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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One Word At A Time: Compassion

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

Compassion [kuhm-pash-uhn]
synonyms: commiseration, mercy, tenderness, heart, clemency
verb: sympathize, pity
noun: pity, mercy, sympathy, commiseration, ruth, clemency
Compassion is a feeling of pity, sympathy, and understanding for someone who is suffering as well as the desire to alleviate it.

Interestingly enough I never really thought much about the word before. However in 2007 my world changed and the word Compassion has become an active part of my vocabulary as well as my actions. I have always had a heart for children through ministry and education but not to the extent I do now. In that year I had the opportunity to meet the child I sponsor through Compassion International. Those of you that know my story know the life changing moment that was for me. I went from caring to passionate. I saw the love that she had for the simple act that we were doing in sponsoring her and most of all I saw the difference that I was making. Compassion became a verb to me and a ministry.

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One Word At A Time: Emptiness

By MAD21

This time of year brings mixed emotions for me. I love the warmer weather and as I wrote about on Friday, all the fresh fruits and veggies. I love all the time I get to have with my kids and family and the fun things we get to do together. But underneath the joy I feel this time of year, there is also an emptiness. A deep sadness that lingers like the residue in a cool glass of tea. It's not bad enough to ruin the day, but you know it's there.

My dad and I were fairly close all my life. Like my oldest is my "mini-me," I was my dad's. We had a lot in common. We both loved cars, traveling, people watching and a good hard days work. I looked just like him and his family. In fact, if you compare my baby pictures to my aunt's (his sister), you can barely tell any difference. Aside from the age of the picture itself giving it away, you would think it was the same child.

Growing up, summer time always meant a trip to visit my dad's family. They lived in a town a long five hours away from us. But it was worth the drive because I loved my aunt and her family. We had a bond that miles couldn't break. I have so many memories as a child going camping with my parents and my aunt and uncle. Going fishing on my uncle's boat and being the only one that ever caught anything. My aunt wearing jeans, sneakers, and my uncle's shirts and cooking something over the fire (and telling my dad what to do!).

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One Word At A Time: Grace

By MAD21

Last week was "one of those weeks." My youngest was really struggling with self-control and obedience. Several times I saw the ugly side of lost tempers and bad attitudes, admittedly myself included. My oldest was struggling in her own way, too. Getting on "yellow" three days at school for talking and not controlling herself in class.

When it comes to discipline, I have found that grace is one of those really tricky things when it comes to being a parent. Mercy, too, for that matter. Grace being that thing you give when your kids are just short of reaching the goal, and mercy being what you give when they've missed it altogether.

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