“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth, From My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11
How wonderful is it when it rains after a long, stretched out drought. The animals and plants rejoice and dance together. Farmers thank the heavens. Rivers begin to flow effortlessly. The dust is pressed into the soft ground and what lingers is an incredbily crisp air that cleanses our lungs. The aroma of earth is fresh and ever so craving. When it rains for consecutive days, nature becomes fuller. Do you notice that? That is something you can see, that is something you can feel with your fingers. Life is sprung where you were oblivious to the seeds that were resting. How grateful we must be for the gift of rainfall.
As the scripture says “rain comes down, and does not return from where it came.” Rain comes down with a mission to accomplish and the rain never fails. It fully gives itself to earth. We may not see rain return to the sky but we can see the life of it’s work way after the rainfall has stopped. We look forward to the rain again because it is so pure and refreshing for all that it touches.
Gods word is like rain. It brings forth life, change, renewal, the same way rain does. Like the rain, Gods word has a mission and it will not fail those who ponder and read on it. We know the power of rain but yet, many of us have a difficult time believing in the power of Gods word. And that it can produce so much, just as rain and snow do.
He has left his word with us that it may water and bring forth seeds of love and compassion that reside in all of our hearts. He left His word to fulfill that empty space that we all are constantly trying to fill. Those are the seeds that are so thirsty. Watering those seeds with material and physical things will not clench the thirst of our spirits. They are watered with the things in which we cannot see. They are watered through pondering Gods word, prayer, hope, faith. His word is part of the equation to life. Humans, plants, animals, cannot live without water. We know this is true. To develop peace in our hearts is to study and ponder Gods word. As rain changes nature, Gods word will change our hearts. With His word, there is hope.
Notice what Gods word has accomplished in this world so far. Like the rain, it does not fail what it has been set out to do. Like the rain…
“So he answered and said, “ ‘ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself .’ “
Luke 10:27
If you study and pay attention you will begin to recognize how we are all interwoven creating life itself. We lean on one another without realizing, we depend on more than we believe or even know, all of us representing a small piece that make up a grand infinite masterpiece.
We are one. When you love someone, some thing, you are loving not just that something but yourself. Made up of the same universe. All in this life and unknown together. God is all around you, in every thing that you see, touch, smell, hear, taste, God is in you, God is in us.
Everything is deserving of love and every thing needs love. We must accept and appreciate the cycles and have faith in all that is. Have faith that no matter what, love will always grow through the mud the same way a lotus does. Love will grow through the suffering and the obstacles.
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance”
Romans 5:3
Let’s define some of these words first to grasp a better idea of what this scripture may mean. A tribulation is a cause of great suffering or trouble. Perseverance is defined as “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.”
Back to the scripture, our pain brings out the will to not give up. It pushes us, it makes us stronger. It continues to say that our troubles are what give us hope and shape our character.
When hard things happen we must have faith. It’s the love in our hearts that persevere. May this scripture encourage you to dig deep into your pain and to find out what it has taught you. What has it made you realize? What has it made you wonder? Pray about it. Ponder it. Sometimes we have to go through a dark forest in order to see a beautiful sunrise. And when we see that sunrise we give hope to those who are still in the forest.
Believe that you will come out on top, no matter what life has and will continue to throw at you…..God is with you, always. You just have to look around.
Whatever you want in this life, I hope what I have to say can motivate or encourage you in some way.
Don’t ever stop being a dreamer.
“Set impossible goals”. I actually heard that quote on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. It was one of her greatest holiday giveaway ones.
A man had been swimming in the ocean, he did a flip, and broke his neck. Just like that, his life changed in an instant.
Life as we know is full of those kind of moments.
He was told that he may never walk again. A nurse told him something that gave him strength and determination. “Set impossible goals.”
Over time, he did learn how to walk again, he is one of the lucky few. He didn’t allow being told that he wouldn’t be able to walk again stop him or hold him back. He dreamed that impossible dream. The beautiful part of this story is he walked his wife down the aisle. And I’m willing to bet they danced too. All because he didn’t give up. All the frustration, the tears, the try after try were absolutely worth it.
(This isn’t them btw, I’m just providing a visual so you can truly try to empathize with this couple and to gain perspective. Hope it works.)
Now……
Everyone has something that they desire.What is your dream? I know you have one.
I’m willing to bet some of you reading this have never really been asked that question. Or you haven’t shared it with anyone.
I want this post to get you thinking about what you want in your life. To take a moment to identify what you seek.
