What Happened To My Sweet Baby?

Today my daughter wore black.... Black pants... black shirt... black jacket... black boots.. and black eyeliner.. On her face is a permanent scowl... She wants to spread her wings... much more than a 14 year old child should... and because I am a 'Mama Bear' she is not happy....

I will not allow her to lie.... When she is caught (unfortunately this is a common occurrence lately) - there are consequences...

I will not allow her date - I do not think her maturity level is there and I also do not believe a 14 year old should date... There is time for that later...

When I say she can have "x" amount of something... whatever it may be - money, diet coke, extra time on her computer.. phone.. - I mean that amount - not 500% more of whatever it is....

I will not allow her to curse in front of me... I cannot control what she does when I am not around - and I hope... I pray that she will be pleasing to God... to others.

Peer pressure just sucks.... I can't think of any other way to put it... High school has definitely brought our share of "peer pressure drama"... I often hear things like: "Everyone has this or that..." or "She used to cut herself... but she stopped" or "She called me a loser - flipped me off... and by the way I gave loaned her $5.."

Talking and texting about sex is common place nowadays... I have lost count of the times I have taken the phone away for long periods of time... only to have her back at it.... As a parent - I reserve the right to check emails, computer histories, and texting whenever or wherever I feel necessary... and When I give my words of encouragement, wisdom and experience - it goes in one ear and out the next... As a parent who has been there... done that.... can write the book about it..... I know nothing...

A friend of mine once said that I need to give my concerns and worries for my kids to God... She said I need to be in constant prayer..... This is a hard thing for me to do... I trust God in so many areas of my life.... I would be lying if I said I give it all to Him - all the time... But to let go of my kids and give them to God... that is a Big leap of faith, isn't it? So today - I am going to pray... I am going to give a little at a time to God... so I say... so I need to do..

I need His help.... and your prayers....

1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

Being A Teen Is Tough

Blessed are those
who do not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but delight in the law of the Lord
and meditate on his law day and night
Psalms 1:1-2

Being a teen is tough especially when
the cool kids are the mockers and
do not care about God and
do not obey their parents...
It's especially tough when your kid
is attracted to those kind of kids..

I must pray day and night
I pray that my kid will want
to have friends who are pure in heart
to want to do what is right
to want to follow the rules....
To make friends that will last a
lifetime...

Dinner Time Prayer

My husband Dusty was raised Lutheran and at meal time the prayer was always the following "God is Good.. God is Great.. Let us thank Him for our food.. amen... It's funny because now that my girls go to a Christian school our dinner prayers sound something like this:
Nikki - "Dear Lord, thank you for this day.. thank you for all that you have given "me".. please help "me" and Kara not to fight so much...and help "me" to get a good grade on my math test tomorrow...oh, and please bless this food that we are about to receive.. in Jesus name amen..."

Kara - "Lord, "I" just want to thank you for today..and thank you for the blue skies.. Please help "me" and Nikki to not fight.. and that Mom does well on her loan processing and Dad on being the boss and help "me" to keep getting good grades.. and bless this food we are about to receive and I hope it's good..amen."

Me - "Father thank you for this beautiful day and please bless this food.. In Jesus Name we pray... amen..."

Dusty -"God is good.. God is great.. Let us thank Him for our food.. Amen"

What cracks me up is that my kids try to fit all their prayer time at meal time... the other night, Nikki's prayer must have lasted about three minutes and she forgot to bless the food... This led us into the discussion on the difference between "family prayer and blessing food" to "our alone time in prayer"... I gotta love it though.... especially the "help me and Nikki/Kara to not fight"... This statement has been a part of their prayers at dinner for over two years... and before the end of dinner one of them would have already said a wise crack statement to the other...

"Lord save me from preteen/teenage girls...."