One Word At A Time: Summer

By MAD21

Summer. In our corner of the world it means hot and humid, thunderstorms, green grass and beautiful flowers and plants. But for me, summer means a whole lot more.

It means time.

Growing up and even during my young adulthood I remember people around me always talking about loving summer, not the season per se, but the time of year. Honestly, I never really understood it. Obviously as a child I loved summer because it meant no school and sometimes a family vacation, but in all the years leading up to parenthood, summer was just like any other time... just hotter. Work schedules and extracurricular activities continued on throughout the year without much thought.

Until this past year…

I am entering a different phase of parenthood. We are past the years of potty training and strollers, bottles and baby food, and teaching our girls to walk and talk. My oldest was in half-day Kindergarten last year and my youngest in a three-year-old Pre-K class two mornings a week. We had soccer, gymnastics and horse-riding lessons, along with birthday parties, play dates and homework. The end of the school year was so busy for us I don’t even remember May.

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One Word At A Time: Strength

By MAD21

If you are a parent, you have probably found yourself praying for strength every morning (perhaps every moment of the day?). Even if you aren't a parent, you have probably prayed for strength a lot in your life. Whether it's job stress, health issues, friend issues, family issues, it's never ending. But what exactly are we praying for?

You or a loved one get a cancer diagnosis and you pray for strength to get through it, but do you have a choice? It's not like you can tell the cancer to go away. You are forced to go through it whether you think you have the strength or not. The same goes for any situation you may find yourself in.

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Fingerprint Fridays: Endings and Beginnings

By MAD21

I wrote earlier the week about our oldest graduating kindergarten. One of the things we like to do for big events in our house is have a countdown. My girls just love it. For this particular event, however, the countdown was bitter-sweet. We were all happy that summer was coming and all that it brings. But sad to say good-bye to another year of school (yes, my kids are still young enough that they LOVE school).

I am thankful that God is there for all of our endings, and our beginnings. His fingerprints are always a welcome presence in our lives, but it's in these times they are especially welcome.

Fellow blogger Beki at The Rusted Chain has a really great weekly post she does every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday." We are to look around and see where we can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Anywhere? Go find out where Beki saw God this week, and be sure to check out the other bloggers who linked their stories as well.

Equally Worthy

By Pat

Out little granddaughter is developmentally disabled, and as she gets older it becomes more obvious that she is not on the same level intellectually and behaviorally as other children her age. An outside observer probably sees and hears her and notices only how behind she is, but those of us close to her know her and can see how much progress she has made in her special "early intervention" classes and her speech therapy.

We who care for her rejoice at what she has learned, and celebrate each little bit of improvement she makes. I firmly believe that God sees each of us like this; as different, unique and special children who are equally worthy of His love and grace. What a wonderful thing to know, and what a wonderful God we serve! I thank and praise God for His unbiased love for all of His beloved children!

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

This Time Is Short, Love Each Moment

By MAD21

My oldest graduated from kindergarten last night. It was an amazing program. The kids and their teachers had obviously worked very hard to put it together. This was the first time that I saw my daughter perform in front of people while looking like she actually enjoyed what she was doing, instead of being so nervous that she just kind of mouthed the words and barely went through the motions.

During the Headmaster's presentation, he spoke about the fact that turning six and graduating kindergarten is an important milestone. I, myself, have been pondering for the last few months on the importance of this time in my daughter's life. At first, I was struggling to figure out why some people make such a big deal out of this stage. Don't get me wrong, every minute I have with my kids is important to me. But I wondered why this specific time is celebrated.

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