Soul Shaping Moment 18- Winding Down

It’s been a long day. In fact, feels like a month long to me!! But we are finally at the end of this series. It’s time to wrap it up. Bring some closure to each soul. End the day strong. Put a period at the end of our proverbial sentence.

A good living story winds us down and closes our day as a family. We gather in the den for whatever book we are reading at the time and spread out to listen to the reader.

Our days have a rhythm that is familiar…

Photo Credit goes to Lumonslindsay

A rhythm that brings comfort…

Familiarity…

Security…to the children…

They are loved. My husband and I are deliberate about our time with the children because these kids are tomorrow’s adults. These kids will raise our grandchildren. These kids will live on the earth when we are long gone.

My husband and I hope and pray that Soul Shaping One Moment at a Time (A day in the life of our family)has encouraged you to be thoughtful and deliberate with your kids in the daily-ness of life. It's not always easy, but it's worth all the effort.

Time to tuck the kids into bed...Good night.

Soul Shaping Moment 17- Bath time for the Littles

Fill’er up and throw ‘em in.

Bubbles, kids, toys…When the sun sets in the evening, our master bath transforms into an ocean filled with ships and captains--sea creatures and beaches.

I love bath time. My littles not only get clean, but their imaginations create worlds where they are heroes and heroines.

I fill up the tub--toss in some toys and let the kids play until their skin is prune-ish.

Photo Credit via Swiat Kasiek

After the first group of children gets dried, dressed, brushed and night diapered, the next little gender group jumps in. We warm up the tub with more hot water and extra bubbles and the fantasyland transforms from one world to another. The ships settle in their docks and the tub is not an ocean for this crew, but rather an exquisite hair salon for my prissy little girls.

The Martha Washington flip, the shark Mohawk and the pointy spike styles are all modeled above the bubbles with girlish enthusiasm.

The kids think bath time is more about entertainment than cleanliness—which is fine with me. The toys will be kicked out of the bath and the shower will replace the tub full of water soon enough as proved by my older set of children. When this happens the toys get replaced with razors and shaving cream and a buzzer must be set to maintain a reasonable water bill.

But for now, imaginations transform my tub into play lands of excitement and I love every minute of it.

Soul Shaping Moment:  Let your littles share bath water to teach them prudence in household management. Let the stinkier, dirtier ones go last.

Soul Shaping Moment 16-- Hit the Trail

It’s time for the family to decompress. School work, house work, play work…Our days are packed to the brim and if something does not give, someone will POP and that’s never a pretty site!! 

So each does his own thing after dinner. 

As long as no one is juggling knives, playing with fire, or surfing the net, they are free to do “whatever.”

I personally like to hit the trail walking.

Photo Credit Goes to Southholland

If you read my 31 Days to Fit, you know this time resets my emotional barometer and fuels me to finish the day strong. I LOVE to serve my family...and... if I’m going to be the best for them, I MUST take this time to unwind and recharge.

Each of my family members needs this time for themselves, too. It’s interesting to see the choices my kids make with their down time. The younger ones like to play at our house with some neighborhood kids. 

My older ones often enjoy reaching out to an elderly or handicapped person.

Sometimes I’ll wonder where my teenage son is simply to find out he is raking someone’s yard. Or my oldest daughter is doing a craft with someone homebound.

I’m SO THANKFUL they often think of others during their down time. My kids aren’t perfect, BY ANY MEANS, but the years we have spent visiting the elderly and handicapped together has stamped them to truly care about others. 

Soul Shaping Challenge: Teach your kids to be cognizant of their free time. Time wasted can NEVER be regained. Teach them to work hard, play hard and care about others THE WHOLE TIME. Whole-hearted living is the only way to live. 

Soul Shaping Moment 15- Cleaning the Kitchen

Dinner is over. The table is cleared, but the pile of dishes in the kitchen is stacked halfway to the ceiling teetering back and forth. The boys did a good job bussing the dishes from the table to the sink... But now who gets the honor of cleaning the mountain of glass and pottery?

The girls and I take turns.

A chart hangs on the refrigerator that break down the cleaning of the kitchen into three parts. 

1) Dishes 

2) Counters 

3) Floors

Photo Credit Goes to: Bigmamalisa

The oldest girls and I rotate on this list. Why not the older guys? We've come to a happy compromise: the boys take care of the trash inside and out, and we girls happily scrub the dishes. 


The boys don't mind the  HOT, sticky feeling their chores bring--they're full of testosterone. 





