Seeking God and Honoring Him While Being a Parent

Do you have young kiddos?
Do you feel frustrated with finding time for God in the chaos of family life?

Many of us can relate as we recall those years or may even be going through them right now. 
Most young mamas I coach or MOPS women I speak to express this concern. 

Having time with God or even for God seems impossible. 

In fact, my friend, Julia Roller, totally gets it.

She was so frustrated by the condition of  her personal faith-walk that she developed 10 spiritual disciplines and figured out ways to actually pursue them, even when raising toddlers! (That is nothing short of a miracle, right?)

Her ideas were so good that they got published! The book she has written was just released this past spring. It's titled, Mom Seeks God. (In fact my ministry partner and co-author, Becky Danielson,  is one of the folks who endorsed Julia's book!)

Julia lives in San Diego (which is where Tom and I lived when our kids were little ones).
My kids could name sea creatures way before they could identify farm animals! I'm guessing it is the same at the Roller household! Shamu  and Sea World were a huge part of our lives. When we weren't at Sea World, my kids played "trainer" in the backyard. Julia shares her parenting joy and a little southern Cali fun in one of her recent blogs: http://www.juliaroller.com/joy-parenting/

Julia picked me to take part in a game of blog tag. Part of the game is to answer four interview type questions about my writing life and then point you to another amazing writer who will be "IT" next week.

Here we go!

What are you working on now? 

I can't even believe I'm saying this but Becky and I have 4 newly published projects,two were just released the end of July and the two more are being released the beginning of September! All four are based on bringing the 15 qualities of love (found in the famous LOVE Chapter of 1 Corinthians 13)  alive while parenting. Raising Little Kids with Big Love plus a companion guide is written for parents of kids toddler to 8-years-old and Raising Big Kids with Supernatural Love with a study guide is for parents of tweens and teens.

While working on this series, Becky and I also co-founded 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting. Our team is made up of moms and dads who are experts in their field (faith, family, parenting, education, adoption, single parenting, special needs, marriage, and more) Check it out. We also have a parenting blog you can subscribe to and a Facebook ministry page for parents. Right now we in the middle of  planning a big conference in Minneapolis! HeartCORe Parenting Conference 2014. (very exiting)

I'm  in the process of writing a book on prodigals with my daughter. I'm realizing many of us have young adults who are in a season of challenge and struggle. It is time we (the family of believers)were honest with each other and supported, encouraged, and loved each other rather than hide in parental guilt or shame. (Okay- I could get on my soap box here so...on to the next question.)

How does your work differ from others of its genre? 

Parenting isn't just about behavior modification. If it is only about actions, the child's heart will harden. Eventually love looks like a conditional experience.  Parenting the way God parents us is mixed with truth, justice, and natural consequences AND... discipline (training), mercy and grace (and sometimes punishment) . Love is choice we can make every day. Developing the child's character is a critical component to parenting with 1 Corinthians 13 LOVE.

Why do you write what you do? 

I have found that unless I have lived it, I cannot speak on it or write about it. All  3 of my  co-authored parenting books, have not just come from my professional background (licensed parent-family educator and certified elementary school teacher) but from personal experience so I can fully, honestly, humbly(!), and with a sense of humor relate to those parents or grandparents who read my books and are in my classes. I know it sounds a bit cliche but God definitely called me to this. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be an author!

How does your writing process work?

Organically I guess. The thoughts and ideas come a few different ways. One way is via the needs, concerns, and struggles expressed by the parents in my classes. Other ways may sound a bit strange. God will wake me up in the middle of the night, speak to me while I'm walking my dog, hiking ,running, or even when I'm in the shower. Becky has given me notepads to put by the shower and on my nightstand so I can jot things down before I forget! I am also a bit obsessive compulsive due to my huge passion for parenting and love for the Lord. This can drive my husband crazy! It is like... I get in the zone and can't stop!

Okay...so that is a little about me and my life as an author and blogger. Next week Heather Riggleman will share some of her thoughts about being a mom and a writer. Heather has a couple of exciting projects in the works and she is the author of Mama Needs a Time Out. You will love hearing what Heather has to say. She is the REAL Deal. (I know because she is a very dear friend of mine!)