Tales of a Thankful Mom

    In honor of the Five Minute Friday prompt being the word young, I looked at pictures of my children when they were babies and toddlers. I remember those days when my children toddled across the floor in pursuit of their kitty cat squealing with delight. The cat wasn't delighted she was running as fast she could to find a place to hide from the children. I remember watching my children take their first bites of ice cream. I remember seeing their delight at seeing hot air balloons. These memories of my children while they are young I will treasure and share with them as they continue to grow older.       

         My children's smiles make me so happy. Whether their smiles are goofy, shy, excited or sly I love watching my children's faces light up with a smile. I recently began a new practice writing down the things that cause my children to smile. I want to be a noticer. I want to notice what make my children smile. Knowing what makes my kids smile helps me to know how to show each of them love on days when they need a little TLC. Whether that be fireworks or flowers or butterflies, I love noting what makes my children smile.

           I am a day late for Five Minute Friday, which means that I am writing this post on Independence Day. I have been thinking about how I have realized my dependence on God has gives me freedom in Christ. Freedom is a gift, but as I often tell my kids. Freedom doesn't mean we should do whatever we want. We should live as God's children. I have found that in integral part of freedom is staying connected to God through prayer. I can focus on my circumstances, my fears, and the sometimes crazy things that are going on around me, or I can tell God my worries talk to him about Him about the things that scare me, and surrender these feelings to God. These thoughts have brought the song "If My People Pray" to mind. I will close this post with this song.

          As a mom of three children, I remind my children to try to reach a compromise concerning some form or fashion of disagreement with each other almost every day. I tell them, and try to remember myself that many things that seem important in the moment will not even be remembered days or weeks later. My Dad used to ask me as a teen, "Is this a hill you are willing to die on?" If it is not something critically important to me, than I need to be willing to compromise. I want to teach my children to be empathetic with others and to be willing to meet in the middle. I want to teach them to think of others and be mindful of perspectives that are different than their own. Choosing to work together to work out a compromise is an act of love. I know that if these are the values that I wish for my children to learn, than I need to model these values in my interactions with them and with other people. They need to see that I am willing to liste...

           I have been doing a lot of reading, listening, and praying in the last few days. I have always believed that every person on this earth is a unique masterpiece created by God. Recently my eyes have been open to systematic racism, and I want to keep my eyes and heart open to both the beauty and the pain in the world around me.. A few steps I am taking to do this is to make a conscious choice to read more books from authors who are of different races and backgrounds than me. I want my children also to be exposed to literature from a greater diversity of authors. I want to teach my children about  diversity. I don't want them to make assumptions about people who look, act or think differently than they do. I want them my children to understand that people of different cultures ate not always treated fairly. I want my children to take a stand against injustice. I am thankful for the gift of this change of perspective. I don't want to live in my ...

            John 3:7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again."           I was inspired by a statement my Pastor made last Sunday. He said that when Lazarus was raised from the grave they took his grave clothes off. When Jesus rescued me, He told me to take my grave clothes off. The entanglements of sin and shame no longer have power over me. I can live life remembering that I am reborn. I can embrace my freedom in Christ. How would my life look if I lived out freedom every day? How would that impact the people that I interact with daily whether that be strangers God places in my path or my own family members? I will close with a quote from C. S. Lewis, "Obedience is the road to freedom, humility the road to pleasure, unity the road personality."

     I tend to over think when making decisions. I want to make the right choice. So, I often spend way too much time overanalyzing the options I have anytime I make a "big" decision.  One of the first truths that Anne Bogel shares in the book, " Don't Overthink It" is that our thoughts can be our ally or enemy.              In chapter 3, Anne describes the symptoms of analysis paralysis. She also describes some ways to move past decision fatigue. Anne discusses how out values and our habbits impact our decisions. A helpful point that Anne makes is that we can chose what we think about. She then shares some practical strategies to move past decision fatigue such as limiting our choices or delegating some of the work and therefore some of the choices to others.              Anne reminded me of the importance of creating margin for when life does not go as planned. She reminded me of the importance o...