We girls melt easily. 

So bubbles and and suds it is for us girls. And when the monstrous tower of leaning glass feels overwhelming, we remember that family is a blessing and we thank the Lord for each person that dirtied a plate at our table. 

Soul Shaping Challenge: Create a balanced, color coded cleaning chart for the kitchen. It will clear the air of any arguing over this chore and your children will learn to be orderly in the daily things of life.

Soul Shaping Moment 14-- The Boys Part

Momma can’t do everything…and she should NOT! Family members are cheated out of important life training skills, when momma does all the chores. In our home after dinner, the male gender is responsible for clearing the dishes, returning the placemats to their shelf, and wiping down the table.

Each male from Daddy down to the 3-year-old takes part in this job. Being of the competitive nature, they make a race of it or sometimes a game, but each one of them helps. They would tell you that misery loves company, but by the sound of the laughter, I say they LOVE working together.

Photo Credit to Blgger

My husband and I chose this job for the boys in consideration of their future families. We want our daughters-in-love to THANK US for raising considerate husbands.

So the girls sit a few minutes longer while the boys clear the table.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Let your young ones HELP. They will beam with pride (the good kind) as you trust them to help with a BIG JOB. 

Train your older ones to say thank you for a meal, by clearing the table and restoring it to it’s before the meal look. Diligence is once again exercised during this clean up process and gratefulness is shown.

Soul Shaping Moment 13-- Dinnertime

Dinner around the dining room table with my favorite people in the world is the most cherished part of my day. It would be easier to let everyone ‘eat from the pot’ on the stovetop, but assembling around the table guarantees face time between each of the busy family members.

We take turns talking. Listening to each person--We value each one’s input--Validate new ideas--Encourage budding dreams—Comfort dragging souls.

I love dinnertime.

Photo credit goes to Out of Sync Life

It provides so much more than bodily nourishment. Dinnertime glues our family together in a sweet daily ritual of gathering around food to fill our bellies. It is during this time that each person shares a high and a low for the day. Confessing lows exposes hurts that could have easily been overlooked and offers a reminder for Dad or me to address the issue later in a private place to help with the healing. 



Naming the highs invites each family member to celebrate another’s joy and excitement.

This sweet time knits us together not only as a family, but as a group of people who care about each other--A family with tight friendships.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Sit down to dinner with your family, even if there are only 2 of you in your family. Turn off the TV. Put down your cell phone. Talk about the highs and lows of your day. This creates unity and shows selflessness.

Soul Shaping Moment 12-- Set the table

Yes, I know this it the 3^rd day on dinner prep. I could write a MONTH on dinner prep!! Not because it is so complicated, but rather because it is SO IMPORTANT!! Preparing ahead for the ones God gives us speaks of love to our family members. 

And it says, Thank You to our Creator for the gift of family. A husband is a treasure--children are a blessing. Family situations are forever changing as the kids sprout from childhood to adulthood, so a calm family meal is an easy way to seize the day with your fast growing children. 

The generation living under our roofs will more than likely treat our grandchildren with the same attention to detail —or neglect— that we model for them, so let's go the extra step and set the table.

Taking the time to provide a healthy meal around the table takes thought and preparation—even if it is a simple throw it together meal in a pinch. Serving the family together around a table says I CARE ABOUT YOU!!! So complete the effort by setting the table.

Photo Credit to http://alkemie.blogspot

In our home, our seven-year-old princess prepares the table. Placemats, napkins and utensils hide in an easy to access place for her and she has creative license with the placemat/place setting combination.

 I simply require that she follows the universal rule of forks on the left and knives and spoons on the right. Other than that—She sets to her heart’s desire.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Teach your kids to set the table and provide them with a variety of choices of placemats and dishes. Setting a table and inviting someone to join you says, I want you in my life. This teaches them to nurture important relationships in a natural way over a meal.

Soul Shaping Moment 11- Dinner Prep and the Extra Kids

Too many cooks spoil the broth. In fact, one cook or ten, the broth in our house is especially delicate (because of the cooks)...so we send a handful of children to the pool during dinner prep, so that the broth is worth slurping at dinnertime. 

Photo Credit goes to Ellen Harter Wall

The swimmers and chefs rotate throughout the week, so each able chef gets a turn in the kitchen and at the pool, or at least that is the goal. (My goals and my reality don’t always meet, therefore we have a few kitchen challenged fish, but I know we will catch up on instruction in due time.)                 

