My Top 10 Mothering Tips and More Great Advice

  Through these past 16 plus years in my journey with the Lord and my experiences with my raising my children thus far I have complied here a list of my top 10 mothering tips. Things that are top most important to me in my parenting. I will share them here for  encouragement and inspiration for you.

1. Give your children lots of love, time, and attention- you can't give them enough of your time.

2. Pray for them everyday, for every little thing and concerns you have for them. Pray, and then pray some more.
3. Read the Bible to them daily- twice, along with good books and reading materials to build their faith in God, and shape and build good Godly character and personalities, teach them what you want them to become, act, ect..
4. Firmness and consistencey in correction, but not in anger. And have rules and stick to them.

5. Lots of praise and affrimation for jobs well done, for good attitudes, good behavior, and for unity between siblings. This is great for taking preventive measures to reduce the negative out-put from the kids.
6. Take a nap after lunch -- its what keeps me going the rest of the day! Or even just a quite time in my bedroom like reading a deotional or good book.
7. Say paryers, and Bible verses together when tucking them in bed. This aslo is a good time to review the day with them if there was any issue, or somthing that need further disscusion and an apoly, either coming from child or from parent to child. I find often certain issues that happen during the day do need fruther disscusian and bed time is a perfect time for it. Both parent and child should are no longer be mad about the isssue, and now each can see the issue rationaly or in a new light. And now the child can ponder things youv'e just said as they lay quitely in bed, and can you pray togther about it too.

8. Patience _ you can't have enough of that!
9. Home schooling them with God filled school. So all day they are learing about God and godly things, in a godly atmosphere.
10. Help them to deny the flesh, hate eveil. And don't allow them to watch or read anything that is wordly, it can effect them more than you think. One way is that these things can become more excting and intertaining to them to read and to filll thier time with than a good wholesome book or even the Bible.

     Mothering is a tough job! It is probaly one of the hardest and most time consuming occupations we will ever do in life, yet also probably the most rewarding one ever. So after it's all said and done it is worth all our time and effort and then some!!
I am privileged to have been a mother now for over 16 years with 8 children aged 16, 14, 11,9, 6, 5, 2, and new born. So I am a mother with a wide range of ages. That is what I find the toughest, is the diverse ages. I feel like all older ones, or all younger ones would be easier. Sure then I would not have teens to help me, but I also would not have the older ones bugging the younger ones or vise versa. The older ones sometimes tease and aggravated the younger siblings, and the younger ones annoy the older ones.

     Since mothering is such a hard job, and a huge responsiblity I want to give as much encouragement as I possibly can to other fellow moms. I want to uplift them in thier great God given role, and encourage them to keep doing that awesomly tough job they are doing day in and day out over and over again!
I have learned so much since I became a mom to my first son at the age of 21. I have growed in patience tremendously, though I need a ton more of it! I have made many mistakes over the years, apolized time and again when I really blew it with the kids, and have been imlimenting differnt things with these younger children than I did with the older ones. I think any mom will more and likly parent thier younger ones some differnt, if not majorly differnt that the olders ones, just because they have learned many things along the way. Despite all that I have learned though over these 16 years, I know that I have much more to learn yet! Maybe when the last of my crew are grown and gone which will be about another 18 years at the very least, I should have it all figured out!! And enmagine how old I will be then too! But let's not go there shall we!? :)

       I would say one thing that has really made a great differnece in my mothering is my walk with the Lord. I was whole heartily commited to God at the time I began as a young wife and mother, and several years pirior to that as well. But I did not really have that close of a relationship with Him I must admit, though I never would have really realized it at the time, nor knew at all what direction and areas in life God would bring me, and chnage in me, ect....
I have came a long way in my spituall life, and have a much closer walk with the Lord now. And that is just the way it ought be, we should be growing more and more in our spirtual life as each day goes by from that first day that we first comttied our lives to God. We have to keep digging into His Word with an open mind and heart and seeking deligently what all the Lord has for us to learn. One particular area that has been really inriched for me is my prayer life. I pray now about almost any little thing. I can't do it on my own. I can't make it one day with out God and his help. When you have all ages of children all needing your time, attention, and correction, with some trying on your patience much more than others, and so on, you need somthing for greater than your self to rely on to give you wisdom and to keep you going.
     There is many ministries out there that are very great recourses for moms, that give them very helpful support, encouragemnt, and inspiration that has been a great help for me.
   With all that we mothers face to day with our parenting in this modern and sinful world, I often think that being a mother back in the Little House on the Praire days when Laura Ingles was growing up would have been much easier. Sure maybe more hardships, and alot of physical work, but less decisions to be made. Like there would have been no video or cummputer games, no cell phones, no i-pods, no internet, no T.V. None of these many things that grab our children attention, and demand that they just have to have all thses gadests. As well not all the many sporst and activies they have to be a part of. Life would have been simpler for sure, and mothering more straight forward.

  But  I am a parent of today, and I have to make the most of it. And with the Lord's help I can! And so can you!
 In Him, Mae