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Withholding Forgiveness
By Allison Hull I’m sort of a free-range mom. I let my kids play outside in the front yard. And in the street of our cul-de-sac. Drives some of my family insane that I’d let them ride their bikes around our house without me watching them. But both they and I need the space to run free. The neighborhood kids from the block do the same. They all meet in the street to play, joke and chase each other around. And during this time at least once if not three times a day one of my kids comes in crying. I can handle it if it was because of…
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I Do Not Care If My Children Are Happy
By Allison Hull and Vanessa Rasanen “As long as my children are happy, I’m happy.” We hear this often, don’t we? Whether it’s from secular folks who argue that it shouldn’t matter who our kids grow up to be, what they do, or how they act, or if it’s our own parents insisting they only want us to be happy, this emphasis on the pursuit of happiness is ingrained in our society. Everyone just wants everyone else to be happy, especially the children. We are constantly inundated with calls to “live and let live” and told “You do you; I’ll do me”. If we question this “whatever makes you happy” brand of parenting, we get…
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Speaking Forgiveness to Kids
By Allison Hull My eldest son is amazing. He is always looking to do more to help others. He pushes to go to church, not once, but at least twice on Sunday. He guilts me if he has to miss. He begs to go on shut-in visits and sing to everyone. He talks to anyone he meets about Christ and church, and invites strangers to come to church all the time. I routinely get told that we are raising him right, that he’s a joy to be around, how wonderful he is when asked to do something, and how selfless he is. We have been told that he truly shows…
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To Love Your Spouse
By Allison Hull Recently there was a Facebook trend called “The Love Your Spouse Challenge”. You were supposed to post pictures every day of you and your spouse expounding on why you loved them and challenging others to post the same. I admit, when it first started I rolled my eyes and was quick to thank God I wasn’t challenged. And then I was. Oh, how cheesy and dramatic. But I shrugged and decided it wouldn’t be too much work and would be an easy task. I was wrong. Finding pictures of JUST my husband and myself was almost impossible. There was always a kid thrown in there, usually if…
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Junk Food
By Allison Hull My kids love junk food. I give it to them all the time. Every meal they get soda with as much caffeine as it can have, candy with either chocolate or chewy gummies, cookies, cake, chips, and anything slathered in sugar. They love it. They beg for it. And when I see their eyes light up and get wide, their mouth dripping with chocolate and their body humming with energy I feel happy that they’re happy. Sure, there are the sugar lows, but that just means they need a little pick-me-up from a chocolate chip cookie. Yes, some people say you need vegetables and things for growing…
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A Mom’s Ministry
By Allison Hull Recently I was in a discussion with an acquaintance. While our kids played, we hit the various “mom talking points”. Health, kids, their bodily functions, who gets the least amount of sleep, and guess-what-that-stain-is all the while being interrupted by a scream from a child or barking at them to stop whatever torture they were inflicting on a sibling. If you’re a mom to young children, you know this is just an average conversation. But towards the end it turned weird. She started asking me about my faith and what I was doing to further the kingdom. Caught off guard I half-smiled, turned and gestured to my…
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Amazing
By Allison Hull “You look AMAZING in that dress!” “Wow, I can’t believe how beautiful you are in that outfit!” “You got a haircut — it suits you so well!” Gushing about other people in their clothes comes easy to me. I can say those things as an outsider looking at them. I can see how the right type of clothes just puts them at ease and makes them glow. I see how a new haircut or color can give them an extra bounce in their step. And I see that when I comment on it they seem to transform and really own their look. They truly do look amazing…
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Easter Afternoon
By Allison Hull Everybody’s in the house. All right. We need to eat. Peanut butter sandwiches for all, and you can get your own drink. Mommy and daddy are just going to lay down for a few minutes and just shut our ey… And they’re out. Is this anyone else’s Easter Sunday afternoon? After going full force through Holy Week and then getting up early for the Sunrise service, smiling, keeping the kids in check, running up and down the choir loft stairs 5 times, then trying to keep the kids’ clothes clean while they eat messily and do it all again for the second service, and finally walking out…
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To the Mother of Little Boys
By Allison Hull Coming back from my parent’s house I’ve come to realize that the life of a mom with boys is infinitely different from others. Now that I have 4 and my littlest is getting more of a personality I feel like I’ve surpassed Expert level and am in Mastery level with a few insights to give. So this is my Top 10 Guide to Living with a Multitude of Boys, or rather My DON’TS. Flashing and streaking are an everyday occurrence. You will always have at least one younger child who is “Porky Pigging it”. Reasons range from it just being easier to go to the…
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My Dirty Secret
By Allison Hull “Wow, the table looks really nice, Mom! Who’s coming over?” “I don’t want to clean my room! Are kids or just adults coming to the house?” My husband and I joke about these comments that have been made but in reality, I only do big cleaning projects when company is coming over. It’s my secret fear, that someone will see how we really live and judge us. Of course, it was super easy when we lived in an apartment with only a baby around. He even helped when he got older. I pondered why all these moms complained when it was a sweep, mop, dust done kind…
