NOTE: Be sure to read to the end. Can you can say “giveaway’? I knew you could!

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If you have not been with us this past week, we’ve been looking at circles and plates and and juggling relationships & responsibilities.

In a word?

Priorities.

Everywhere I meander, I encounter worn out women.

We just don’t seem to have enough day left at the end of our activities and responsibilities; we voice our priorities one way, then turn around and live our lives as if they were actually in reverse order sometimes.

I suggested doing the little “circle” activity to give yourself a picture of who and what is getting the biggest chunks of your precious time. I know my finished product made me stressed just looking at it!!

And I know better!!! I have entire talks and chapters devoted to avoiding over-committment. So what is the dealio?

Why do I (and many of you) over-commit and spin too many plates or run in too many circles?

I can think of  5 reasons: (I know there are more!)

~ We women have what I call “the curse of capability”.

We are capable. We are resourceful. We are able to multi-task. We are creative. We can trouble shoot. So, when asked to take on another outside responsibility, we think, “Why I’m capable of that!”

Then, we say yes. Pretty soon, our piles of “yeses” threaten to bury us down deeper than the Chilean miners.

~Next, we don’t want to say no out of fear.

Fear of not being liked. Fear of hurting someone’s feelings. Fear of behind-the-back chit chat, “I don’t know why she won’t do this. After all, she has way more time on her hands than me!” Fear of adding stress to the person asking you to do the job, ’cause if you say “no”, they need to find someone else. Fear of rejection.

Fear stinks!

~ Then there is this reason:we under-estimate the time and BRAIN SPACE it will take to do the task!

Tasks like “Be in charge of ABC” or “Organize XYZ” are the ones that get me most! While a task with a specific time frame is measurable (work the concession stand at baseball on Tuesday night from 6:30-8:00) these “be in chrage of” and “organize” ones are not. When we under-estimate the time involved AND the brain space it will take up knowing we now wear another ‘hat’, we take on waaaaaaaay too much!

~We are filling too much of our time with tasks in our “red” or “yellow” light areas.

Twenty-four years ago when Todd & I married and began in ministry (he was a youth pastor then) he took a FABULOUS in-depth assessment test that measured his effectiveness by discovering what were his “green light” areas–those areas you are most effective in due to your personality wiring. It also showed the “yellow” areas. These were tasks you could do, but they weren’t your strongest suit. The “red” areas were those duties that just plumb stressed you out because they were in direct conflict with the way God wired you. They cause you grief and dread because they are , in essence, “just not your thing”!

Guess where MANY of us operate? Yep. We are filling our time with yellow and red light areas. These areas sap us. Green areas energize us! (If you want to know more, I was THRILLED to see that Richard Hagstrom, the man who developed this over 30 years ago is still around. I found him here.)

~ And, the final reason? We speak before we check.

We don’t check our calendars. We don’t check our other commitments scheduled for the same time. We don’t check with our spouses or check with our kids. And, here’s the kicker, we don’t consult our Creator asking Him if we are called to the task. Not CAPABLE of the task, but called!

So, what’s a gal to do? Well, we’ll chat about that next week.

For now, I thought I’d offer a fun little giveaway crafted around some of the topics we’ve been discussing here. So, here is what is included:

~A copy of God’s Purpose for Every Woman. Our compilation book of devotions from Proverbs 31. This will help you in your relationship with God.

~A note pad with the verse “I can do all things through Him” Philippians 4:13 for you to jot your tasks down.

Then, for a little “me” (or as I call it “re”) time:

~Two Land O’ Lakes flavored hot cocoas, one in French Vanilla and one in Tiramasu.

~A large Godiva dark chocolate with orange candy bar.

~A box of Calgon English Garden bubble bath. (Take me away!)

~Finally, for the reality of life, a set of thin cotton dish towels for Thanksgiving embellished with a Cornucopia. You’ll be drying those dishes in style!

Okay—so, to be entered in the drawing for this giveaway, leave a comment on today’s topic. Which of these reasons do you think reflect you? What other reasons are there for letting your plate get too full? Or, if time is tight, just say “I’m in!”

Winner will be announced Monday!

Blessings,

Well, we’ve talked about plate spinning and now we’re talking juggling.

(And no, I do not have a fascination with circus performers!)

I  just see many tired & worn out women spinning and juggling.

Juggling roles.

Juggling relationships

Juggling responsibilities.

Juggling hats.

