Tag Archives: spiritual

Yesterday my friend Laura and I had a chance to get together. Originally, I was going to her house for an hour or two and then I was going to go have lunch with another friend, come home, put Zoe down for a nap, spend some time in the peace and quiet of my house, Jamielynn was coming over at 3:30, and then I had a coffee date with somebody else at 5. The life of a popular housewife, glamorous… I know. What ended up happening though was that my friend for lunch forgot to put me on her calendar, and so we switched lunch to today. No big deal, really. I was feeling kinda overwhelmed with how busy the day had become in the first place. So, Laura and I are hanging out. She with her newborn, me with my toddler running around her house. It was a little bit after 10 when I got there.

The next thing I knew it was 3pm and we were headed to this taco joint at the beach called Tacolu’s.

Tacolu’s, if you live here in Jax, is a must. I can’t wait to take Brad. It’s been here for years, but I just went for the first time yesterday.

I am in love.

I digress.

My friend, Laura, is one of the most interesting people that I know. Raised at the beach, her life sways to a different rhythm than the rest of the world. Meaning, she’s incredibly laid back. But, under the surface of that laid back exterior is a borderline genius (she wouldn’t tell you that she’s a genius, but I’m telling you… that girl is smart), she holds a bachelors, a masters, and at one point was in seminary…. just for fun. She reads political blogs and listens to NPR, but unless you ask her what her opinion is, you’ll never hear it. She’s traveled around the world, currently just moved back here from New Zealand, and has this laid back adventurous spirit that consistently takes me by surprise. I say “by surprise” because you don’t see it until she does something like move to New Zealand. Make sense? My point, is that while we are very close, and have been friends for years… we have very different ways of looking at the world.

Meaning, I fly by the cuff…. and Laura actually thinks things out.

As we normally do when we’re together, we began talking about motherhood and our goals and desires for our kids. I was telling her about reading Tim Tebow’s book. {If you haven’t read that book yet, I highly suggest it. Especially if you are a parent.} The book is mainly about Tebow taking you through every game of football he’s ever played in.his.life. So, you might want to skip a few parts, but woven between the pages is a story of two incredible parents who raised 5… FIVE… incredible kids.

Tim Tebow’s parents gave him $1 for every time that somebody else complimented his character. They cared more about their kids character than most anything else. Tim also talks about how his parents have told him all his life that he was special, that God had a special plan for his life, that he was going to be given a platform and that he needed to use that platform to honor God. But, to Tim, that didn’t stand out as out of the ordinary because they told all of their kids that. They were interested in developing each individual child’s gifts and talents and teaching them to honor the Lord with them. So, when his sister showed passion for the piano, his parents saved and saved until they could buy her a piano. She went to college on a music scholarship. Actually, all five of their kids went to college on a scholarship.

I read the whole book thinking “I want to be like them”. I want to raise my kids like they did theirs.

Tebow talks about homeschooling in this book like it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. Laura and I started talking about homeschooling. Can I tell you, that I never in my life thought that I would EVER homeschool my kids? Ever. I loved public school. I received a great education. With the exception of middle school, I had an absolute blast throughout my public school experience. But, a few things I’ve noticed lately have made me wonder if public school is the right thing for my kids. Namely, fourth graders are going home every night with two hours of homework, and I think that is beyond absurd.

Laura, on the other hand, has thought quite seriously about homeschooling. She and her hubby have talked through it. There’s still years for both of us to decide what we’re going to do, but opinions are being formed. Laura’s point was that she thinks she can make learning more fun than public schools can. I have no doubt that she is correct. But, as she talked about the benefits {and I talked about the challenges} to homeschooling, it made me wonder if {God help me} I needed to be more serious about this idea.

Then, we started talking about parenting methods and philosophies. If you’re a parent, you have a parenting philosophy. You may not know you do, but you do. I have a very defined parenting philosophy. Love and Logic and Loving our Kids on Purpose are exactly where I want to be as a parent. My other mantra, if you will, is to “raise my child in the way that HE/SHE should go”. Meaning, to raise my kids as individuals, and be the primary tool that God uses to unveil the masterpiece He’s created in my children. Laura told me about Michelle Duggar’s blog. While you may have whatever opinions you want about the family size… those parents are doing something right. Their kids like each other. They have 19 kids and they like each other. Those kids honor and respect their parents… and it’s not because it’s been beaten into them. Although, when Michelle was asked if she spanks her kids she said something like “We praise our kids 10x’s more than we punish our kids”. For the record, that means “Yes, we spank our kids… but it’s not our only form of discipline”. She has 19 kids, I promise you, they’ve been spanked a time or two. But, here’s what Laura told me that Michelle said, “We praise in public, we discipline in private”.

Those, my friends, are words to live by as a parent.

I want to be a mother who invests my life into my kids. I want to be a parent who honors and respects my children. I want to be a parent who instills a love of learning in my children. I want to celebrate my children every day. I want to celebrate who they were created to be, and develop those talents… whatever they are.

It’s a lofty goal. But, parenting well is one of the greatest goals a person can have… in my humble opinion.

Happy Thursday Ya’ll!