When I was younger the only dream I truly desired so much was to become a mom. I’m not even kidding, that was my dream. It was a dream and it felt like a calling, I can’t really explain it. I wanted to be a mom so bad and my greatest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to have children.
When I became a mother my dream literally came true. Words cannot describe how much joy motherhood gives me. However, what’s crazy though, when I became a mom I also lost myself a bit.
Losing a bit of myself was very bizarre to me. I became something that I wanted so badly, yet, here was I not feeling completely fulfilled.
I went on a serious soul searching journey. And 3 kids later I feel the most confident, courageous, that I have ever been. And I have grown so much.
Motherhood has been the best thing to ever happen to me, because I found a different part of myself. New dreams are being born and new goals are being formed because of my first dream. My daughters inspire me. I have started dreaming ‘impossible dreams’ because of them.
I share this because I don’tever want you to feel discouraged. The feeling of reaching something but not quite feeling the way you thought you would will happen sometimes.
I saw an interview with Tom Hanks on The Today Show and he said something along the lines of, “The good things you feel from an accomplishment don’t last, and the same goes for the things that bring you down.”
I’m grateful for my dream of motherhood coming true. Greatest, hardest thing ever! This blog exist because of my girls! I have no idea where this blog will take me, but so far it’s probably helped me more then it’s helped any of you.
Trust the Timing of things. And trust your path. Each path provides some type of lesson to get you where you need to go next.
It can take time trying to figure out what you really want.
The point is, don’t give up. Keep trying, keep experiencing, keep doing! And stop being so concerned with what others think. Otherwise you’ll just become stuck and you will settle. If you only knew that just a few feet more you’d see that something greater was waiting for you.
If you’re afraid to fail in front of others, you’re going to have to suck it up. I say that in the nicest way possible.
I personally would rather keep trying new things and experiencing failure to find what really lights my spirit up, then to just settle because I’m in a content position.
You can’t be afraid of dead ends, u-turns, or any paths that lead you into a roundabout.
The pitfalls, the mistakes, the redos are going to happen and they have to happen in order for you to learn and grow and to get where you want to be.
4 THINGS TO CLOSE THIS UP
(Thanks if you read this whole thing!)
Be patient.
Don‘t forget the reasonwhy you’re doing what you are doing.
Write your goals down and work towards it everyday.
Stop limiting yourself, set yourself to be free and to express who you really are and who you want to become.
I think something we all think about from time to time is our purpose in life.
Not just our purpose, but we wonder how we are contributing to this world. We ask ourselves what impact am I making, or how can I make an impact? I have an answer.
Kindness.
We reciprocate kindness. It’s something so simple yet extremely powerful.
Can you imagine a world where people were just more kind. Kind as in soft hearted, thoughtful, helpful, loving, full of compassionate and sincerity.
You hear about acts of kindness, you hear how contagious it is but what is an act of kindness really.
An act of kindness is a selfless act you do for someone or something for the mere fact of making them feel good and expecting nothing in exchange. That’s a very simple explanation.
In result of these actions, these acts of kindness, you feel good. You feel really good, you feel positive, you feel and you know you are making an impact in someway. If you are unaware of this, YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE with every kind thing that you do.
You don’t need to know the results of whatever good acts of kindness you are doing because in your heart you know these good deeds are impactful and will go further then you can possibly imagine.
Kindness is extremely contagious. Which is why we need to be more kind to one another.
Even just witnessing an act of kindness makes you feel good! Have you ever noticed that?
In performing more acts of kindness you are spreading magic.
When someone does something nice for YOU, don’t you feel a need and a desire to reciprocate it. You want to return the gesture because you keep in mind how good it made you feel and you want to pay it forward.
All this kindness feels so good because it releases that love hormone you’ve heard about, oxytocin.
A hormone that is released through intimacy, hugging, childbirth, and that’s just to name a few! Overall I think we all can agree it’s a pretty good feeling.
I feel like often we are reminded how cruel this world can be. Whether it be something we watch on the news or see on social media, or hear maybe on the radio.
It’s crucial to not let these bad things that exist harden your heart and to stay strong with your ‘kindness armor’.
Being a Mother I worry a lot about my children and this world they are growing up in. But I know if we are all just more kind this world really can be a better place.
I challenge you to do more acts of kindness. Empathize with one another and choose to love. We are all in this together. We are one.
