Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Power of a Mother's Love
A mother's love needs to be given unconditionally to establish trust and a firm foundation of emotional intimacy in a child's life.
by Jill Savage
The back cover of Dr. Brenda Hunter's book The Power of Mother Love casts a vision for moms:
Mother love shapes cultures and individuals. While most mothers know that their love and emotional availability are vital to their children's well-being, many of us do not understand the profound and long-lasting impact we have in developing our young children's brains, teaching them first lessons of love, shaping their consciences … At a time when society urges women to seek their worth and personal fulfillment in things that take them away from their families and intimate bonds, Hunter invites women to come home — to their children, their best selves, their hearts.
You and I need to be willing to look inside our own experiences to identify any places we may still be affected by our relationship with our own mother. We can begin that journey by simply being willing to search our heart and better understand ourselves. Professional counseling may also be a valuable part of that process. Laura Ingalls Wilder said, "What is there in the attitude of your children toward yourself that you wish were different? Search your own heart and learn if your ways toward your own mother could be improved." This is important whether your mother is still living or not. You and I are deeply affected by our relationship with our mother and one of the most powerful gifts we can give to our children is our own emotional health. A first step you can take on this journey is reading The Mom I Want to Be by T. Suzanne Eller. This book is designed to help you rise above your past and give your kids a great future.
A child should never feel as if they need to earn a mother's love. This will leave a void in their heart all of their life. A mother's love needs to be given unconditionally to establish trust and a firm foundation of emotional intimacy in a child's life. If love is withheld, a child will look for it in a million other ways, sometimes throughout their lifetime unless they come to some sort of peace with their past. The emotional foundation we give our children at home is foundational to their life. We cannot underestimate the value of home and the power of mother love.
It's All About Influence
The profession of motherhood is all about influence. You and I have an incredible opportunity to influence the next generation by what we do as a mother every day. This is why intentionality is so important during the years that we raise our family. Be intentional about your own healing from life's hurts. Be intentional about taking care of yourself. Be intentional about investing in your marriage. Be intentional about parenting. Be intentional about homemaking. Intentionality increases influence, and influence is something God asks us to be intentional about. We cannot underestimate the power of mother love, the value of home and the significance of our intentional presence in the home.
Taken from: My Heart's at Home. Copyright © 2007 by Jill Savage. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
by Jill Savage
The back cover of Dr. Brenda Hunter's book The Power of Mother Love casts a vision for moms:
Mother love shapes cultures and individuals. While most mothers know that their love and emotional availability are vital to their children's well-being, many of us do not understand the profound and long-lasting impact we have in developing our young children's brains, teaching them first lessons of love, shaping their consciences … At a time when society urges women to seek their worth and personal fulfillment in things that take them away from their families and intimate bonds, Hunter invites women to come home — to their children, their best selves, their hearts.
You and I need to be willing to look inside our own experiences to identify any places we may still be affected by our relationship with our own mother. We can begin that journey by simply being willing to search our heart and better understand ourselves. Professional counseling may also be a valuable part of that process. Laura Ingalls Wilder said, "What is there in the attitude of your children toward yourself that you wish were different? Search your own heart and learn if your ways toward your own mother could be improved." This is important whether your mother is still living or not. You and I are deeply affected by our relationship with our mother and one of the most powerful gifts we can give to our children is our own emotional health. A first step you can take on this journey is reading The Mom I Want to Be by T. Suzanne Eller. This book is designed to help you rise above your past and give your kids a great future.
A child should never feel as if they need to earn a mother's love. This will leave a void in their heart all of their life. A mother's love needs to be given unconditionally to establish trust and a firm foundation of emotional intimacy in a child's life. If love is withheld, a child will look for it in a million other ways, sometimes throughout their lifetime unless they come to some sort of peace with their past. The emotional foundation we give our children at home is foundational to their life. We cannot underestimate the value of home and the power of mother love.
