Category Archives: Remembering

Sneak Peek #9

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Excerpt from THRIVE AND SURVIVE, ZERO TO FIVE

I (Mary) was blessed with three children in less than four years, and I took for granted that we could have more babies anytime we wanted. But the next pregnancy ended in miscarriage. And the one after that too. I wondered if three children were all we were meant to have.

Six years later, though, Andrew came along. This pregnancy threatened to miscarry also, but he finally arrived, safe and sound, and my joy knew no bounds. As I gazed at his freshly scrubbed newborn face, I was overcome with wonder at how this could be. I’d had two miscarriages followed by an endangered pregnancy, yet here he was, in my arms.

The everyday noises of the hospital environment faded into the background as I took in the wonder of this brand new child, a gift of incalculable worth. And at that moment Teacher-God taught me an important lesson I’ve not forgotten. Using my baby as His visual aid, He said, “Yes, you’re holding a miracle, but don’t get lost in the wonder of this particular baby.

“Every baby is a miracle. My miracle. Though your first three came easily, don’t ever forget that each child is a wonder.”

I’ve thought of that moment hundreds of times, learning to apply the lesson to each of my seven children. But that’s not all. God wanted me to see that He meant it for everyone else’s children too. No child is unwanted by Him, and every life is His miracle. Each one is equally valuable to Him, and He wanted me to view all children in that way.

 

SIDEBAR: PRINCIPLES TO PASS ALONG

  • Knowing and loving God trumps everything else.
  • God’s Word is life’s trustworthy guide book.
  • People are more important than things.
  • Children are gifts from God.
  • No one can out-give God.
  • Count your blessings every day.
  • Love without counting the cost.

Sneak Peek #8

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Excerpt from THRIVE AND SURVIVE, ZERO TO FIVE

How well I (Margaret) remember the day two-year-old Louisa jammed the drinking-water button inside our refrigerator. When I opened it ten minutes later, the water had filled to the third shelf, which hit me like an icy tidal wave. Cleanup meant an overhaul of the entire kitchen and refrigerator, two time-consuming chores on an already jampacked day.

Before children, women can prioritize orderly to-do lists and tackle the items one by one, often from start to finish. But after little ones arrive, every day is chopped into small bits of several minutes apiece, which can cause tremendous frustration. And interruptions? They’re constant.

You might say, “But my Motherhood Mission Statement is taped to my desk, and I’m going to follow that.” Before you became a mom, those words were a banner of assured triumph, but babies can’t read. Even if they could, it wouldn’t matter, since they come with a firmly intact banner of their own. It says ME AHEAD OF YOU.

And that’s not all.

When you cradle your firstborn immediately after birth, little do you know then that the U-Haul truck parked outside the hospital loaded with baby gear belongs to him. After it follows you home, each item must be given its own parking spot within your once-organized living space.

At first you don’t mind that your home resembles a Babies R Us outlet. You love the sight of your vibrating infant seat and battery-operated swing. But after you’ve tripped over them seventeen times, you’re ready to kick them out the front door. So what can be done?

SIDEBAR: ENCOURAGEMENT FOR MOM

  • You are equipped to mother your child.
  • Your child is a gift from God.
  • You know your child best.
  • Your work as a mom is never wasted.
  • You are God to your child.
  • You are never alone.
  • You are loved by the Creator.
  • Your refreshment will come from God’s Word.

Sneak Peek #6

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Excerpt from THRIVE AND SURVIVE, ZERO TO FIVE

Little children give moms lots to complain about. They’re messy, loud, demanding, and needy, and that’s just on the good days. Coping with all of this is enough to send a young mom into a tizzy. I (Mary) am going to do a little true confessing here, sharing a motherhood moment I regret to this day, forty years after the fact.

Julia and Karl, ages three and two, were playing happily in the bathtub while I ran back and forth from the next room, working on a project and occasionally checking on them. When it was time to get out of the tub, I instructed them to put all the toys back into the basket, and then I went back into the next room.

When I returned a few minutes later, they had done just the opposite of my instructions. They’d thrown the toys (along with lots of water) all over the bathroom floor, laughing hard at their fun idea. Because it was an overfull day and I was rushing, my response was far from ideal.

I swung my leg back and kicked a plastic truck as hard as I could, flinging it above their heads into the tub wall where it broke into pieces. And it gets worse. Rather than remorse over my anger, my thought was, That’ll show ’em! And I felt really good.

But several hours later I asked myself, What good did that do? What did I teach them by losing my temper as I did? Though neither of them remembers the incident, I certainly do, and I wish I’d shown more self-control. I missed an opportunity to model a quality character trait: forgiveness.

SIDEBAR: CHARACTER TRAITS TO MODEL

  • Integrity
  • Cheerfulness
  • Kindness
  • Patience
  • Gratitude
  • Diligence
  • Perseverance
  • Optimism
  • Forgiveness