No matter how big or small you think you are, you play a huge part in this life and world and plan. Lift those who are weak, continue to strengthen yourself to help others, and never give up on the vision that you have for a better place.
Our mornings are what set the day for success, they set the pace for positive results, and they set our mood for optimism. Have you ever heard the quote, “Win the morning, win the day.” By Entrepreneur Tim Ferriss.
It makes a difference when things are running smoothly versus getting a late start and then constantly feeling rushed.
When we can win the morning we are setting ourselves up for productivity. You are more likely to feel a sense of accomplishment through out your day when you have a great morning.
Think for a quick moment, what do your mornings look like? How are you shaping them daily.
Would you describe the start of your day as relatively consistent or a tad sporadic? I guess it kind of depends if you went out for margaritas the prior the night before or not. But on a daily basis what’s your routine look like?
If you don’t have a morning routine I highly encourage you to develop a morning routine. Don’t feel bad if you have difficulty sticking to your routine, the important thing is to have one in place and to work towards the good habits daily.
It can be super easy to get distracted but don’t let that stop you from getting these morning rituals done.
To be honest sometimes I have difficulty sticking to this routine because my children are my huge distraction but if I can cross off at least 3 of these things every morning I typically feel pretty good!
Now if you feel your morning is consistent, what is it that you do every morning and do you feel like it’s helping with your personal growth in some way?
And who doesn’t want to start their day with a positive attitude and in a positive mood every day!
It took me some time to develop a morning routine. But I’ve found when I’m consistent in all 5 of these habits my mornings are better then ever! A great kick start to the day and feeling motivated to get stuff done.
Here is what I do just about every morning!
Start Off Everyday With These 5 Simple Morning Habits
1. Stretch
One of the first things to do is the morning is stretch. (It’s usually after I’ve had my coffee) You don’t need to perform any crazy yoga stretches first thing in the morning just stand up and move your body.
Reach for the sky, reach for your toes, move your head side to side, you get the idea. Get the blood circulating and get your energy levels back up. While stretching to a few deep breathes. This is the perfect way to wake the body and get it ready for the day!
2. Wash Your Face/Take A Shower
I feel like a good, cold, splash to the face is rejuvenating and refreshing. I feel like my puffy eyes instantly go down and I become more awake in an instant.
A cold shower is another quick way to get those energy levels up and a great way to kick start any day! I usually shower at night but if I need an extra pep in my step I put on this watermelon shower cap and take a cold body shower. I’m more alert then ever, and I just feel good.
3. Drink A Glass Of Water
One of the first things I do every morning and put into my body every morning is I drink a glass of lukewarm water. Not cold, water needs to be warm or I would say room temperature. I have been doing this forever now. The best reason to do this is to cleanse your digestive track and to help eliminate toxins from your body.
4. Read A Devotional/Watch Or Listen To Something Motivating
This is one of the best things to do every morning to get your mind right. Reading a devotional, listening to an uplifting podcast, or watching a motivational video is a great way to gain some perspective and to motivate you. There’s nothing like feeling inspired every morning. I can’t even begin to describe the impact of doing this every morning!
5. Make A To-Do List
Making a to-do list is a great way to hold yourself a accountable on tasks you want to accomplish. Creating a to do list every morning increases productivity and did you know it even relieves stress!
With life being so chaotic at times this is a great way to have some control and to remain organized.
Share your morning routine! What is it that you do every morning that gets you going?
Everyone is going through something. No matter how they appear on the outside is irrelevant to what they may be experiencing on the inside.
Life has its hard moments. Moments where you feel like you are suffocating, you feel restrained, you feel unworthy, you feel defeated, you are fearful to the unknown.
When these obstacles visit, they typically visit unannounced and typically strike very hard. No preparation, they just completely catch you off guard. Leaving you bruised and winded.
I know it’s challenging when these moments happen or when you can’t seem to break free of these demons that are haunting you. Not everyone will know what you are going through. However I want to share that everyone knows the feeling of struggle in some form or another.
I want you to know that trials and tribulations are apart of life and they help us to strengthen our faith. When you think you are alone, I want you to know that you are not alone. I also don’t want you to give up. Never give up. Progression never ends and you will always have to work to get to the other side. Hard moments, fearful moments, challenging moments…they do not last forever.
In James 1:2-4 it is mentioned that we should be joyful during the trials in our life. These times are a true test of our faith in our Heavenly Father.