It's All About Influence
The profession of motherhood is all about influence. You and I have an incredible opportunity to influence the next generation by what we do as a mother every day. This is why intentionality is so important during the years that we raise our family. Be intentional about your own healing from life's hurts. Be intentional about taking care of yourself. Be intentional about investing in your marriage. Be intentional about parenting. Be intentional about homemaking. Intentionality increases influence, and influence is something God asks us to be intentional about. We cannot underestimate the power of mother love, the value of home and the significance of our intentional presence in the home.
Taken from: My Heart's at Home. Copyright © 2007 by Jill Savage. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Recipe - "Eggs In Baskets"
Amy Wedig brought a delicious breakfast treat to our meeting today and she said several of you had asked for the recipe so we decided to post it on the blog to share with everyone.
(Unfortunately I didn't get to try any or take a picture)
Eggs in Baskets
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson, 2009
Serves: 6 servings.
Ingredients
•3 large russet potatoes, peeled
•1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
•Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
•Nonstick cooking spray
•6 slices prosciutto, about 2 1/2 ounces, chopped
•2 tablespoons maple syrup
•6 eggs
•3/4 cup shredded provolone
Directions
Special equipment: jumbo sized 6-cup muffin tin
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a food processor fitted with the grater attachment, push chunks of the potato through the chute to grate. Once all the potatoes are grated, put them into a piece of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze to remove the moisture. Add the potatoes to a large bowl, stir in the melted butter and season well with salt and pepper, to taste.
Spray the muffin tin lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Press the grated potatoes evenly into the muffin cups being sure the potatoes go up the sides and a thin layer and covers the bottom. Bake until the top edges turn light golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl toss together the prosciutto with maple syrup and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and gently crack an egg into each cup. Bake until the egg whites set but the yolk remains runny, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set the oven to broil. Top the eggs with grated cheese and put the maple prosciutto on another sheet tray. Broil both until cheese melts, and prosciutto crisps slightly, about 1 minute.
Top the eggs with crispy prosciutto and serve immediately.
(Unfortunately I didn't get to try any or take a picture)
Eggs in Baskets
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson, 2009
Serves: 6 servings.
Ingredients
•3 large russet potatoes, peeled
•1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
•Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
•Nonstick cooking spray
•6 slices prosciutto, about 2 1/2 ounces, chopped
•2 tablespoons maple syrup
•6 eggs
•3/4 cup shredded provolone
Directions
Special equipment: jumbo sized 6-cup muffin tin
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a food processor fitted with the grater attachment, push chunks of the potato through the chute to grate. Once all the potatoes are grated, put them into a piece of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze to remove the moisture. Add the potatoes to a large bowl, stir in the melted butter and season well with salt and pepper, to taste.
Spray the muffin tin lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Press the grated potatoes evenly into the muffin cups being sure the potatoes go up the sides and a thin layer and covers the bottom. Bake until the top edges turn light golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl toss together the prosciutto with maple syrup and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and gently crack an egg into each cup. Bake until the egg whites set but the yolk remains runny, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set the oven to broil. Top the eggs with grated cheese and put the maple prosciutto on another sheet tray. Broil both until cheese melts, and prosciutto crisps slightly, about 1 minute.
Top the eggs with crispy prosciutto and serve immediately.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Great for an 80 degree April Day!
Doesn't this look delicious???
I hadn't tried the new McDonald's Frappe until today. When I saw the sign that said "enjoy a small Carmel or Mocha Frappe for only $1" I decided to take the leap.
I have to say that I don't buy coffee very often, but when I do I'm usually a Starbucks Frappuccino girl. I really didn't think I'd like the McDonald's version. I was wrong!!! It's definitely worth the $1 to try and I think I'll have to try a few more before I decided if it's worth the full price!
The promotion runs through April 18th!
Let me know if you again with my review!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Parenting Tip
What to Do When Kids Are Annoying
Dealing with annoying behavior is not like disciplining for defiance or teaching a child to follow instructions. When it comes to impulsivity, the child can't always make changes just by choosing something different. In many cases, kids don't realize that they're being annoying and they don't know what to do to be more appropriate.