Including myself!

While I speak and write on time management, I certainly am not immune to awful tendency we women have to take on too many responsibilities at the expense of our relationships.

In fact, I have noticed a pattern with me. About every three years, I get to my “breaking point”; that place where my plate is so full of outside commitments that God and my family are beginning to get mostly my leftovers.

The problem is this: We women are sooooooo good at multi-tasking and “job-doing” that when presented with another outside responsibility, we glance at our already too-full plates. Then, instead of saying “no” to the new task to do or hat to wear, or removing something from our plate before saying “yes” to the job, we surmise that if we just re-arrange everything, somehow we can make it all fit!!

The result?

A plate so full not even the strongest product Chinette cranks out can hold it all!

Perhaps you, like me, are beginning to buckle under the weight of your too-full plate. You feel rushed. You fear forgetting appointments and responsibilities. You have zero “me ” time–not in a selfish “I must go to the salon, the tanner, a movie and on a 1/2 day shopping spree weekly or I’ll simply die” kind of way.

I mean time to relax. Re-coop. Refresh. Renew. Re-focus. Re-define. Re-direct. Rejuvenate.

I’ve got it! Let’s call it “Re” time instead of the traditional “Me” time.

So….where do we begin? How can we scrape our plates and start all over?

Well, here is what I am doing this week.

Since I like visual images that help me understand a concept, I’m getting out a piece of poster board. On it, I’m drawing several circles of various sizes; some large, several medium and others small.

Then, on a separate sheet of paper, I’m writing down all of my  responsibilities, relationships and activities. My list looks a little like this:

• Relationship with God ( I DO NOT mean church roles or church attendance. They are important but in and of themselves do not prove a relationship with God.)
• My husband Todd
• My daughter who lives in North Carolina (I am in Michigan)
• My 15 year old son Mitch
• My 12 year old son Spence
• My life group at church (a geographical small group of blended ages and walks of life that “do life” together, meeting weekly)
• My home-making (groceries, cooking, cleaning, etc…)
• My ministry duties at Proverbs 31 (speaking, writing devos, coaching speakers)
• My extended relatives; some nearby; some far away
• My responsibilities in my local church (mainly writing the sermon series take-home study guides with my pastor)
• My kids’ school responsibilities at their homeschool co-op (I teach Speech & Creative Writing to 48 jr & sr highers!! YIKES!! But hey, that means someone else teaches them their other subjects. YAY!!!)
• My website
• My Facebook friends (actually three circles there–friends I personally know, friends from the past and friends I’ve never even met face-to-face)
• My neighbors
• My “me” …..um..er…….”Re” time

You get the picture….

Then, once my list is finished, I am going to go to that poster board and write the various items from the list in the appropriate sized circles according to the time/energy and devotion I give them. Not what I wish were true, but what is the reality of my life now. (I may need to draw more circles)

What do I see?

Am I letting smaller priorities take more of my time? (Big circles)

Do I squeeze God in a small circle when He should get the biggest one?

Do I simply have too many stinkin’ circles to begin with?

Then, I am getting gut-wrenchingly honest with myself (and I hope you will too)

WHY, WHEN I HATE LIVING LIKE THIS, DO I LET IT HAPPEN?????

I know my answer.

If you too have this problem, what is yours?

I’ll be back Friday with my answer, more discussion and also a giveaway centered on this subject. In the mean time, please share any thoughts about all of this.

I’d love to hear from you!

Blessings,

Circles.

Last week I mentioned here about circles.

I’ve been having a little issue in my life lately about circles.

The best way I can describe it is in terms of the old plate spinners we used to see in the circus when we were kids.

A man (or woman—although I only remember women being the assistants in those days) would have 5 or 6 thin poles. One by one he’d place a glass plate on the top of one pole and set it to spinning.

Once he got the 3rd or 4th plate spinning, the first one he’d spun would begin to wobble. So, he’d need to sprint back down to the beginning of the line to give that first plate another good spin before he could go on.

With every plate he’d set into motion, he’d need to glance back at the others to see if they were losing momentum and needed a boost.

Some would wobble.

At times they’d nearly fall.

But this dude was a professional plate spinner. He knew just how to keep everything in motion. So the crowd may have “oohed” and “aaawed”, thinking the plates were going to cease spinning.

But they never did.

Instead this plate-spinning genius gave a thrilling performance and the kids and their parents clapped and cheered.

Yes ma’am, he was a professional!

