I didn’t used to think I was a selfish person. Then I got married. All of a sudden, my life decisions weren’t all about me anymore. I needed to include someone else and learn to put his desires before my own. After a few years of marriage, I thought I’d learned how to not be selfish. Then I had kids. All of a sudden, my time really wasn’t my own. I needed to sacrifice basic things like sleep and hygiene over the needs of this tiny, helpless person that couldn’t do anything for themselves. Then I did it again, and
Category: Blog
My blog articles spanning a variety of topics, from parenting advice and thoughts about mom life to Bible insight and more.
When I’m afraid, I freeze. This isn’t just fear about my safety, either. I stand still and wait, unsure how to proceed, when I’m worried I might say or do the wrong thing, too. I think this is a fairly common response, which is reassuring–but not very helpful. In his book Chasing David , I really appreciated how Rene Schlaepfer used David’s response to Goliath as an example for how we should approach fear. As a bonus, it’s a related mnemonic device: FEAR . F: Find out the Facts In 1 Samuel 17 , David sees Goliath challenge the Israelites
Flashback to Early Marriage Twelve years ago I experienced God’s sense of humor coming out through his perfect timing. It was the middle of the 2008 recession. My husband (Matt) and I had just gotten married, moved out of state, and were living in a one-bedroom apartment on one part-time income. Money was very tight, so we pretty much lived on rice and frozen chicken breasts. One day in particular I was complaining about it, wishing we could just go out to eat and enjoy a nice restaurant meal, and Matt said, “You know, you sound like the Israelites grumbling
If your family is like mine, when you’re trying to shuffle the kids out the door, there’s a lot of chaos, bickering, barking, and frustration. And usually all our emotions jump into overdrive because we’re already running late and I’m trying to hurry. That’s the keyword there: hurry . I keep trying to do more than I can. I don’t give myself enough time to do what I want to do, and get frustrated that I’m late. I’m also easily distracted, which slows me down even more. Then I try to compensate by hurrying everyone along which feels a lot
This might seem odd for you to hear from me, especially since I’m known for my annoyingly optimistic nature sometimes. But over the years I’ve heard our culture say over and over again: Do what makes you happy. Don’t worry, be happy. If it doesn’t make you happy, it’s not worth it. You deserve to be happy. God Doesn’t Want You to Be Happy There was a time of my life where I bought into this cultural message. I thought God wanted me to be happy. But the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realized happiness shouldn’t be my goal
It always amazes and surprises me how God reveals what he wants me to hear through various voices. I shouldn’t be suprised since He’s done it over and over again, but it does. Insight From Hebrews My family recently got home from Mount Hermon , a week-long Christian family camp, where I enjoyed hearing Richard Dahlstrom speak about sustainable faith by looking at a few different sections of Hebrews. The Culture Richard explained that Hebrews was written to Christians experiencing: Displacement and suffering. Competing religious narratives. The subtle seduction of stagnation. Not unlike what we’re facing in our culture today.
What’s the best way to teach our children important life lessons? I’m not a teacher and I have no formal training whatsoever, but if I were to guess, I would probably say a lot depends on the child’s personality, where they are in their development, and whether they learn best by seeing, hearing, or doing. However, I was listening to this Brant and Sherri Oddcast episode the other day, and they pointed out how Jesus taught: he asks questions, tells stories, and lets people wrestle with the meaning. And he didn’t have set “classroom times” and “office hours.” He taught
Tonight was a good reminder of how much prayer can help. Frustration Built The youngest is officially in a toddler bed now instead of a crib. You can probably imagine how fun it is for him to get out of bed and attack his siblings instead of going to sleep at bedtime. The last couple of nights turned into removing him completely from his bedroom and holding him as he falls asleep in either my or my husband’s arms. Tonight when I was holding him, I was feeling frustrated. I have a list of things I need to do. Dinner
How often do you feel like you don’t measure up? For me, it happens pretty regularly. I feel like I’m not a great mom when I snap at my kids. Or when my focus shifts from trying to keep up on the housework to something else, and I look around and feel surrounded by mess. Or when what I intended to say to my husband came out wrong and led to division rather than connection. And that doesn’t even get into what the world tells me about what sort of woman I should be. It’s so, so easy to get
Like many women, I have struggled with Proverbs 31. I first became familiar with it from DC Talk’s That Kinda Girl : Well I’m lookin’ for a girl who virtuous Cause God laid it on my heart to search for this So I open up the Word to the book of Proverbs The 31st chapter tells me all about her Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain A woman who fears the Lord, she ain’t playin’ Hear what I’m sayin’, cause I’m sayin’ it clearly She’s the kinda girl I gots to have near me Fear the Lord. Don’t focus