Furthermore, these patterns often come from habits that have been practiced for a long time. These reasons are not excuses for inappropriate behavior but they're a further indication that the job will take concentrated effort from the child and the parents.
Part of the issue is immaturity; the child hasn't learned how to pick up on the social cues or restrain behavior as much as we'd like. But these children need more than just time to grow up. They need concentrated work to develop two character qualities: self-control and sensitivity. These qualities not only help children when they're young, but they become tools for success as children get older.
Here are some working definitions for sensitivity and self-control to get you started with your children in this area:
Self-control is the ability to control myself so that Mom and Dad don't have to.
Self-control means to think before I act.
Self-control is the ability to talk about problems instead of grabbing, pushing, or hitting.
Self-control means that I limit the noises I make when others are around.
Self-control means that I focus on one thing until it gets done, before I move to the next.
Sensitivity means that when I walk into a room I look and listen before I speak.
Sensitivity is thinking about how my actions are affecting other people.
Sensitivity means thinking about how I could help someone else.
Dealing with annoying behavior is not like disciplining for defiance or teaching a child to follow instructions. When it comes to impulsivity, the child can't always make changes just by choosing something different. In many cases, kids don't realize that they're being annoying and they don't know what to do to be more appropriate.
Furthermore, these patterns often come from habits that have been practiced for a long time. These reasons are not excuses for inappropriate behavior but they're a further indication that the job will take concentrated effort from the child and the parents.
Part of the issue is immaturity; the child hasn't learned how to pick up on the social cues or restrain behavior as much as we'd like. But these children need more than just time to grow up. They need concentrated work to develop two character qualities: self-control and sensitivity. These qualities not only help children when they're young, but they become tools for success as children get older.
Here are some working definitions for sensitivity and self-control to get you started with your children in this area:
Self-control is the ability to control myself so that Mom and Dad don't have to.
Self-control means to think before I act.
Self-control is the ability to talk about problems instead of grabbing, pushing, or hitting.
Self-control means that I limit the noises I make when others are around.
Self-control means that I focus on one thing until it gets done, before I move to the next.
Sensitivity means that when I walk into a room I look and listen before I speak.
Sensitivity is thinking about how my actions are affecting other people.
Sensitivity means thinking about how I could help someone else.
This parenting tip comes from Chapter 7 in the book Good and Angry, Exchanging Frustration for Character In You and Your Kids by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN,BSN.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Taking Care of Yourself
We need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of our family.
by Jill Savage
I sat on the Southwest Airlines airplane with Anne on a trip to visit a pen pal in California. As we were preparing to push away from the gate, the flight attendant gave emergency and safety information. "Should there be a change in pressure in the plane, an oxygen mask will drop down above your head. Please place the mask over your mouth and nose and breathe normally." She continued with, "If you are traveling with a small child, please put your mask on first and then help your child with their mask. Oh, and if you are traveling with two children … well … you'll just have to pick your favorite!" Everyone on the plane laughed at her attempt to put humor into an otherwise monotonous message.
I've thought about those instructions many times since that trip. Not the part about picking your favorite, but the part where she said, "If you are traveling with a small child, please put your mask on first and then help your child with their mask." She was imparting wisdom to parents who would otherwise rush to the aid of a child before taking care of themselves. The principle behind the instruction is this: The best thing for the child in the long run is to have a parent who can take care of them beyond the crisis that requires the air mask. In other words, we need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of our family. I believe that is a message every mom needs to hear.
No one else can do a better job at self-care than you. You have to identify the challenges of your job and strategies you can do to manage those challenges. You also have to identify what best refuels you emotionally and physically to help you go the distance you need to as a mom. Here are some common challenges that drain moms and some strategies for managing those challenges.
Isolation
When I first became a mom I couldn't believe how isolated I felt. I longed for a connection with other moms. I wanted to know if my experiences were normal and I needed to be with other women who understood what my life was like.