So an older sibling plays with some younger ones splashing and diving around our big neighborhood pool while dinner simmers. When our water logged children are dried out by the chlorine and STARVING from all the fun, they head back to the house for dinner time.

Soul Shaping Challenge: It is GOOD for older kids to play with their younger siblings. It teaches patience. It instills kindness and builds memories. I love the verse, “How beautiful and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters) dwell together in unity," Psalm 133:1("and sisters" added by me)

(Related YouTube Post:)

Soul Shaping Moment 10- Dinner Prep

It’s mealtime again and I’m still no Paula Deen. I mentioned in a post that I cook and freeze. That way meal prep is not always an emotional drain for me. Whether the main dish is coming from the freezer or prepared from scratch, I enlist the help of the closest able bodies shorter than me.

Together we throw together, I mean, thoughtfully assemble delectable morsels for our loved ones. Meal prep time provides great open space for talking. Talking about nothing. Or books. Or issues. 

Just being together. 

Simply hanging out over cutting boards and knives. Cool things—kids love. 

Photo credit to Lisa Farley

This time together forges bonds between the kids and me in a natural way doing a common chore. Each child has a cooking preference in the kitchen and it is fun to see their gifts and lack there of surface in our culinary  art room. 

Dinner prep must be done if we  are going to eat, and it provides quality time with each of the kids on different nights. I don’t have to carve this time out, make a special date or schedule it in. 

Dinner prep with the kids provides meaningful memory making time.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Include your kids one at a time in the dinner prep time. Not only will they gain useful skills that their future families will appreciate, but you will build fun memories with them, also. 

This time teaches them responsibility and domestic skill--One day they will be responsible for eating healthy without mom hovering, and providing healthy meals for their loved ones.

Soul Shaping Moment 9- The Right Time to Write

I am retraining myself NOT to multitask. I am the queen of multi tasking. I have been known to nurse a baby, talk on the phone, and make sandwiches all at the same time. I know: RIDICULOUS.

I move fast.

I like fast results.

So I multi-task.

I have learned the hard way that I get less accomplished when I multi-task, so blog posting and writing takes place while the kids are asleep or reading—In other words when they are completely occupied. Trying to work on my computer and remain mentally available for the kids is a BAD combination.

The other day I was “on a roll” and could not shut my computer. Naptime was over and the house was full of life again…but I pecked away on my laptop. A little one prodded me to “come see this frog” over and over.

“Mom, you’ve got to see this frog.”

“Just one minute,” spoken in a distracted mom tone as I stared at my screen.

Off he ran to check on the frog, again.

A third time the boy came to me, but this time with a helpful idea (he thought) “How about I watch your computer for you and YOU go look at the frog!”

Ouch.

He was willing to sit in my chair and babysit my screen for me, so that I could have the pleasure of seeing a really cool frog. Let me tell you that I shut my computer.

Slapped back into reality, I joined my little one in a squatting position outside and enthusiastically enjoyed the sticky, green, croaking creature with my precious little one.

When the kids are asleep, I work on my hobbies (writing for three blogs) When they are awake, I mommy them. Period. The end. Juggling too many important balls is a good way to drop them ALL.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Teach the kids attentiveness by being ALL THERE. 

Join me in trying to live by Jim Elliot's famous quote, "Where ever you are, be all there" ...Because multi-tasking keeps us distracted, people get neglected and mistakes are multiplied in projects. 

Memorize: “Whatever you do work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men,” Colossians 3:23 

Soul Shaping Moment 8- Glorious Nap Time

The older ones bolt to their rooms and the younger ones plead to stay up—It’s a universal scenario. Only the ones who don’t have time for a nap truly WANT a nap! 

I LOVE this time of the day—not because I always get a few winks, but because the house stops… and I can think. Or read. Or blog. Or shop on-line. Or cook. Or stare out the window. (You get the point)

Click for Photo Credit

No one is juggling knives, eating Comet coloring on the walls or having an adolescent hormonal breakdown.

Everyone is still. Even though we call this time “naptime.” It is really “lay in one spot and listen to an audiobook” time for the younger ones. 

The older ones usually read, write, catch up on homework, OR NAP.

No one is required to fall asleep.

Sometimes, however, I trick an especially tired young one into sleeping by telling him, he does NOT have to sleep, he only has to close his eyes while he listens to an audiobook then…BAM…Mission accomplished. 

Snoring ensues within minutes.