Man, could he spin those plates.

I, on the other hand, often stink at plate spinning.  And just what the crowd feared might happen to the professional actually happens to me.

I just can’t quite get to one of my plates when it starts to wobble. And so….

CRASH!!!!

…..something (or even someone) comes crashing down, shattering into a hundred shards of glass.

These circular plates for us take many forms: people we love, positions we hold, places we must drive, possessions we own, priorities we verbalize.

While it is often easy for us to verbalize our priorities (plates 1 through 5, let’s say) sometimes by the time we get to spinning plate #5 (or plate #11 or #12!!) we have let plate #1 or #2 falter and fall.

Then?

Well,  we have pieces to pick up.

I hate picking up pieces.

I’d much rather keep my plates spinning and soaring happily.

So what is my problem sometimes?

Too many plates!!!!!

I want to have a conversation here this week about plate spinning and the circles we run in (literally!) and hopefully we can come up with some ‘circle’ solutions and ‘dropped plate’ preventions.

So let’s start here:

• What are the plates you must spin?
• Do you have more plates than you’d like?
• Do you pick up plates that you never wish you had? Why?
• And what frustrates you most when it comes to plate spinning?

No solutions yet (save those ideas for Wednesday or Friday ) We’ll all be anxious to hear!

Spin away!

Sometimes I envy my mom and those of her generation.

They didn’t have circles.

Oh, they may have been a member of the “sewing circle” for missions down to the church, but they didn’t have the circles we do.

Before I was old enough for school, I recall my mom’s days consisting of getting my brother out the door so he could walk a 1/2 mile down to Delta Center Elementary. Then, she spent her days cooking, cleaning, writing bills, working in her perennial flower garden.

As for media, she might listen to the local talk radio show or watch the local news at noon.

As for friends, she would have coffee with a neighbor or occasionally talk with her sister who lived a few states away, but not very often. Long distance phone calls back then were rare and expensive.

She just didn’t have a lot of circles.

Thus, she had more time for family.

And for God.

I, on the other hand, have circles.

Lots of them.

I’ll bet you do too.

Social circles.

Church circles.

Extended family circles.

Commitment circles.

Circles created by my kids’ schooling.

Circles created by my kids’ sports.

A Facebook circle…..

…..which unearths other circles:

college friends;

high school friends;

new cyber-friends.

I have my website circle. (that’s YOU!)

My Proverbs 31 Ministries circle.

A Hearts at Home circle.

The circle of clients I have at Next Step Speaker Services.

My neighborhood circle.

And on and on it spins…..

Keeping up with all of these circles is beginning to make my head spin……

In circles, of course.

So, I want to know from you about your circles.

How do you prioritize them?

How do you decide if you will even try to keep up with them?

How do you be a part of one, without letting it consume you and without offending the others who place more emphasis on a circle than you do.

And, most importantly, where does God fit into all of this circle spinning?

I have a few thoughts and ideas to share on Monday, but first, I want to hear from you.

Spin away……

Circular Blessings,

I’m back—after over 4 1/2 hours on the phone with insurance agents, the State of Michigan and other time-consuming people and prompts!!! Uggh!!

No energy for a post today, but I can announce the winners of last week’s giveaways! If you notice your name, email me at karen@proverbs31.org with your home address! The winners are:

FAITH: Renee Thomsen

FAMILY: Allison Morrison

FRIENDS:  Nicole  @ Team Pipkin

GRAND PRIZE: Kim Thompson

And, for those of you who like to be ahead of the ballgame with Christmas shopping: ALL PROVERBS 31 BOOKS AND PRODUCTS ARE 31% OFF THIS WEEK ONLY!! Click here to order gifts for the wonderful women in your life!! The discount will be taken at checkout.

Now, hop back over here Wednesday where I hope to have something of interest to say.

Unless I am on hold again waiting for my prompt!

Blessings,

Monday Note: I’ll be back late this afternoon to announce the winners of last week’s four giveaways. In the mean time there is still time to enter them all! Just leave a comment on one or all of the last three posts below. See you soon!!

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For the final giveaway of this week celebrating the redesign of my website, we come to the third priority after faith & family: FRIENDS!!!

Don’t you just love friends?

I don’t mean the surface-y, ‘kinda-know-you’, acquaintances. I mean the know-all-about-you-and-love-you-anyway, can call you in the middle of the night, true friends.

