The second (and obvious) thing daughters need is love and affection: the kind of love that builds and nurtures security. Daughters need strong fathers and mothers who love them sacrificially, take responsibility for them, and understand their need for protection. Daughters need wise mothers who will teach and equip them to be secure in who they are in Christ.
This means that daughters need to know they are the joy of their parents, which translates into lots of hugs, kisses, reassurance, comfort, praise, and support. And they need to feel loved and know how important they are to their parents.
Women run on the fuel of love and security. We all need this, and little girls (and big girls) are no exception. When they feel unloved and insecure, they will look for attention, affirmation, and what they might think might be love in other (wrong) places. This is why little girls who are needy for affection might be climbing on the laps of men they barely know. Continue reading ‘Daughters, Part 2′
Some of you may be wondering what ever happened to my daughter Bekah (of skirty fame). The truth is she is living right here under my roof with Ben and the five children, and she comes up once in a while for a cup of coffee. She has busied herself with figuring out how to market a line of dresses for her little business Amoretti, as well as keeping the kids occupied. This has all been quite tame, and I don’t know why you haven’t heard a peep out of her since she got back to the US of A.
This past week they made a trip to Boise to visit family, and while there Bekah learned that her mother-in-law needed a little decorating help with her kindergarten room. Anita has taught kindergarten since Ben (who is now 36) started at age five. So, needless to say, she knows her stuff. Anyhow, this year she has a new temporary room that has walls covered with Pooh Bear. And though we all love Pooh, it just Continue reading ‘Kindergarten Birds’
I had a dear friend who was a decorator (who is now with the Lord) who gave me lots of help and teaching on decorating a home. I remember how she would call a bucket of paint “instant beauty,” and she was a very good painter and re-finisher. I agree with the end result (the beauty part), but it is never instant with me. Painting takes me ages and ages. But it is amazing what a bucket or two of paint can do, and compared to other things, it really is inexpensive.
Plants are what she called “cheap decorating” and it’s true. Put a plant in a corner and it can fill an otherwise bare room, or add interest to those empty spaces on a counter or table. When the college students start pouring into our community, the local grocery stores have bargains on house plants. And if you don’t destroy them, they can make a home beautiful for years. 
My mother-in-law insists that flowers should be part of the weekly food budget since they add so much to the table. And it doesn’t take much to get a big impact. She prefers the Japanese arrangements, so that means one, three, or five stems. Americans tend to think more is better and sometimes shove way too much into a bouquet. Either way you like it, flowers can be cheap decorating as well. If you can’t manage fresh ones each week, a blooming plant can perform for quite a while.
A friend gave me a long, narrow, white dish with relief sea shells on each end for my birthday. I bought a couple of bags of seashells and filled it up, and it is blessing me each time I see it on my coffee table, reminding me of the Oregon beach. And another friend gave me a darling striped jug which is sitting on my blue buffet quite cheerfully. It needs nothing.
So share a few of your cheap decorating tips with us. We are all ears.
Hey all! I think it is about time we had a giveaway around here! This is a hand knit (by me no less) baby hat with a rickrack flower that should fit about a 3-6 month old. My babies have notoriously big heads and they can still squeak it on at 8 months. If you want it, leave a comment, and I will announce the winner next Friday. Hey, you could always use it as a gift!
If you are the kind of woman who feels like you have more to do than is humanly possible, then I am here to reassure you that you are not alone. You are not even weird! It is often the case that although we can feel truly grateful that God has kindly given us a whole lot of responsibility, we can still be slightly (or vastly) overwhelmed at how we are going to be faithful over it all.
Apparently God wants us to be needy people, because He delights in giving us more grace. He is a bountiful Father, bestowing on and enabling His people to do what He calls them to do. Remembering this helps us keep our perspective when we start to feel overwhelmed and understaffed. Continue reading ‘Two Hands’
Today my son Nate turns thirty. Born well into the last century, he arrived, or should I say, he burst onto the scene, in the evening of August 12, 1978, an apt foreshadowing of what was to come. So it is happy labor day for me in many ways. Not only was I thrilled to have a healthy, nine-pound boy, I was also grateful and glad I had made it to the hospital and that he wasn’t born in the Rambler we were driving at the time.
Not knowing if we were having a son or daughter, and already having an almost-two-year-old daughter, I remember wondering if a boy would be as easy to love as a little girl. What a funny thought! And weren’t we in for a wonderful journey, a journey we are still happily on.
His father and I are pleased (amazed) and grateful for all our son has accomplished in his twenties. He astounds us with the sheer volume of productivity and fruitfulness, loving signs of God’s blessing on his labor. Continue reading ‘Entering the Fourth Decade’
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