His feet are adorable. I sit here beside my sleeping teenager who is slowly coming out of anesthesia. With an IV in his hand, warm blankets on his lap and cute one-size-fits-all footies on his size 12 feet, I can’t stop looking at him. He just had a procedure that will hopefully give us answers to some health issues he’s been struggling with for almost a year. I worry about his health sometimes, but today I’m content just watching my boy and adoring his feet. So cute in those blue hospital booties. Wasn’t it just a few days ago that…
It has long been a prayer of mine that God would make me aware my children’s gifts and talents. And that He would help me to be a dream cheerleader not a dream squasher. I used to watch my friend, Cinnamon, (yes that’s her real name) and think, “She’s got this mom thing figured out. I want to be like that.” When my boys were just toddlers, I watched her let her 15-year-old daughter play in a band. She invited that band to practice (drums and all) in her house. And she supported them when they sought out coffee houses…
(In my September post at Inspire a Fire, I reflect on the change of seasons in life and reminisce about the day I sent my baby to school.) Homemade cheesebread with marinara sauce. “Oh no, what if Lewis can’t open his milk carton?” Those were the first five words on the back-to-school lunch menu and that was the thought that ran through my head sending a fresh waterfall of tears down my face. Yes, I read the school lunch menu and cried. And cried. And cried. That was several years ago, but I remember it like it was several blinks…
Proverbs 23:22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. I had a friend years ago whose relationship with her mother was strained. They talked regularly. And though they honestly loved each other, it was not uncommon for their conversations to end in utter frustration. You see, they loved each other, but they didn’t really like each other. One expected too much, the other couldn’t let go of the past. I have lost touch with that friend and don’t know where her relationship with her mother stands today, but I…
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child up in the way he should go and when he is old he will not part from it. Whew! That verse puts a tremendous amount of pressure on us if we read it to mean that if we raise our kids right, they will become followers of Christ. Putting the full responsibility of our children’s faith on our own shoulders will surely lead to feelings of failure when one of them strays. I love the following explanation of Proverbs 22:6 from Captivating by John and Stasi Elderidge. This verse is not a promise about faith….