He's here! Praise God with us for a new grandson! Judah Anderson Cronin was born in Dublin, Ireland, at 12:33 am on Saturday August 27, just 33 minutes into his due date. Mommy, Daddy, and big sister Gabriella are doing well. And Nana is loving getting acquainted with Judah as well as playing with Gigi (Gabriella's nickname) while mommy is busy with the new baby. His name means "I will praise the Lord," and that's just what we're doing. Please join us!
Last Mother’s Day our son Bjorn gave me a book which grabbed my interest immediately: Going Public by David and Kelli Pritchard. The subtitle is: Your Child Can Thrive in the Public School. I hear from many moms who are struggling with schooling decisions for their kids. So I was very curious to see what these authors, the parents of 8 children who have been educated in public schools, had to say.
Here’s what I found: The Pritchards provide a persuasive but Godly, balanced perspective on how public school education can be an excellent choice for many families. They offer terrific specific suggestions on how to guide your children through public school experience. They illustrate time and again how their interaction with both their kids and with the kids’ teachers provided teachable moments for all involved. Everyone grew through the process. I love the positive attitude and prayerful, intentional strategies they offer for navigating public school life.
But what I loved even more was the basic, foundational principles the Pritchards outline for raising Godly kids. Much of the book is devoted to explaining the three most important things to teach your kids: to love the Lord your God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength; to obey you unconditionally; and to learn and practice self-control. Those are three foundational goals for any Christian home, I’d say, whether your kids are in public school, Christian schools, or home-schooled.
As I read the book, I kept thinking that this is a great book for any parent who wants to raise Godly kids. Having seen our three kids through many years of both public and Christian schools, I resonated with many of the examples the authors gave about maintaining healthy and positive relationships with your children’s teachers, other parents, and the community in general.
One disclaimer: The family life that the Pritchards describe is based on a greater flexibility of schedule than many a family enjoys—including ours when we were raising our kids. They work with a wonderful Christian organization called Young Life. Since our son and daughter-in-law are on Young Life staff, I know first hand how incredibly busy Young Life staff can be. And especially a couple raising eight kids of their own! But the nature of the work does allow more flexibility for day-time involvement with school, sports, and community events.
The Pritchards are not on a mission to get every family to send their kids to public schools. Nor are they suggesting every family should look just like theirs. Their writing is not prescriptive, but descriptive.
What I love most of all about the book is the gracious, loving spirit with which it is written. In fact, one of their best chapters can be applied to almost any situation in church and community life, no matter what your school choices: “The Magic of Being Nice.” Even in some bold positions they take which are controversial (e.g. on mothers staying at home with kids), their views are presented with grace.
I Peter 3:15 comes to mind. This is a book worth reading!
Congratulations to the two names we drew from those who commented on my past two blog posts! Lauren Barrow of Milton, FL, and Carrie Deering of Brenham, TX, we hope to see you at .MOM in Birmingham in September! To all the rest of you who commented, thank you so much for your thoughtful insights, suggestions, and words of encouragement for all of us moms. Keep the comments coming. We love hearing from you!
Since this is my 100th blog post, I decided to celebrate with a very different post than usual. Though Mom to Mom comes up regularly in my ramblings, I don’t often write just about Mom to Mom.
But these days I’m feeling very reflective. Believe it or not, Mom to Mom is approaching a big birthday: #20! That may surprise you, as our curriculum is more recent. But the first Mom to Mom was actually held at Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts, on September 19, 1991. I remember the excitement that first day. We were ecstatic just to have gotten through the morning—a great morning. But little could any of us have imagined what God had in store for Mom to Mom!
I often tell people that I came into Mom to Mom kicking and screaming. My first love had always been teaching Bible studies. When God began to call me to develop a moms’ ministry, I felt a little like Moses in Exodus 3: “Great idea, God! I’m sure there is someone who would love to do it.”
What was I thinking? How could I have possibly missed this wonderful ride! Any of you who know me know I love Mom to Mom! So, in a celebration of praise and thanks to God, here, in random order, are a few “Things I Love about Mom to Mom”:
Or course you know I could go on and on with my list. But I’d love to hear from you. What do you love about Mom to Mom? How has God grown you through Mom to Mom? It could be a word, a sentence, or a brief anecdote. But don’t forget: We’re going to draw from all those who comment two winners for those tickets to .MOM. We’d love to see you there!
