Link Love

From Inspired to Action, a post on putting aside some of the guilt by knowing what you as a mom enjoy doing with your kids and giving yourself permisison to not do EVERYTHING you think a good mom should do, "It is vital that we as moms know what we are good at and enjoy. Don’t feel pressured to be good at something just because other moms are or because someone says you “should.”



From Sally Clarkson, whose books The Ministry of Motherhood: Following Christ's Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children and The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity, spoke volumes to me about what it looks like to be a godly mother,

"The laying down of our lives is not just about moving to the most impoverished country or preaching to thousands. But right in front of us, the child who would long to have our comforting touch and gentle voice of life-giving words, that he may imagine the voice and touch of God when He ponders faith as a young adult and chooses to believe because the reality of God was in his home.


The child who needs one more song to be comforted before sleeping, so that he might be able in adulthood to believe in a God who is patient and willing to answer prayer and hear our voice when we as his children cry out in faith.

The child who is lonely, confused, hormonal, who will feel the touch of God, the sacrifice of God as we give up the rights to our time and comfort to befriend and listen and show compassion and sympathy for what is on his heart.

Love is given through a candle lit and a special breakfast served one more time on Sunday before church as we open the gospel together, that the reality and beauty of God’s creativity is validated in how we live. It is shown with the sacrificial life of giving up what we wanted to do, or the job we hoped to have, in order to build a soul through the attention of ourselves. A looking into the eyes with true interest and compassion instead of looking at a screen while half-heartedly listening. These are the sacrifices of our love, the moment by moment giving up of ourselves, the constant, year end year out practice of worship as we serve those in our home in order to please His heart."


A post by one of my favorite Haitian bloggers, on working with women who live in poverty, specifically how preconceived ideas may not accurately protray reality.  Working to answer some of these questions:

"Why do they keep having babies?  Why don't they just stop having sex?  Why doesn't she protect herself/use birth control?  She made the choice.  It's her fault/problem/consequence."