THE AWKWARD MOM

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Category: methods (page 2 of 7)

Freebie Fridays: Practical Tips on Humility from a Dead Bishop [INFOGRAPHIC]

March 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: < 1 minute

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about humility, as you can see in this post on staying humble when you shine.

I’ve gleaned a ton of great practical thoughts on this from Jeremy Taylor, a guy born over 400 years ago. This guy (1613-1667) was a chaplain to Charles I and a prolific, vivid author with keen insight into human behavior.

I’ve paraphrased some of his practical tips for all of us. (Believe it or not, you can read him on your Kindle for .99--but I like the abbreviated version in this devotional I love.) Check out his wisdom–and print it out if you want!
PRINT IT HERE!  read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: 10 Ideas to Help you Build Submission and Respect

November 14, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Like this series? Get more of these here.

I’ve been putting this post off.

It’s pretty much because creating a sense of respect in my kids still makes me want to tear my hair out.  Admittedly, my oldest is now 13, so we’re breaking new ground in this area. read more

ADHD and What Works for Us: Tips, tactics–and hope

October 6, 2017 / / 2 Comments
Reading Time: 7 minutes

Author’s note: This post veers a bit to a niche audience. But my posts on what I’m learning from my son’s learning disorders—ADHD and dysgraphia—and this one on helping our kids turn suffering into praise have been perennially visited by whom I can only assume are parents hoping to adjust to similarly harrowing and frustrating diagnoses.

I’m not a doctor or an expert—just a parent who has found some gratitude in all this.

Six years ago, my heart wasn’t just gripped by preparations to heave our family of six over to Africa. It took only till September of my son’s kindergarten year to piece together that something wasn’t right. read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: 13 Simple Ways to Teach Hospitality

September 28, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Missed the previous posts and the ideas behind this series? Catch ’em here.

He was barely in the front door, cheeks flushed from the bike ride home. He smelled like the cold and that faintest puff of little-boy sweat. “Mom! Guess what! We’re getting a new kid and his name is Toby and the teacher wants me to show him around and tell him all about the school!” He drew a breath, those Chiclet-sized adult teeth still, charmingly, just a bit too big for his eight-year-old mouth. read more

The Safe Place Series, #3: Practical Tips to Becoming a Person of Refuge

September 14, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

The other night, one of my kids was at his finest. It was as if a switch had been flipped. He went from easy-going to stonewalling us, arms crossed, resolutely stubborn. And man, was I getting the stinkeye.

Though his attitude was not without consequences, God was kind to me. I think He reminded me that disproportionate reactions are a lot of times symptoms that something deeper’s being triggered. Thankfully, this tipped my husband and I off to dig and uncover the problem more than just slam down the symptom.

Because when you’re going through a hard time, life can feel a little…naked. So our emotional safety is directly tied to the degree of acceptance we sense from someone.

Guest Post: Helping Kids Learn to Walk with the Holy Spirit

September 13, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Helping Kids Learn to Walk in the Holy Spirit

Take good care of my baby. (Yep, the kid actually managed to get five front teeth in this photo.)

It’s happening.

After eight years of homeschooling, this year, all four of my children strap on their backpacks and head down to our local public school. read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: Helping Kids Share Their Faith

June 13, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

New to this series? For the thoughts behind it, start here.

It was yesterday, walking to a train, that we met her—I’ll call her Gretchen. Conversation unfolded among us in the blistering sunshine. We were all drawn in by the details of her home country; the stories of her life there. At thirty, Gretchen is pretty and successful. She vacations around the world. read more

11 Ideas toward More Emotionally-whole and -healthy Parenting

May 8, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 5 minutes

The other day, both a bad thing and a good thing happened. My son—the one with ADHD—had a meltdown after lunch over his math homework. Maybe you’re thinking, I missed the “good” part. Good part: I realized he hadn’t melted down in a long time. So we were actually able to tease apart some of the factors for the meltdown (math after lunch, when his brain is tired; worrying that he wouldn’t get enough time to mess around at the pool after swim practice). We had time to deal not just with the meltdown, but to recognize it as the dashboard light it was—and hopefully circumvent it in the future.

One of the things I’m loving about some friends who’ve done the hard work of going—and responding to!—counseling is their remarkable capacity to love even better. As they’re combing out some of the tangles in their brains, everyone around them is cashing in on more enjoyable, meaningful interactions. My point? The time we spend investing in our homes’ emotional health pays untold dividends both to people around us now, and the countless ones in the future—including generations to come. Here, I’ve compiled some new and best-of ideas to take us to the next level (including yours truly). read more

The Stressed Version of Your Marriage

April 28, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Missed Part I, Questions to Understand THE STRESSED VERSION OF YOURSELF? Grab it here.

One of the unexpected delights of our final couple of months in Africa was the arrival of a college friend who’s known my husband and I since the beginning. She watched us meet, cautiously date, giddily become engaged. She played the piano when the two of us spring chickens said “I do” forever. Later, I stood with her as she spoke her own vows beneath a spreading tree. And when she visited us in Africa and we stayed up entirely too late, she gave us this gift: I told my husband, “I love that she reminds us how good we are together. That you and I together are a really good thing.”

I wrote before that this time of leaving Africa, of setting a foot on two highly divergent continents, has delivered unavoidable stress to our relationship. Both of us are strained, so it makes sense that our most intimate relationships would bear that weight. So it was kind of God to remind us that despite the ways we occasionally feel like the losers in a three-legged-race right now—“us” is still a really good thing.

Part I of this post outlined some essential reasons we need to identify when we’re stressed. If you’re convinced, let’s get down to it. What are the signs your marriage is under stress?

Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families: Fun Ways to Study God’s Word (with FREE printables)

April 4, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Missed the other posts in this series? Check out these on Prayer, Meditation and Contemplation, Simplicity, Solitude, Service, and Fasting.

Okay, so if it’s not obvious—problem numero uno may be getting our kids to study anything, right?

Maybe. read more

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