Rough and tumble—crash!—there goes My coffee cup. I sigh and know They won’t clean up the mess they’ve made. No, not without my guiding aid. I put the laundry down and breathe— I calm myself because I need To temper what I’m wont to yell. It’s simmering there; I feel it swell. I halt my steps a moment more Not to react as oft before. I pray for grace for me, for them. (How oft I need this little gem!) And then I head, quick, down the stairs To find six little eyes, three chairs And toys amuck across the floor All spilling from the pantry door Where hideouts burrow with the food. The eyes are searching momma’s mood. Drawing […]
I Wake
I startle at the shuffling of tiny feet across our bedroom floor. I blink through the heaviness to see the shape of our youngest son silhouetted against pale morning light. I heft my gaze to blazing numbers on the night stand. “Six twenty-two!” the clock defies. That’s exactly eight minutes before I wanted to get up. Just like yesterday, and the day before. I close my eyes for one lingering moment before focusing them again on our son. I see his tightly-fitting striped pajamas in black-and-white, though I know they’re blue and green. He stands patiently beside my bed, hugging his love-worn bear beneath his chin while sucking his thumb. He breaks the habit only to say, with all the […]
Intentionally Awesome Date Night: Urgent/Important
I know you’ve been waiting on the edge of your seat! It’s time for our FREE Intentionally Awesome Date Night resource of the week! Today’s workbook is about Important Things. We are daily bombarded by urgent things. Some of these things are important; others are not. When we attend only to urgent things, important things can fall to the wayside. What happens to the important things that never become urgent? You decide. Click this button for your FREE pdf workbook! Urgent/Important Get ready to stop putting out fires so you can live more intentionally. Happy Dating! In case you missed it, you may want to go back and check out our series of posts on How […]
Parenting from the Flight Deck
Back when I was a flight instructor, I taught my students two different ways to fly: pilotage and dead reckoning. Pilotage is looking at the map and determining location based on landmarks. Dead reckoning is flying the plane using instruments (think compass headings, ground speeds, and math). Most private pilots use the two methods simultaneously in order to reach their destinations. The best way to make sure an airplane is on course is to set the compass heading, then look out into the horizon (10, 20, or 30 miles) for a point along the route like a tower or group of buildings to which you can fly directly. Once you have a focal point, you keep your eye on it […]
Cereal Aisle Parenting
My mission is quite simple: my wife tasked me with picking up instant oatmeal–not the 5-minute kind I bought last time–for tomorrow’s breakfast. How it came to this I may never understand. I look down at the fluorescent white reflection haloing my 3-year-old, who is making cherub-sized snow angels on the cold tile floor. His face is as red as the Fruit Loop box he so desperately wants. Rage explodes from his body with ear-piercing shrieks. My pulse quickens and I can feel each throb in my neck as the cereal aisle council draws near to assess the situation. Their chief approaches first: an overweight, pajama-clad female in her late-40’s carrying a family-sized box of Pop-Tarts. The others form a […]
How to Make Date Nights Awesome, Part 3
Part 3: Conversation Starters So now that you’ve created space for date nights and laid some ground rules, it’s time for some resources to help you and your spouse connect again. Here’s a free printable workbook of questions to get you going on your first date: Grow Together, Dream Together Enjoy reconnecting with your Beloved! Let me know how the conversation goes in the comments below. 🙂 Tune in next Wednesday for another free date night resource!
How to Make Date Nights Awesome, Part 2
Part 2: The Ground Rules Now that you’ve created space for a date, you’ve got to lay some ground rules. Agree upon these rules before you ever start your date. Set expectations up front. If you have to, put them in writing and sign them! Hold each other accountable. Rules for Dating Your Spouse: 1) Unplug Turn off notifications and put all devices away, out of sight. The only call or text that should get through is one from the babysitter in case of emergency (unless you have someone close by who can handle emergencies or you’re staying home, then turn off your devices altogether). How many dates have we spent just staring at our phones half the time? Unplugging […]
How to Make Date Nights Awesome, Part 1
Connecting as a couple while parenting in this day and age can be tough. At the end of busy days juggling work and kids, marriage can easily fall to the back burner, crowded out by constant pressing needs. We can spend all our time and resources on important things and have nothing left for each other. But marriage is the most important relationship God has given us! When we nurture it, we’re more prepared to face the constant bombardment of other needs that come our way. We’re in a season where we don’t get much time together during the week, so we have to be really intentional with what little time we do have. Date nights are a life line […]
Be Careful What You Name Your Children
I failed again today. It happened in a moment of anger with my son. He was baiting his younger brother into an argument (again) and I had had enough. “You are a manipulator,” I told him. “You’re a bully.” In order to understand how big a failure this was, you have to understand that the dominant ongoing conversation Rachel and I have had lately is around exploring the theme of identity. We’re writing a story in which a character’s accepted identity is the driving force behind her actions, first negatively, then positively. We’ve discussed all those antagonistic voices that speak to us in our culture and the monologues of pessimism that play in our heads like a broken record of […]
Protected: An Exceptional Mom
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.