If You are Going to Make a Home, Make a Home you Love

If you want a home you love, you must invest your time and energy into it.     

    I have a tendency to be an all or nothing person.  I am either completely distant or I am fully engaged.  In my moments of distance, I am left unhappy, unfulfilled, depressed, and uneasy.  I let my kids play on their own, watch tv, and do educational activities by themselves.  I simply do the duties of washing dishes and laundry because after all they have to be done.  I wander from room to room aimlessly as if I don't know where to start because I am overwhelmed.  When I am distant, I am at my lowest.  On the flip side, when I am engaged I am just the opposite: thriving, unstoppable, joyful, and completely fulfilled.  I pour into my kids and I love it!  I get on the floor and I play with them, read to them, tickle them, take them out for bike rides and ride with them.  I meet them in those moments of curiosity that are so precious and life giving!

As Christ did life with his disciples, fully engaged, I do life with my children, fully engaged.   And it works!  They are happy!  I am happy!  It is a life worth living!  My oldest child is 5, almost 6.  And it has taken me years to realize how to activate my soul.  How to flourish.  How to be a mom who can inspire her children and take them the distance.  I am not perfect.  I will be the first in line to tell you that.  But I am useless when I leave my kids to learn about this world by themselves.  They need me to disciple them.  To admit to them that mommy doesn't have it all together, but mommy is going to do her best, because they deserve it.  

     I am not the only mom out there who hits those lows and aimlessly walks around their house overwhelmed by the needs of their young children and husband.  As moms we are the glue of the family.  Our mood effects the mood of everyone else in our house.  When we respect our husbands, our children learn respect.  They so easily follow our lead, for the better or worse.
     This blog is a pursuit to hold myself accountable and to encourage other moms to dive head first into motherhood, "giving" our time and energy to our families, so that our families may "have" a strong foundation of confidence and love.  I have come to believe that our children grow in confidence and in love through quality one-on-one time spent with people who are willing to invest in them.  Who better to invest in a child than a parent?  These years are far too precious and far too few to waste!  Get on that floor and play with your child.  Invest!  Get outside and paint with your child.  Invest!  Grab a glove and throw a ball with your child.  Invest!  What ever it is you love to do, do it alongside your child. Invest!  After all, the more you sow, the more you reap.  The clock is ticking...cheers to parenting!  

"Parent is a very, not a noun."

-Unknown