Children
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Thoughts of a Photographer
Let me start with a fun story: A couple weeks ago, my niece, my mom and I were out shopping and the subject of photography came up. Particularly how images can be photoshopped/made to look the way you want them to instead of how they actually are in reality. I honestly was encouraged that my niece had noticed this and had the courage to bring it up in conversation. Also, I found that, for her age, she had quite the eye for photo art! We talked about what she didn't like about this kind of photography, she basically said you can tell it is fake and photo shopped and why…
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When Children Give You the Lesson
“Please just trust me and obey!” Oh how many times have I heard myself sound like a broken record repeating this sentence. Just wishing and hoping, maybe just maybe, this time will be the time it clicks! There are a few instances that I can remember distinctly having said this and then being disappointed that the child or children I was keeping just couldn’t obey a simple task. One sticks with me the most, honestly because God hit me over the head good with a life lesson. But first, the story. It’s been a few years now, but I remember that I had asked this child to sit at the…
- "Life" Books, Aunt-ing, Children, Consider This..., Friends & Neighbors, GRANDparents, Pass it On...
Diapers to Diamonds and Beyond
Time. Somedays is seems like forever ago. Then somedays it feels like just yesterday. Children make my heart come alive, the bursting with joy, cannot hide how happy I am, kind of alive! Join me as I share a few glimpses of life recently, and why this is so. This summer I have to honor of attending two weddings of children, now young adults, that I cared for when they were little. Do you know how many emotions comes with this? A LOT! I am incredibly proud of who they have grown to be and who they have chosen to continually follow and depend on! I am also very encouraged…
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Children Matter. 100%. Period.
I come to you today, as a broken Mommy with a brain full of grief fog. Please bear with me! First, I cannot and will not ignore the loss of children’s lives this week. Never is it okay to get numb to the fact that CHILDREN are having their lives cut short, in any sort of way! When it’s intentionally done at the hands of adults, I can’t even come up with a strong enough word. I grieve with these families 100%. There absolutely has the be a change! Honestly, there has to be a lot of changes, not just politically or policy wise, but heart, soul, and mind change,…
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A Continuous Conversation
Happy Thursday! Tomorrow, I think, is one of the most fun holidays! St. Patricks Day, A.K.A. in our house, “Man under the leaf day,” because I couldn’t remember what it was called when I was little, so I re-named it 😊 As we do many things in our family. “Fat butter” = hunk of cheese. “Spagatical” = Sabbatical. Just to name a few… I just love any holiday that gets kids excited. Well come to think of it, I guess I’m a kid at heart because I get as excited as they do! One family that I kept years ago, the leprechauns would visit their house and would leave their…
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We Need You!: A Letter to Our Kids
To the kids of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, The biggest thing I want you to remember is this: I am so glad you are here! You have more value than you will ever know! You are indeed LOVED beyond anything you can comprehend! You are needed and wanted in this world! Another big message I want you to remember: The progression of Technology is not your fault. You were simply born in the technology age. Your parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, were alive to watch the crazy fast progress of the digital and media world, but you were born into the already rapidly growing tech age. You are the…
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Shadows
Let’s jump right in today! I don’t know about you, but I am overcome with tremendous heartache for children today. It’s no secret that my heart is drawn towards children, so it comes as no surprise that I have a tendency to want to understand what is going on in their world. Granted some things I cannot fully understand, but when it comes to the matters and questions that we all face in our lives, it’s the heart that I want to know and the connection to what makes them believe what they believe. Why the world am I overcome with heartache? The majority of kids in the US have…
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Two Minute Speeches
I recently watched a Parenting/Grandparenting Virtual Conference (yes, you read right. I would love to one day have Aunt/Uncle/GRANDfriends resource website/book/or part of this blog just for that someday, but as for now, I subscribe to Grandparenting sites and newsletters.). On this virtual conference there were a set of grandparents who gave some great suggestions for dinner family time. One was two minute speeches. Since this past weekend was a long weekend for my niece and nephew, they came to stay with us! We were able to celebrate my niece’s upcoming birthday and have an extended quality time with them. So at one of our meals, I suggested what I…
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Can I get a Hallelujah?
“We are dazzled by arrays of Christmas lights. In recent years, seeing them through the eyes of my two young children has awakened something in me I’d lost to the subtle and insidious cynicism that often sets in with age: longing. Light is a wonderment because of its promise that there’s something brilliant veiled behind the darkness, waiting to be found, pulsing with life, on the brink of unfolding before us.” Jay Y. Kim, The Promised One: Advent Readings From Christianity Today 2022 I read this earlier this week, and I said, aloud to myself, “YES! That’s it!” Children are our magnificent examples of these words! If we only slow…
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Days Gone By
A fun “Unless you know me well” fact: although this is my favorite weather and holiday season, this time of year tends to bring out “oops did I just say that out loud?” moments. I tend to be a bit sarcastic and a tad rebellious to the “assignments” of the world around us. A few examples: Thanksgiving: I love family and traditions, but when it comes to assignments of listing what you are thankful for… well, I was the kid who always listed the same things, Mom, Dad, Brother, Jesus, Friends. I was often perplexed by this assignment, especially in a Christian School, because why wasn’t this an assignment throughout…
