May Twenty-Nineteen
Some of the quotes from this month come from a fabulous book called Growing With that I read this spring that has been such a great way to reflect on this stage of life with our kids.
"Growing With parenting is the 'mutual journey of intentional growth for both ourselves and our children that trusts God to transform us all.'"Growing With, page 23
"We think we are getting the hang of one parenting stage. Then our kid or circumstances change and we’re faced with another new frontier. The predictability we have grown to appreciate that stems from routines, resources, and relationships is often upended that first time we drop our kid off at school, let them stay at a friend’s house, empower them to join the sports team, witness them get their driver’s license, help them figure out prom, watch them pick a career, and greet a special friend they bring home to meet us. These crucial moments challenge us to pause and recognize that the ways our parenting worked in the past may not work today or tomorrow." Growing With, page 138
"Remember that children, marriages and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get..."
-H Jackson Brown, Jr.
"With parenting, namely, as our kids grow, we are growing also. There is no such thing as healthy status quo parenting, just as there is no such thing as healthy status quo living. We are ever evolving and ever developing." (Growing With, page 132)
"Jesus, our kids are growing up and we are growing older. These truths weigh heavily on us, some days more than others. There are moments when it feels like we’re growing together and other times when we fear we’re growing apart. By your grace, please grant us faith to trust you with our kids as well as courage to grow with them through our parenting. Spark in us a more expansive vision for this journey- a vision not only about who they might become, but also about who we might become." (Growing With, page 18)
"Jesus, we thank you that in the midst of the ups and downs of parenting, we can place our hope in you. We are grateful for how you use parenting to prune us and shape us more and more into your image. Please help us abide in you so that we may bear great fruit in our families and in our world. Thank you that you love our kids even more than we do. Thank you that you want the very best for them and for us. Please help us rest in your powerful grace that continues to transform us all. Amen."(Growing With, page 278)
“You are stronger than you believe. You have greater powers than you know.”
-Wonder Woman
"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." – Superman
Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity. -Henri Nouwen