The Holy Bible – James 1:2-4
2. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3. knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
An Affirmation is a statement; you are declaring something. With saying these affirmations you are gaining power and not allowing your thoughts or attitude to go negative. This control of your mind is crucial in maturing and moving forward. When you find yourself thinking or behaving in a negative manner stop what you are doing and say a few affirmations to yourself. Just keep saying it, and don’t stop.
The more you say these affirmations the more they will resonate with you, the stronger your faith will become, and soon enough your armor will be indestructible. You will be able to handle anything that life throws at you.
Because remember, you are never alone in your turmoil.
With saying these affirmations I know it will provide the courage to take on whatever trial or trouble you are currently facing in your life.
God Bless You.
Confront Your Fears And Struggles With These 8 Affirmations – Scripture References Included
(I encourage you to look up these scripture references and to highlight them. There may come a time when you are reading and this highlighted scripture will jump at you when you need it the most)
I trust in and love God completely, he is the only one I truly need and will direct me where to go Proverbs 3:5-6
God is my strength and is with me always Philippians 4:13 Psalm 23:4
I do not fear, I know God will not leave me Deuteronomy 31:6Genesis 21:22
When I am afraid I will trust in God Psalm 25:2-5
I am living on purpose and will do great things Jeremiah 32:19 Ephesians 2:10
I am a confident person that does not worry Matthew 6:25-34
Through my trials my faith with only strengthen and mature James 1:2-4
I will choose to do things that I am afraid of 2 Timothy 1:7
God loves you and he wants you live a joyful life. He knows what he is doing. I know it can be difficult but trusting the Lord will provide peace in your life.
I pray these affirmations will provide peace for you. They have helped me tremendously and I know they can help you as well.
Please share any thoughts or comments, or feel free to contact me.
20’s are an absolute blast I will say and a time for some full on growth.
Full of foolish moments that make you smile whenever you think about them. Happy hours, parties, late night shenanigans, plenty of all nighters, summer love, blurry moments, adventure, dancing, and some really fun, stupid times.
A few moments of “what was I thinking?” and, “I still can’t believe I did that” will happen when reminiscing about your 20’s.
Your twenties are kind of the carefree time in your life. At least in the beginning it starts like that.
When I say carefree I mean go with the flow kind of mentality. That things will just work out how they need so. Your thought process is that you have time.
Later you realize that’s not exactly how it works, if you want something it’s going to take work and you have to be willing to put in the work to get what you want. You also realize time doesn’t wait and you don’t get time back.
You don’t really realize how young and naive you are at that age till you are reflecting on the past.
You will be a different person at age 21, 25, and 29 no doubt. A little hard to believe how much changing and evolving happens during this time.
Your 20’s are full of growing and identifying who you are and what you truly want to be. You may move to a different city, make a drastic career change, get into a committed relationship, do things you said you’d never do, and a few setbacks may happen here and there.
Your 20’s are also full of mistakes. Recalling events or actions and feeling completely embarrassed or guilty. Or not taking that leap of faith your initiation was telling you to do.
During these moments you learn to discover the silver lining in all things.
Towards the end of your 20’s you begin to love yourself and you learn how to not let the opinions of others alter who you are. You may become lost, but you also find yourself in a completely different way.
You drift away from friends but gain new ones. Some you cut off completely, some you rekindle with.
You become very close with your family and recognize how often they have been there for you and have supported you.
You may get married and have kids. If it’s not happening to you it will be happening to the people around you. Don’t feel rushed or saddened.
There is a time for everything. One lesson you will learn in your 20’s.
There will also be a few hard moments that will probably happen in your 20’s. Heartbreak and loss. Feelings of wasted time and regret.
Struggles will happen with your relationship, you may experience struggles of trying to start a family, you may struggle with work, you may struggle with debt, you may experience betrayal, you may experience heartbreak, etc.
These are the moments that will shape you the most. You will become more empathic towards others and gain a variety of different perspectives.
A few things you will take with you onto the next decade are:
More confidence and more self assurance
A list of goals you are determined to accomplish
Awareness of how fast life really does go
Words of wisdom from friends, parents, or mentors
The courage to say No to things you really don’t want to do
That things will pass, and life does go on
More knowledge about your physical and mental health and how you need to stay on that
Friendships you’re incredibly thankful for
Advice for your 20s
Embrace everything
Seize opportunities that approach you
Explore and Travel
Learn how to manage your finances
Exercise
Spend time with your parents
Read more
Go On A Solo Trip If You Can
Don’t compare your journey to someone else’s
Pray
If you aren’t happy, don’t wait, do something about it NOW
On to the next adventure. On to the 30’s.