Much is accomplished during these frozen moments whether the kids fall sleep or not. Sleep has its own obvious benefits, but we have a large audio library and I put a story on for everyone ten and under which assists in keeping them still.

Imaginations grow. Vocabulary increases.

And their love for books is once again watered.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Make “downtime” in the afternoon appealing by offering a good audio book or the promise of a bike ride with Mom in the evening. Kids learn self-control and obedience when they must stay in one spot for an hour or two. 

Soul Shaping Moment 7- Story Time

I love story time (because it comes right before naptime…HOPE around the corner.) This past spring semester, I had the BRILLIANT idea moving story time from our home to the library. With more work than usual on my proverbial plate, this made grand sense to me. Thousands of books calling for little fingers to thumb through and an audio library larger than the moon. They would be occupied for hours...surely.

So off we went...Once inside the hushed room, I put my little ones on earphones at the computers, keyed in age appropriate audio books and tip toed back to my table. The simulated mommy would read with expression, while I checked off my busy work.

GREAT IDEA!!! RIGHT?

My three-year-old didn’t think so. This tot had approximately 25 questions during his audio story and I my frustration meter escalated underneath my mommy smile.

Impatience surfaced in my chest.

Impatience is my signal that my priorities are self-centered and off.  A quick assessment of the situation proved I had misplaced priorities.  He was right...I really should have been the one reading to him, not the cold computer. There is certainly a time for an audio book at the computer in his day, but it cannot REPLACE my time with him...which is what I was doing.

“I just want YOU to read me the book, while I SIT IN YOUR LAP, Mommy!”

So story time with Mommy is story time with Mommy…at home, on the couch, with favorite books and lots of snuggles.

The little ones learn that they are valuable, important and loved during this sweet time.

The older ones who prefer NOT to sit on my lap anymore (I can't imagine what's wrong with my lap!) read alone in their rooms during this time. They still LOVE to talk about what they are reading because sharing books together is a lifestyle we enjoy. Discussing books provides a common bond and challenging discussions at times. 

Soul Shaping Challenge: Nothing can replace story time with Mommy. Kids learn to value books and LOVE time with Mommy when the two are combined in a sweet way. If your kids are older now, you can still read to them. Simply find a book that would interest them and go for it. These moments tie heart strings.

Soul Shaping Moment 6- Lunch Time

I ain’t no Pioneer Woman. I cook GOOD in spurts. In between those spurts my kids learn the character qualities of thankfulness, resourcefulness and patience.

Press to see who gets photo credit

I keep a heap of ingredients in this house and it frustrates the kids sometimes, because these ingredients require: 

Preparing 

Assembling 

And cooking... 

Which takes 

Time

Thinking 

And patience. 

Assembling a meal from scratch is a character stretching activity that takes place in our home DAILY! If one could put a spoon into the tub of flour, and eat straight from it and call it a meal, my kids would.  But since that is not an option, who ever is the hungriest starts the lunch ball rolling.

If a child is old enough to stand on a chair and see onto the counter, he can help the head chef. Lunch is usually not a BIG MEAL because we don’t want to spend two hours in the kitchen preparing and cleaning, so we make green smoothies, crunch on carrots or apples...chew on  blue chip nachos with homemade salsa, or settle for "peabut and jelly" sandwiches—Simple food that doesn't require too much effort.

Soul Shaping Challenge:  Make lunch healthy, light and simple, so your kids will have the energy to finish the day strong as a team player in the family. Also, include them in the meal preparations. This will make them grateful for more complicated meals.

Soul Shaping Moment 5- Hobby Time

The fact that I gave birth to artsy children is a miracle. Scissors and glue make me sweat. Regardless of this fact, I have more than a few kids that require a shoebox full of art supplies in order to survive. So this is the time of day my off spring creates…(soul shaping messes.)

One daughter piddles on projects she finds on Pinterest.

A few daughters write letters, create songs, movies, and artwork on canvases.

Photo credit goes to: "Press"

A few boys build Legos, create Playdo farms, build castles out of blocks, etc.

Basically the previous cleaners divide into different areas and undo everything that was tidied and wiped in the previous hour.

Our home is a vicious cycle of cleaning, creating, cleaning, and creating.

The kids learn to appreciate their God given bents during this creative free time. And I learn to ENJOY watching them grow in their strengths. Creativity is the character quality nourished during this time.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Turn off the TV and help your children discover art, mechanics or writing. YOU and your children will be stretched and they will thank you later. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” God is the author of creativity—He will guide you if you ask Him.

