When you saw the title of this article, what was your reaction? Did you groan? Did you get excited? Did you say, “Who has time for a hobby”? I use to hate when people asked me that question, especially when my children were infants to preschoolers. I remember saying, “I don’t have a hobby, I have children.”
I think God wants us to play and relax. Even though hobby is not specifically listed in the Bible. Remember Ecclesiastes 3:1; “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” Does a time for everything include hobbies? The Bible did say everything, which sounds pretty inclusive to me.
As a little girl, what did you enjoy doing with your free time? What did you do to relax or just to have fun? As adults we often forget how to have fun or somehow feel like we are goofing off. I still remember my Dad liked to color and sometimes after a hard day of work would sit down and color. We kind of thought that was funny, but he enjoyed it. I used to enjoy playing piano. Recently, we were given a piano for our home. I have started playing maybe 15 minutes a day and trying to improve on my rusty skills. Playing the piano has been truly relaxing for me. It calms me down and I feel I have some mastery over something. The piano does not talk back, even though I make a mistake. I’m amazed what 15 minutes can do for me and my mood.
Moms, I know you are incredibly busy and sometimes you just want to crawl in bed at night and sleep. I would encourage you to find maybe only 15 minutes a week to start to do something you enjoy doing. Maybe it is a hobby from childhood or a new hobby. Take the time to “goof off” and do something for yourself. Maybe it is getting a massage or manicure once a month. You deserve it. Taking a little time for yourself will make a big difference in your mood.
Help My Preteen/Teenager is Driving Me Nuts!!!
Do you feel like someone has abducted your sweet, innocent child and replaced them with a monster? Are you confused that somehow you have gone from knowing everything as a parent, to knowing absolutely nothing? Welcome to being a parent of a preteen/teenager. It is a brave new world. Being a preteen/teenager is difficult and being a parent of one is difficult as well. In this article, I will address just a few of the many “normal” aspects of adolescence and how to survive as a parent.
Guilt Free Parenting
I don’t know about you, but I do guilt very well. At times, it seems like I can feel guilty for almost anything. Also, as a parent I mess up routinely. I can be short with my temper and my words are not always pleasant. Also, there seems to be a new parenting article out daily that tells you how to parent and of course it feels like to me anyway that I always come up short. My hunch is I am not the only one that feels that way. So, how do I have the audacity to come up with an article entitled, “Guilt Free Parenting”? Actually, it wasn’t totally my idea. God placed the idea and burden on my heart to share it with you.
Another View of Christmas
Christmas is a blessed time and one when we honor the birth of our Savior. We often have warm fuzzy feelings when we look at the nativity scene. I think we need to take a closer look. Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth in a cave with animals all around her and really no privacy. Can you imagine the smell in the cave? She certainly did not have any drugs to relieve the pain of childbirth. Some Bible scholars believe Mary was 14 years old. Picture being 14 and giving birth in a cave. All she had was Joseph to be with her, no mother or sisters to comfort her. She was very alone. Yet, she was not alone – God was with her.
