Category: Encouragement

Where you ever so tired rocking your infant to sleep, you prayed he fell asleep before you did so you wouldn’t accidentally drop him? Have you ever been up all night with one of your children and packed your other child a school lunch of pop tarts and leftover Halloween candy? Does the idea of an afternoon nap sound more exciting than winning a new car?

Parenting can be exhausting at times. If you read my post last week, you may have been trying to parent intentionally for a few days now. The first day may have gone well, but then one of your children got injured and required an E.R. visit. That meant no church for you and the injured child and you spent the afternoon helping your other child with a school project. You barely survived the weekend and have no idea how anyone ever survives parenting, much less parents their children intentionally towards God.

Continue reading Putting the Pep Back in Your Parenting Step

Do you ever have the temptation to laugh hysterically, when you hear someone religious talk about quiet times, meditating on scripture (I am pretty sure “Thou shalt not murder” isn’t what they have in mind!), journaling, etc.?  Many spiritual activities seem to require two things most Moms lack – free time and quiet.

In my last post, I mentioned a friend of mine who has a child with profound special needs. What I didn’t mention is that her child is now thirty years old! This is a special blessing as most children with his issues do not live nearly as long as he has. On the other hand, this means my friend is maneuvering a grown man in and out of slings, beds and wheelchairs. The things she has to do to care for him would exhaust the most energetic person. Yet she rarely appears ruffled by her life at all.

Continue reading Time-Outs For Mommies

One of the most fun things about parenting is introducing your children to some of your favorite things. Seeing them light up at the things you love, brings a special joy to your heart. In fact, one of my favorite family vacations was when we took our daughter to New York City for the first time. We had the best week, taking her to all of our old haunts and watching her fall in love with the city.

What I enjoy just as much, is when my daughter introduces me to something she loves. Without my daughter, I may never have discovered some of the Indie musical groups she enjoys or Mental Floss magazine. The other day though, she really hit the jackpot.

Continue reading Mothers: Feed Yourselves!

When anyone teaches the story of Hannah, they tend to focus on the interaction between Hannah, Eli and God. After a discussion of Hannah’s fervent prayer, the teacher will usually fast forward to a few years later when Hannah fulfills her promise to God and leaves little Samuel with Eli. Hannah’s actions have a lot to teach us, but we are missing out on someone else who is just as pivotal in this story in his own way – Elkanah.

Elkanah was Samuel’s father and Hannah’s husband. The scripture actually tells us more about the kind of man Elkanah was than we think. You see Hannah was able to “parent like Hannah” because Elkanah was the husband and father Hannah and Samuel needed him to be. So what can Elkanah teach fathers who want to dedicate their children to God?

Continue reading How Dads Can Parent Like Hannah (Sort of)