Hi all! It’s been a while since I have written, so I’m glad to be back and reconnect with everyone.
I have a question for you. Does anyone still have Christmas decor up? I just got the rest of mine down yesterday, except for my snowmen which I will keep up through February. I just can’t seem to let things go! The house just seems so bare without the tree and lights and this little snowman has the cutest little glow. I also have a few more Christmas movies to watch and I will enjoy them despite it being January!
On the other hand, I am ready to move on as the holiday season just seemed to put me in a place where words to pen would not come. It was easier to just push all that aside and just survive.
That Mom
So we look ahead to a new year...a new decade even, and I did manage to update my website in hopes to make things easier for you, my readers, to navigate through. I also decided to change my blog name to "That Mom."
Why, you may ask? Well, because there is so much wrapped up in being a mom. We have good days and bad days. Our lives ebb and flow through so many things. Sometimes we are on the highest of heights and then without warning, doubt or struggles come in to play and we plummet down to the lowest of lows.
We try hard to love to our greatest ability these babies God so graciously gave us, but we struggle within ourselves at times, and I want to come alongside and encourage you to continue trusting God through it all.
I think sometimes too though that we get lost as we put so much emphasis on our kids that we sometimes lose sight of what God is wanting to do in and through us. Whether mothering or not, God is writing a beautiful story in each of our lives and there is so much encouragement that we can give to each other as we journey through life.
But for this post, I’m going to tell you a little more about me as a mom.
Facts
This is what you may not know about me as a mom.
I have been a mom for 30 years
I have 4 biological children and 1 adopted
I have one son-in-law, a one day to be daughter in law, and one day to be son in law
I homeschooled and loved it!
I have two kids with medical conditions-Crohn's and Cardiomyopathy
I stayed home for years but now am a working mom
I don't know how to cook, but I love to bake
I recently lost my 25-year-old son
I grew up wanting nothing more than to be a mom because of my beautiful mother
My Mama
Let me just expound on my Mom. She is the most selfless person I know. She lives to love others and serve them with all her heart. She loves Jesus and I remember thinking as a child that I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to serve others at church and take care of my family.
I also remember her mom, my grandmother. What a sweet soul she was. And a prayer warrior too! I will never forget when we would travel from Virginia where I lived to Pennsylvania where my grandparents were.
It didn't matter what time we arrived. It could be 10:00 at night and we would gather in my grandparents living room and pray together. I remember one time in particular when my grandmother was praying. All of a sudden, things got quiet. Since we had our eyes closed, one by one my siblings and I began to look up to see what was happening. Low and behold, my precious grandmother had fallen asleep! You can imagine how hard it was to keep from bursting out in laughter!
With that said, I have a very rich Christian heritage through these lovely ladies of mine. I am so very thankful for a grandmother who was such a prayer warrior. It has impacted me to this day.
Being Intentional
With thinking about all that, I want to encourage you that no matter where you find yourself on the mom spectrum...to think about what you want to instill in your kids this year, 2020. What is their greatest need? Where should your time be focused so that you are intentional about their spiritual growth?
I want to encourage you to read the Bible with them. If they are young, there are some really good children’s bibles. For teens, help them start their own devotional time, and for grown kids like mine, send them scripture that pertains to where they are and keep encouraging them to read God’s word. I am reminded of the verses in Deuteronomy.
Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes, You shall teach them to your children speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Deuteronomy 11: 18-19
Also, don’t neglect taking time to read God’s word daily. You will be amazed at how God uses His Word to give you wisdom in the moments of teaching.
Too Old to Read to Them
As I write this, I have decided this year as I set goals that I want to impact my kids, not with material possessions, but speaking truth(in love) into the things that truly matter. My kids are all in their 20’s and 30’s and some are living on their own and the rest are almost there. So my parenting responsibilities have changed. At this point we are not having family devotions, but I am still intentional about speaking the Word into their lives.
You see, setting rules for them is not the focus anymore. It has now moved to challenging them, encouraging them, and loving them through their choices and what life brings.
For our family last year it was loss of their brother, JohnRudy. This year we don’t know what 2020 has in store and I want so badly for them to be grounded in the Word of God. It is the living Word.
And let me just say that if you spent a little time with my kids, you would see that I am by no means perfect.
I may not be “That Mom” who has always has a healthy dinner on the table every night(my mother in law was appauled at how many times I served up hot dogs!) or made sure my kids made their bed every morning, but I am “That Mom” who loves with all that I have and at the end of the day, point them to Jesus because He will never fail them….never.
So that’s a little about me and the heart of my writing.
Still bittersweet….absolutely.
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