A couple of weeks ago my husband Woody and I had the great joy of taking care of our two grandsons, Soren (4 ½) and Nils (14 mos) for a week while their parents were taking kids to Young Life camp. It was a great refresher course in parenting. We had a blast. Really—it was so much fun!
I wish I could tell you more, but I have to be honest here: I had anticipated coming home with a notebook full (or at least a head full) of hilarious comments and antics and incidents with which I could entertain blog readers. I thought this to be a realistic expectation. Soren frequently says absolutely hilarious things. He has a vivid imagination, a memory that is positively scary, and he is very verbal. Nils is a clown. He loves to get you laughing, and he mimics everything he sees his big brother do, which leads to some pretty funny entertainment.
But here’s the glitch. Life moved too fast for me that entire week. I never got to write anything down. Not even a list for each day (my usual practice)—and certainly not witty sayings or doings in the small journal I had (how hilarious!) brought. Both my daytimer and my journal are completely blank for that week. Most of the time I think my mind was, too!
We did all kinds of fun things: we went to playgrounds; visited a children’s museum; played pirates in the basement (Woody and Soren did, anyway—I was a little worried about Nils around the pirate sword); went out to lunch one day and out on another day for ice cream; even had a visit from a friend who surprised the boys with a new scooter for Soren and a push-trike for Nils. And yes—we made a visit or two to the pediatrician. I told you this was a refresher course on real-life parenting. How could it not involve middle-of-the-night fevers and unexplained crying?
But here’s the thing: I had expected a break in the action now and then. A time to reflect a bit. Take a deep breath. Write down a few of the wonderful things my grandsons did—and there were many! But all I did was take a nap when they napped—and collapse on the couch after they went to bed. Even though we were two-on-two (two adults there full-time, two kids), Woody and I pretty much just sat side by side and stared into space every evening.
So here’s my question for the week. How do you keep your life balanced during these busy busy years? Do you find time to do anything—anything at all—beyond the absolute necessities of each day? If so, what’s your secret?
Don’t get me wrong: What you’re doing each day for and with your kids is huge—the best job in the world. Feeding, rocking, changing, bathing, and playing with your kids is a huge accomplishment in itself. In fact, if you wrote it all down on a “To Do” list, you’d be pretty impressed. (As recommended on my friend Jill Savage’s blog post the other day—great idea!) I loved getting to do all that again.
But I seem to remember that when I had three pre-schoolers, I did manage—at least now and then—to read a book, complete my Bible Study lesson (some weeks), and find a few words left for my husband (on a good day) when he came home late at night. I’m trying to remember: How did I do it?
Can you remind me? I know many of your days feel like sheer survival. But I also know some of you actually do read books, find time for personal devotions, blog, facebook with friends—at least now and then. I even know some of you who are crafty and actually make things after your kids go to bed (quite beyond me even now, I must admit)!
So I’d love to hear from you. What tips can you share about how you find time to create balance even in the midst of your mom-life? Or maybe how you come to peace about not doing that right now!
Don’t forget: We’ll have a giveaway for two tickets to the .MOM conference in September from all of those who comment here by Thursday noon, July 28. We look forward to hearing from you!
I’m excited to invite you all to LifeWay’s first-ever conference just for moms! It will be held September 23–24, 2011, in Birmingham. Alabama. Featured keynoters will include women whom some of you may know as favorite Bible Study teachers. They are also moms: Priscilla Shirer, Vicki Courtney, and Angela Thomas, among others. There will be tons of breakouts to choose from, lots of laughs guaranteed, and a “Mom Squad” to answer questions you might have.
Mom to Mom will be there, too. I’ll be doing two of the breakout sessions, and we’ll be exhibiting, so we hope you’ll stop by and see us!
We’re so excited about this that we’re planning to give away two tickets to winners we’ll draw from those who comment on either of my next two blog posts (First Post, Second Post) by noon (EDT) on Thursday, July 28. Winners will be announced on Friday, July 29. Don’t miss this chance! And for more details on the conference, check out this link.
