I’m a history buff. I love studying the founding of our country. Through genealogy research I’ve discovered that my ancestors were part of the first colonists. Red, white, and blue…

Every Mother’s Day I think about forgiveness and the $2500 pebble a surgeon removed from my son’s right ear! Here’s why.

I WILL:
1. I will ask Santa for a vacation to the Bahamas…ALONE… and a nanny back home to take care of the kids and laundry.

Her future was decided. She was a young woman pledged to be married and preparing for the engagement time to be complete so she could begin her own family. Then her world was turned upside down with a few simple words.

Finding the light of Christmas can be such a challenge for single moms. We work hard to make beautiful Christmas memories for our children. We pour ourselves into making that happen, which can often make us feel exhausted and weary.

It’s the week before the birth of Christ and life is the same. Merchants peddle their goods. Women sweep the floors of their homes and prepare meals. Priests serve in the temple. Shepherds watch over their flocks. Nothing seems unusual. No whispering winds or notes delivered to doors to alert the Israelites. Daily life continues to revolve, unaware the long-awaited Messiah’s appearance approaches.

Well, single mom, it’s that time of year…CHRISTMAS. Everywhere you look you see festive lights twinkling in the night, Salvation Army volunteers ringing their bells, and TV commercials vying for your credit card number. It’s all supposed to be “merry and bright,” but if the truth be known, some of my most hurtful former days revolve around the holiday hoopla. If you’re like me, there are some Christmas memories you’d like to forget. Do you have any of those?

As a single mom, the most uncertain time for me was always the holidays. Sometimes I had my boys; other times I didn’t. Sometimes plans had to change at the last minute because of another person’s planning—or lack thereof. I remember a conversation I had with a friend. She asked me what my plans were for Christmas. I said, “Honestly, I wasn’t sure.” I never really knew if I would have the boys or not until closer to the date. 

Many of us spent the Thanksgiving holiday with family—with relatives we knew well, or distant members. Whatever the circumstance, I’m sure we all have some interesting characters who gather around the table.

I’ll never forget the Thanksgiving at my house on 803 Glenn Drive, Euless, Texas. (And that is pronounced – YOUless, Texas – not USEless, Texas.) Indeed the lessons I learned as a brand new single mom in that house were anything but useless. 

Good Friday sounds like an oxymoron, a figure of speech emphasizing two contradictory words. According to the English language “good” means something useful or desirable, so why would Christ’s death on the Cross be considered “good?”

My four-year-old granddaughter was in the backseat of my car last week watching a child’s Easter video, and it upset her when it commented that Jesus was hurt at the cross – no gory details, just a twist in the story. I thought, “How can I tell her the Easter story and leave out the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross?” I can’t.

Our motives have a wonderful drive, our momentum is caught up in the excitement of the new, and our hope hinges on change! With the many things that the New Year represents, we can choose to make the best of our lives—or let it get the best of us.

It is finally Christmas! Everyone’s been going in a million different directions.

If you’re like many single moms, the holidays can be the most difficult time of the year.

Happy Easter, friends. We’re about to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  Unless you’re a biblical scholar, most of us haven’t begun to scratch the surface of what all that means to us as a follower of Christ. But one day, we will see the full scope.

Here’s something that might be helpful for moms walking through the joys and challenges of the holiday season. Why not draw up a “Ten Commandments” rulebook in what you “will” and “will not” allow? After all, we can predict how we handle the future by what we create today.