I have not been sharing much in this space because I’ve been working on my writing beyond online and we are finishing up our school year. Recently Jessica Bowman of the Bohemian Bowmans and Parenting Wild Things asked me to share my faithful parenting story. It’s about being gentle. After almost a decade of being a mom and 34 years of being a daughter this is what I’m learning….

Excerpt….Your children desperately need you to NOT be a poser. Getting real about how you parent is the first step to living a life of love. So let’s pop that pretentious bubble for one moment: the truth is that sometimes it feels like I have been more of an expert at the “trickle down” parenting effect then being known as the “gentle mother.”

You can find that first post here….. My “trickle down parenting” story.

Excerpt…..“I want to woo my kids. I want to lavish extravagant love on their hearts. I have no desire to squash them, yet my reactions in fatigue, anger, haste, impatience or whatever does not come close to lavish love. It is undisciplined parenting to rant and rave, or be a Grabby Gus. You cannot expect to raise children who are self-controlled and gentle when you are not. Are your children mirroring with one another what you do to them? That can be a painful question to answer.”

You can find the final part to here…. some tips that have helped me to create a gentle home.

Come visit…

I had been working on a gift for mothers, but decided I’d try to make it a gift for everyone so be watching my FB page for that…

Happy Saturday,

J.

The post A Week in Review: Faithful Parenting appeared first on Jezamama.

It’s official - I am moving into the “you shouldn’t pull any more of those lite-colored hairs or you are going to be bald” phase of adulthood.

I gotta tell you: I did not sign up for this portion of the tour.

One day I am dyeing my hair, six to eight weeks later I’m seeing an overabundance of colors (mostly one really…) that simply DOes NOT belong in there.

Who told those little hairs they were allowed to do that?

Because I certainly did not invite them.

I am too young you say?

34 is too young for a skunk strip across the front of my head.Well, I am thinking that my roots did not get the memo.

So how did I discover this abundant crop of old-lady growing on my head?? Because maybe this is all the work of an overactive imagination (I may or may not have one of those too)?

My husband commented on them… in that amazing bathroom lighting…. while I was plucking my chin hairs. (face palm)

I’m not even going to tell you what my mother said – but she led with laughing. And NO I’m not taking a picture of them thank you very much!

I have a very encouraging family. They ooze it.

J.

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The post When the World Swirls…and Everything Stays the Same appeared first on Jezamama.

Jump.

I take a leap with his hand in mine and we are off. Somewhere glorious and good. Perhaps near the beach or in the hills. We’ll be off somewhere far, far away, but exactly where He has always intended for us to be.

And I am still in a hush. Because sometimes jumping does not end up the way we had planned. The timing we lay out before us and the way we believe things should be. We leap and it all swirls wicked, or messy or weird. I’m tired of the swirling weird.

I’m ready to leap. Ready to jump in this world of endless possibilities ruled by a faithful, patient, steadfast God. I’m ready to go wherever and whenever and however He chooses it to be.

But He is still. He is silent. The heavens are calm. I’m the jittery, leaping, jumping mess.
That’s the adjective to describe my faith – messy.
It is heaps of mud and dirt and grim – and He washes me new.

But I stumble into more mud puddles.

He is teaching me how to avoid them.
He is showing me how to leap further.
He is making me brave and giving me a voice.
He is encouraging me to be courageous enough to jump over those puddles instead of wadding right through them.

I want to soar.
I want to rise in strength – flailing or graceful, however the jumping comes.

I just want to jump.

Signed,
J.

I have not linked up to anything in a very long time… and for some reason this prompt from The Gypsy Mama spoke to me right where I am.

Go read…

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“The kingdom of darkness trembles when a husband and wife stand together in prayer”(John & Stasi Eldredge, “Love and War”).

It rushed in suddenly. I could feel it in my spirit –€a deep groan and angst I could not describe. We were facing drama on several fronts. Then suddenly one day we were flooded over. The water swirled and I could barely keep my head above the flooding. I felt as though I had lost the grip of hubby’s hand. When we finally stood on dry land again there appeared to be a giant chasm between us. Neither one of us could figure out what exactly had happened. There was a lot of accusation floating around, but most of those words seemed far-fetched and convoluted. Even in marriage appearances can be deceiving.

I felt the spirit reminding me in the midst of those accusations that if the Enemy is NOT above accusing my spouse before the throne of God (“…he who accuses them before our God day and night” Revelation 12:10) then Satan will not be above whispering those accusations right in my ear.

Nothing made sense. We talked a lot. One verse seemed to speak into my heart at every turn.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”(Ephesians 6:11 NASB)

If this wasn’t about the man standing across from me…

“You have an enemy, and it is not your spouse. The sooner you come to terms with the fact, the better” (Eldredge).

Then what is going on?

We walked back through the weeks and months beforehand. I was praying like crazy asking for wisdom and direction. At one point I literally got on the living room floor with my face in the carpet praying facedown before God. This is the posture of heart and body I know helps me to hear and to understand and to ultimately get over myself.

A few weeks before everything between us had been good. What had changed? We talked about and confessed any hidden sin or issues between us –still the angst flowed. I put my hands on him and pray over him out loud. We hugged close and prayed together (pushing through and past the awkward).

And then I remembered what he had prayed over us a few months before… and the struggle against things we could not see suddenly made sense.

Suddenly all those false accusations made sense…

You see, the enemy of our souls does not want a husband and wife united in any way. He does not want us united together in prayer –focused on God. Distractions will come, drama will invade, everything but prayer will happen between us.

We’ll talk ABOUT things way too much, but never lay those things before the God who has a clue what is going on.

So when my husband prayed one little word over us months beforehand – I think something deep came undone. It was like a “disturbance in the force.”

I think he ticked something or somebody off… I think our marriage became a threat.

When a man takes up his sword and learns to be unafraid, when a woman sheds her approval-addiction and maneuvering to make everything work out –watch out world.

When your marriage moves beyond maintenance mode into we are going to kick some butt mode –the possibilities are endless.

“The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”(2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT)

Signed,

J.

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