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THE PARENTING DARE BLOGI love, love, love mothers.
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THE PARENTING DARE BLOGI love, love, love mothers.
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Confession time: for the past six weeks or so I've been thinking about my children and their people, wondering how the onslaught of the internet is going to affect them long-term. We, as a society, are now tied together yet separate—each person scrolling on their phone, taking in life like a cascading waterfall, allowing it to deluge us with fantastic stories of phenomenal weddings, catastrophic events, sweet moments. I see the pull of the internet affecting my children and myself. I want more for them, for me, for us. I have been pondering this in an intense way in the middle of the night, during those times when my body says, "I think 4:30 a.m. is a great time for you to wake up for the day, Lori!" It is then, during those quiet hours, when I go to those deeper spaces of a mom's heart, those places reserved for worrying about my babies and their babies. For the past three weeks I've been wanting to write a post that can shine a light and show some direction because I know you have probably felt the same way—that we, as a whole, have somehow pulled away from our harbor. Usually, when I settle in on a topic, the words flow. I write. I post. This particular topic didn't flow, simply because I had no good conclusion. As the days flowed by, I sought answers from God. Show me some clear direction here, please. Then we had Thanksgiving break, and I was surrounded by the joy of my family. I love them so dang much, and we now have three new ones to love, three granddaughters who have made my life complete. One of those girls is learning how to stand up on her own and after a fun card game (Card Salad) someone placed that particular grandchild on top of the table. Then magic happened. She would stand up, look around, and we would clap for her. She would clap for herself. She would sit down, stand up, and we would all clap and cheer. Pretty soon she realized that she was the center of attention, which was a new concept for her. She shone like the most beautiful of stars, and I was struck by how much I loved her. In that moment, the Holy Spirit whispered to me that the intense love that I felt for my unique, precious grandchild at that moment was nothing compared to the way we are loved by Him, and I could stop worrying about my children and their people. He is in charge. He knows what He is about. He will do the heavy lifting. Isn't that glorious? It was a gift to my soul. God is big enough for us. He is big enough for our children, their children, and all the generations to come. He.is.big.enough. May I live without fear and may I step into the breach, guiding, directing, calling forth. And with that, I leave you with soul-lifting words penned by a pastor down in Arkansas, Alex Cravens: DON'T FEAR FOR YOUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be. God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident. Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God. Train them up in the authority of His Word. Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control. Empower them to know they can change the world. Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it. Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan. He knew Daniel could handle the lions den. He knew David could handle Goliath. He knew Esther could handle Haman. He knew Peter could handle persecution. He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it! Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime. Rise up to the challenge. Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters! God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world. He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth. Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
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I'm Lori Doerneman Wife. Mom. Catholic. Idealist with 8 kids, keeping it real. Archives
October 2024
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