William P Young: The Shack: Thoughts on Marriage

The Shack, by William P Young, is the story of a man's relationship with God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The trigger for the man's dialogue with God is the tragic abduction of his daughter, but don't let the grim opening put you off.  This slim book is packed full of hope, surprising joy, and boundless, heart-changing love, all presented through the man's dialogue with the visible, present, communicative, loving, Tri-une God.

I bought this book some years ago, and have re-read it a few times.  Each time I read it, different thoughts linger in the days that follow:

Walking, Not Soaring

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This week has been different.  Rather than soaring on wings like eagles, I have been walking without growing faint.  Plodding along, maintaining the discipline of early rising and prayer, but without the thrills of the first fortnight.

On the first morning, I wondered if I had done something wrong.

Now, I believe that it is just another cycle of unreliable emotion, influenced by poor eating, late nights, and lots to do. 

This was confirmed today when I had the opportunity to minister in prayer for a dear friend of mine, and sensed Holy Spirit present to meet the need.

I know that I will again experience the thrill of soaring; but for now, I choose to simply turn up.

Do you go through ups and downs in your prayer life?  What do believe is the main cause for this? How do you handle it?

Skills Training 4: Task Planning and Execution

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One of my children finds it difficult to plan and execute tasks in a timely manner.  In short, this child is easily distracted.  This is a problem both at home, and at school, so we have been working with this child for about two years now on this one issue. 

Because of this, I have become more pro-active in training planning and execution skills with my other children as well.  This is very much a work in progress, as I am continually experimenting and learning strategies for training purposes, but here are some things I have learned along the way:

Skills Training 3: Pre-school and School-Aged Speech and Language

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Continuing my series on Skills Training, this post discusses strategies that you, the parent, can implement to support your preschool and school-aged child's speech and language development. 

This post assumes that your preschooler has achieved age-appropriate speech and language skills.  If not, or if your child stutters, please seek professional help, as delay in treatment makes problems harder to overcome.  You may also wish to read my post on Early Speech and Language Skills Training.

Skills Training 2: Early Speech and Language



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All children learn speech via modelling. Many children do not require any help in addition to this modelling, and will pick up sounds, words, and increasingly complex language without any difficulty. 

However, children who are not progressing, or who are progressing very slowly, do need professional help, and the earlier they get it, the more quickly they will overcome this early hiccup.

Caveat: I want to be very clear here that I am not a qualified teacher or speech therapist, but that I am writing as a mother with experience of speech therapy.  Most therapy sessions that I have attended require language skills to be worked on at home, and most of the tips I offer here have been gleaned from these therapy sessions.  Sally Ward's Baby Talk is an additional resource which has been extremely helpful.
 
The remainder of this post discusses what you, the parent, can do to support your child's early speech and language development.

Skills Training 1: Why?

I am a mother who by nature, leans towards letting children play by themselves, or with other children, and I place a high value on outside play, sibling play, and independent play.  However, I have had to learn how to play with and teach my children, because I am aware of the benefits, and of the possible detriments if I do not.

One of the goals I have in playing with and teaching my children is being intentional about training their skills in a wide range of areas: physical, verbal, social, independent living (see also my series on Chore Training), literacy, numeracy, money... the list is endless.

By planning for time and stategies to teach my children skills, I ensure that they have opportunity to learn and grow.  If I do not plan times and strategies to teach skills, then they may not have opportunity to learn what they need.  A no-brainer, right?!?

This series will focus on when and how I teach various skills to my children, and some difficulties we have along the way.

Soaring on Wings Like Eagles

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This past fortnight, I have had a taste of walking by the Spirit, not by the flesh... and it felt marvellous. Looking back, it seems like I have been flying when I am usually trudging along in the mud with my eyes and head down.  Yes, I have experienced the thrill and the joy of spending the early morning hour with my Lord, and doing his work.

Do you want to know how this has happened? Here is my story.

Defining Self-Control for Children



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Tonight, self-control was our bible teaching topic.  Somehow, when teaching scripture, the Holy Spirit graces me with the ability to simplify and give examples appropriate to the ages of my children (7.5 years, 5 years, and almost 3 years).  I know this is the Holy Spirit's work, because in general I am a really poor teacher, and I have no theology training!!!!

The definition that dropped into my head to teach the children tonight was this:

Sensory Processing: An Introduction

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I have had the opportunity over the past year to be educated in the basics of Sensory Processing. I am not an expert, but I thought it would be helpful to share some of the knowledge I have gained. The following notes are taken from Occupational Therapy workshops that I have attended, and associated handouts.

