain stages–to the point that you wonder if you even have an identity outside these little people that are completely dependent on you. I think that leaves some of us wonder, who am I? I don’t have time for hobbies. My friends’ calendars never sync up with mine. Chances are I’m working, feeding my kids, cleaning my house, or mindlessly sitting in front of the TV–too tired to do anything productive, but not wanting to give into sleep yet because
Sometimes I don’t feel qualified . The voice in my head says: You don’t have enough experience with kids to be a good mom. You don’t have the skills to be a supervisor at work. You’re not holy enough to be a pastor’s wife. You don’t belong. You’re weak. You’ll never measure up. But here’s the thing: God put me in the situations I’m in. I may not always have the qualifications on paper, but He’s going to give me what I need when we get there. This is something we see in Acts. Our Assignment as Witnesses In the
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I worry about how to raise my kids in this crazy world we live in. We try to shelter them as it seems age-appropriate to do so. We set boundaries for TV shows and movies they can watch or video games they can play. We’ll let the oldest one use the computer on a very limited basis, and monitor websites she goes to and talk about internet safety. But there’s only so much we can do. We’ll only be able to protect them to a point. They’ll hear and see things. They’ll experience
Life is busy. Especially as a mom–whether you work, stay at home, homeschool. No matter how you spend your days, it’s busy. Being busy in itself isn’t bad. But the way we approach it can twist it into something harmful for our families and our souls. I recently finished reading a really helpful quick read: Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung . In it, DeYoung pointed out three dangers of being busy. Danger 1: Being Busy Can Ruin Our Joy God wants us to be joyful, no matter what else is going on in our lives. James 1:2-3 Count it all
If you met someone new, how would you describe yourself? I might say I’m a mother of three, a working mom, a pastor’s wife, a blogger. Those are titles that describe my different roles and responsibilities, but do they really describe who I am? If I tried to describe my personality, I might say I’m a silly optimist who loves color-coded spreadsheets and likes to relax by escaping into the lives of my fictional friends on Netflix, Prime, and Disney Plus. Or if I pulled my past in, I might say I’m a California transplant living in the Pacific Northwest,
Discipline. It’s probably one of the most controversial parenting topics out there. There are so many schools of thought about how to discipline your children, and I feel like culturally I’m told to discipline my kids less and less. But I know I need to discipline them because I love them : My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Personally, I find disciplining my kids one of the hardest parts of parenting . It’s so easy