For myself, I am incredibly grateful for where I am and the lessons I have learned.
Being a Mom can be challenging. That’s the truth, and for many different reasons and unique situations.
While Motherhood is absolutely amazing and very humbling, it’s full of struggles, hardship and what many other Mothers would call ‘Mom guilt’.
You really won’t hear too many Mothers going around talking about the struggles they have with parenting, a lot of times we keep our hard times to ourselves.
Why? Because we are ashamed to even have these feelings and emotions. We feel embarrassed and unworthy at times. It’s difficult when these types of moods occur.
I got to a point in this Motherhood journey where I knew I needed to change myself. Some of my actions were definitely uncalled for. How could I expect my little one to control their temper when I could barely control my own.
I found myself constantly complaining and it felt like I was pouring out nothing but negative things. I was loosing my patience on my toddlers. I was crying because of my behavior. I was disappointed in myself. I couldn’t believe some of the things I did and said. I truly felt unrecognizable.
My faith has always been important to me. Even more important and guiding once I became a Mother. I knew at this point where I was that I needed to be put in my place. I needed perspective and I needed an adjustment in my attitude.
When I decided that I needed to do something, a devotional book came to mind. In the past I would watch motivating videos on YouTube in hopes of being inspired or driven in some way. This time, I wanted something tangible and something that I could reference back to when needed.
I also knew a devotional book would strengthen my relationship with God, which is what I really needed. I needed help with Mothering my children because I was tired and burnt out to say the least.
I went onto amazon and I believe I typed in, ‘women’s devotional book’. Trusting God Day By Day: 365 Daily Devotionals by Joyce Meyer was one of the books that showed up in my search.
I choose that specific devotional book because of the numerous great reviews.
Mothers, I want you to try reading a devotional everyday, preferably from a devotional book. I personally suggest a book because more is said then just the devotional itself. Insight is shared, perspective is gained, and the author finds a way to connect you with their words, that you can apply to your every day life.
Try reading a devotional first thing in the morning, if not first thing in the morning then sometime during the day.
(note: When you are reading your devotional have your bible, a journal, and a pen handy. Write down whatever stands out to you, or write down more specifically, what it means to you.)
I would like to share that reading a devotional everyday has truly helped me with my Mothering. I am more patient then I was, I am more empathetic, and I have gained more self control.
A few slips are going to happen. You’re human. However you will get closer and closer to where you want to be. You got this Mama! I am praying for you!
This is the devotional book I am currently reading daily and I am so grateful!
I’m so incredibly thankful for this journey and my beautiful daughters who have brought new colors into my world. Thank you so much for reading. I hope this will bring more peace to you and your family if you choose to try this.
As you have probably heard before parenting does not come with a manual guide, nor will it ever come with a guide because every single parent does parenting differently. There would be no way to accommodate to the variety of parenting styles if a guide even did exist.
I have 2 almost three year old’s and expecting another baby in a few months and I still do not have it figured out. Truth be told, I don’t believe I ever will. However, that does not bother me because I can appreciate that parenting is a journey full of never ending lessons. Some harder then others. I hear teenage years are the hardest.
Before I became a parent I will admit I imagined it being nothing but easy and well, fun. Full of cute and happy moments. I never once thought about the struggles that come along with welcoming a child into your life.
I just thought about how I would be the ‘best mommy ever’. I am definitely not the best mommy ever FYI
I could not wait to be a mother. It was definitely a dream of mine and a calling I felt an eagerness to fulfill at a very young age. I had my first baby at 26, and I finally felt like this prayer of mine was answered.
When I became a parent, it was better then I ever imagined it to be. It was also way harder then I ever thought. I’m talking way harder. I think the way harder really set in when my husband and I received a second baby by surprise. We were completely caught off guard.
(we received our second baby when our first was 10 months old, to read about that story you can search ‘A Blessing In Disguise’)
When you become a parent, you see things differently. You don’t just see things differently but you have a completely different awareness and understanding.
You look at your parents differently…….in good and bad lighting. Your friends who have had kids for a couple of years now? You feel sorry, because you just didn’t know what they were going through. You can even connect now with strangers almost everywhere you go that are holding a little hand.
You empathize with parents because you know it’s the most amazing and yet hardest privilege.
As a parent you want to do your best for your child. But it’s hard. There are many days where you feel like a complete failure. You also blame yourself for a lot of things that are really out of your control.
