Great New Parenting Resource!

In this second book from the Duggars, they focus on the principles that equip them to face life’s challenges—drawing from their most recent challenge with the 3-month premature birth of their newest child, Josie. They also share the new challenges their older children are facing as they prepare for adult life. Central to the book is a section on the principles that the Duggars have consistently taught their children. These simply worded principles are basic to the Duggar family and are shared in a way that other parents can incorporate in their own homes. A special chapter on homeschooling gives valuable information to parents who are considering this route or are already invested in it. The world continues to be amazed by their nineteen well-groomed, well-behaved, well-schooled children and their home life, which focuses on family, financial responsibility, fun—and must importantly, faith. The Duggars show how parents can succeed whether they’re rearing a single child or several

Some of the chapter titles:

• Praying without Ceasing
• Miracles and Milestones
• Daily Training, Tips, and Practicalities
• Protecting and Cherishing Our Relationships

A Love That Multiplies is 20% off right now and selling for

$16.00!

If you decide to order, please use my affiliate button on the right or the link!

Thank you :)

Wonderful, wonderful quote!

The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart.

--Mencius

Great Assignment

The “Me Time” Myth

The “Me Time” Myth
Amy Roberts
The Old Schoolhouse

I once heard a talk show host give a very compelling argument for why moms need time away. He said mothers give and give to the point of empty. They must refuel themselves so they can continue to give.
It sounded quite reasonable to me. Then why did my search for this hallowed “me time” always leave me feeling as though I needed more? While taking time for myself, I definitely felt refreshed, but the moment I got home and realized the sink was still full of dirty dishes and I would still have to give baths to all the children before the night would be over, I wanted to head right back out the door.
This left me feeling sorry for myself. Why couldn’t I have one night where I wouldn’t have to do the same things I do every night? Why couldn’t I come home to a spotless and trouble-free place where dishes were washed and children were in bed? Why did I have to go back to my duties so soon? To punish those who were making my life difficult, I would loudly sling dishes and be curt and hurried with everyone until I could get children into bed and escape to the sewing room or the computer for the remainder of the evening.
The next morning, feeling dissatisfied with the amount of me time from the evening prior, I would take my coffee, sit at the computer, and completely ignore my daily duties. I would get irritated with the children because their antics were cutting into my time. I was stressed and edgy and desperate for more. My children would call out for me and I would answer, “She’s not here right now.”
Then, I began staying up much too late in order to squeeze in more alone time. I dreaded going to bed because it meant waking up to children’s needs and a disaster of a house.
I became increasingly upset by my husband’s time off from work, along with the business lunches and the business trips. To compensate for the perceived unfairness of the situation, I chose to do nothing on weekends: no laundry, no dishes, no parenting. Soon, my weekends were spilling over both ends and into the weekdays. All of this only served to overwhelm me even more and feed into my desire to escape.
In a moment of clarity, as only the Lord can offer, I saw my behavior for what it truly was: selfishness. Along with this epiphany came the conviction to quit seeking Me Time.
Me Time is a myth. It is an unattainable, always interruptible, never satisfying piece of junk psychology. Me Time, by its very name, suggests that who we are during the daily grind is not who we truly are. It begs us to search for fulfillment outside of the titles of “wife” and “mother.” It accuses precious little ones and God-given spouses for suppressing us. It reduces motherhood to a disease in which little dirty faces and endless monotonous tasks slowly suck the life out of us. It says we can never be refreshed by spending time in the presence of those we care for day in and day out. It points out a perceived hole in our world that needs to be filled, a tank that must be refueled, a monster that will swallow us if we neglect to feed it Me Time.
The more we indulge the thought that we are somehow owed this time away, the more we will seek after it. The more we seek after it, the more every little opportunity afforded us to take a break will seemingly end too quickly. The everyday life of being a mother will become drudgery. We will dread every aspect of this role. We will snap at our children any time they try to draw us out of our precious time alone. Not getting this time will ruin our day, and if we do manage some time away, we will despise the re-entry.
However, with any lie, there is a certain amount of truth hidden within. There is an emptiness within us that needs to be filled, but only God can fill what you are aching for.
“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” Lamentations 3:24–25
Our time away should be spent seeking Him. Anything else we try to fill that emptiness with will fall miserably short. Likewise, the company we seek during our time away should be spent with people who are about the business of edifying and strengthening us in our role as wife and mother, not tearing at the very foundation of our home. We will never gain anything but resentment from the counsel of those who encourage us to seek self.
We must cease to see the role of wife and mother as a job we put aside at the end of the day. We must do our daily tasks cheerfully, as unto the Lord. We must learn to enjoy being home with our families. We must find contentment in serving others. We should spend more time drinking in the beauty of our children, searching their eyes, holding their hands, being Mom. When we do feel neglected or overworked, we must immediately seek the Lord to refresh us and keep us from sin.
There will be days when we are afforded opportunities to do things alone or with other women, but if we are content in our God-given role, we will no longer cling so tightly to these moments as the only way to save our sanity. Our need for Me Time will fade as we begin to see motherhood as a blessing not to be escaped, but embraced.
Published on January 26, 2009

Great Parenting Quote!