Before I tell you all about this latest giveaway though, remember, you can still enter all of the giveaways by leaving a comment on the posts from this week (this one and the two below).

The winners will be announced Monday.

One for FAITH,

One for FAMILY.

One for FRIENDS.

And one for the grand prize, the cool ‘pumpkin themed” giveaway shown here.

Today’s package, based on the priority of friends, includes the following:

~A fun, whimsical metal FRIENDS frame.

~ Two Bath & Body Works hand cremes, one in orange sapphire, one in enchanted orchid. Keep one and give one to a friend!

~Two copies of our Proverbs 31 Ministries “God’s Purpose for Every Woman” devotional book. Again, keep one and give the other to a friend.

So, how do you win this great two-for-one giveaway to share with a gal pal?

Leave a comment telling us what quality (or qualities) you most appreciate in one of your friends.

I’ll go first.

My best friend from college, Kelly, is a patient, calming presence to this often off-the-charts emotional gal. Her sweet demeanor and quiet ways have kept me grounded many times when I felt like “freaking out” over the past 28 years we’ve known each other.

How about you?

What do you most love about one of your friends?

Your comment may be the one chosen to win the FRIENDS giveaway!

Friendly Blessings,

Oh, this is so much fun!

The first giveaway post on Faith, to celebrate the redesign of my website, is up and running. Wasn’t Holly Furtick great? You can still enter to win the Faith giveaway.

As I said last time, there are a total of four giveaways this week and you can leave a comment on any of the posts until next Monday, the 18th, when all the winners will be announced.

Now, today I’m announcing the second giveaway on Family. But before I do, let me also tell you about the “Grand Prize” of the week.

I will randomly pick one winner from all the comments left this week to win this fun fall giveaway. It includes:

~A spiced pumpkin scented soy jar candle

~Some sweet cinnamon pumpkin body wash from Bath & Body Works

~Matching sweet cinnamon pumpkin body lotion

~ And (not pictured) a $5 Starbucks gift card so you can purchase a pumpkin spice latte! (or drink of your choice)

Remember, the more times you comment on the posts this week, the more times your name will be entered in the giveaway!

To continue the ‘blogwarming’ celebration, today we feature a giveaway based on the second priority: Family.

One lucky commenter will win the following:

~This whimsical metal frame that says “family” to place a snapshot of your loved ones in and keep on your desk, mantle or shelf.

~A $15 Subway gift card for your family to enjoy. Three $5 foot-long subs can stretch a long way!

~A copy of my book Homespun Memories for the Heart, personalized to your family.

To be entered in the family giveaway, simply leave a comment answering this: If you could spend a weekend with your immediate family members, and only spend $100, what would you do? Where would you go? (Of course as in all giveaways, if time is tight, just say “I’m in!”)

Okay…..give us your best family weekend idea!

Blessings,

Well, we spent the weekend redecorating the place. What da ya’ think?

I laugh when I say “we”.

I really mean “she” as in my web gal, the fantabulously creative and utterly patient Vicki Hughes from Bytes of Blessings. What a gem! And what a God-sized story of how she came to me.

Seriously.

God dropped her from the sky into my life during my “I-will-not-have-a-website-or-bio-sheet-or-business-card-or-ever-advertise-myself” days.

Apparently God got tired of me telling Him what I won’t do for Him.

Now, not only is the look different, but you’ll notice my tagline has changed.

I’ve spent oodles of time discovering just what my niche is and what I want to write and speak about.

While I started off in the area of organization and still write and speak on such topics, I am really about helping women get organized, not to wow others with how they alphabetize their canned goods, but so they can free up time to live their priorities.

Take it from a gal who knows, when I live my priorities, I love my life.

When I don’t, I live in the land of frenzied frustration where I spin my wheels with lots of activities and responsibilities outside my four walls and my family members seem like distant acquaintances.

I don’t like the land of frenzied frustration.

Well, to throw myself a little housewarming (Or blogwarming?) party this week, I am having three posts (I’m a Monday, Wednesday, Friday blogger) with great giveaways on the three priorities you’ll see listed above. Faith. Family. Friends.(Details below.)

For now, let’s start with faith.

My friend Marybeth, a P31 sister, told me a few years back about a new church her family had begun attending in Charlotte. As I got a glimpse into this new church plant, I noticed that the members, under the leadership of their teaching pastor, really took God at His word and lived their faith; not just some lip service to the God who showed up in the Bible times, but the God who still shows up today.