My friend Julie invited me to be a part of her playgroup. I jumped at the chance and found the camaraderie I was looking for. These women were just like me! This was my first introduction to the concept of a moms group, something I've been committed to ever since. Moms groups, whether small, loosely organized play-groups or well-structured community or church groups, are vital to a mom and her need to be with other moms. Every mom needs a mothering community — a place where she finds encouragement in her role as a wife and a mother. A moms group is also a place a mom can be cared for. When my sister went on bed rest with her pregnancy, her moms group was part of a community of women who took care of her in that challenging season. Who mothers the mother? Other mothers.
If you don't have a moms group, find one or start one. If you are a mother of a preschooler, you might start by looking for a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group in your area. Go to www.mops.org, type in your zip code and you'll be given a list of groups near your home. If your kids are older or there isn't an established moms group in your area, you can start one of your own. You might want to pick up my book Creating the Moms Group You've Been Looking For at your local bookstore or at www.hearts-at-home.org to give you ideas and get you started in the right direction.
At the very least, start making an effort to spend time with other moms. Invite a mom and her kids over to play and visit. Ask a neighbor if she'd like to go out one night a week for pie and coffee. Be intentional about spending time with other women who understand what your life is like.
No Time Off
One of the biggest challenges of full-time motherhood is the fact that there's no lunch break, no vacation time and you don't get to leave the office at the end of the day. In time, I found that this left me feeling both trapped and depleted. It's the repetitive monotony of "mommy tasks" that leave us longing for "just a few hours to myself." Can Mom have some time off? Absolutely! What she has to do, though, is learn how to create it for herself.
Time off for me has looked different in different seasons of my mothering journey. What has been consistent has been my strategy to find it. I learned early on that no one was going to walk up to me and say, "Jill, I think you need a break." Instead, I had to learn to build breaks into my life, ask for them clearly and do whatever I could to make them happen.
When Anne and Evan were small, I attended an aerobics class three evenings a week. Asking Mark to cover the home front, I headed off for exercise, but even more than that I looked forward to the conversation each night. Most of the women enrolled in the class were moms, and our conversations before and after class were always encouraging.
When Erica was a baby, I longed to read the newspaper without interruption. That's when I asked Mark if he could give me 30 minutes each evening to read the newspaper in our bedroom. The time to myself was refueling. During that summer, I also asked Mark if one night of the week could be "Daddy night." He was agreeable to that, so after dinner each Thursday night, I would meet a friend for pie, shop or head to a park with a blanket and a book.
When Erica was a preschooler, a friend and I discovered that we could give each other days off. We chose Tuesday as our day — one Tuesday was my day off and the next Tuesday was her day off. Our kids loved the arrangement because once a week they were assured of a play day together. Sometimes I would use my day off to simply come home and sleep, other days I chose to go shopping or run errands, and almost every time I would do lunch with my husband.
When asked what she wanted for her birthday, my friend Julie told her husband she wanted him to get her a hotel room just for herself. He obliged. On her birthday she checked into a local hotel with scrapbooking supplies in tow. She enjoyed a night to herself, watched any movie she wanted on television and scrapbooked for hours. The next morning she woke up without the help of an alarm clock, had a leisurely morning and checked out at noon. She said it was one of the nicest birthday presents she ever received!
If you haven't had time for yourself, think about the activities that would refuel you. Once you've determined your strategy, do whatever you need to do to make it happen. It will almost always require the help of other people: a sitter, your spouse, your parents, a friend or a neighbor. The rewards are well worth the effort, however. You need it, and your family needs it too.
Very Little Sense of Accomplishment
Most homemaking tasks could be described as mundane and repetitive. It takes four hours to clean up a house and only four minutes for your kids to trash it. A load of laundry takes two hours to complete and a potty-training toddler can dirty half that load in a single day. Once a meal is finished and all the dishes are washed or tucked in the dishwasher, it's almost time to be thinking about the next meal. At night after everyone is in bed, a weary mother can wonder, "Did I accomplish anything today?"