Communion Sunday November 2011

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We remembered the dead on Remembrance Day.

Today, Jesus, I remember You as I take this bread and cup.

Thank You for taking the punishment meant for me on yourself. Thank you for giving me everything good from God in exchange.

Amen

Know Your Child, Know Yourself

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The part of parenting I love best is discovering everything that makes my child special and unique - their gifts, quirks, temperament, and personality. 

I love comparing my children at specific ages, because it highlights how different they are. I love to stare at their faces when they are sitting or playing together, because I see how similar they are. I love to read about personality, developmental stages, sensory processing, love languages, and the like, because it helps me understand and value how uniquely each child is put together.

The longer I am a parent, the more value I place on knowing my child in order to parent that child well. But I am coming to understand that knowing myself is equally important.

We Remember You

In remembrance of those
who gave their lives that we may enjoy ours.
For this let us be truly thankful
and let us never forget their sacrifice.




Remembrance Day, 11 November 2011.
Lest We Forget.

For Moms in the Trenches

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 There have been times during my years as a parent when I thought I couldn’t keep going a moment longer due to a perfect storm of stress, lack of sleep, lack of wisdom, and/or lack of closeness with my loved ones. This post is written for others who may be enduring a bad time in the trenches right now.

Chore Training for School-Aged Children

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Today, I am continuing my series by detailing the methods I use for chore-training my school-aged children. (If you are interested in other age groups, you may wish to read the earlier posts in this series, Chore Training for Toddlers and Chore Training for Preschoolers). 

In this age group, I use chore training to focus on timeliness, responsibility, and attitude.

What's on Your To-Do List, Papa?

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The Holy Spirit has been gently pointing out that my favourite prayers are all variations of: ‘help!’ or ‘forgive me’. 

Both of these prayers centre on me.

But... Jesus taught that our Heavenly Father wants us to put his kingdom first, above our own needs and wants.

So as an experiment last week, I shut my eyes and waited for quietness on the inside (which took some time!). Then I prayed a simple question, trusting in Jesus to be my Jacob’s Ladder up to heaven: “What’s on your list today, Papa? Who is on Your heart?” And then I waited some more.

Time Management for Busy Moms 5: Starting School (Or Why Did I Think Getting Out With Babies Was Hard?!?)

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I wish I could tell you that I had this phase of life under control, but that would be a complete lie!!!!

However, there are some things I’ve learned that would have made my life easier when my eldest first started full-time school (for non-West Aussie readers, Pre-Primary here is an optional year of full-time schooling, following Kindergarten, for children who will turn 5 before June 30. The school year runs from February to December).

Note: I have learned most of the following lessons the hard way!

Flourishing During A Time of Waiting

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I’ve posted before about my search for employment, and it’s coming up to six months now, which seems like a handy time to reflect on the journey. I hope the lessons I’ve learned through this time will be of help.

• Tell people you trust
• Ask for help if and when you get stuck
• Ask for prayer. Prayer from friends and other believers is the main reason that I have left the initial emotional upheaval and negativity behind me, and moved on to acceptance and trust in God to provide work at the right time.
• Be prepared to consider options that have previously been out of the question, such as family daycare or other paid help. Question your previous convictions and take counsel.
• Don’t go to war with your spouse. This last point needs some expansion, as I have not posted about it previously. I am embarrassed to admit that have been (silently) at war with my husband for at least half of this time. Once our initial financial crisis eased, I did not see any reason for me to return to work, so I stopped looking. We had brief, painful discussions about this (both of us hate confrontation), and I reluctantly started searching and studying again. I am sorry now that I gave him such a hard time and added to his stress; I wish I had trusted that he was not my enemy, but that he had our family’s best interests in mind.
• Consider whether you need to update your skills, and if so, what is the most efficient method: work experience? going back to study? volunteering? something else?
• Trust that God has your situation under control, and wait on him to provide His best for you in His good time.
• Enjoy the journey! Make the most of the time you have with your children; put your heart into your study or work experience; do the best with what is in your hand right now.

Have you been looking for work? Did you flourish or just survive during that time of waiting? What would you do differently next time?

Not so well right now...

How does one write a sick note for a blog audience?!?

"Dear ___,
Sorry I couldn't post this week, I've been unwell.
Hope to get back to work again soon.
sincerely,
Penny"

I guess that will have to do. Apologies if you noticed my absence!