A Commercial Break

It’s time for a soul shaping commercial break. So far breakfast has been served—the body has been fed. Bible had been read—the spirit has been nourished. Songs have been sung—the soul has been lifted. The house has been tidied—the mind is free to be creative…and all this has happened before lunch. The character qualities that have been instilled in the kids so far are:

Respect

Attentiveness

Discernment

Diligence and

Thoroughness

But here’s the tricky part…if Mom is fussy, moody, short-tempered, and irritable… or is near-sighted with her goals and far-sighted with her children, the time has been wasted and NOTHING has been gained.

LOVE softens the soil for seeds to be planted and without LOVE seeds wither and die.

ENJOY YOUR CHILDREN. HAVE FUN WITH THEM!!!!

Be a responsible Mommy-leader. Follow the Lord, NOT ME and you will find JOY in your home.

I do not want this month of soul shaping to become a checklist for anyone like

31 Days to Fit was. Shaping a soul is different than shaping a body. Seek the Lord’s counsel before you seek mine, then I am happy to help guide you.

Stay tuned tomorrow for: Soul Shaping Moment 5- Hobby Time

Soul Shaping Moment 4– Clean It Up

I am not a natural cleaner. So I have an entire shelf full of paperbacks about cleaning to motivate and inspire me. Several years ago I chose the Fly Lady's book for cleaning inspiration because she has a bright pink cover and a cute little drawing on the front. Yes, I judged the book by the cover and I’m glad I did because she was just what I needed.

Press to Order Your Own Copy

The Fly Lady taught me to zone off the rooms and hang step-by-step detailed cleaning lists in each zone. This makes cleaning our casa quick and easy. Because I have so many kids and not very many rooms in the house, the whole place gets cleaned up relatively fast.

Training the kids to clean each zone correctly is laborious, but it pays big when the house is cleaned correctly and fast without a maid service present.

The soul-shaping principals here are diligence and thoroughness. Diligence is the opposite of slothfulness and it is a quality that will assist the kids in all stages of their lives. Teaching them to be thorough, quite frankly, is a pain in the hiney. It would be easier just to do it myself, but if they learn to be thorough they will go further in life.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Pick a chore with your kids and teach them to do it from beginning to end with diligence and thoroughness. Colossions 3:2, “Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for man.”

Soul Shaping Moment 3- Squeak out a Melody

The sleepy kids that barely listened during Bible are sure to wake up in the following moments because quiet is about to leave the scene...Enter:

Singing.

I want my kids to have certain lyrics engrained in their brains so that when they are older, their minds will find the words at those pivotal moments of crucial decision-making. I carefully choose the songs that we memorize. Music has a way of making words stick around, so we sing…

Singing chases dreary moods off the premises and shapes one’s perspective. Each of our babies has a special something about him/her and our current baby LOVES the song Rejoice in the Lord. No matter how fussy this little one feels, this song brings giggles and claps, so it is the song we sing first (during this season.)

Many times we take a verse we all LOVE and create a tune or jingle to it. This has been a fun way to teach the new little Bonins what the older ones learned several years ago. Not to mention, the ditties help me remember certain verses, too.

We don’t always FEEL like tweeting in the morning and half the time it probably sounds more like crowing, but I want my kids to have biblically sound lyrics engrained in their brains.

Hollywood puts out a lot of … follow your heart, follow your heart, follow your heart…lalalalal….

Scripture says that the heart is deceitful above all things. In other words, follow your heart and you will make a huge mess of your life.

Purposefully singing with the kids teaches them to have discernment concerning what they think on through out the day.

Soul Shaping Challenge: Consider the words your kids sing throughout the day. Print out the lyrics to their favorite songs and discern if those words are sowing truth and wise judgment into their souls. Begin to teach your kids how to discern truth from lies. 

Soul Shaping Moment 2- Bible

Jesus is the reason I live and breath. I cannot think of anything I desire more for my children than a close friendship with Him--for them to truly KNOW Him, as a friend--a companion. So morning welcomes Him into our day right after breakfast. I plop into my big comfy chair where my feet don’t touch the ground—grab my Bible and call for the kids. One at a time they find their spots in the den.

The toddler sits on her blanket with a few toys (after she’s been trained. Blog post on blanket training in the que). The bigger kids sprawl all over the couch. Many times I must prod an especially sleepy one to sit up and listen because the snoring is a bit disrupting.

Then I read.

