Family First Friday's

ImARadMom.com was so sweet to feature me on her blog on Friday. In answering the interview questions, my marriage and parenting passions were stirred up. I have long known these are my passions, but for some reason, putting it in writing really ignited my desire to explore those.

I have decided to start writing a "Family First Friday" post each week (or most weeks). If I come up with a catchier name, I may change days of the week. In it, I am just going to share some of my thoughts on marriage and/or parenting. Though I do feel strongly about certain things when it comes to these areas, it will definitely be my opinion. Marriage and parenting are so different for every family and for every person. It is impossible to make blanket statements when dealing with so many variables. However, I feel like I will one day do something in this area, so writing on my blog seems like a fun place to start!

In each post, I will make a few assumptions:

1. I will write from a place of putting Christ at the center of your own life (not living a perfect life, but having a life surrendered to Him), so that is definitely priority 1 when it comes to having a healthy home. Without the Lord, you'll be doing everything in your own effort, and that is just destined to fail.

2. I will write assuming you have a healthy relationship with your spouse (by healthy, I mean free of abuse). If you are in any sort of abusive situation (and there are actually over 40 forms of abuse, if I remember correctly), PLEASE seek professional help.

However, if you marriage is unhealthy because you are in a low point and struggling, I am hoping this will be the place for you. If your marriage is off-the-charts awesome, I hope this will be the place for you, as well.

3. You will not be filled with regret for past mistakes, nor judge/criticize your parents for not doing certain things. I happen to have really great parents and had a great upbringing, but no matter your past/upbringing, today is a new day. No parents are perfect, nor will we be perfect parents. So make changes you want to make, but do not criticize your parents.

4. Understand that I am giving you my best. When I write things, it is what I work for, but it is not my every day reality. So refuse to believe the lie of comparison. Sometimes I totally blow it as a wife. I get short with my kids. I raise my voice to a level that is unnecessary. My kids watch too much TV and eat too much junk food. I am inconsistent in discipline. And many other things. What I am not: perfect, or anywhere close. When I write, I will write about things that I do work very hard for, but we are imperfect humans....and none of us will ever do it right all the time. Thank Jesus for His grace!!

I have not sought God on what to write yet, so I am not sure what topics I will cover. But, I have read so many books and talked with so many people, that I have a lot of topics swirling in my head.

I am really excited to go on this journey and see where God leads! I hope you will enjoy it, as well!