Leave your kids and be a good parent!

Early this weekend my husband and I spent an entire 24 hours away from our kids – and I did not miss them at all! Did I think about them occassionaly? Yes. Did I pause to say a quick prayer that they were safe, happy and healthy? Yes. Did I wish that I could leave where I was to be with them? Absolutely not!!

Does this make me a bad mom?!? I think not – and in this particular circumstance, there are two important reasons I’d like to highlight to explain why….

Be the GOOD in a world of BAD!

We are working our way back into the school routine; enjoying this time when school has started yet our evenings are not yet filled with practices, lessons and meetings. My little family has eaten dinner together at our table 5 of the last 8 nights! That may be a record! What a blessing to have the time to sit together, share our days, and actually be able to listen to what each person has to say!

Singing and dancing our way through faith

Our family loves music. We love to sing it, we love to listen to it! We sing at each other across the house, making up silly verses. We ride around in our minivan and sing loudly together to whatever is on the radio. We are THAT family. (Don’t worry – no fanny packs or dorky visors are involved!)

My lesson of good news from a cartoon

Our little family recently arrived home from an amazing 5-day summer fun-filled vacation with very dear friends. We swam for hours under perfect blue summer skies. We ate ice cream nearly every day; this “mom-on-vacation” could care less when the chocolate faced 3-year-old somehow smeared ice-cream on every surrounding surface. We laughed and told silly stories around a campfire, our hands sticky from s’mores. I cuddled with my very tired daughter under the warm sun, toes dug into the sand, sun-kissed skin warm against me under a bright pink beach towel, with sounds of laughter in the background.

Get over your fear and speak truth!

Public speaking is terrifying. To express this more strongly: anything that puts me at the center of attention in a room full of people makes my stomach literally sick, leaves my mouth dry and my brain void of logical thought. If you’ve seen me and think I handled it just fine, don’t be fooled! It was a charade!