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Saturday, July 23, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
Neat Stuff Will Happen
Tomorrow: I shall be featured on (in)courage, a faith-based web community for women. I sat down one day and wrote about something that was bothering my heart and WHAMMO, they liked it. If you are a woman who is even mildly interested in daily encouragement in your faith from other women, you should check it out:
Sign up here to receive free daily encouragement from the writers of (in)courage, sent right to your inbox!
And here's the shortlink to my post (EEK!):
I pray people both think it's neat and see a glimpse of their awesome Father when they read the words of so many wise women. Amen.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Why 'Mom-And'?
It is, I know, a strange name for a blog. But I need something so catchy, and when I survey blogs all over the internet, I notice that everybody has a blog name that really speaks to who they are.
So yeah. I'm a mom. I have 4 kids, and I've stayed home with them 90% of the time, for a total of 15 years now. The years have been good and challenging and God has graciously allowed me to grow and change in the process. However, as I've approached middle age I have struggled with the same question most people ask at some point in their lives:
What am I actually doing here?
Indeed, the what is God's will for my life? that I asked dozens of times at age twenty has morphed into a more cosmopolitan version, although its meat is the same:
What has God gifted me for?
You'll allow the preposition to hover illegally at the end of my question in order to ponder it for your own life. And if you are also a Mom, people get to provide an easy answer on your behalf.
Oh, well. You're a Mom. That's your calling.
I've been told that more times than I can count, by well-meaning and thoughtful folks. All the same, in the midst of a time of searching and discouragement, that particular answer doesn't really cut it.
Obviously I'm a Mom. The four people living with me and constantly talking to me bear witness to that. But to say that it's the only thing God has fit me for, that it is my purpose and calling, isn't going to fill the cup of a woman looking for the deeper answer to the question.
I submit that I am a Mom-And. Yes, I'm a Mom, and I'm lucky and privileged to be one. (Thank you, God.) It's a hard job and he teaches me daily how to do it well. But that's not all he has put in me.
Or you. Or anyone.
You can be a Mom-And a warrior. A Mom-And a teacher. A Mom-And a leader. A Mom-And a dreamer. A trailblazer. An adventurer. A paradigm-breaker. You can do all of this and more along with raising your offspring in the way that God leads.
This sentiment is for the Moms among us that are happy being Moms, but aren't afraid to ask for more. And I feel like, when we are asking for stuff that makes his kingdom come, he doesn't mind doling it out in big huge piles.
Mom-And. That's why.
So yeah. I'm a mom. I have 4 kids, and I've stayed home with them 90% of the time, for a total of 15 years now. The years have been good and challenging and God has graciously allowed me to grow and change in the process. However, as I've approached middle age I have struggled with the same question most people ask at some point in their lives:
What am I actually doing here?
Indeed, the what is God's will for my life? that I asked dozens of times at age twenty has morphed into a more cosmopolitan version, although its meat is the same:
What has God gifted me for?
You'll allow the preposition to hover illegally at the end of my question in order to ponder it for your own life. And if you are also a Mom, people get to provide an easy answer on your behalf.
Oh, well. You're a Mom. That's your calling.
I've been told that more times than I can count, by well-meaning and thoughtful folks. All the same, in the midst of a time of searching and discouragement, that particular answer doesn't really cut it.
Obviously I'm a Mom. The four people living with me and constantly talking to me bear witness to that. But to say that it's the only thing God has fit me for, that it is my purpose and calling, isn't going to fill the cup of a woman looking for the deeper answer to the question.
I submit that I am a Mom-And. Yes, I'm a Mom, and I'm lucky and privileged to be one. (Thank you, God.) It's a hard job and he teaches me daily how to do it well. But that's not all he has put in me.
Or you. Or anyone.
You can be a Mom-And a warrior. A Mom-And a teacher. A Mom-And a leader. A Mom-And a dreamer. A trailblazer. An adventurer. A paradigm-breaker. You can do all of this and more along with raising your offspring in the way that God leads.
This sentiment is for the Moms among us that are happy being Moms, but aren't afraid to ask for more. And I feel like, when we are asking for stuff that makes his kingdom come, he doesn't mind doling it out in big huge piles.
Mom-And. That's why.
Monday, July 18, 2016
After a Long Hiatus
Well, obviously, this little blog has been woefully unattended for a SIX YEARS. In my defense, I have been raising children and writing other stuff under an assumed name (I don't like to brag, but my fantasy series about a wizard and a dog has done really well in the Netherlands).
To be honest, I wasn't sure all of these musings of my mid-30s would still be around, so let that be a lesson to the internet at large: IT STAYS AROUND.
It's almost nice to come back to a blog after a six-year break and look back to see how things have improved. My Kindergartner is about to be a middle-schooler. I've finished all of the books on my 2010-era TBR list. We have taken 3 excellent road trips with our kids.
Some of the sins I struggled with have minimized as I've grown older; some of them have been replaced by others.
This truth is a reminder that if I step away from a problem for a while (or, you know, five years) and give it room to breathe, it will often minimize in reality if not only in my perspective. And while God hasn't promised me an easy path, he has at least promised to help me continually along the bumps and bends in the road.
There have been many such bumps and bends.
God stuck around.
To be honest, I wasn't sure all of these musings of my mid-30s would still be around, so let that be a lesson to the internet at large: IT STAYS AROUND.
It's almost nice to come back to a blog after a six-year break and look back to see how things have improved. My Kindergartner is about to be a middle-schooler. I've finished all of the books on my 2010-era TBR list. We have taken 3 excellent road trips with our kids.
Some of the sins I struggled with have minimized as I've grown older; some of them have been replaced by others.
This truth is a reminder that if I step away from a problem for a while (or, you know, five years) and give it room to breathe, it will often minimize in reality if not only in my perspective. And while God hasn't promised me an easy path, he has at least promised to help me continually along the bumps and bends in the road.
There have been many such bumps and bends.
God stuck around.
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