We never want to hurt them.
But truth be told, we are going to leave emotional scars on our children.
Now, that’s a real tough pill to swallow especially because we are continuously trying to be the best that we can be.
We do our best to give what we didn’t receive. To be, what are parents were not. To do, what are parent’s didn’t do. As well as, try not to do, what are parents did.
We do our best. But what we think is best, is not always the best and can impact our child in ways we can’t even imagine. Which is a little frightening when you really sit and think about it.
It’s a lot of pressure! We are shaping a life or lives! And one can only hope and pray that the wounds we cause aren’t too severe.
I don’t know what type of scar I am going to leave but I know I will leave one. It may be something I say, something I do, something I choose, something I don’t do…..who knows. But there will be a time, when my child will feel let down by me.
My child is never going to forget it. And neither will yours.
And you may never know what emotional scar you left unless your child has the courage to tell you.
Just about everyone suffers from some type of ‘childhood trauma’. From mild trauma to severe.
You had a parent that always put you down, you had a parent that you felt betrayed you in some way, you had a parent that hit you, you had a parent that suffered from substance abuse, you had a parent that was never honest, you had a parent that was never there, you had a parent that favored your other siblings, you had a parent that didn’t choose you, you had a parent that didn’t believe you, your parent had a temper, your parent embarrassed you, etc……
We all have something that is THERE.
Something that left us confused, upset, concerned, worried, scared, alone, numb…something.
I can tell you, causing you pain was never their intention. Maybe there were other things going on in their life, maybe they were afraid, maybe they thought they were doing a good thing for you…..you know, you just don’t know what was going on in their head at the time. OR…..you don’t really know the results of their ‘childhood trauma’ and how it impacted and shaped their behaviors. Who knows….
(note: If your child is grown, you’re right, you can’t change the past. But you can tell them sorry. That will provide more relief then you know.)
When I look at my daughters I can only pray the scars I leave aren’t too severe. And I hope they will be comfortable enough to tell me when I have hurt their feelings or possibly done something they wish I hadn’t.
I think to myself…..what am I going to do, one day, where I am going to let you down. Even Nemo in the Kids movie ‘Finding Nemo’ said I hate you to his dad, do you remember?
My heart breaks knowing that I won’t be a perfect mom where they will grow up and say their childhood was perfect. It’s unrealistic. That’s not going to happen. I will make mistakes. I know I will, because I already do make mistakes, feel guilt, and have regrets.
It’s something inevitable, it’s going to happen.
Can you think of anything that your parent said to you or did that you have never forgot? Whether it’s big or small you remember exactly how it made you feel.
I have 3 things I will say to my children often that I hope will always bind us together and strengthen our relationships as years come and go.
I hope by saying these things often my children will have peace of mind and not be severely impacted and haunted for years to come by my actions or words that I have no idea will influence my child in the future.
They are below.
I LOVE YOU
I want to make sure I am saying this as much as possible to each child of mine. I hope my child never questions how much love I have for them. It’s not enough to just say it, but telling them why I love them. Expressing to them the joy they bring into my life. Sharing lessons they have taught me. WE know we love our children, but sometimes they don’t hear it enough or feel it enough. They need to hear it and feel it.
I AM PROUD OF YOU
I don’t want to just say those words after they accomplish something like a good grade on a test or a tournament won. I want to say these words just because. I don’t want my children to think they always have to impress me or accomplish something grand to hear these words. I will be proud of them everyday and I want them to know how proud I am to be their Mother.
I AM SORRY
This is a huge one. Being a parent, it’s hard to admit our faults. Especially, to our children. We don’t want to admit that we made a mistake or take ownership for something that we have done, because honestly…..sometimes we think we are in the right. WE think we are, but from a child’s perspective it’s completely different.
A child isn’t expecting an apology from their parent, but sometimes they need to hear it to move forward and let that burden go. I plan on saying sorry often. Sorry if I hurt their feelings, sorry if I couldn’t make their soccer game, sorry for saying NO, sorry for not being cool enough, just sorry. I will always be sorry any time I have upset them but I hope one day they will realize why I did the things I did, why I didn’t do the things they wanted and why I am who I am. I know there will be times that they need to hear this from me, and my hope is they can always forgive me
I know I will never be the best, but I will never give up trying to be the best that I can be.
Parenting is hard…..but it’s also the best gift in the world. A true gift from God and a blessing.
The Wild Gems 