Mom's NOT crazy

As a mom of faith, I have counted on God to guide this parenting gig since that first positive pregnancy test results were read to me July 1, 2004.  There has been one major obstacle between God and I all these years, even long before my children existed.  It's flesh and blood.  I'm not just talking about my own. People in general. People I have had to encounter during this journey. People with whom I have tried to have relationships. People who are responsible for my kids when I am not there. People who hurt my kids. People who love my kids. People who hurt me. This past week my maturity in this area was tested repeatedly. I've come a long way from the early days of reacting to my "people" issues. As a new mom your goal is to protect your infant from all that is a threat. Whether it is as simple as germs or complex as predators, we are on guard. And let me tell you, I had my "reactive" moments with sanitary stations and ninja warrior gear as I jumped ou...

  There are many joys in motherhood just as there are hurts.  When we are in the thick of it, I think we tend to dwell in the latter.  For longer than I care to admit, the hurt has not come  from my own family. I tend to dwell on hurts from those who are no longer in our lives but choose to whisper about us in huddles. It hurts. Whether it is about one of my daughters. My husband. And sometimes even if it is about me.  It hurts. It especially hurts when it is those in the Christian community. We can "Matthew 18:15-20" until we are blue in the face. Sometimes, it just continues.... It's been about two years of hearing from others how the name of someone or all of us in my household has been dragged through the mud because of misunderstanding. Only one side of a story is often told. And that is the story that has wings.    We made attempts at reconciliation in all incidents. Our family is not perfect. We each had our moments of not handling matters grace...

 There's that overly used saying, "It takes a village." Well, as I navigate raising three 17 -year-olds and an almost-20 year-old in college, the village is more like a small camp. I'm not talking cult-like camps. I'm talking a small gathering of tents with occupants who sit by the fire and listen and pray. This is not literal. I don't like to camp. (Camp fire smell in my hair. Ew.) This is just the terminology with which I came up.  Teenagers don't like anyone in their business. Especially mom and dad. If you're fortunate, they will invite you into their business because they know you will pray for them. They also hope you will give them direction. And they often want you to tell them everything will go just the way they want it and you will also tell them to do what they want to do even if they know it is not what they should do. Did you follow that trail through the woods? I have teenage girls. Three of the four of them are rather forthcoming with w...

  There’s this darkness trying to overshadow God’s divine plan for me as a parent. In the last five days the enemy has put up road blocks meant to destroy my faith. He allowed a conservative group’s policy to tell me my pregnancies were not necessary but “still valuable.” My heart sunk into my feet as my testimony was challenged. Yet, I got up, dusted off my lap and moved forward with the truth and chose to  let the light shine on it.  In the same week I was told by someone I value that  I was  just not competent  … not able… to do something significant. I got defensive, but inside I believed it was true to the core. I had to wrestle the devil head on with that one. The grip on me was penetrating.  Tonight my heart just aches as a parent because I feel like such a failure… staying true to our foundations is so painfully awkward and almost embarrassing. The enemy got in my head again… whispering how dare I teach women how to parent each week when I have...

 My story on infertility, pregnancy with triplets, and work at a local pregnancy center are featured on Choose Life Radio this week.  Go to www.chooseliferadio.com and look me up in the podcasts.  I had the privilege of interviewing the host, Jill Taylor, last fall for Pregnancy Help News. After the interview she learned I had triplets and asked me to be a guest on the show. It was very humbling. However, I will tell you that the bio of me on the website makes me uncomfortable. It says I am a freelancer who gets what she wants. That’s not true.  I get what God wants for me. Even so, it’s a blessing that people across the country hear our little story. I hope you are blessed. My goal is for my stories to bring encouragement and hope.  I’m not sure how long I will keep blogging, but I pray some mom feels like she is NOT crazy after reading my  input in each post. 

 Mommas, I am not going to lie. Days, weeks, months have been rough for my crew recently.  Car trouble. Accidents. Expenses. Sickness. Anxiety. Unmet expectations.  We are all seated together in this dry space begging for showers of blessing and then sweet sunshine.  Today I had a moment where I received an answer to prayer that I had forgotten I had prayed.It wasn't a prayer for a child or anyone else in my family. It was unrelated to all of our issues that have been dragging us down into that underground space. It was a very simple prayer for a client. It wasn't even a prayer that they come to Jesus (although I am STILL praying for that!). It was very simple. I will not share the specifics of that prayer, but God answered in a way that gave me great joy in seeing it unfold. We often get consumed in life with all of the negative things we are facing. If we believe in God, we pray very hard about these matters. If we trust Jesus, we pray repetetively that His will be...