Advice from Amazing Mooooooooms: "4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions"

There are moms...and then there are

moooooooooooooms.

These are the chosen few mamas out there who, out of deep faith and trust, have allowed God to bless their family with as many children as he sees fit, regardless of the number! For many of us, just the thought of this causes us to shake in our boots a little (ok, maybe a lot). One of my "moooooooom" friends described it this way when she said, "you've heard of extreme sports? Well, this is like extreme faith!" 

I cannot help but be inspired when I see such fearless trust in the Author and Sustainer of all life from these large families. And by and large, it seems that the Lord blesses these families with more and more grace as he adds to their number. Doubtless their store of wisdom in parenting is much larger than my own, and so I have been blessed to glean guidance from their depth of experience. Lately that has come in the form of a profound little ebook called, 

"4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions." 

My friend, Connie, of Smockity Frocks (one of the awesome "mooooooms" out there), and 3 of her fellow large family blogger buddies have taken the time to compile their heartfelt and hilarious answers to 17 of the most frequently asked parenting questions they get, including (but not limited to!):

• Nap Time
• Parenting styles
• Keeping Your Patience
• Church time with Children
• Grocery Shopping with Little Children
• Accomplishing big projects
• Giving Individual Attention
• Talking to Kids About Sex

It also has a master chore list divided into age appropriate chores, as well as a sermon notes printable. 

"4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions" is one of those truly priceless resources out there for all moms seeking, by God's grace, to raise the little ones He's given us to walk in His ways. And as a side bonus, there are some really hilarious moments candidly shared by these honest and precious mooooooms (we could all use a good laugh!). 

To order "4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions" for $7.99, click the following link

https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=205259&c=ib&aff=210346" target="ejejcsingle

What You're Looking For is In Your Backyard

The gift of motherhood has proven to humble me more than any other single experience I have encountered up to this point in life (can I get an amen!? ;). That being said, I have naturally sought out wise counsel from godly seasoned mamas who have been down this road ahead of me. The light God has shed before them on his design for raising little ones has powerfully served to benefit my heart as well. I have a few favorite mama-authors, more of whom I'll mention in future posts, but one of my all-time faves is Sally Clarkson (thanks to Jen Sprayberry for introducing her to me!).

With the outburst of creative beauty swirling all around us during this Spring season, I cannot help but be confronted daily with the awesome majesty of God's vast grandeur and power. And since our primary goal as Christian parents is to, with fear and trembling and only through God's grace, teach our children the wonders of God (so that they, in turn, will learn to love and glorify him), it stands to reason that we should seek to surround our precious ones with as much of his natural creative works as possible - especially during this gorgeous time of year where every nook and cranny seems to be bursting with new life. As Sally Clarkson states in her book The Mission of Motherhood (pp.186-187),

"So many of us in our plastic, industrial world spend the bulk of our lives apart from any true natural beauty. We travel inside protected cars and feel the wind, rain, and snow on our faces only as we move from one enclosure to another. So many children in our industrial society grow up surrounded by glass, plastic, steel and asphalt. They spend most of their time with machines - televisions and stereos, game consoles and computers, and cars. They are rarely exposed to the natural elements that were meant to daily confront our soul with the greatness of God.

No wonder current generations seem to give in so easily to doubt and skepticism! They have had little opportunity to wonder at the greatness of God in the vast ocean or in the middle of a snowy blizzard or felt tiny when standing under the great canopy of stars. There is something about the direct experience of God's natural world that tends to put our human doubts and questions into perspective...That's why one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is exposure to this magnificent Creator through the wonderful things he has made. Their appetites for life need to be built on those things that reflect the image of God through the work of his fingers. Practically speaking, that means that one of the most important things I can do as a mother is get my children - and me! - outdoors as much as possible."

With this truth in mind, the next time my sweet 3-year old daughter asks for me to go outside with her to pick flowers in the yard, regardless of how full my sink is with dirty dishes or high my pile of laundry is on the living room floor, for the Lord's glory, I must go! Souls are eternal - dishes and laundry are temporary.

All things new

The coming of Spring, and I am again floored at God's limitless beauty. He truly does make all things new. The drab days of winter followed by the floods of early Spring can just about convince us that life will forever be filled with darkness. We look around and all we see is a blanket of wet, gray lifelessness. And oh, how our own personal seasons of life can mimic God's design for nature as well.

Knowing that all aspects of life on this human plane are under God's sovereign control, I think it is no accident that God ordained Easter to occur during this season of life returning once again to the earth. As we look around at the mercy of his calling forth the plants to bud and skies to blue, I am reminded in a deeper sense of his mercy in giving his Son as the ultimate remedy for darkness.

Because Christ laid down his perfect life once for all as the final sacrifice for sin, and was raised again to new life that first Easter Sunday, all who accept his offer of redemption are lavished with eternal life, abundant life, both now and forever. What an undeserved, unfathomable outpouring of grace on our sad state of affairs! We could never earn it; our attempts at goodness in our own strength fall staggeringly short every time (Romans 3:23). But because the God of Winter is also the God of Spring, he provided the Perfect Remedy on our behalf, without price on our part (Romans 6:23). My heart races at the thought of such a profound gift...especially as I remember my own wretched heart.

And so, on this day before Resurrection Day, I praise you again, merciful Daddy, for the gift of your Perfect Son. May you pour out your presence on all those who love you...and even more on those who do not know you yet, that they might come to find eternal hope from your beautiful gift of True Life (Romans 10: 9-10).