by Kelli Sanders | Jun 16, 2014 | Faith and Family, Motherhood
This last week I was reading from some women that inspire me, and it really got me thinking – deeply – about the lost art of godly motherhood. I can think right now of so many women in my life that exemplify what a godly mom is, and it’s not their perfection, it’s their sacrifice that humbles me and inspires me to be more.
There was a time in my life when I had more personal freedom. Not that long ago I could leave the house, go grocery shopping, or see a movie without having to do much planning or preparation. I could meet up with a friend, or go out with my husband, and I didn’t even have to call or notify someone that their childcare services were being requested! Now grocery shopping requires carefully planned strategies, and seeing a movie is a rare (if ever) occasion. I have always been a very driven and productive person, working my whole adult life and “getting a lot done” every day, but when God blessed me with more babies, my efficiency seemed to taper off a bit.
At one point in my life I was a “world changing” missionary teaching in Bible College, pastoring women, holding Bible studies every week and crusades every weekend. I was up at 4am, teaching devotionals at 5:30, and leading staff prayer at 1. My days were productive and my nights were filled with sweet sleep!
Now many days are spent making block castles with William, being a cheerleader for Grace as she learns to crawl, and sitting outside naming the different animals we see or all the colors that God made. Hours are spent cleaning up messes, and reorganizing toys that will all be on the floor again in a few hours, and guess what? Nobody sees what you do day in and day out except God.
Is it less glamorous? Yes. Is your work rarely acknowledged? Yes. Is it less important?
NO.
In the eyes of the world you are “just” a mom. You are “tied down” by these needy little creatures that need constant instruction and correction; that have meltdowns at the most inconvenient times; that cry until they are taught to communicate, and can’t even comprehend being grateful for your sacrifice until they are much older. Yet laying down one’s life for another is the greatest example of love, and it was Jesus that demonstrated the ultimate sacrifice for us.
In the words of one godly mother,
“Productivity is not God’s highest goal for this season of my life; obedience is. Success in His kingdom is not measured by numbers of people reached, quantity of books written, or worldly accolades received. Rather, He says, ‘…whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant’ (Matt. 20:26)”
It was Jesus that taught us to get down on our knees and empty ourselves of position and reputation, and to value and highly esteem the privilege of serving others. Godly motherhood is a priority to God, and it is in living this poured out life – one that we “lose” for Him – that we truly find a life of abundance.
God has been teaching me to slow down, and to cherish this time that I have with my children. What I invest as a mother now will produce such a glorious harvest in time to come. I have a brief window to give of my time, talent and energy – sowing seeds of righteousness in my children’s hearts. In the words of Paul, “I will gladly spend and be spent,” for their little souls to know Christ.
For all of the moms who daily choose a life of self-sacrifice, and who may think that it doesn’t matter or that it’s keeping you from doing something “more important” for God – be encouraged today. What you do as a mom matters, and it is very valuable and precious in God’s eyes.
by Kelli Sanders | May 11, 2014 | Faith and Family, Help for Moms, Motherhood, Spiritual Growth
There is something about a mother that is so divinely purposed by God – an innate ability to nurture, protect, and love her children. A woman of godly character that sees the value in, and invests in her children is something so precious, and so rare. The quote above is one of my absolute favorites because it recognizes the powerful influence a mother has, not only in her home, but over nations!
I have a confession to make. For the last twenty years I have been a working mom. I always believed it was harder to work outside of the home, and in some ways it is; but, I have been blessed by God to be a stay at home mom for the last 5 months, and I must admit that it seems harder on some days to be at home than it is to be at work! Maybe it’s the lack of adult conversation, the fact that there are no lunch breaks, or the never ending repetition of questions, crying, and correction – but there are some days I want to work just so I can have a break from my 24/7 job at home!
There was actually a video that went viral on YouTube that featured a man interviewing people for a job (the job was being a mom). They didn’t know what the job actually was, but as he described their duties, one by one, they began to declare this job was impossible to do. If you haven’t seen it, watch it below:
In honor of mother’s day, I just wanted to send out a big thank you to all of the mommies out there that give of themselves sacrificially to help mold and shape the character of the children who will be our future leaders, each in their own spheres of influence. Don’t EVER underestimate the value and inestimable worth of a mother in the lives of her children! What you do matters, and though what is done in your home with your children may only be seen by you and by God, it is to be acknowledged and praised!
“Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Proverbs 31:25-31
This week, remember the important place that you have in your home. It is a place of strength and honor. It is a place of value and worth. It is a place given by God, and it is to be highly regarded and highly esteemed! What you invest of your time, energy, love, patience, and strength in this present time will one day be the very thing that is blessing you, and praising you before God and man. Mommy, you are a QUEEN with a powerful scepter, building the character of your children for eternity. You have a VERY HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
by Kelli Sanders | Apr 1, 2014 | Help for Moms, Motherhood
Get More Done in Less Time
…and be happy while you are getting stuff done!
If you are like me, and you are a mom with a lot to do (and what mom doesn’t have a lot to do?) – then you are probably as interested as I am in getting more done in less time. For the past twenty years I have either been working, in school, or in ministry full time. This past January, I joined the stay-at-home-mom gang, and began working from home with two little ones by my side. Needless to say, it has required a learning curve on my part. With so much to do, and having to be strategic with timing (because of the littles), my brain became a very messy place!
Perhaps you have a messy brain too. Even if you aren’t “working from home”, being a mom is a career in itself. In addition, many may work part-time, or home school, or serve at church, or a number of other things that add to the brain clutter! So what is a woman to do!?
