Category Archives: Christianity

I would NEVER…Just Ask Me!

February 10, 2014Christianity, homeschooling, Love one another, mom, motherhood, Parenting, Spiritual Encouragement, Uncategorizedencouragement for moms, homeschooling mom, loving our children, raising children, unconditional love for childrenT.W. Allgaier

I would NEVER ……just ask me!

Yep, I thought I knew it all. Had all the answers.

You’ve probably heard people say that phrase… I was one of those women who would say things like…”If I were that kid’s mom, I would never let him throw a fit like that in front of people in a grocery store.” Then I had a two year old. And we went to a grocery store.

Or “No teenager of mine would be living in my house if he did___________!” Then I had two teenagers that continued to live in my house.

How easy is it to say what we would do in situations in which we have no idea what we would really do! It always made me feel better about myself when I could point out the failures in “parenting” as I came upon these situations.

I asked the Lord forgiveness for that attitude. And thankfully I was forgiven.

I think that the older you get, the less you realize that you know. Oh sure, experience, trials and troubles have brought a bit of wisdom, but I don’t pretend like I know it all anymore. That is not a characteristic of confidence. The only thing I am confident is Christ in me.

Galatians 2:20-21: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

We have the opportunity to help others that have gone through parenting situations that we might have gone through. And when parents are dealing with something that we ourselves have not dealt with, we have the opportunity to be supportive…not pass judgement. We need to encourage one another. Let the Christ in us encourage.

As for me, when I look at all the careers and jobs I have had over the years, being a parent was the toughest. It was one of the most important things I ever did to be sure…but it was also the hardest. The responsibility became overwhelming sometimes if I really thought about it. So I had to learn to give it to the Father. I had to truly trust Him with my children’s lives.

I told someone last night that God loves our children more than we can even imagine.

Luke 11:11-13 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Isaiah 49:15-16 : “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-6: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

We have to come to the point in our lives as parents when we realize that we simply do not have all the answers. We do the best we can. And we trust the One who created our children. We were loaned a gift, one that He created. Our job is to teach them in the ways of the Lord and love them unconditionally.

Truly love them unconditionally, and realize as parents that we really don’t know it all.

Whether they throw a fit in the grocery store, or do something in which they should not be allowed to live in your house.

Blessings dear ones~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

SNOW DAYS…Dance And…..

February 6, 2014Christianity, homeschooling, mom, motherhood, Parenting, Uncategorizedencouragement for moms, fun activities for kids, homeschooling mom, raising children, siblings, snow day activites, snow daysT.W. Allgaier

Another Snow Day? We dance!

What’s a mom to do??? Cabin fever has set in and the kids are burning up!

As a one time public school teacher, I sometimes participated in the…gulp…”Snow dance” and then wished I hadn’t when the first day of June rolled around and we were still in school! And as a one time home schooling mom, we were always looking for things to do after we completed our school work.

We really didn’t take “snow days” as homeschoolers, as we had other days that we took as “off school” days. But when the snow did come around, we wanted to do some things that were special. So we did. I thought it might be a good idea to make a list of possible suggestions to repel that cabin fever. These were tried and true in this house, especially when going out was not an option because of the temperatures. And quite honestly, it was just easier to plan these activities so I didn’t have to referee so many arguements!

1. Collages- Kids like to glue. I prefer glue sticks, based on my recent experiences in the public school with little ones! But if you have magazines, or other “junk”, let them glue it on paper. Come up with a theme, or allow them to make up a story from their “collage”. With younger kids, simply cut out some items and have them available. We always had some creative pictures.

2. Make a movie. My boys always liked filming themselves. Most of the time I let them do the creating, and that never seemed to be a problem! We have dozens of “movies” of them singing, acting. Let’s just put it this way…at this point in their lives, I could probably bribe them! Today with cell phones making it so easy to video, you might just have a masterpiece on your hands!

