Thoughts on Marriage & Parenting Ponderings

Marriage
After traveling for the past two weekends, I had planned to spend this Friday evening donning sweats, reheating leftovers, and catching up on housework & school work with the kids buzzing all around me. Instead, I gave up my plans, so that I could submit to my husband's commands. Boo, hiss, right? Well...

He needed a date for a business dinner he sponsored to congratulate his colleagues on a job well done. Because he is the leader of our home, I had to forsake the sweat pants for a party dress and serve as his helpmate by helping myself to a steak at the Angus Barn. Submission is entirely underrated, y'all. 

The only reason I can figure that people get bent out of shape over the concept of wives submitting to their husbands is a failure to read the rest of the passage for the context. Submitting to a man who is submitted to God and who loves his wife sacrificially, unconditionally, and completely as Christ loves the church is all joy!  (Gift #937)

Parenting 

 Our son gives the best hugs. One hug from him can turn my worst day into sunshine and roses. (Gift #938) Yet that same boy can drive me crazy with his inability to eat neatly despite all our best efforts to train him. Shortly after reminding my boy to wipe his mouth this evening, I reread the first few pages of the best-selling memoir, Tuesdays with Morrie, which I first read over 17 years ago upon the recommendation of my career mentor. In this true story, the author, Mitch Albom, writes about his deep affection and lifelong admiration for his highly respected, nationally recognized college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who was loved by countless individuals simply because he cared for others so deeply and lived life well with purpose, fully focused on what matters most. He was so focused on the more important issues of life that he rarely considered his outward appearance, and he ate quite sloppily while so engrossed in conversation with this meal companion(s).

Mitch lovingly wrote, "Whenever I was around Morrie, I had a deep and sudden urge to give him a hug and a napkin." So after reading that line, I immediately thought, “When I look at my son, I have a sudden urge to give him a hug and a napkin.” Why do I let his table messes bother me when they should serve as an endearing reminder that he is more interested in the people at the table than the food smeared on his face or falling outside of his plate? Let us love one another completely, unconditionally, and without finding fault.

An aside:  This best selling book has inspired countless people and is a favorite among many.  Yet, the saddest part is the irony in that in the compelling story of a man who lived this life so intentionally, yet he never gave enough thought to the next life which is everlasting.  Morrie tried to live with purpose, yet he missed the greatest purpose of all. He was so consumed with investing in relationships, yet he failed to invest in the only relationship that would fulfill his heart and soul.

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The kids and I are reading/discussing the book of Proverbs each morning. (Gift #939) When I heard my daughter read, "Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, humph ugh, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck..." I knew at once that she must be reading from a children's version, but which one? Ha!
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I ruminated over these quotes by Scott Dannemiller several times this month:

Instead of asking, "What might we miss if we don't take advantage of these opportunities?", we should ask, "What are we losing in our quest for success?"

"But there is a big difference between wanting what's best for your kids, and wanting them to be the best."

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If studies have proven that our five senses are strongest during childhood and gradually grow less sensitive over time, why is it that children between 1st and 8th grades cannot seem to discern their own body odor when every adult around them can small it over 15 feet away? Could it be selective smelling which would be like selective hearing?  

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This article, Kids & Chores - An encouraging perspective , on kids and chores gives me the perspective I often need as the messes those kids create can make me lose my ever loving mind, but I still think I would need therapy to live in a home in which the kids did not do any chores at all.  It's bad enough as it is with what they do now.

Other Helpful Links For Future Reference:
Read this article over and over again until it becomes a habit:
To Build or Break a Child's Spirit



I'm convinced that my best secret for success as a parent has been my own neglect, and here's why:
 I am Done Making My Kids' Childhood Magical

Here's another reminder to keep drilling these lessons into my daughter's heart, so that by the time she's 16 to 18, she gets it!
10 Things Every Teenage Girl Needs To Know