So, being a writer, I was rather curious when I heard her pastor was writing his first book. It is about faith; not “kiddy pool” Christianity (as he calls it) when you play around with God and go through the motions of “doing the church thing” with about as much enthusiasm as a trip to the dentist.

Un-uh! This book is about having a bold, vibrant, front-row faith where you watch God work and are actively involved in what He is doing in your community and the world.

And it is written by a man who began just over four years ago with a core of seven families who sold everything and moved to Charlotte, NC (where most church planters advise not going since it has an abundance of churches) and saw God grow that tiny fellowship into a church of over 6,000 people! (It is the fourth fastest growing church in America.)

In conjunction with the recent release of his book SUN STAND STILL (based on the story of Joshua where God made the sun stand still so he and his army could fight the enemies with more daylight for defeat) Pastor Steven preached for 24 hours straight and it was streamed online. I caught the beginning and ending hours and hopped on a few times in between.

Solidly biblical with ancient truths and yet refreshingly relevant to people living in 2010.

A seldom-found combo in my opinion.

Awesome.

Well, I decided to get to know a little bit more about this faith—what he calls audacious faith—by going straight to the source.

His wife!

Holly Furtick is the wife of Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC and writes a blog called The Preacher’s Wife. She is the mother to Elijah B and Graham T, and baby #3 expected this March. Holly never has a dull moment being the pastor’s wife of a rapidly growing church and the mother of two young boys. She loves going on dates with her husband, listening to her husband preach, scoring great deals at Charlotte’s many fine retail establishments, cooking, and playing with her sons.

Holly, tell us a bit about your thoughts as Sun Stand Still releases. I am so excited about the recent release of my husband’s book, Sun Stand Still.  It is a book that has been in the works for a long time, written by a man who truly lives out audacious faith (my husband ).  It is a book that changed my life many months ago when I read it for the first time.  I know that it is going to touch the lives of people everywhere.

As the wife of a pastor who is encouraging people to pray big prayers, how have you seen God be big in your own personal life? My biggest encourager is my husband!  Being married to a man of such great faith inspires my own faith.   I have seen God move through my personal prayers.  Lately, it has been over some specific things I was worried about.  God so directly answered my prayers in this area, it was such a time of faith building for me!

You are a mom of two young boys. How can we moms model “audacious faith” for our children young and old? I think it is really important to verbalize our audacious faith prayers for our children.  For them to hear me pray over them, outloud, “Father, make them the greatest men of their generation,” gives them something to live up to.  Not as a burden but rather as a vision that they begin to have for their own life.

Anything specific can we pray for you as this book releases and the Sun Stand Still movement gains momentum? Pray that book would impact the life of every person who reads it, in a way that they would never be the same again. That they would be inspired, encouraged and live differently after reading the book.

Thanks for visiting with us today, Holly!

My pleasure!

Now, today’s giveaway is going to include a copy of this life-changing book, but if you don’t want to wait to see if you are the winner and you want to get inspired to grow closer to Jesus and start praying your own SUN STAND STILL prayers, and you want to get yourself a copy of this fascinating and quick reading book right now (I finished it in less than 24 hours, not cause I’m a fast reader, but because I couldn’t put it down! Exciting, cleverly written and very conversational style stuff!) check it out here:

• (http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Stand-Still-Happens-Impossible/dp/1601423225/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285601571&sr=8-1)
• “Additional resources available for Sun Stand Still at http://www.sunstandstill.org/”

Okay gals, now for the first of FOUR giveaways this week! (One for faith, one for friends, one for family, and one ‘grand prize’ chosen randomly from all the weeks comments)

Giveaway one. FAITH

Leave a comment today on any aspect of this post (or if time is tight, simply leave a short message, prayer or “nice to meet you” greeting for Holly ) and you will be entered.

FAITH giveaway includes:

~A copy of SUN STAND STILL

~A whimsical journal-sized notebook for recording your own audacious prayers

~ An equally whimsical roller-ball pen

~ A few packets of flavored teas to sip on as you read

Be sure to tune back in Wednesday for the FAMILY giveaway and when I’ll have the grand prize giveaway ready too!

And finally, the winner of the Friendly, Not Feisty giveaway is: Erin; timestamp October 8th at 7:52 am. Send me your address at karen@proverbs31.org!