By the world's standards, it might not seem as though we have accomplished much. However, the world's standards don't apply to the profession of motherhood. In this profession, the little things are the big things: snuggling an infant, playing peekaboo, changing diapers, nursing, giving a bottle, attending tea parties with dolls, driving trucks in the sandbox, playing catch in the backyard, having a snack on the porch, listening to the saga of a teenage breakup, picking up a sick child from school … the list goes on and on. These are the accomplishments of motherhood. They can't be checked off a list. They don't earn you a raise. They are rarely measurable. But they matter a lot.
You and I can't look for our sense of accomplishment on a daily basis. We have to look for it over the long haul … that's about 18 years or so. What I do today does matter, but it might not be noted or valued for a long time. A woman in the profession of mothering serves and cares for her family as an extension of her relationship with God: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). With that perspective, there are no menial tasks, there is much accomplishment and there is a higher sense of purpose. Understanding that perspective is the highest form of self-care there is.
Taken from: My Heart's at Home. Copyright © 2007 by Jill Savage. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
by Jill Savage
I sat on the Southwest Airlines airplane with Anne on a trip to visit a pen pal in California. As we were preparing to push away from the gate, the flight attendant gave emergency and safety information. "Should there be a change in pressure in the plane, an oxygen mask will drop down above your head. Please place the mask over your mouth and nose and breathe normally." She continued with, "If you are traveling with a small child, please put your mask on first and then help your child with their mask. Oh, and if you are traveling with two children … well … you'll just have to pick your favorite!" Everyone on the plane laughed at her attempt to put humor into an otherwise monotonous message.
I've thought about those instructions many times since that trip. Not the part about picking your favorite, but the part where she said, "If you are traveling with a small child, please put your mask on first and then help your child with their mask." She was imparting wisdom to parents who would otherwise rush to the aid of a child before taking care of themselves. The principle behind the instruction is this: The best thing for the child in the long run is to have a parent who can take care of them beyond the crisis that requires the air mask. In other words, we need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of our family. I believe that is a message every mom needs to hear.
No one else can do a better job at self-care than you. You have to identify the challenges of your job and strategies you can do to manage those challenges. You also have to identify what best refuels you emotionally and physically to help you go the distance you need to as a mom. Here are some common challenges that drain moms and some strategies for managing those challenges.
Isolation
When I first became a mom I couldn't believe how isolated I felt. I longed for a connection with other moms. I wanted to know if my experiences were normal and I needed to be with other women who understood what my life was like.
My friend Julie invited me to be a part of her playgroup. I jumped at the chance and found the camaraderie I was looking for. These women were just like me! This was my first introduction to the concept of a moms group, something I've been committed to ever since. Moms groups, whether small, loosely organized play-groups or well-structured community or church groups, are vital to a mom and her need to be with other moms. Every mom needs a mothering community — a place where she finds encouragement in her role as a wife and a mother. A moms group is also a place a mom can be cared for. When my sister went on bed rest with her pregnancy, her moms group was part of a community of women who took care of her in that challenging season. Who mothers the mother? Other mothers.
If you don't have a moms group, find one or start one. If you are a mother of a preschooler, you might start by looking for a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group in your area. Go to www.mops.org, type in your zip code and you'll be given a list of groups near your home. If your kids are older or there isn't an established moms group in your area, you can start one of your own. You might want to pick up my book Creating the Moms Group You've Been Looking For at your local bookstore or at www.hearts-at-home.org to give you ideas and get you started in the right direction.
At the very least, start making an effort to spend time with other moms. Invite a mom and her kids over to play and visit. Ask a neighbor if she'd like to go out one night a week for pie and coffee. Be intentional about spending time with other women who understand what your life is like.
No Time Off
One of the biggest challenges of full-time motherhood is the fact that there's no lunch break, no vacation time and you don't get to leave the office at the end of the day. In time, I found that this left me feeling both trapped and depleted. It's the repetitive monotony of "mommy tasks" that leave us longing for "just a few hours to myself." Can Mom have some time off? Absolutely! What she has to do, though, is learn how to create it for herself.