One of the greatest gifts

you can give your

children

will cost you nothing

and everything.

It is to give them

a godly example

to follow.

Raising Godly Daughter Links

Here are some links for Raising Godly Daughters additional info and resources:
Noble Womanhood

Biblical Womanhood

Vision Forum (click on sidebar)
Ladies Against Feminism

Maidens of Worth Joyfully Modest
Titus 2 A Christian Home
Christian Moms of Many Blessings
Bold Christian Living

Ladies of Grace

I hope that some of these links are helpful to you! :)
Blessings!

Raising Our Precious Daughters...the Corner Stones...

"that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace."
Psalm 144:12

For you Mom's out there with daughters...I would like to humbly share something with you...

When I set out to raise my daughter, my thoughts were to give her everything I never had...and so, I began to buy her things, dress her up etc...I wanted her to have the perfect childhood.

This was such a mistake. Thankfully, over time, I yielded myself over to the Lord and His leading, and got a brand new direction--a biblical one.

We had our bumps in the road, but God has been gracious, and has shown us mercy!

In the day and age that we live in, we have to raise our dear daughters with biblical purpose, conviction, and care. The world that we live in wants to turn them into men! Sadly, even the modern day church has let "women's lib" in it's doors!
Now, our family has personally suffered some persecution for choosing to raise our daughter to be a feminine young lady, training to be a keeper at home, under the protection of her father. So, I'm not saying that it is easy to do what is right. (A lot of the persecution we have gotten has been from other Christians).
But we must be committed to raising our daughters according to the Word-not the world.

Here are some thoughts I found when reading about the biblical raising of daughters.

"Daughters unite families as corner stones join walls together, and at the same time they adorn them as polished stones - garnish the structure into which they are builded."
"That our daughters may be as corners stones, etc.. One might perhaps at the first glance have expected that the daughters of a household would be as the graceful ornament of the clustering foliage or the fruit bearing tree, and the sons as the cornerstones upholding the weight and burden of the building, and yet it is the reverse here.
And I think one may read the love and tenderness of the Lord in this apparently casual but intended expression,and that he meant the nations of the earth to know and understand how much of their happiness, their strength,and their security was dependent on the female children of the family." Barton Bouchier

Matthew Henry's Commentary:
It is no less desirable to see our daughters as corner-stones, or corner-pillars, polished after the similitude of a palace, or temple. By daughters families are united and connected, to their mutual strength, as the parts of a building are by the corner-stones; and when they are graceful and beautiful both in body and mind they are then polished after the similitude of a nice and curious structure. When we see our daughters well-established and stayed with wisdom and discretion, as corner-stones are fastened in the building,—when we see them by faith united to Christ, as the Chief Corner-stone, adorned with the graces of God's Spirit, which are the polishing of that which is naturally rough, and become women professing godliness,—when we see them purified and consecrated to God as living temples, we think ourselves happy in them.

Do you see the importance here? These lovely daughters of ours are not mere ornaments of the home. They must be raised to be strong and purposeful!
God wants them to be strong and beautiful, so that they will be useful to their husbands, homes, and the society that they live in.

It has been our experience that when people hear that we are raising our daughter to be a "keeper at home" they immediately think that it is a waste.
What wrong thinking!
In Titus 2:4-5 it tells us what we older women (Moms) are to do...
That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

If our daughters are going to be ready to do these things, they must be taught at home. God has ordained this occupation-it's the only one mentioned. And so, it's importance should not be under-estimated, nor under-valued.

Just like we had to teach them good manners, doing their chores, and anything else we felt was a worthwhile accomplishment, we must also purpose to teach them this!

You know that anything worthwhile takes hard work, goal setting, and perseverance...and this is no different.

May God make us wise, give us strength for the task ahead, and lead us in His Way.

Parenting With Purpose

I believe that if we don't have a goal in our parenting to shoot for...we won't hit anything! And so, we must parent with purpose!

Our children are like arrows: “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth” (Psalm 127:4 KJV). Children are like arrows in the hands of a mighty man!
And we, as parents, are the archers-responsible for shooting these precious arrows! We had better be well prepared to hit that target! We have to have our eye on a target--never waver--and shoot for it! After all, we're shooting God's arrows at the target He has designated. We must aim for the bulls eye!
"Your goal should be godly children. That means training their hearts to think like God thinks and their bodies to do what God would do."

We need to:
Pray for our children--and teach them to pray!
Remember that we are daily modeling an example in our actions and attitudes for our little arrows
Saturate our children with the Word of God - read it, sing it, memorize it, talk about it, apply it
Train them early on for service/ministry (the earlier--the better!)
Protect them from ungodly influences! (we must reject what the world is offering for our children--or we will not be able to clearly see-or hit the target!)
Encourage our children - take every opportunity to praise godly character traits!
Love our children-we must turn our hearts to our children, so they will turn their hearts to us! (Don't be replaced by peers!)
Capture your child's heart!
Determine to stay the course! We are not sprinting-this is a marathon! It will take hard work, and lots of time. Be Committed!



May God bless you as you shoot your arrows out for HIM!