Hi, my name is Susanne and I am Stacey’s mom. She asked me a few weeks ago to send her something for the blog on "advice for motherhood" and as usual I have waited until the last minute. I really don't know how much advice I have but I can tell you what is in my heart.
As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a mom. This subject was not discussed in my house when I was little. I knew grown women had babies but I remember thinking that a baby started growing in your tummy when you were little, and when you got to a certain age the baby was born (had no idea how that would happen.) I always wanted 4 children. Well the Lord blessed me with 2 boys and 2 girls!! Going into labor with the first one was an awakening experience. No one, not even the doctor told me very much. So, at the time I began to think maybe just one child would be enough. When I held that tiny baby for the first time, all the pain and fear left.
Mothering has not always been a bed of roses, but like the labor pains, the hard times have faded. All 4 children are grown now and have given us 9 wonderful grandchildren! I am known as Grammie, and their dad is Grandaddy.
I guess if I were to give any advice it would be these few things:
•Pray for your children daily: pray for the person they are to marry, for their future and for Jesus to be First in their lives.
•Keep them active in church.
•Help them choose close friends. I always knew the parents of their close friends.
•Allow your house to be a “fun place” for your kids and their friends to hang out!
•Compliment them A LOT. I told each child daily that I loved them, and they were pretty or handsome.
Even though all 4 children are grown, I check with them on a regular basis. I still pray for them, they are still active in their churches, they have great spouses (one yet to be married) and I still compliment them by telling them they are pretty or handsome! That also goes for the 9 grandchildren!! Above all…pray daily for your children and for wisdom in raising them.
3 comments:
Thank you so much! I love the idea of letting your house be a fun place where your kids' friends feel welcomed! I truly think that is going to be important as they get older.
I also love the suggestion to pray for their spouses. I just learned that our pastor taught his son at the age of 5-years-old to pray for his one-day wife. So as a five-year-old boy, he started praying for God to watch over and protect and guide his wife. I guess they can never be too young to learn these principles.
Thanks for the nuggets of wisdom. Bless you!
such great advice... I needed that today! thank you for sharing your wisdom.
It is always nice to hear or read this type of advice. Before I even began having kids of my own I made my house the fun place to hang out for my little cousins (who are young enough to technically be my own) and later on for my nieces and nephews. While I have a small home right now, I love having the kids over my house and welcome them. I still now have regular sleep overs and babysit all the time. I think having your house be the fun place is one of the best ways to know that your kids are safe. I also love the advice of getting to know the parents of your children's close friends. I have to say that the friends that I am still in close touch with today are those that my parents knew their parents well. The one thing I am truly impressed by is the praying for your child's future wife or husband, I never really thought about doing this at this early of an age but it really makes sense. Thanks so much for the wonderful words of wisdom and sharing them. And thank you POH for making this open to the public. I have found real encouragement from your blog and have found myself growing in my daily walk with God when I needed it most and had been getting lazy in my efforts to do my end of the relationship with our awesome God.
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