Category: Family

Thoughts on family past, present and future.

Moms Are Moms

My daughter is a single mom with two daughters,ages 10 to 13. She teaches music at an elementary school working about 9 hours every day, plus the things she has to do for her classes at home.She has to drive her oldest girl to her school each day and her daughter is involved in many activities, basketball, track and band being three of them. Mom takes her to these activities. Her youngest daughter is involved in gymnastics so that calls for a trip every wednesday evening. The girls are both members of 4H which means another trip with both girls and their dogs every monday evening. And Mom herself is on a worship team at her church which means a practice every once in awhile, plus she is a runner, involving practice runs and marathons. Doesn’t that make you tired just reading that? But her girls are growing up to be wonderful women who know right from wrong and are polite to everyone.

My two neighbors are working moms too. Granted, they both have husbands but they are working also. I’ve watched their children because they play outdoors instead of with televisions or video games. These kids are nice to everyone including an old woman like me. Their moms have taken the time to train up their children.

In the “olden” days mom stayed home with the children. It was expected,but living was harder in those days. It took all day to wash clothes and baking day was just as bad. Cleaning the house took a lot of time and effort too. Their kids turned out okay too.

I think the war between women, or is it just the media, should end. The moms who take the time to really raise their children, teaching them right from wrong and letting them know they are loved will help them grow up that way. These kids will be good parents one day. It really doesn’t matter whether a mom works or not, she is still a mom and that is what matters most isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all moms would be like those who take the time to really train their kids?

How I Managed Without Speaking

I read an article in Guideposts the other day that told about a man who couldn’t talk for 7 weeks and it brought to me a memory of the time I couldn’t talk. I decided you might want to read about this.

I was just starting my new career after my husband died suddenly of a heart attack while he was still in his 30’s. At that time I had three children, Jim was 13, JoAnne 10 and Ron 4. My new career was as a Parish Worker at a Vancouver, Washington church. The work consisted of visitation, teaching, youth work and I directed 3 choirs. All had to do with my voice.

The work was progressing nicely and the children and I were developing a pretty good schedule as a single parent family, but I was noticing a hoarseness in my voice that was getting worse every day.

I finally went to the doctor who told me I needed an operation to remove a polyp, a growth in the lining of my throat.

“Will my voice be okay after you operate?” I asked knowing my job description needed my voice, plus my three children would operate better if I could talk! And I did want to sing.

“You will be okay after 6 or 7 weeks starting today with your beginning preparation for the surgery. But you must not talk at all during that time,” was his reply.

How on earth will I ever manage that? I thought on my way home. I prayed that God would make all things work out and He did! I told the kids they would have to answer me like puppy dogs with a whistle and I bought a pretty loud whistle and tied it around my neck. Ronnie would come running if I blew it only once. JoAnne answered to 2 blasts and Jim answered to 3. Besides what I wrote in a notebook, we managed pretty well.

My whistle worked pretty well at work too. When my choir members didn’t pay attention to their orders which were written down for them, I’d give them a blast of my whistle and things would get better. A choir mother helped quite a bit too. But my visitations proved to be harder. It would do no good to blow my whistle when I came to a new family home! I had things printed up for me but for that time I visited with only members of our church and I used a notebook and pen to talk to them.

I was extremely happy the day the doctor told me I could talk again! And I could sing too just the way I did before.
I knew then that God was with me every step of the way. Sure, I had to be a non quitter too, but that is something we all have to do, no matter what happens in our lives. Are you a non-quitter?