Nice to Meet You!

Nearly eight years ago my husband and I welcomed our first child into the world.  I knew it was going to be life-changing.  I knew it was going to be a learning adventure.  What I didn’t realize was just how much God would teach me about Himself, myself, and growing in Him through the very act of parenting!  I am no expert on parenting – in fact, I’m far from it!  But, I cannot hold in what He teaches me.  He has given me a passion to share those lessons, so here I am!

Just to let you know a little about myself…I am a homeschooling pastor’s wife mom of three.  I dabble in other things like selling Mary Kay, creating digital crafts, sewing, and reading in my  “spare time,” but most of that “spare time” tends to be devoted to my most recent passion – blogging.  I blog about my family, general thoughts, and daily challenges that the Lord lays on my heart.  I am so excited to add Parenting By Grace to the list, and I hope and pray that God uses what I’m able to share to encourage you – and that He uses your comments to continue to challenge, grow, and encourage me.

As you dive into this journey with  me, you’re going to “hear” a lot about four very special people.  I’d like to start this column by introducing those four to you.  Hopefully this little glimpse into their personalities will help you get to know them a little bit, even as you and I are getting to know each other.

First I must introduce you to Doug, my amazing husband of ten years.  We have a bit of a crazy story which often leads us to say that we had an arranged marriage.  We had barely acknowledged our “dating” relationship before we realized that God had told each of us that we were to marry the other.  We matter of factly looked at each other and said, “Well, if this is what God’s telling us to do, then let’s do it!”  We definitely loved each other, but our decision to marry was based on following in obedience, not on that love we shared.  That attitude has been carried on through our marriage.  When we are following Christ in obedience, our marriage is the strongest.  Have we always done it?  No.  But, we’re learning, and we truly love learning together!

Doug is a truly amazing man.  He loves and puts up with me, which is quite the accomplishment.  He is passionate about missions and about lighting spiritual fires under other people.  Although he is quite the introvert, he has greatly learned over the years of our marriage how much he needs other people.  That has been beautiful to watch.  And to top it all of, he’s an incredible cook!  Now, what could be better than that?

Olivia is our firstborn.  I must say, she was the perfect baby!  I was so spoiled by her, thinking I had this parenting thing all figured out.  Don’t worry – the Lord straightened me out!  As Olivia grew I realized something – she was not like me.  That realization was a hard one, and I have been struggling and praying through it for years.  First of all, our sweet child has been a social butterfly since day one.  Doug and I are both introverts.  We love our friends, but we do struggle with large social gatherings.  Olivia is never happier than when she’s surrounded by people.  Olivia is also very artistic and creative.  I’m logical and tend to be a bit of a “boxed-in” thinker.  Olivia is a tactile person – she  must touch everything.  I am visual.  If I see it, I’m fine.  Needless to say, raising Olivia has been an eye-opener for me, and I have learned so much about acknowledging that my way is not the way.

Angela is our five-and-a-half year-old middle child.  Angela was as difficult of a baby as Olivia was easy.  Doug and I wondered if we would truly ever survive her childhood!  Fortunately, by the time she was 10-12 months old, she finally decided that sleep was a good thing and that eating was not a continual thing.  As her personality has developed, we have discovered that she’s very intelligent and quite witty.  She frequently has us rolling in laughter, but she also makes me a little nervous.  As a homeschooling mom, I pray regularly that God will grant me the ability to keep up with her academically.  We call her our little priss-pot because she is so very girly and prissy.  It’s almost torture for her to wear anything other than a dress or skirt!  One of the most interesting things about her is her magnetic personality.  Despite the fact that she, unlike Olivia, tends to be socially challenged, people have been irrestistably drawn to her.  Total strangers can hardly resist commenting on her radiating personality!

Steven is our baby.  Yes, at two and a half he is the spoiled only boy in the family.  Steven’s personality was a shock to me.  I never dreamed boys could be so different from the moment of birth!  He is quite the mama’s boy, but is definitely all boy (even with the fact that he loves Hello Kitty and princesses right alongside his big sisters!).  Although many aspects of his personality are still unexplored at this age, we can already see his tendency to lead and be strong.  He has no qualms about letting people know what he wants and then jumping right in to make sure he gets it!

So, welcome to our life.  I look forward to getting to know you, too!