I have always suspected that children are far more resilient than most adults give them credit for. My experience of navigating early tragedy supported this theory (my mom died when I was 5), and now I’ve had a chance to observe my own children coping with loss and grave difficulty.
I recently read an article about falling birth rates. The author cited many factors that keep modern people from wanting to have as many children as past generations, and one common reason is that prospective parents just don’t “feel ready.” In fact, the author went on to share a statistic that for a growing number of couples, the only reason they had a child was because of an unplanned pregnancy.
While my husband and I are obviously not part of this modern trend towards having fewer children or having no children at all, we still wrestled with uncertainty and fears before starting to have children.
Years ago, when my 13-year-old was only 3, I was trying to get him to pick up his toys, and he was ignoring me. Or maybe he was just getting distracted. Or it could have been a little bit of both. I didn’t really know. Finally, exasperated, I said in the sternest voice I could muster, “Come here, young man!”
This post first appeared on this blog in November 2014, but I had to delete the original because, during my five-and-a-half-year blogging hiatus, it became the target of literally tens of thousands of spam comments! I now have six kids, from 13 years down to 23 months, but everything I wrote here about my attitude and approach to parenting still holds true!
Parenting is a humbling process. I say “process,” not “job,” because while the end goal of this adventure is a constant, the day-to-day details change over time. My biggest dream for my children is that they would grow up to love and follow Jesus. Period. But how to encourage them in that direction looks very different as they age from 7 days, to 7 months, to 7 years. And the frequent changes and mistakes I make as I adapt to my maturing children remind me how much I still have to learn about this parenting gig.
This post first appeared on Assist News Service in October 2015.
I just returned home from my morning walk. Though born purely out of necessity, it is now one of my favorite parts of the day, a peaceful interlude for a mother of four living in a bustling metropolis.
This post originally appeared on Assist News in January 2015.
My family and I are not actually in Ukraine at the moment. We are home on furlough for two months. Writing that sentence makes me feel conflicted, because after having lived abroad for so many years, the term “home” has become perplexing. We no longer feel fully at home anywhere, but we have family and dear friends all over the world. As a result, we are privileged to have the feel of homecoming when we travel to many different locations. This is especially true of the American Midwest, where we spent the first month of our furlough.
I overheard this exchange between my then 6-year-old and 4-year-old. Being practical-minded males, they were discussing the purpose of what is perhaps the single most illogical part of a typical female outfit.
Samuel (age 6): Do you know that she has a very long dress that comes down to the ground?
Kiyoshi (age 4): Yeah.
Samuel: That’s why she has to wear that kind of shoes.
Kiyoshi: Yeah, with the tall-standing things.
So there you have it, ladies. The purpose of high-heels is simply to keep our dress hems out of the mud. If you dislike wearing high-heels as much as I do, just get your long dresses shortened a bit, and you can wear flats all the time!
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I would be honored to have the privilege of encouraging you on a regular basis!
Image courtesy of bigjom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
If you enjoyed this, please consider subscribing here.
I would be honored to have the privilege of encouraging you on a regular basis!
Unlike the United States, Ukraine does not have many dark-skinned people, or Asians, for that matter. It's a fairly homogenous white society, which means that anyone of non-European descent stands out and might be exposed to ridicule, or worse. However, although I'm half Japanese, I've been fortunate.
I have not experienced any racism here. Until recently.
Samuel, age 5, about our apartment mate’s departure to attend classes at the medical university:
“Mommy, she’s going to the universe!”
If you enjoyed this, please consider subscribing here.
I would be honored to have the privilege of encouraging you on a regular basis!
Image courtesy of nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net