Put Your Feet To It

OK, I don't really know how to navigate my way through this yet, but I found a fellow fan of my favorite author, which was cool because we put the exact same wording for our fave author and I noticed that we have the same favorite book. This could be fun. Right now, I realize that I am talking to myself but I usually have good conversations with me so, this could work! ha, ha.

Got to go get busy baking cookies for my hero son in Iraq. It so cool to be able to talk to him every morning, I can keep my mommy feelers out on his emotional condition. So far so good, he is still funny and very cute. I will try to get some pics up of him.

My desire is to be transparent and honest here about my life, hard to do though. But I bet I can get over that!

I am so thankful for the children God gave me. When they were little I use to think, "I can't wait to get my life back", selfish for sure. Then one day I looked up and realized, they were my life and it was better than anything I could do on my own. It's hard to be a mom of little ones, but the "on your feet" investment that you are making in your child's life now will honor you with a deep, loving relationship like no other. One of my friends wrote on her blog, she has never know a love like this. And that's exactly what we all feel as mom's, don't we. When my first child born, I was struck by the purity of her, the fullness of innocence. It was like I got to look on the face of God. The bible says we see through the glass darkly, that's what I think of here. I was seeing through a fractured glass getting a distorted view of what God might look like. And if that is a fractured view what must He be like when we do see Him. Wow, that's a whole 'nother subject, chasing a rabbit here.

The "on your feet" part is vital. I found that the older my babies got the more I needed to be actively on my feet with them. It's not over when they are in their teens. No time to set down, then. It changes from physical "on your feet" to the "all the above" approach. The good thing is that your children train you as they grow. We start out as mothers of infants, then toddlers, then we go back to school with them. By the time they are teens we are ready for the challenges that brings with it.

My best advice is be in the middle of everything they are doing. Sports? Be at their games, School? My kid's would find me standing in the hall when they were changing classes. That was fun. Teachers? Be on their side, the world is not fair and it is the perfect opportunity to teach that to your child. They have to deal with it. Plus, the teachers are telling you the truth about what your kids are doing in their classrooms. Support your teachers and they will trust you and give your kids a break when they need it. "Prepare your child for the road, not the road for your child." Back packs, free game. If they left it, I had the right to look through and read their notes. It was no democracy in my house. It was a dictatorship and I was the dictator. Sorry, if that is offensive, but I knew that there were life and death decisions being made during this time of their lives, so I stood on the front lines and they were not going down with me left standing.

Our children don't need us as friends, they have those, they need strong, loving parents that have "been there, know that, and your not going" attitudes willing to put our feet to it when we have to. I told my kids, "if I'm in your face, your messing up"! That wasn't always the way I worded it, but it got my point across. It is hard on us as parents to gear up to the energy of youth but they need us to.

And pray, pray, pray. I know from my own troubled teen years and early twenties that the choices made will close doors of opportunity to your future. You have no idea at 15 yrs of age what you will care about in just 5 short years. While we may not be able to visualize 20 years or even 10 years at 15, five years you can see.

So, if you are a young mother and just happen to stumble on this post remember they are worth every bit of it. Don't worry about the future, do the work put before you today and tomorrow will take care of itself.

Hang on, its a fun ride and it doesn't end when they graduate and get on their own, it just changes. Plus we're older by then and don't have the energy and desire to put forth that kind of "on your feet" to it. Amen.

Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. Proverbs 20:11

I guess I had a lot to say about this subject.