Sometimes I read a chapter from Proverbs that coincides with the day of the month, or I read from Psalms. We read different books of the Bible throughout the year depending on…my mood? After I read, each of the kids tells me what "stuck out" the most to him/her. Sometimes this takes a bit of re-reading, but not often. They learned early on to listen when I added the “proof of listening” comments at the end.

The three-year-old usually just repeats someone else’s answer, which is fine with me. 

He is learning.

My goal is that when my kids grow up and leave our house, they will feel like they forgot to put their pants on, if they leave without spending a quiet moment in the Word. 

Most people are distracted and inattentive to the needs of others, much less the voice of God, so I see teaching this habit as an important part of mothering. It is not convenient in any way. A long "to do" list calls my name each morning beckoning me to cross things off as finished, but everything can wait. 


Shaping my kids' souls trumps any errand or chore...Walking them through the habit of "being still" on purpose, yet awake and attentive, before the day's busyness starts, is a high priority for me. I could simply set a good example and hope that as adults they follow it, but I would not treat math, science or reading that way, so why would I leave spiritual disciplines to chance? 


So after breakfast, the kids and I pile in the den and open the Word. I ask God to give them wise hearts and I do my part to make them wisdom seekers through this morning habit.

Soul Shaping Challenge:  Take time with your kids to teach them how to feed and nourish their souls. It does not matter if you do this in the morning, afternoon or before bed, just put it on the schedule. This discipline teaches the kids the character quality of attentiveness. I do it first, so that nothing pushes it out of the schedule. Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, Oh Lord, you will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to you and eagerly watch.”

Soul Shaping Moment 1—Morning

I love the morning. The morning offers a new start…a fresh beginning…a first blush… I love to see my sleepy eyed, messy haired little chickens stumbling into the den for morning hugs and kisses. It’s a new day. No one is in trouble…nothing has spilled… YET.

Complete sweetness.

Quiet.

Morning.

I like to keep our mornings hushed and still until all the tired has cleared from my kids’ brains. 

No music.

No TV.

No background noise.

Just snuggles, hugs, kisses and the clinking of spoons on cereal bowls. I like simple mornings. It makes for a good beginning.

But life does not always go as planned especially when kids are involved, so I stay mentally prepared for "my plans" to unravel. It helps me stay cheerful when I don't get my way.

What do your mornings look like with your kids?

Soul Shaping Challenge: A mother’s calm, happy presence in the morning as she serves her children has the power to instill courage into their souls.

Make sure mornings in your home are filled with peace. YOU are in charge of the atmosphere. YOU set the tone. If the TV is blaring, there will be a sense discontentment, unrest and chaos. Let QUIET fill the air in the morning. Shape your children to be considerate of family members that take a while to WAKE UP—This teaches them to respect others. 


Memorize with your kids Proverbs 27:14, “He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be reckoned a curse to him.” 

One Moment at a Time: Soul Shaping

Our kids pass through our homes in what seems like the blink of an eye when they are twenty, yet what feels like an eternity when they are little. Mounds of chores laugh at us while we gasp for breath in between.

We just want to love on our kids...but we feel desperate. So many moms feel desperate during their children’s younger years. I just want each of you who feel desperate to know that you are not alone. The work can be over whelming and seem like a job for Superwoman, but I promise you God has a plan and a purpose for all the jobs He has for us to do.

This summer I had the privilege of speaking at a Women’s Conference on Nurturing the Modern Day Family. A few of the moms stayed late and asked for step by step instructions on some daily activities that will shape the souls of their children. Being a practical girl myself, I appreciate step-by-step instructions.

So this month I am simply going to give you a peek into our home. Loving my husband and shaping the souls of my children is my career. Hopefully you will get some ideas to use with your own family. 

Each family is unique and I firmly believe we should NOT copy cat each other, but it is OK for us to get ideas from one other. Follow me as I follow Christ, but don't try to do everything exactly like me. 


The little details of how we run our homes will be different, but the goal the same: to have strong, loving relationships with our family members and to be good time managers as we empower our husbands and kids to succeed in their life's callings.

This is how it will work: I will unfold the flow of one day in our home over the course of the month of August. Think of it like the show 24—The show takes an entire year to complete 24 hours. I will take one month to complete one typical summer day. I will unfold the “what” and “why” of what I do. (The “how” might come later.)

At the end of each post I will give a soul shaping challenge:

I would love to hear from you at this point. Your feedback. Your ideas. How you do it. A peek into your home.


So join me this month for:  One moment at a time: Soul Shaping.~ Terri