Faith-Filled Blessings,

WEEKEND NOTE: I’ve decided to leave this post up until Monday to give more people a chance to comment and enter. In the mean time, if you desire to become a part of a group of ‘cyber sisters’ who will pray for me, let me bounce ideas off  of you and generally  brainstorm together over the Internet, send an email with the words CYBER SISTERS in the subject line to karen@proverbs31.org. Many of you have already done this. Thank you! Hang with me. The first group email should go out next week!

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Welcome to those of you who have popped over from the Encouragement for Today devotion I have running. Glad to have you! If you haven’t read it, you’ll need to click here to do so and catch up with the rest of us. Be sure to come back and enter the giveaway!

As promised, if you leave a comment on this post, you’ll be entered into the drawing for a family fun basket that includes:

~A signed copy of my book A Life That Says Welcome

~An Old-fashioned stove top “Jiffy Pop” popcorn

~A bag of caramels to make caramel apples together

~A $10 Target gift card to buy a family board or card game

~A set of cute notecards for you to write encouraging notes to your family and tuck them in their lunch pails, under their pillow or in their backpacks.

So….leave a comment on any aspect of my devotion. Do you find it easier to be feisty or friendly in your home? What are your temper triggers in your home? Any advice or Bible verses to share that have helped you?

You have until Friday morning to comment!

Friendly Blessings,

Yesterday, I sat in a lawn chair on a sunny fall afternoon near the banks of the Grand River and watched our 15 year-old son Mitch play a double-header with his fall travel baseball team.

Our whole family was able to attend since Kenna is home from North Carolina for a month. Of course, with her new acclamation to the southern climate, she said she was “freezing” and wrapped herself tight in two blankets.

The rest of us had on light fall jackets.

It was in the upper 50′s. She was still “f-f-f-freezing!” (Paybacks perhaps for all of the times she sent a picture to me in mid-winter of her car’s thermometer reading 80 degrees when our wind-chill was below zero!)

Grandma Ehman and my hubby’s sister Thais were there too. We had an impromptu get together since they are about an hour from the ball diamond. Needless to say, Mitch had an entire cheering section and, well, we Ehmans like to cheer loudly!

While we were hootin’ and hollerin’ and carrying on, a young couple walked by with a son no more than two years old. As I viewed him from the side with his little brown jacket and thick, strawberry blond hair, I had to catch my breath! He looked nearly the same way my now-sophomore son did back in the fall of 1996.

That fall was when Mitch first began to show his talent for and love of baseball, turning everything he could into a “ball”.

“Mom! Mom! Catch ball!”, he’d say as he picked up an orange, a potato or even a Christmas bulb (yikes!) and chucked it to me.

Others got a chuckle out of his antics and commented how cute it was.

I, as a former high school and college sports reporter and total baseball lover, secretly smiled over the fact that he not only could throw it far and accurately, but he always did it with his left hand!  (I won’t bore you with the reason why left-handed ball players, especially pitchers, are at a great advantage. However, if your curiosity gets the best of you, click here to see why.)

As I sat there watching that toddler run around in the fallen leaves, my heart took a trip back in time.

Sure, sometimes I miss having babies and toddlers around, but for the most part, I am thankful for wise advice I got when they were little.

“Enjoy every stage and drink it in” one mentor said. “Don’t lament that your babies are growing up and getting older. Be excited with them for all of the new experiences they are having and things they are learning.”

I’ve seen this with our daughter.

So many moms have patted me on the back with a “How are you doing?” since she moved to NC right after graduation from high school last year. Now, while I miss hanging out with her and would certainly love to spend more time with her, I feel I cannot be selfish.

She LOVES her life in the south. Adores her “girls” (the kids of the family she nannies for) and her other jobs too (she has a total of three!) She is connected at her church discipling a few junior high girls and is well connected with several ministries for college-aged adults.

She LOVES her life and feels dead-center in God’s will.

Why then would I want her home in her pink bedroom, just to make ME happy?

I am thankful for the advice to hold my children–even though I love them to pieces–loosely in my hands.

A clenched fist is hard, and sometimes painful, to open.

So moms, go love on and enjoy your kids today. Drink in deep every exhaustingly wonderful moment you have with them.

But realize…

They belong to God, not you.

While raising kids is to be our most important ministry, remember– we are empowering them to go live a life independent of us and dependent only on God.

Then, when they launch, you can be properly positioned where you should be:

On the sidelines, sipping hot cider and cheering like crazy!

Sweet Blessings,