I think you are me in 10 years.

I don’t mind sharing more personal information with you, but I’d rather do it via email. Follow the “Contact” link at the top of the page and send me an email.

As far as this site goes, there are four of us that post sporadically on a wide range of topics. Brian (my dh) is our main voice. He’s been doing this a lot longer than the rest of us and he’s way better than me at writing his own thoughts and musings. If you haven’t already, you might find our “FAQ” page interesting, as well as our individual bio pages, which you will also find at the top of the page.

So glad you plan to hang around and I can’t wait to hear more from you soon!

Yesterday was our last day of school, and I can say that I am eager to get to hang with my kiddos, but not looking forward to re-implementing some structure into our days. It’s the same thing you talk about - balancing their needs with my wants - and a few of my needs, too.

Hmmm, maybe I should blog more about these parenting type things… I’ll think about it.

I’m praying for you.

Jenn,
Thanks for this post I needed to read those words. Today is the last day of school. I work and at times I have to get a bit of sleep, kids tend to wake me. I’ll need to address their needs first.

By way of introduction, besides the info in my previous post, I thought I would share a little more about myself. I live in Austin, Texas. I am married to my best friend and have been for 22 years. (Our anniversary was last week.) He’s a pastor, but we’ve both asked all of the questions in your posts about the church and are still asking some of them. I included the link to our church’s website as an FYI. I’m not anti-spanking, but I think it’s oversold in many Christian circles. As a part of our homeschooling experience I helped to start a 2-day/week homeschooler school (oxymoron?) that was a ministry of our church for 7 years. A few weeks ago the church (with my support) chose to close it. Now, my husband and oldest son are taking over most of the homeschooling of our two high schoolers, and I’ve returned to school via distance learning and taken a part-time job at the university. It’s weird to be back in the working world, but I know that this is the next season for me. I guess, last of all, I haven’t participated in an online community like this in many years, but something about your site speaks to my soul. My life is crazy busy, but I hope to be able to check in regularly. Many blessings, Kay

Wow! It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around what daily living must be like for you and your family. Talk about modeling hospitality and service toward others! On occassion, I have similar days, but I have a 7yo, a 5yo and a 2yo. I’ve got 5-6 years before we hit the joy of teen-dom and those years that lie beyond. I can see how easily I would fall into the “Why haven’t they learned this by now!?!” mentality if I were in your shoes.

I don’t pretend to have it all together. Sally Clarkson’s words challenge my because I see myself react and over-react again and again to my kids. I, too, get stuck with the practical application of her advice (is there a Mom that doesn’t?), but I’m convinced that her words hold truth in them.

Thank you for taking the time to tell us your story. I hope that you will stop back by and maybe even comment again. You sound like a kindred spirit - someone I could learn a little from…

Lord, I pray for Kay this evening. I pray for discernment and wisdom and grace and joy to abound as she seeks to serve you in her role as Mom. I thank you for her heart for her kids and I pray that they will see and recognize Your hand leading her life as she leads them. Amen.

This is one of my favorite books and one of my favorite authors. Thank you for the great quote! It is such a good reminder.

I got up this morning to discover the kitchen counters dirty and the sink filled with dirty dishes from late night meals by the working teens and snacks by the others. This was in spite of the fact that I had cleaned the counters and unloaded the dishwasher earlier in the evening. I was so angry.

My 19-year old and I had just had a conversation, where she told me that she and her 21-year old brother had discussed the fact that their aunt, their dad, and I were responsible for creating unnecessary stress because of our unrealistic expectations about housecleaning. They felt that “there are more important things in life than cleaning house.” By this I’m pretty sure she means concerts, hanging out with friends, and swimming. Anyway, her comments really hurt because: 1) they are the same stupid comments that I made to my mother at her age; and, 2)I feel like we try really hard to respect the fact that they are growing up and have lives of their own and that hasn’t made any difference. I think I also felt angry because I “did it right” when they were younger, meaning I gave up my career to stay at home, homeschooled them all the way through college, read all of the “Whole Hearted Child” sort of books and did my best to put them into practice. Shouldn’t they appreciate that by this point?

Anyway, I’m juggling all of that with a deep conviction that God is calling me to let go of grumpiness. Period. No excuses. So, this morning my question was: What does it mean for a mother (responsible for training her child in the way he/she should go) to be a servant like Jesus taught? Or maybe another way to phrase it, what would Jesus have done this morning? Would He just clean up the mess and say nothing? Would he have corrected them? If so, how?

So, I searched Google for “jesus, servant, mother” hoping someone else had wrestled with this and your site was the first one on the search engine. Sally Clarkson really seems to be getting to the heart of my question. Of course, on the practical level I’m still left wondering whether to go screaming up the stairs, throwing on the lights in their rooms, and demanding that they get out of those beds and apologize to me for the mess they made.