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Say Yes to More Mud Puddles: Reclaiming Joy in Childhood
Have we taken too much JOY out of childhood? Are we so concerned about doing everything perfectly that we’ve forgotten how to just have fun? More importantly, have we regulated all the fun out of childhood? She came inside from riding bikes and asked if she could jump in the puddle. Bonus points for her asking prior to becoming a muddy mess! (Heaven not Harvard shares links as a participant in affiliate programs including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.) Would I say Yes to more mud puddles? I…
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3 Reasons Having Children Will Not Make You Happy
Thinking of having children? Are you wistful at the sight of a swaddle blanket? Hopeful while gazing at bumper guards and high chairs? Delirious for tiny dresses with delightfully adorable matching shoes? We crave these pieces of parenting, but will having children make you happy? Oh, the ache for a baby. It can be something that swallows us whole. After my hysterectomy, I sobbed at my sister’s baby shower. Her children were prayerfully conceived after miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, and several rounds of fertility treatments. I certainly didn’t begrudge her having the twins, but I mourned the children I would never carry. Fast forward 4 years, and we were preparing…
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Fairy Tale Proposal and Happily Ever After
It didn’t start as a fairy tale proposal! It started with a traffic stop. April 6, 2006, I got pulled over by the sheriff. Alarmed, I couldn’t imagine then how this event would change my life. But it did. In 2016, I was so excited to sit in the very spot of this momentous encounter with our sheriff with my daughter and watch this video of her daddy’s surprise return from Iraq which had a bigger twist than I realized. I was stunned. I had no idea what was happening. Until I watched the reply, I wasn’t even sure what I said – on NBC, MSNBC and now YouTube! Now…
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Planting Sunflowers: Raising Children to Seek the Son
Raising children is a harder job than I ever imagined. I say goodnight most nights feeling like I barely sputtered across the finish line, often holding onto regrets from the day, all my pretty failures and missed moments dangling from my weary eyelids. (this site uses Affiliate links-purchases support our ministry through a small referral fee that never affects your cost.) Somedays, I feel like I’m trying to stand still in the middle of a child-based hurricane. All I know how to do for sure is hold onto the anchor. Hebrews 6:19 ESV / We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters…
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Previewing
Today isn’t going to be super deep, just celebrating getting something right and seeing the fruits of my preparation blossom, and I wanted to share this skill because I know I’ve seen how this improves our lives time and time again. Something I have seen as a teacher is the importance of previewing activities. As a teacher, we preview to help students understand the objectives in a new lesson, to tie in previous learning to the new skills, and to clarify the purpose and procedure of the activity. Previewing is literally the best tool in my parenting toolbox because it prevents issues. Rather than be reactive to a crisis, previewing…
