How many times have you said to yourself or to someone else, "I'm just a mom?" How many times have you un-intentionally devalued your role in light of someone else's seemingly more important job? How many times have you disqualified yourself as a good mom when faced with another's apparent success? And how many times have you found yourself longing for something a bit more exciting and rewarding? It’s OK to be honest. Because the truth is always the best starting point. It's Ok to admit that "The World's Greatest Mom" banner might look better hanging above someone else's door. And it's Ok to confess that we really don't have it all figured out. But when these become labels which define us and hinder us from cherishing the gift of motherhood, it's time to do a little Continue Reading
The Truth About Imperfect Motherhood & The Hope it Brings
Do you remember those days when you were a new mom? When you had no idea what you were doing and every expectation was bursting with excitement and fear all at the same time. And you dreamed of being the perfect parent. I'm preparing to pick up one of my kids at the airport, all the way from Australia, and I'm about to bust with expectation and excitement. He proposed, and we held his secret safe for a few months now so the anticipation of the precious season we're entering into fills me in new ways I've not yet experienced in motherhood. Times like these usher in memories that wash over our hearts with such sweetness as we think about where time has gone and how much life has been lived...in the blink of an eye. Lately, my mind travels to one of the last times I enjoyed all of Continue Reading
When Saying No Makes You the Mean Mom – #MadeForBrave Sisterhood
Are you brave enough, not to please? Even when it comes to motherhood? Will you stand firm and look like the "Mean Mom" when your hurting child begs for help, and others question your methods? Don’t misunderstand, I believed in discipline and had no trouble setting rules and following through. However, when it came to withholding my presence from a child visibly in pain, I struggled to muster up the strength to go against her wishes even when I knew it was best. So when the abrupt counselor suggested we quit taking our college-age daughter to the ER for her many ailments, I quivered in my seat. "What?" "You mean the next time she calls from her dorm room and says the pain is intense I am to tell her I will talk to you tomorrow?" With a firm answer, he replied, "Yes!" It seemed - Continue Reading
We Are Made to Brave Imperfect Motherhood
Before experiencing motherhood for myself, I had this expectation that I was going to be a better mother than my mother ever was. That is if I was ever going to be a mother at all. To be clear, I had a healthy childhood and my mother did a masterful job at caring for all of her children but as far as I could see motherhood was a tiring, messy task, with little to no reward. These thoughts were so deeply ingrained, were it up to me, I would have lived my life to ensure that children were not on my radar. Then I met my husband and began to see the possibilities of love. We were married when I was 22, and I had my first child at 23 which was manageable at first. Then our family of three became a family of four...then five. Somehow I went from not wanting kids at all to parenting Continue Reading