S Club Mama

For 12 years now I've been a mom who struggles with my temper, my patience. God has grown me in many ways in this area and yet I haven't conquered this sin. Now, hear me, the emotions I feel (anger, annoyance, frustration, etc) are not sins, but my reactions to them are. I've read several books in the past to help my growth, and The Cranky Mom Fix by Becky Kopitzke is among my very favorites. The subtitle is exactly the thing I want in my life: "Get a Happier, More Peaceful Home by Slaying the 'Momster" in All of Us." I'll admit it - I'm a Momster. My kids have endured my grown up temper tantrums more than they ever deserved. Yes, they disobey and hit one another and such things that children do, but my reactions haven't been the most gentle (once in awhile, I'll get a Holy Spirit controlled victory where my actions show the fruit in my life!).  In The Cranky Mom Fix, Kopitzke breaks things up into sections. The first section is a...

  The past three years, my Sunday school class has been going over The Gospel Project. This is a curriculum that goes through the whole Bible showing how the gospel of Jesus Christ is intertwined within the whole story! My Bible study did the Angie Smith study "Seamless" last year. That study shows how the people, places, and promises of the Bible are sewn together into one overarching story (held together by Christ).  Needless to say, I was thrilled to read another book about Christ through the Bible: Elyse Fitzpatrick's "Finding the Love of Jesus from Genesis to Revelation."   image via Amazon Fitzpatrick took each section of the Bible - the Pentateuch, history, the Law, poetry and songs, Prophets, and the Gospel - to show how Christ's love (and Christ Himself) is found in each!! She takes readers through the story or book(s), then points out Christ. She explains where He is seen physically, in prophesy, and where the gospel story is sha...

Selflessness has never been a strong point in my character. I am often preoccupied about my schedule, my kids, my time, my appearance, etc. That's not a beautiful thing in the Kingdom of God. Not to say I don't need to take care of myself (we all do - oxygen masks first before putting it on a child), but I don't need to think of myself as highly or often as I do. So I try to better myself by reading God's Word and godly books pertaining to selflessness. "Generous Love" by Becky Kopitzke is just one of those godly books. Oddly enough, just after I started reading this book, a dear friend gifted me with another of Kopitzke's books "The SuperMom Myth," which I am excited to read because I am exhausted when I think of all of my friends and myself trying to be all and do all for our children. But that's another post for another day (when I find the time to read the book). image via Barnes & Noble Back to selflessness and "Generous...

In my years of reading and being a parent, I've come across many books that are so good and touch me so deeply that they have truly transformed my parenting. I've also come across many duds that I couldn't finish because they were either full of bad writing or advice that just didn't fit my life. I had really high hopes for "936 Weeks: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting" by Eryn Lynum . The premise is that we have approximately 936 weeks from our child's birth to when they turn 18-years-old. Whoa! 936 weeks. Lynum was presented with a jar of 936 pennies on the days her children were dedicated at church. By those calculations I have approximately 360some weeks left with my 10-year-old, 470some weeks left with my 8-year-old, and 780some weeks with my 2-year-old. That's kind of mind-blowing, isn't it? image via 936penniesbook.com  As I read through this book, I thought some of it was very idealistic: "And when those children grow...