Tales of a Thankful Mom

          The school year is back In full swing in my little corner of Florida. I love hearing from my enthusiastic son about what he learned each day. He even tells me facts that I never heard before. My daughters are a little bit more reluctant to share what they learned in school. As a parent, it is one of my jobs to teach them and prepare for the world around them. Before I had children I never realized how much they would teach me. God uses my kids to teach me about love, kindness, joy and grace. I am so thankful for my not so little teachers, and I hope that we have a wonderful year of learning and growing together. 

                   Accountability saved my life. In the darkest season of my life, I was isolated from everyone that I loved except those who were living with me. If my friends and family did not realize that something was horribly wrong, I don’t know if I would be here today. They reached out to me over and over again. Even when I rejected their attempts out of fear. They never gave up on me even when I gave up myself. I want to be the kind of friend that my friends were to me. I’m so thankful that God knew it was not good for each of us individuals to be alone. He gave us the gift a community and accountability.

From pretending everything was okay, to making the changes needed.. From being afraid to share what was going on, to wanting to share my story in hopes of helping others. From people pleasing to trying live my life for an audience of One From twisting myself into a pretzel to accommodate others to realizing that it is healthy to express my needs sometimes too. From feeling trapped and isolated to using my freedom to love others. From being overwhelmed by decisions to learning to take the next right step in love. From over-apologizing to owning the things that I am responsible for and not taking responsibilities for the opinions, attitudes and actions of others. From living distractedly to being a more present mom. From reacting from fear to leading with love. From enumerating worries to counting every blessing.   From being paralyzed by fear to stepping out in faith  

            “A praying mom parents with prayer.” This idea from Brooke McGothlin’s latest book really appeals to me. I have found it difficult to live this out. This is the reason I was so excited to be a part of the prayer team for the book Praying Mom.  Brooke describes seven challenges to being a praying parent, Brooke points out that the Bible doesn’t just direct us to pray, but several verses describe that the attitude of a thankful heart is to pray thanking God for all the many blessings in our lives. Brooke tackles the elephant in the room, discussing disappointment that we feel when our prayers are not answered the way we hope. Jesus called the blind man Bartimaeus closer, and He calls us closer as well. Especially when we feel disappointed by circumstances in our lives. Brooke shares, “His promise to do what is best for us is tied inextricably to what is best for ushering in Hs kingdom.” I love one of the scriptural prayers Brooke described from Mark 9. “Jesus I believe; help