Time off for me has looked different in different seasons of my mothering journey. What has been consistent has been my strategy to find it. I learned early on that no one was going to walk up to me and say, "Jill, I think you need a break." Instead, I had to learn to build breaks into my life, ask for them clearly and do whatever I could to make them happen.
When Anne and Evan were small, I attended an aerobics class three evenings a week. Asking Mark to cover the home front, I headed off for exercise, but even more than that I looked forward to the conversation each night. Most of the women enrolled in the class were moms, and our conversations before and after class were always encouraging.
When Erica was a baby, I longed to read the newspaper without interruption. That's when I asked Mark if he could give me 30 minutes each evening to read the newspaper in our bedroom. The time to myself was refueling. During that summer, I also asked Mark if one night of the week could be "Daddy night." He was agreeable to that, so after dinner each Thursday night, I would meet a friend for pie, shop or head to a park with a blanket and a book.
When Erica was a preschooler, a friend and I discovered that we could give each other days off. We chose Tuesday as our day — one Tuesday was my day off and the next Tuesday was her day off. Our kids loved the arrangement because once a week they were assured of a play day together. Sometimes I would use my day off to simply come home and sleep, other days I chose to go shopping or run errands, and almost every time I would do lunch with my husband.
When asked what she wanted for her birthday, my friend Julie told her husband she wanted him to get her a hotel room just for herself. He obliged. On her birthday she checked into a local hotel with scrapbooking supplies in tow. She enjoyed a night to herself, watched any movie she wanted on television and scrapbooked for hours. The next morning she woke up without the help of an alarm clock, had a leisurely morning and checked out at noon. She said it was one of the nicest birthday presents she ever received!
If you haven't had time for yourself, think about the activities that would refuel you. Once you've determined your strategy, do whatever you need to do to make it happen. It will almost always require the help of other people: a sitter, your spouse, your parents, a friend or a neighbor. The rewards are well worth the effort, however. You need it, and your family needs it too.
Very Little Sense of Accomplishment
Most homemaking tasks could be described as mundane and repetitive. It takes four hours to clean up a house and only four minutes for your kids to trash it. A load of laundry takes two hours to complete and a potty-training toddler can dirty half that load in a single day. Once a meal is finished and all the dishes are washed or tucked in the dishwasher, it's almost time to be thinking about the next meal. At night after everyone is in bed, a weary mother can wonder, "Did I accomplish anything today?"
By the world's standards, it might not seem as though we have accomplished much. However, the world's standards don't apply to the profession of motherhood. In this profession, the little things are the big things: snuggling an infant, playing peekaboo, changing diapers, nursing, giving a bottle, attending tea parties with dolls, driving trucks in the sandbox, playing catch in the backyard, having a snack on the porch, listening to the saga of a teenage breakup, picking up a sick child from school … the list goes on and on. These are the accomplishments of motherhood. They can't be checked off a list. They don't earn you a raise. They are rarely measurable. But they matter a lot.
You and I can't look for our sense of accomplishment on a daily basis. We have to look for it over the long haul … that's about 18 years or so. What I do today does matter, but it might not be noted or valued for a long time. A woman in the profession of mothering serves and cares for her family as an extension of her relationship with God: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these…you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). With that perspective, there are no menial tasks, there is much accomplishment and there is a higher sense of purpose. Understanding that perspective is the highest form of self-care there is.
Taken from: My Heart's at Home. Copyright © 2007 by Jill Savage. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Value of Stay-at-Home Moms
by Jill Savage
It was Rose Kennedy who said, "I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that demanded the best that I could bring to it." Like Rose, I have found that indeed motherhood is a profession, and it certainly deserves the best I can bring to it.
What happens at home is central to a child's ability to function throughout his life. Home is where bonding takes place and a child learns to attach to relationships. When a child can attach, that means they learn to trust people. Learning to trust is essential for having healthy relationships throughout life.