Here’s a book to pack in your beach bag—or just curl up with at home when your kids are napping. Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way, by Shauna Niequist. It’s a great “snatch book,” as each chapter stands alone (almost like a blog post), so you can savor it bit by bit as you have time.
I loved Shauna’s previous book, Cold Tangerines. But this one is even better. Maybe it’s simply because she has lived longer. Shauna writes out of her life. And Bittersweet is written out of a season in her life that has been just that. A time of growth and accomplishment and fulfillment as a woman, a wife, a writer, and now a mother. But also a time of great change, deep loss, and bitter disappointment.
How do we make sense of such a life? It’s an important question to ask, because we will all live in such a season—if not now, then sooner or later. When Shauna writes of finding grace and forgiveness and healing and hope—even joy—amidst hardness and heartache and barrenness, her voice rings true.
The book is also—trust me—a fun read. The cover alone will get you. Check it out and you’ll see what I mean. When I gave the book to my daughter, her two year-old went for it immediately, exclaiming, “Mmmmm! Chocolate!” (A girl after my own heart, that child!) You foodies will love how Shauna describes her journey in terms of memorable meals. She loves to cook as much as she loves to write, and this is a delicious read.
But the book is more than that. All mothers will identify with Shauna’s reflections on motherhood. There’s such joy when she writes about her son, Henry. And such wisdom in her call for community with other moms, rather than comparison and competition. And her pleas for older, wiser experienced moms in her life. Of course, you know what I was thinking: “That’s just why we have Mom to Mom!”
On a personal level, I was deeply moved by the chapters dealing with miscarriage and infertility and loss: “Heartbeat,” What Might Have Been,” and “On Crying in the Bathroom.” Having personally experienced the same kind of miscarriage Shauna had, it was “déjà vu” for me. But it is important reading for all mothers—not only for those who have experienced loss, but also for those who want to walk well alongside another on this journey.
On a very practical level, the chapter “Things I Don’t Do” is worth the price of the book. Shauna’s cure for the “Do Everything Better” syndrome is must-reading for every one of us recovering-perfectionist moms!
Ultimately, Bittersweet points readers to God. As Shauna puts it:”My life is a story about God and what He does in a human heart.” (p. 240) It’s a story worth reading!
Recently I had the gift of taking care of Gabriella, my 2 ½-year-old granddaughter, for four wonderful days. “Gigi” (her nickname) and her mommy (our daughter Erika) were visiting us from Ireland for several weeks, and Erika had gone off to enjoy a girlfriend weekend with college friends.
Gigi and I had a ball. We put puzzles together, built with blocks, played “taking care of baby brother” (due to arrive in her house late summer), danced in crazy hats to silly kids’ songs, had teddy bear tea parties, went to the library and the beach and the playground—and savored ice cream treats. It was “Nana heaven.”
It was a fresh look at “life in monitor land.” Believe it or not, our own kids were raised without monitors. They just weren’t much in use at the time. But in this Nana-season of my life, I have to say I love monitors!
Admittedly they have a downside. I don’t sleep as well with a monitor on my dresser. There may actually be times when moms on duty 24/7 with young children would do well to turn them off. When a child is settling into naptime, Mom might need a quiet break more then she needs to listen to every bit of jabbering and singing that goes on before sleep comes.
But it’s different with nanas. Nanas love “listening in.” It’s amazing how much you can learn about what goes on in a two-year-old’s mind. Here are a few random things I learned from listening to the monitor:
If you ever wonder what your kids are taking in during the day, try listening in to the monitor. They may be absorbing a lot more than you think!
It’s funny what you notice when you keep your eyes open. I mean, really open. Mine seem to have been opened wider than usual lately. I think Ann Voskamp’s list (see my earlier blog post on One Thousand Gifts) got me started. No, my own list is not anywhere near one thousand yet. I’m sure God’s gifts have numbered way beyond that. I just haven’t written them all down. But I’ve gotten a good start.
So here’s one thing I’ve been noticing lately: wings. First, mama wings.
On a walk last weekend, my husband, Woody, and I encountered an entire family of Canada geese. Not at all unusual around here given goose overpopulation. But these two were different—at first it only looked like two. The mama was sitting on the sidewalk in a very strange position, while the daddy was standing at the edge toward the street at high alert, with beak open, looking ready to honk and attack any potential intruders.
