My family!

     I’m in a unique season of life. It’s my bonus season, to tell you the truth. I’m old enough to be an empty-nester, but instead of listening to my own voice echo through an empty home, I get to enjoy the daily barrage of a full house of six—my husband, our three young adults, our teenager, and me. Well, and the dog. That’s seven.
     So… I’ve been a mom for a long time, and my mantra has always been “Family First.” Ask anyone who knows me well. I’ve missed meetings and canceled dates with friends and changed my plans time and again for my kids. Okay, I admit it. I’m the proverbial helicopter parent. But hey, I’m thrilled that my twenty-somethings and my high schooler like to hang with me, so I welcome every opportunity I can to spend time with them.
     But there’s one thing I won’t sacrifice for my kids, and that is dedicating the time to pray for them. Diligently. Passionately. With my Prayer Sisters and alone, I pray. Because there’s only so much I can do as a mother, only so much influence I can have. Honestly, the best thing I can do for my family is pray… they need my prayers more than they need my constant attention. God can do for them all the things that I can’t.

     The way I see it, the best Mother’s Day gift is the one moms give to their children every day when they pray.
“If you… know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11