THE AWKWARD MOM

because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having

Month: December 2015 (page 1 of 2)

Guest post: What makes you remember?

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As we flick the page over to 2016 tonight, I’m posting on EverThineHome.com again: What Makes You Remember?

With grateful permission, I’ll post the beginning here.

In my dad’s garage are stashed a few items that would be of little significance to anyone else, but that mean the world to him: a charred license plate. An old mechanic’s shirt—the kind he wore daily in his farming years—with the back torn away entirely. read more

The 2015 List

Reading Time: 3 minutes

the 2015 listI started it on Christmas Day, feet propped up as I slouched on my front porch, my journal falling across my knees, a drained mug of tea at the foot of my chair: The 2015 List.

Why I do it, year after year? Partially because I’m an airhead. Well. I actually have a decent memory. But even with that—because I think it’s all too human to forget.

My 2015 List is my vigorous attempt to comb through my year, recalling how faithful God was to me this year. It’s cluttered with pencil scrawls of events and good gifts large (“faithfulness in robbery”, reads one line) and relatively small (the list of delicious or wise books I have read, or remembering that time I hauled my mattress outside because I really thought we had bedbugs, and it turns out we didn’t).

Real-life Motherhood Moments, #5

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Real-life Motherhood Moments!

…Because there’s just too much real life not to share.

  read more

Reflections on a Christmas robbery

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Christmas robberyMy husband and I, kids in tow, were maneuvering at a snail’s pace through a traffic jam in our trusty high-clearance minivan. Our speakers happily trumpeted the Christmas CD my mom had sent, and we chatted, our energy high for our Christmas shopping in the city and the Christmas party of our non-profit (which, with the barbecue and kids running around in shorts, tends to look a little more like the Fourth of July). It was sometime after “Let it Snow” that our heads all swiveled to the driver’s side, where a man was banging—hard—on the outside of our van. Never a good sign in Kampala.

And that’s when his partner whipped open my car door and swiftly grabbed my bag slouched at my feet. My casserole dish skidded across the pavement as I unbuckled without thinking, standing between the unmoving lanes and yelling something very helpful, like, “HEY!” as he and his cronies ran away with my reading device, my phone, the drivers’ licenses from both countries, and our house keys.

I make it sound lighthearted, typing to you over a week later. But really, I just started sobbing, my hands shaking–which probably frightened my children just as much as the stranger flinging open the car door.

9 Practical ways to savor the Christ in your Christmas

Reading Time: 3 minutes
savor the Christ in your Christmas
  1. Don’t do something. To an already-packed schedule, Christmas can feel a bit like “more bricks, less straw.” Cut out a few of the “have-to’s” that aren’t (could we do photo Christmas cards rather than hand-signed? Could I forego making frosted Christmas cookies for the reception?)—and allow a little more margin for a devotional, meditative state of mind rather than one sprinting to keep up. Think Martha versus Mary here.
  2. Listen. If you’re moved by music, spend a few dollars and a few extra minutes on iTunes for songs that will get worship rolling around in your head and your heart.
  3. Subtract. Pray that God will open your eyes to what entangles and distracts your heart from really soaking in the Christmas message this year—and that you’ll have the courage to cut it loose. For me, sometimes the disappointment and sadness of being away from home and the festivities replete in the Western world sometimes mean I keep Christmas at arm’s length, steeling myself. But I also know that when I’m in the developed world during Christmas, my schedule and all the trimmings of the season tend to clutter my mind and my heart from the one person who matters.
  4. Download an advent devotional, like this one from Desiring God.
  5. Hijack your traditions. Consider an advent calendar that—alongside the ubiquitous sugar—leads your family closer to Jesus. I like this printable one from Faith Gateway. We’ve also been gifted ornaments that clearly remind us of Jesus whenever we look at our tree, like these from Ever Thine Home. Younger kids may enjoy making Jesus a birthday cake and singing “Happy Birthday” on Christmas.
  6. Hone in. Pick one name of Jesus (“Prince of Peace”) or verse (“I am the Lord’s servant; may it be to me as you have said”) or character from the Christmas story that sticks out—or ask God to point out one. Meditate on that as you go through the season, and listen as God fleshes out its meaning.
  7. Add a slice of service. Choose one area for your family to give itself away this Christmas—one that pushes you beyond “sacrifices that cost nothing,” pressing you into worship that gives uncomfortably, extravagantly, and/or inconveniently in your expression of love for God.
  8. In what ways do you worship? Author Gary Thomas writes
    of the various ways we worship as individuals: through nature, restoring justice, through our intellect, etc. Carve out time for the ways you worship, like a walk through the snow, a prayer time in the quiet of the Christmas tree lights, or shoveling a neighbor’s snow.
  9. Ask Him. You’ve heard the old warning: If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. This may seem like a “duh”—but consider a question like this one: God, I know how everyone else thinks I should spend my day today. How do you want me to spend it, to be faithful to you and love well? And Help me to know how my holiday can be about increased worship of You—and keep the main thing the main thing.

A festival of Light

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people walking in darkness #isaiah9:2 #haveseenagreatlight #Christmas #agenerousgrace

Guest post: Letter to a Discouraged Mom

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Hi! Contributing on weareTHATfamily.com again today, on a post I flat-out needed myself this week: Letter to a Discouraged Mom.

If you’re having one of those days/weeks/seasons, I hope it encourages you.

Praying for you today, readers.

Wonders of His love

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Christmas brims with odd contrasts, right? It’s the beckoning, warm technicolor of light displays in frigid darkness; the cheery fires while we peer out at naked, frozen trees; the heartache of the empty spot at the table in the midst of bubbling conversation; God arriving on earth in a barn.

12 “Angry” Steps

Reading Time: 4 minutes

12 angry steps

I’ve written before about my anger problem. You know. The one I didn’t think I had until I had children.

But as conflict reveals my heart for what it really is, I’m compiling a working list of practical steps and thoughts as God patiently carves away the death in my heart and slowly makes me a conqueror. read more

White as snow

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white as snow#isaiah1:18 #whiteassnow #agenerousgrace

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