He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

I've been thinking about perspective today.  I went for a walk because it is late October and the sun was shining and my weather app said it was 60 degrees.  Along the way, I noted that 60 degrees on October 29 with significant wind is not as warm and pleasant as 60 degrees in April after a long dark cold winter.  60 should be 60 right?  60 is not 60.  60 is only the temperature of the company that it keeps.  Let that sink in a bit.  60 is only as warm or cold as the company it keeps.  Metaphorically speaking....so are you and I.  I am only as warm or cold or generous or selfish as the company that term keeps.  It is all relative to what is around me, what else is considered in the moment.  I can be extravagantly selfish on Monday morning with my music playing and a hot cup of tea and a room full of quiet peace......but I cannot be that selfish at 5:30pm when my family is all around me and waiting for dinner, a ride here or ...

Being a parent is just hard.  It is the hardest thing ever.  Because I know this, I have chosen a career working with young parents.....as if I don't get enough at home.  Yikes.  I'm sitting here in the dark typing a blog because what I really want to do is watch my latest Netflix binge series....but I can't because Ms. Precious apparently cannot sleep tonight.  So she is in my room, in her nest on the floor.  tossing and turning.  I want to yell at her and force her to go back to her bed right this minute because, quite frankly, I am done parenting today.  I won't do that.  That won't help her.  Or me.  Her nest is our compromise for her restlessness.  She is not in our bed anymore.....but she sometimes cannot sleep in her bed either.  I just want some solitude....I just want some privacy and some down time....to watch my stupid (albeit inappropriate) Netflix show.  It's called Orange is the New Black.  It is w...

I left a meeting today, well, a "conversation" about assessing the strengths and barriers and possible interventions regarding our community and the ability to access mental health services.  I love that I live in a community that cares about this and that wants to improve.  Social diseases and community deficits and potential threats and opportunities for Holistic health are the nursing world I live in.  Families and children are my why.  I left the meeting to go to the hospital because Jeremiah had a follow- up appointment after his surgery last Friday.  Not gonna lie, it has been a rough road to healing for my boy.  The surgery was a big deal and the surgeon was amazing.  He explained today how he opened up the fracture and had to rotate the ulnar bone to get it to lock in.  He put a plate in there and screwed it in place and that plate will have to come out in 6-12 months when he is satisfied with the positioning and in a season w...

Recently I was at an event at my children's school.  I was talking to another mom and had to excuse myself because a client was asking for help.  She needed formula for her baby and had run out and it was a Saturday....and she wasn't able to get any over the weekend.  Food pantries aren't open on weekends either.  All of the women I work with know that if they need food for their children they should tell me and I will help them.  I left the school event to go and get some formula for this kiddo and the mom I was talking to was influenced.  I told her I had found a $20 in my cupboard that morning that someone had gifted to me months ago, for such a time as this, and so on this day that $20 would find its need.  Last week this mom friend from school sent me a $50 bill in a sweet card, telling me to use it when I needed to for the families I work with.  How cool is that? My husband has been gone for about 10 days for work so I have functioned lik...

Recently, a friend asked me if I had any parenting advice.  She said she felt like I had really good kids and wondered if I had any tips or secrets.  I agreed that we do have really, really good kids.  They are kind and respectful.  (at least they better be.....if not someone better let me know)  In the moment, the only advice I could think of was to be present.  To be available and mostly home when they leave and when they come back in.  Be at their events and be at the dinner table.  Cook food and serve it to them, even if its just one at a time sometimes.....but other than being present and home, I have considered something else that I think makes a difference.  Attachment parenting.  You can google it and look up definitions.  It includes all of the definitions you can read but it also includes much more.  The essence of attachment parenting is to be in tune with your child, to pay attention to their cues and their needs...