Our adopted son, Kolya, lived in an orphanage for the first nine years of his life. While it appears that it was a good orphanage, as orphanages go, the reality is that group care is never the same as mothering care. Since Kolya became a part of our family, Mark and I have been intentional about helping him learn to trust. Because I couldn't snuggle him as a baby, I've worked to snuggle with him in other ways. Sometimes I rub his legs, arms, and back with lotion at bedtime, other times we snuggle on the couch watching TV. This child doesn't need quality time; he needs quantity time. He needs to know that we're there in the morning when he wakes up and there at night when he goes to bed. He needs to know we'll be there after school and at any sport or music event he participates in. Home is where he is learning to trust, to love, and to be loved.
Home is where a child learns who they are. Each of us is created uniquely by God. We have unique gifts, talents, and temperaments. Home is the place those are discovered and celebrated.
Home is where we learn whose we are. We're not designed to journey through life alone. God created us to have relationship with Him. The most effective place for us to learn that is not at church — it's at home!
Home serves as our base camp. It's where we rest our head every night. It's the place we find clean clothes and a warm meal. It's a place of protection from the world and all that it demands.
With all the diverse roles that home plays in our life, someone has to be on duty to stay true to the construction blueprint.
On a construction site, the site manager is an on-site leader. He or she is present every day to make sure plans are followed, jobs are completed, and people are doing what they need to do. The site manager and the general contractor regularly communicate in order to keep the construction plan on task and on time. They confer and strategize together, and then the manager oversees the on-site work.
There is so much diversity in what goes on at home that an on-site manager is desperately needed. Someone needs to have the time and energy to invest in each member of the family as well as manage all the different facets of home. That's the essence of the job description for Mom, the site manager.
Taken from: My Heart's at Home. Copyright © 2007 by Jill Savage. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
It was Rose Kennedy who said, "I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that demanded the best that I could bring to it." Like Rose, I have found that indeed motherhood is a profession, and it certainly deserves the best I can bring to it.
What happens at home is central to a child's ability to function throughout his life. Home is where bonding takes place and a child learns to attach to relationships. When a child can attach, that means they learn to trust people. Learning to trust is essential for having healthy relationships throughout life.
Our adopted son, Kolya, lived in an orphanage for the first nine years of his life. While it appears that it was a good orphanage, as orphanages go, the reality is that group care is never the same as mothering care. Since Kolya became a part of our family, Mark and I have been intentional about helping him learn to trust. Because I couldn't snuggle him as a baby, I've worked to snuggle with him in other ways. Sometimes I rub his legs, arms, and back with lotion at bedtime, other times we snuggle on the couch watching TV. This child doesn't need quality time; he needs quantity time. He needs to know that we're there in the morning when he wakes up and there at night when he goes to bed. He needs to know we'll be there after school and at any sport or music event he participates in. Home is where he is learning to trust, to love, and to be loved.
Home is where a child learns who they are. Each of us is created uniquely by God. We have unique gifts, talents, and temperaments. Home is the place those are discovered and celebrated.
Home is where we learn whose we are. We're not designed to journey through life alone. God created us to have relationship with Him. The most effective place for us to learn that is not at church — it's at home!
Home serves as our base camp. It's where we rest our head every night. It's the place we find clean clothes and a warm meal. It's a place of protection from the world and all that it demands.
With all the diverse roles that home plays in our life, someone has to be on duty to stay true to the construction blueprint.
On a construction site, the site manager is an on-site leader. He or she is present every day to make sure plans are followed, jobs are completed, and people are doing what they need to do. The site manager and the general contractor regularly communicate in order to keep the construction plan on task and on time. They confer and strategize together, and then the manager oversees the on-site work.
There is so much diversity in what goes on at home that an on-site manager is desperately needed. Someone needs to have the time and energy to invest in each member of the family as well as manage all the different facets of home. That's the essence of the job description for Mom, the site manager.
Taken from: My Heart's at Home. Copyright © 2007 by Jill Savage. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
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