Monthly Archives: August 2013

Sticks and Stones

Faith, Just My Thoughts, Parenting

You know how it goes.  Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  The reality is that words do hurt, and their effect can last much longer than a physical injury.

There are a lot of words that swirl around in my head.  Some are true and some are not.  Some are kind and some are not.  Some are mine and some are not.  Some are godly and some are not.  I am going through some counseling right now (oh yes, I will wave that banner high), and one thing we are working on is … Read the rest

Summer Vacation Pregnancy

Parenting

I’ve recently compared summer vacation to pregnancy: at first it’s all fun and exciting and hopeful and not so bad.  Then you reach the end and you’re thinking, “Drug me up, cut me open, do what you gotta do, just get it out.”

I was hopeful in June.  A long weekend at a family wedding was great fun, and a week at the beach put us to the halfway mark of the month.  We were on our way to a fun, successful summer.

July was pretty much over in a flash.  The kids were at my parents’ house for … Read the rest

Am I the Only One?

Parenting

Seriously…am I the only one

  • whose children fight all the time?
  • whose son rolls his eyes at any simple request, like “Pick up your shoes from in front of the fridge”?
  • whose preteen rides her bike just past her boundary so she can sit in someone else’s yard and cry because you’re the worst mom in the world? (because I made her wear her bike helmet that she decided she no longer likes)
  • whose children wrestle anywhere and everywhere, including in the street if that’s where it takes them?
  • who has been counting down to the first day of school?
… Read the rest

Grieving at a Hillsong Concert

Faith, More About Me

I’ve mentioned here before that I don’t like to cry – I feel like the tears are controlling my body instead of me.  But I’m still in a grieving period over the loss of Pastor Stan Buck, and I cry about that regularly.

There is this song called “Forever Reign” by Hillsong, and it somehow was the song that we sang at church when Pastor Stan was diagnosed, then his first Sunday back after surgery and chemo, whenever he had a clear scan, then when he was re-diagnosed, and on the day that he died.  This song holds a … Read the rest

First Day of School Anxiety

Anxiety, Parenting, School

As parents I think we sometimes get so busy down in the trenches of where we are currently that we forget to stand up and take a look around.  Right now Grace is in a rough patch, and if I stay down in this trench parenting her it can feel like we don’t make any progress.

Last night I was thinking back to last summer when she was filled with first day of school anxiety: starting a new year with a new teacher, new classroom, and potentially all new kids.  I had to take her in to meet her teacher … Read the rest