Then we saw them—three tiny goslings almost completely covered under the mama’s outstretched wing. Sheltered. Protected. Safe. We were so sorry we had no camera to capture that moment.
But we did get another picture: meet the mama I’ve been greeting every morning. Just outside our front door, a pair of mourning doves has built a nest in the eaves under the porch. The mama dove has been sitting faithfully for what seems like forever on that nest. Every morning I’ve peeked out and checked on her, offering a little encouragement for her seemingly infinite perseverance—you know, “You go, girl!” and things like that.
At first I thought the eggs were just taking forever. But suddenly one day I saw two little heads peeking out, and they weren’t as tiny as I’d expected them to be. I think she had been sheltering those babies with her body for quite a while after they were born. Because it seemed like no time and they were out of the nest, perched on the roof. And then they were gone! Faster even than my kids grew up and left for college—those 18 years seemed to go so fast!
These sweet mama birds protecting their babies reminded me of two things: First, all of you mamas and the myriad ways you protect your babies—and kids way beyond babies. You shelter them. You cover them. You teach them to fly. And then you actually let them do it! Wings. Yes, wings—yours and theirs.
But second, it’s His wings that are ever on my mind these days. Wings that shelter. Wings that protect. Wings that keep us safe no matter how fierce life’s storms swirling around us.
God even gave me a song to remind me of His wings at a time when I needed reminding. Do any of you know the old hymn, “Under His Wings,” by William Cushing and Ira Sankey? I could only remember part of the first verse: “Under His wings I am safely abiding, Though the night deepens and tempests are wild, Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me. He has redeemed me and I am His child.” And the chorus: “Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever? Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever.”
I couldn’t find it in my hymnals, so I looked it up on the internet and sang along as part of this morning’s devotions. It is based on lots of scripture—Psalm 17:8 and Psalm 91:1, for starters.
So today I’m thanking God for wings. Mama-goose wings. Mourning dove wings. Your wings over your kids. And even their wings (though scary)!
But most of all, His wings. Just in case you need encouragement today about wings—your tired wings, your kids’ scary wings, or His protecting wings—try this with me (and the Psalmist): ". . . I sing in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 63:7)
“Oh, Mom, did Kelly tell you about Hannah swallowing a rock?” My son Lars is on the phone talking about his just-turned-two-year-old daughter. “She swallowed a what?” was, of course, my question in reply.
Now, we’ve known for quite some time that, as her parents put it, “Hannah is a piece of work.” An absolutely adorable, hilarious, full-of-fun piece of work. Hannah loves life. She takes it by the tail and swings it around, laughing all the way. Fortunately, she never does that to their dog, Ruby. Actually, Hannah is a very loving, gentle child as well. She’s just busy. She just doesn’t want to miss anything.
But a rock? I know every one of you mamas reading this is either hyper-ventilating just at the thought, or nodding your head knowingly, remembering your own similar incident with your child.
Let me assure you that Hannah’s mama, Kelly, my nurse daughter-in-law—who is one wonderful mother—was right on top of this from start to finish. You can imagine: on the phone with the pediatrician; on duty with fruit and prune juice and all manner of “helps” to get this (fortunately) fairly smooth, small stone eliminated safely; and watchful of every possible symptom of blockage. You know the drill. And on her knees (as I was on mine), I’m sure, all at the same time.
Then came last night’s text: “Success! It took an enema and sounded like a champagne cork, but the rock is out!” Praise God!
The things our kids put us through! Way beyond imagination, really.
As I thought about it (after thanking God profusely that all was A-OK with Hannah), I was suddenly reminded how like Hannah each of us are in God’s sight. I do believe He sees us as wonderful, lovable, crazy-fun creations of His. But at the same time we certainly need watching. And we get ourselves into some pretty scary situations.
How thankful I am that He is as watchful, patient, and loving and care-giving with us as Kelly is with Hannah. Even more so! In fact, He loves us enough even to give us some pretty unpleasant-tasting stuff—or to put us through some not-very-fun procedures—to clear out what needs to go from our lives and restore us to health and life In Him.
Thank you, God, for protecting Hannah. And thank you, God, for doing what needs to be done in our lives so that we might “take hold of the life that is fully life.” (I Timothy 6:19b)