Personally, I prayed, and God delivered an answer to me through the website of a Christian businesswoman/stay-at-home-mom/homeschooler/entrepreneur/millionaire – hey, no one ever said to reinvent the wheel! I want to see what’s working for this woman! As I watched the brief teaching on being more productive while working from home, I was getting some revelation! I started applying what I heard that day, and this last week has been more productive for me than ever! Not only that, I feel better because I am being productive, and taking action, and getting stuff done instead of thinking about all of the things I need to get done!
It’s a pretty simple process, and I am sharing it simply because it has worked so well for me. I know everyone is different when it comes to how they structure their days, but this might be the thing that you’ve been looking for!
So what’s the key to getting more done in less time?
Collect
Get everything out of your brain! Sit down and do a “mind dump.” Write EVERYTHING down that you have to do, or want to do, from organizing the Tupperware drawer, to taking the kids to dance, to re-tiling the kitchen, to making a dentist appointment, to planning a family vacation. SHOCKER: Most people have about 200-300 things they are storing in their brains. I wrote about 150 things in an hour! No wonder my brain felt messy!
Process
Take all of those things that were in your mind and begin to process them by organizing them into four categories: Tasks, Projects, Events, and Information. (See the flow chart below for more detail)
Organize
Get your projects and tasks ready to be executed! Yes! This is where the productivity begins! Get your events written down on whatever type of calendar you choose (electronic, paper, dry-erase, etc.) Get your information filed away for future reference.
Invest a Little Time to Save a Lot of Time!
Yes, it will take a little time to write down and organize all of those things you’ve been carrying around in your mind, but get in the spirit of the season, and “spring clean” your brain! Trust me, it has freed my mind up to act on one of its primary functions: executing tasks. Our minds are not primarily places to store heaps of information. When we try to do that, we tend to forget things!
So what does this look like in action?
When I get up, I do devotions, pray, drink some coffee, and now I ask God which tasks and projects from my lists I should tackle today? I factor in any events on my calendar, and which tasks/projects are needing to get done sooner than later. When I know what needs to be tackled, I write my “to-do” list for the day, and I have a plan of action! When the babies are up, I’m not still meandering around my messy brain, and thinking about a million different things I need to do at some point! It’s so awesome!
As new events, tasks and projects come up, I write them down immediately, and can plug them into the system later. This can be something as simple as a thought that says, “I should go through the kids toys and give some away,” or your husband saying, “Can you drop off this payment for me?” or a friend calling and saying, “Let’s have lunch.” Write it down and don’t just add, and add, and add to the clutter in your mind!
I find that I have more ease of mind because I don’t have to remember everything! It’s in my head, and then out of my head, and I’ll get to it when it becomes the priority of the day! Guess what else? When I am playing with my kids, I am not thinking about all of the things I need to do! I am able to give them more undivided attention, and it is so nice! Isn’t the goal to enjoy life while you’re doing life!?
I hope I have given you some inspiration, and practical steps you can begin taking today to get more done in less time! If you want more detail watch the video at the link I gave above – it’s more thorough. In the meantime, here is a graphic I got from the site:
by Kelli Sanders | Jun 25, 2013 | Help for Moms, Motherhood
Sight Words
If the goal is to help our children become successful readers, then sight words are a HUGE key in achieving that goal!
Sight words, also called high frequency words, are commonly used words that must be recognized by sight, rather than using decoding strategies to “sound them out.” These words have unusual spelling patterns and cannot be represented using pictures; therefore, young readers can’t rely on some of the core reading strategies that they commonly use to read the text. So what’s a reader to do??
It sounds crazy, but I can distinctly remember being in my first grade classroom during reading time and getting stuck on the word, “the.” It was the very first word of the text and I couldn’t remember how to “sound it out.” While the other students around me were well into their books, I was feeling frustrated and embarrassed!
“The” is a sight word! The astounding thing is that sight words account for up to 75% of the words used in beginning children’s print materials! One can quickly see the great advantage a beginning reader has in being able to recognize sight words automatically. They will be able to identify the majority of the words in the text without having to stop and decode every single word!
So where can I find these sight words!?!
The truth is, there are a number of lists out there, but the most common are the Dolch sight word lists, and the Fry lists. Dr. Fry expanded on the Dolch lists and research and published a book titled “Dr. Fry’s 1000 Instant Words.” Now, before you hyperventilate, you don’t need to teach your Kindergarten student 1000 words before school starts! What Dr. Fry found is that,
- 25 words make up approximately 1/3 of all items published
- 100 words make up approximately 1/2 of all the words found in publications
In our school district, “Fry’s List” of 100 sight words was the standard for 1st grade readers to learn by the end of the year. If you’d like to get in some practice with these words, download the list for free!
Frys First 100 Words
If you’d just like a “Top 20,” more like a “Top 30,” to work on this summer with a little one heading to Kindergarten, here is a Kindergarten Sight Word List:
Kindergarten Sight Word List
Here are a few ideas for teaching sight words!
1. Create a Sight Word Sticker Book
(Earn a sticker for each sight word mastered)
2. Sight Word Bingo!
3. Colorful Flash Cards
4. Word Search
5. Pudding Art
(Write sight words into chocolate pudding spread on paper – YUM!)
REMEMBER: The aim is to help your child learn in a way that is fun! Use these ideas and think of some of your own! You’ve just been given a BIG KEY to reading success: SIGHT WORDS!
