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A Morning Prayer to Start Your Day with God
I wrote this morning prayer a few years ago, when I needed to learn how to pray to God to start my day with the right heart and attitude as a wife and mother. (Free daily prayer printable below) After becoming a stay at home mom, I felt very convicted about how I started my days. No rush to get to work, I would usually roll over, grab my phone, and check Facebook. Blessedly, I had the luxury most mornings to gradually open my eyes, covered in snuggles with my little. But starting my day without a morning prayer, I found myself worrying about this, stressing about that, completely letting…
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Ways to Pray During a Crisis
Do you need some ideas of ways to pray during a crisis? I know that having a list when I sit down to pray really helps me focus my prayers. If I don’t use a list, halfway through praying I’m drifting into the thousand other tasks swirling around my mommy brain. First, I thought of all the people and groups for which we should pray and ended with ways we can pray. Pray for our leaders In any crisis, our governmental leaders have to make many difficult decisions. They try to weigh out the cost-benefit ratios, but in the end, can only do their best to make wise choices. They…
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1 Bible verse to be a Better, More Consistent Parent
Can 1 Bible lesson from James soften my heart and help me be a better, more consistent parent? Could standing firm actually make me more loving? One of my favorite experiences as a believer is how God’s word has become this amazing love letter and an active presence in my life as I spend time in it. Proverbs 7:1,3 ESV My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments within you . . . 3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. When I face struggles, God brings His peace and answers to my mind, helping me understand why we write His…
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Reaction Time
This morning my daughter kept getting distracted from making her bed. She’s four. I expect a certain amount of distraction. First, she had to potty. Then, she found a piece of paper on the floor. Around the third time, I said, “Ok, it’s time to set the timer.” We’ve been using a timer to encourage her focused attention on a task. I always set the time to be several minutes longer than I anticipate a task requiring. The goal is to help her focus, not make her rush. But this morning, when I said I was setting the timer, she squealed and began to get upset. “I can’t do it!”…
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Why Should You Stop Throwing Temper Tantrums
Why should I stop throwing temper tantrums? As parents, those generally aren’t the tantrums we think about. But over the past few years, I have grown increasingly convicted about my anger, especially towards my daughter. And one verse today just wrecked me. And I want to come to you from that place right now: not a place of having conquered, but still conquering, sometimes still failing. But I see God’s work in my heart as I grow more and more. My temper tantrums were damaging my family. Yours are too. God has called us to control our temper tantrums now. I’ve been trying to rewrite this post for days, but…