3. Forts. Need I say more?

4. Let them write. Don’t worry about spelling or even if it makes sense! Give them paper, staple in pages for writing and drawing…and let them go for it. I can guarantee you they will be able to “read” their story to you at bedtime!

5. In an effort to leave the television off most of the time (we had set hours only), we DANCED! That’s right, WE danced. Burn off that energy!! I even let my kiddos at school dance when I saw they were getting bored or too energy packed!! And I ALWAYS danced with them. It was good for me, good for them to see me dancing and having fun! DISCLAIMER* You might want to make sure the video camera is turned off if your children are as capable of posting to a social media site as I think they could be!*

6. Read a Bible story. If it always seems like you don’t have time to read to them, do it today. Let them pick the story and the place in which to read it. Let them act it out, write about it, make a picture about it…if it is about David, you could even DANCE!!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance….”

Dance means “raqad”.. to skip about, to dance, leap, to make to skip. (Strong’s)

So….more snow means more dancing!!!! And yep, my husband and I just completed a three song set in the kitchen a little while ago!!

Blessings dear ones,

IN CHRIST ALONE
Isaiah 55:8-9

*Strongs Concordance*

*Google image animation*

Marriage and Motherhood=Perfection (NOT)

February 3, 2014Christianity, Love one another, mom, motherhood, Parenting, Spiritual EncouragementChrist is perfect, encouragement for moms, Jesus in Marriage, marriage, new mom, new teacher, Parenting, perfect children, perfect marriage, preparing for marriage, preparing for motherhood, raising children, spiritual encouragement, TEACHER MOM, wifeT.W. Allgaier

Marriage and Motherhood….Both are Perfect (NOT) Give it up!!

My marriage is perfect, my children were and still are perfect, my life is basically perfect….REALLY?

That’s what I want to say to those who profess this! The one thing I never, ever want to do is sound like my life in these areas have been perfect! Trust me, they have not been anywhere close. If there is one thing that gets on my nerves it is people who profess perfection and then don’t even have any life experiences or truth in which to base this condition!! My pet peeve. There I said it. I actually didn’t say everything that goes through my mind, I would be in lots of trouble….

I have been married 34 years to my high school sweetheart. We have been together for 37 years. So we have literally grown up together. We have been through so much together, and learned in that process. Nothing prepares you for marriage. Nothing. Not all the “expert” books and articles. Nothing. From getting adjusted to way your spouse puts the toilet paper on the roll ….to how you will handle illness or the death of a loved one together…NOTHING will prepare you.

My children were exactly 2 and 1/2 years apart. It is easy as a mother of adults now to look back at those years and remember only the good times. But there were bad times. Nothing prepares you for motherhood..nothing. At all. Nothing. From being pregnant with another person growing inside you……to staying up on the couch pretending to be awake while waiting on your teenager to come home…NOTHING prepares you for that.

NOTHING prepares you for these things. But Someone will be with you through all those things. The Father will. If there is one thing I have learned through the years that has proven invaluable to me it is to I had to learn to give it up My titles as “wife” and “mother”had to be set aside sometimes. I had to let Jesus be Jesus in me. When my husband was upset with me..my first response was so full of my flesh. I have learned over the years that I had to get rid of me and see him as Jesus saw him. I had to love him as Jesus loved him. I had to give up my needs at that time and listen to him. And trust me, I could not do that on my own…at all.

When one of the boys would come to me with a heavy heart and tell me something (while acting like I had truly been awake watching television..you do what you have to) that as a mother I really did not want to hear…I had to give up. I had to respond to him as Jesus would. I couldn’t let my pride get in the way. I couldn’t let my motherhood throw out advice. I had to give that all up and love him like Jesus, point him to Jesus.

Minister to your family. Give it up. Don’t try to do it in your own strength. You won’t be perfect, your marriage won’t be perfect, your kids won’t be perfect. Only HE is perfect. So “give it up” friend!!!

Psalm 18:30: “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”

2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”