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Parenting

Truths to Remember When Walking Into the Unknown

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My youngest is starting Kindergarten in a few weeks (by the time you are reading this, she will have started). Not only is she my youngest, but she won’t be 5 until November, she is a bit behind in her speech, she’s little, and she has no clue what to do when people are mean to her. Seriously, she just sits there and cries.

In a short few weeks, I will be putting her on the bus with her brother. She will hopefully run on the bus with excitement to be going to the same school with him. But I know all too well what can happen on the bus. We have witnessed it over the past couple years.

On one particularly chaotic day, I asked Charlie what the bus driver was doing when all the chaos was ensuing. Be ready to laugh here, my friends.

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Crocodile Tears & Jesus

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Things had been going so well. But now I watched as genuine crocodile tears ran down his chubby little red face.

Tatum had been having a blast in the electric car his Uncle Michael had brought to our house. Driving the tiny vehicle appeared to be the highlight of his toddler life. I was impressed he could keep the pedal pushed down enough to make the car hum across the patio. Steering, however, proved to be a skill he hadn’t yet mastered. His giggles, though, fully compensated our efforts as we raced to keep the path cleared of porch furniture and planters ahead of him.

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5 Bible Verses on Patience

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5 Bible Verses on Patience was written by Candid Guest, Rachel Nelson

“Be Patient” is a phrase I probably use too often with my kids and not enough with myself. When you have young children it becomes increasingly obvious that there in fact ‘beams in your eye’ that need to be cast out, and I have learned that this is one of mine.

My children are absolutely wonderful. They are happy and helpful around the house,  but like all children they also have moments of anger, rebellion, and downright messiness.

Somehow, I am supposed to raise them with loving kindness and meekness without letting myself become frustrated. It’s my job to encourage them to grow, gently prune away any of their imperfections, and guide them to become their best selves, (while at the same time also learning to improve myself!)

I must do this from a place of great patience, because they will inevitably make many mistakes.

Kind of like how God does the same for me.

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Grace & Truth For Life Changes

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So… my oldest son graduates from high school this month.

To be completely candid, I’m a mess.

They finally found something that is helping my migraines, (which is fantastic! – Yay, God!) However, we’ve realized that my head has been in so much pain over the past few years, I was completely numb to everything else.

So here I am, feeling all the feelings I haven’t been, attending scholarship ceremonies, the final state meet of… not just the year, but their lives. And I’m an emotional wreck.

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Peace Be Still: One Mom’s Struggle to Overcome Yelling

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Peace Be Still is a Guest Post written by Rachel Nelson

I didn’t know I was a yeller until I had kids.

When my first born transitioned from babyhood to toddler-hood, I learned that I could get angry, irritated, and stressed a lot quicker than I’d like to admit.

And although I am filled with guilt every time I have yelled or otherwise expressed anger to my kids, I haven’t been able to completely break the habit.

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Becoming Women of Grace

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I finally had a moment to myself.

I was all alone, mindlessly browsing the aisles of a local department store. It was not a high-end store, but I didn’t care in that moment. After the week I had, I’m a mom of four here, I was in heaven.

A unicorn toy sitting on a shelf, out of place, caught my eye. I knew my five-year-old foster daughter would love it. I grabbed it, tossed it in the cart and continued enjoying the peace and quiet. As I weaved in and out of the aisles, my mind went back to her behavior that day and the days before. Her behavior, as a result from trauma, was the very reason I needed this break in a local Walmart of all places. So I stayed on that thought and on what had transpired as a result of her actions. I found myself, inadvertently, taking the unicorn toy out of my cart and placing it back on the shelf. Even though I knew she would love it, in my mind, she did not deserve it. 

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15+ Ways Our Gracious God Safeguards Our Hearts

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I sat in church last Sunday as a preacher brought us a message. He touched very briefly on James 1:5, almost a throwaway line and not the main idea, but it struck me particularly hard that day.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James 1:5

As a mom, I tended to be a bit of a lecturer. I wanted my kids to understand what’s happening and come away with clear knowledge of what they’ve done wrong and how to fix it. But I’ve also been on the receiving end when someone continues to lecture even after I’ve come to them to apologize. It’s not fun, it doesn’t feel like they’ve forgiven me. It feels like they’re piling on.

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We All Need Undeserved Grace

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It was turning into a rather trying day. Ashley, my nine-year-old daughter, had come home from school in a sour mood. Nothing was to her liking. The lunch I had sent was to large, she didn’t want to do her homework, her teacher was mean, why did she have to pick up her coat she had thrown on the floor. 

I tried to joke with her, hug her, cheer her up, but her bad mood moved in, like an unwanted flu virus.

 “Ashley, you need to complete your homework before you read your new magazine,” I reminded her absorbed form hunched over the kitchen table.

“Mom,” she exploded, “why do you always have to tell me what to do?  Nag, nag.  You’re always telling me this and that. I hate it and I hate you.”

I stopped washing the lettuce, frozen. It was the first time she had said she hated me. The first time my usually cheerful and obedient daughter had talked to me in this manner. 

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Why I Don’t Use A Gratitude Journal

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Everyone in my family kicked off the year with their very own gratitude journal. It was my husband’s idea and I went on Amazon and picked out journals that fit the personalities of everyone in our family.

I mean, do you know how many gratitude journals are on Amazon?

Anyways, so we each had our own gratitude journal, and we kicked off the new year writing down what we were thankful for each day.

Now, before I go any further, I want to remind you that I’m a Mary not a Martha. I’m more of a #HotMess than #MomBoss. I’m the one who gets superglue in my eye while trying to fix her son’s shoes (true story).

Why is all that important?

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