When my son was still in diapers he would often reach up and pat my thighs with his soft, chubby little hands and say, “Hold you, Mommy.” He didn’t hesitate to ask for the love and undivided attention he needed. Now that my children are adults, I realize they need to feel loved, seen, and…
How to Have a Better Relationship with Your Adult Children
You’ve survived the terrible twos, middle school, and adolescent angst. Now all your babies are grown. Surely, parenting adult children is going to be a cakewalk! But new seasons of life always bring new challenges and the need for change! If you’re struggling in your relationship with your adult children or you just want to…
Running Man
The last weekend in October was a big weekend for us. Eric had been training for the Atlanta Marathon for months… …and the kids had been anticipating a surprise family trip. I finally let the cat out of the bag about the surprise trip when I got ready to order the Georgia Aquarium tickets. There…
I Can Do It By Myself
“I can do it by myself.” I remember when my kids first began to say that as toddlers. Nearly broke my heart. Then, as teens, they said it when I’d try to do something for them that I’d taught them to do for themselves or something they wanted to learn to do for themselves. It’s…
My Back to School Lesson{Part 2}
I did not plan on this being a two-part lesson. Oh! How The Relentless One must laugh at my plans—or in this case, the lack thereof. If you haven’t read Part 1 you can read it here. This morning as I checked email I had my usual Daily Promise. I subscribed to that a while…
Encouragement in the Messy Middle of Motherhood
“I can do it myself.” When my kids were little, I heard those five little words a lot. Sometimes they were frustrating words because I was in a hurry and I could do it for them faster. Tie a shoe, button a shirt, zip a backpack. Sometimes these words made me feel sad because I…
Encouragement for Moms
I love being a mother. Motherhood has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. But it is hard work, people. Really, really, hard work. Like 24/7/365 kind of hard work. ‘Cause even when my kids and me (who are all teens right now) are not together I’m still “mother”. I think like a mother and feel…
Two Calebs
The date was February 26, 2000. I was 36 weeks pregnant. We didn’t know we were having a another boy but the only name we had chosen was Caleb. Our reason for choosing it: Numbers 14:24 “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the…
Book of Words
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth Occasionally my kids will remind me of something I did or said in the past. Sometimes it’s painful to hear what they recall. Is that all they remember about me? What will they remember when they are grown and gone? As a mom my…