I know that most of you know me as a political blogger, and I am. Not only do I love to write, I also like to read other blogs, mostly about exercising, cooking and some other political blogs. One food blog in particular that I love is a blog called Iowa Girl Eats. I found it completely by accident a few years ago and I fell in love with it immediately. The woman who writes it lives in Iowa, obviously, and she writes recipe blogs complete with snapshots of the cooking process and the finished product. She has a way of styling her photos that I love and she writes in a way that I can completely relate to! I started following her blog just a short time before she became pregnant with her first child. Since giving birth to her precious son, Lincoln, she has taken up writing another blog on her food blog called My Mommy Mind. Though my children are older than her seven month old son, all of them feeling and acting much older than they are at the tender ages of ten, eight and almost six, her blog spurred me to think about my own children and their development, all at the ages and stages I find them at now.
What I would I attempt to call the kid related blogs if they were going to be done at regular intervals? I have no idea, but I do have some things that have developed over the past few days that I would love to share with you, so here goes.
I am a home school mom first and foremost and have over the past few years become heavily involved in the local political scene. I was part of several Tea Party groups and definitely still consider myself a tea partier, but I'm not anchored to one group in particular at this time. Like most of you with jobs outside the home and families, I play a balancing act with life as a stay at home, home schooling momma and sometimes, I hate to admit, the schedule weighs heavily with political meetings and campaign activities. Much, much heavier than it should.
I think that all moms and dads can relate to such a dilemma, but I think it's what we do when we find ourselves out of balance that remains most important. This is where I found myself last Friday night, weighing the options of running for a position, not one that appears on the ballot in November, but one that is a party elected position and that which is voted on by the state convention attendees. I was almost certain that I was going to do it, so much so that I began lining up supporters and spreading the word quietly until I heard a voice contradicting all the plans I had made.
You know that scripture that says, "Be still and know that I am God...?" Well, I haven't been very 'still' lately as many of you can attest to and I started wondering why; why couldn't I be still? Was I afraid of what I was going to hear if I was standing still? I think I nailed it on the head right there. I was afraid of what I was going to hear from God. I listened all evening and into the early morning and it was then that I decided that it was in fact, the Lord speaking to my spirit that now was not the time for me to run for this position. At the front of this decision was my husband, my children and my commitment to them as not only their mom, but their teacher and caregiver. Those are big responsibilities not to be taken lightly. Politics will always be there, the youth of my children and my family will not.
I also began thinking not only of the time away from them that this position might enforce, but also of the quality of time when we are together. I don't want to live my life with my kids in what I would consider 'distracted mode', constantly thinking of the next political thing or project to do. It's nice sometimes just to not only be 'still' by yourself with God, but to be 'still' with your kids and family as well. I feel that my children deserve better than that.
Whenever we hear of women and work and toil in the same sentence or blog, for that matter, we often think of the Proverbs 31 woman. To tell you the truth, I get tired just thinking about her. She is fearless and tireless in all of her efforts to provide a home for her family. One verse, the next to last one, has stuck with me for many years and it goes: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Moms and Dads, may we all be blessed and known for our love for our families and for the Lord.
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