Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

A friend calls in the middle of the day to make sure I am okay. I was fine - I was at a playdate.  Why the concern? There was a gunman at a gas station near you, just an hour ago. Local businesses were on lock-down to protect the safety of their employees. I was terrified and dumbfounded. We live in small town America, and we've got people of all sorts.  I just didn't think it was possible that we'd have a crazy gunman less than a mile from our house. Immediately, I was thankful for my friend who called to check if we were alright.  Then I thanked God we weren't home at the time, and that we weren't fueling up the car at the wrong time. Then I started thinking of what we would've done if we were home at the time.  We would lock all the doors and head to the basement where there are very few windows.  All our lights and t.v. would be off so it would appear that no one was home.  What would I tell my children so they would not be scar...

Have you ever watched "Call of the Midwife?"  It's a BBC production we discovered recently on Netflix.  In Series 2, there is an episode featuring a woman who was expecting a child, already had 8 children and couldn't afford to feed another, then attempted to end the pregnancy at home.  At the same time, the small, poverty-stricken section of Poplar was putting on a baby show.  After this episode - showing the extreme difference between valuing life and trying to end it as if it were nothing, Sister Monica Joan (an older, possibly senile old woman) said something profound. "When did children become so valuable?   When did they become precious?" I immediately think of our children.  I love these little people with all that I am.  I would do anything to ensure their success in friendship, in athletic or artistic endeavors, and in life.  We want our children to succeed, to do well in life. And to know Jesus as their personal Lord and ...

I always feel more at peace with my home when everything is in its place and I can see my floors.  And when my children have clean clothes neatly put away in their drawers.  And when my kitchen table and floors are clean.  And when I have a shiny sink, emptied of dirty dishes.  And when the mirrors and windows are smudge-free. But I just don't have the time to do it all.  I cannot have a perfect house.  I don't have perfect children.  My kids are not rocket scientists.  I can't even get all the dishes clean.  And don't even ask about dusting. But I'm trying!!! And, believe it or not, I don't feel like a failure. Do you recall Dory from Finding Nemo singing, "Just keep swim-ming, just keep swim-ming, swim-ming, swim-ming?"  This is one of my mottos.     Attitude makes a big difference in one's perspective on life, and work, and everything else. We can be lost in work, buried in housework, or up to our eyeball...

When warm weather hits, I like to open the screened windows and let some fresh air blow through the house.  This is my version of spring or fall cleaning.  Let some of those dust particles float right outside, replacing the stale funk of closed-up house with that crisp, fresh outside smell. I also love bed sheets that have been air dried in the sun. Best of all, I love to air out my children.  When the weather has been rainy and cold and we've been stuck inside for days on end, we tend to get tired of each other.  The children are constantly bickering and picking at each other...and crying because so-and-so took such-and-such... When warm weather hits, we spend as much time outside in the sunshine as possible.  Boosting our vitamin D levels from the sunshine probably helps, but more than that, I think playing in wide-open spaces boosts our spirits. The weather man predicted that Tuesday was the last day of warm weather - perhaps for the year in our part ...

The Bible speaks to Christ-followers in Matthew 5:14-16 about lighting up the world: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Do you remember singing "Hide it under a bushel.  No!  I'm gonna let it shine..." as a child?  Holding one pretend candle finger up for all to see? I think I've heard this passage a million times in my life as a Christian - in Sunday School, VBS, and at church camp.   But this week it took on a new...light in my way of thinking. My husband was working with the kids to carve our jack-o-lantern last night.  He carefully carved a nice-sized lid, then scooped out the slimy innards with the children.  After shaping the facial fea...