MomSense: Bold • Loving • Sensible – equips moms to embrace their mothering instincts and develop their own parenting style while navigating through the myriad of daily mom decisions. Most women wonder:
•How do I decide what to do when I really don’t know what to do?
•Should I trust my intuition?
•With so much available information, how do I discern what’s best?
•What are the most important family values?
Developing a mothering strategy is somewhat like playing a game — and this year’s theme is appropriately game related. Have fun being a mom! Playing games involves being bold and taking risks, loving those in the game with us and being sensible while figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
Just as in real-life, sometimes in games, unexpected, “chance” events occur, abruptly changing our paths. We must regroup and determine our next steps. Sometimes we follow the instructions of “experts.” Sometimes we follow the advice of trusted friends. Sometimes we decide our “house rules” work best for our family. Teaming together with other moms is a great strategy. Relying on a spouse or mentor can help us play more effectively. And, most of all, developing a strong God-Sense is essential for mothering. Growing as a mom through the analogy of game playing assures every mom gains confidence in her abilities as a mom.
Combining her mom intuition and her common sense helps a woman discover her own unique MomSense. (Mom Intuition + Common Sense = MomSense)
This year’s theme book, MomSense: A Common Sense Guide to Confident Mothering, delves further into the topic of finesse, one of the elements introduced in last year’s theme book. Finesse involves being the mom God intended you to be while intentionally loving your children and nurturing their growth. Topics addressed in the book include decision making, mom’s intuition and working through specific parenting dilemmas (“Mama Dramas”). MomSense reminds moms that they are the best mom for their kids and that they can develop contentment and confidence in their roles.
The spiritual foundation of the theme is from 2 Timothy 1:7. As you read the whole chapter, you see that Timothy had a strong mother and grandmother who nurtured his faith. Paul exhorts Timothy to use the gifts God has given him in a bold, loving and sensible way.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
The Intentional Mom
The Intentional Mom
written by Shaunti Feldhahn
As some of you know, I’m a busy analyst, author, and speaker – but much more importantly, I’m a wife to my husband, Jeff, and mom to two great kids ages 10 and 8. At least they are 10 and 8 for the moment. I feel like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and find two teenagers living in my house.
Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. See if this also rings a bell: From the point when my kids were toddlers, I’ve had hundreds of women stop me in the grocery store or at my speaking events (since I often bring the kids with me) and say, “Oh, enjoy every moment of this phase while they are little: It goes so fast.”
It reminds me of something that happened when Jeff and I got married 16 years ago. What a day that was! After months of planning and dreaming and working long hours to get it all ready, the ceremony seemed to pass in a delightful blur and soon we were facing cheers from the crowd and being introduced as husband and wife. A few weeks later, Jeff mentioned seeing a particular couple who hadn’t been able to attend the reception, but was at the ceremony. I said, “Really? I don’t remember seeing them. But then, it all seemed to go so fast—I don’t remember much about the ceremony itself.”
Jeff smiled sideways. “I remember everything about the ceremony.”
I looked at him, surprised. He continued. “One of my groomsmen told me to enjoy every moment. He said it could either rush by quickly, or be soaked in. So I was purposeful about really enjoying every moment.”
Six years later, when our daughter was born, I started to hear echoes of those words from all the women who told me to enjoy the time because it goes so quickly. I found that every one of those women knew what they were talking about, with regard to the speed of time. So I figured that following their words of wisdom would be a good idea, too. So in these past 10 years I have soaked in every bit of delight that God wants to bring me in my kids. My awareness of every passing day is made all the more poignant by the fact that I’m a working, traveling, mom—and because there are times that I can’t bring them with me on the road, I know there are times when I am missing things. It makes me appreciate all the more the times that I do have and it gives me the desire to be extremely purposeful about enjoying them, instead of letting the days slip by and wondering where did the time go?
I’ve found it is so vital to be purposeful about our lives as moms, as wives (for those who are married), as workers (in whatever we do), and simply as women. Being purposeful and intentional doesn’t mean taking everything super-seriously, or reading every book on the shelf about parenting or marriage. But it does mean being aware of what will make us (and the people around us) thrive and live the abundant lives God desires for us. It does mean sometimes thinking about things we may not otherwise think about or realize in the busyness of life. It does mean being aware about what will ultimately bring glory to Him, and giving Him our lives to use as He wants. And thankfully, if we do that, He promises us grander adventures than we ever could have imagined.
This article originally appeared on MomLife Today, FamilyLife’s blog for moms.
written by Shaunti Feldhahn
As some of you know, I’m a busy analyst, author, and speaker – but much more importantly, I’m a wife to my husband, Jeff, and mom to two great kids ages 10 and 8. At least they are 10 and 8 for the moment. I feel like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and find two teenagers living in my house.
Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. See if this also rings a bell: From the point when my kids were toddlers, I’ve had hundreds of women stop me in the grocery store or at my speaking events (since I often bring the kids with me) and say, “Oh, enjoy every moment of this phase while they are little: It goes so fast.”
It reminds me of something that happened when Jeff and I got married 16 years ago. What a day that was! After months of planning and dreaming and working long hours to get it all ready, the ceremony seemed to pass in a delightful blur and soon we were facing cheers from the crowd and being introduced as husband and wife. A few weeks later, Jeff mentioned seeing a particular couple who hadn’t been able to attend the reception, but was at the ceremony. I said, “Really? I don’t remember seeing them. But then, it all seemed to go so fast—I don’t remember much about the ceremony itself.”
Jeff smiled sideways. “I remember everything about the ceremony.”
I looked at him, surprised. He continued. “One of my groomsmen told me to enjoy every moment. He said it could either rush by quickly, or be soaked in. So I was purposeful about really enjoying every moment.”
Six years later, when our daughter was born, I started to hear echoes of those words from all the women who told me to enjoy the time because it goes so quickly. I found that every one of those women knew what they were talking about, with regard to the speed of time. So I figured that following their words of wisdom would be a good idea, too. So in these past 10 years I have soaked in every bit of delight that God wants to bring me in my kids. My awareness of every passing day is made all the more poignant by the fact that I’m a working, traveling, mom—and because there are times that I can’t bring them with me on the road, I know there are times when I am missing things. It makes me appreciate all the more the times that I do have and it gives me the desire to be extremely purposeful about enjoying them, instead of letting the days slip by and wondering where did the time go?
I’ve found it is so vital to be purposeful about our lives as moms, as wives (for those who are married), as workers (in whatever we do), and simply as women. Being purposeful and intentional doesn’t mean taking everything super-seriously, or reading every book on the shelf about parenting or marriage. But it does mean being aware of what will make us (and the people around us) thrive and live the abundant lives God desires for us. It does mean sometimes thinking about things we may not otherwise think about or realize in the busyness of life. It does mean being aware about what will ultimately bring glory to Him, and giving Him our lives to use as He wants. And thankfully, if we do that, He promises us grander adventures than we ever could have imagined.
This article originally appeared on MomLife Today, FamilyLife’s blog for moms.
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