With these last few December days steadily ticking away and a brand spankin' new year shining out from a fresh calendar on the wall, the time seems right for some self-evaluation. As I look back over the past 12 months, I see changes that have occurred during this latest voyage around the sun--changes in me, changes in how I parent (among other things).
I think I'm a different mother now than I was at the beginning of 2012.
I think I'm a
better mother (most of the time) than I was a year ago.
What has changed? Well, for one thing, I think I delight in my children more. I think I truly enjoy them more. I think I listen to them more. I think I relax more and stress less (about the messes they make, the noise they produce, the process of educating them, etc.).
I think I still have a long way to go.
During this past year, I jotted down a few quotes that spoke especially loudly to my heart. They have instructed and inspired me in my quest to become the mother that God desires for me to be; and as 2013 unfolds, I want to continue to implement the wise principles contained in them. Every so often, I need to read back over this post so that I can be convicted all over again and encouraged to continue striving for the goal of Godly motherhood.
Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.
~ Catherine M. Wallace
The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.
~ Peggy O'Mara - the silverpen.com
The average 4 year old asks 437 questions a day. This means we have 437 opportunities to nurture our child's curiosity, or 437 opportunities to roll our eyes in annoyance. Which will you choose?
Remember these two rules of thumb when responding to your preteen.
* Measure your response against the excitement on his or her face,
* Think before you speak.
~ from On Becoming Preteen Wise by Ezzo and Bucknam, in a chapter on healthy communication
The most precious jewels you'll ever have around your neck are the arms of your children.
~ seen on Facebook
My five children are truly the most precious jewels in the world to me; and because of my great love for them, I am eager for the refining work to happen in me more and more throughout this new year. Cut away the bad; make room for the good. Do whatever it takes, Lord, to form me into a mother who wholeheartedly follows You.
Because they--my five--deserve the very best that I can be.
* these pictures of Shav were taken back in November when I was doing a photo shoot in preparation for a special Christmas gift for him...since I had never posted these pictures, I decided to toss them into this post, just for fun *
:)
2 comments:
Hi Davene -
Cute kids. I'm glad to have played with them again.
Aunt Helen
Those quotes are so, so true! Especially the second one about the way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. That is overwhelmingly true from my childhood/growing up years. The things my parents said, either in general or to me, are my inner voice. I hear it all the time and I can't get away from it. It makes me think, what are the things I say that will either haunt or help my children by running through their heads for the rest of their lives? It really makes me think, and pay a lot of attention to how I respond all the time, and particularly at crucial moments.
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