At our family reunion this summer, we talked the grandmas into trying out the kayaks. Donning a life jacket, Grandma Bena climbed in, and we handed her a paddle. She dug the paddle into the water on both sides. What am I doing wrong? she said. I’m not going anywhere.

Paddle harder, we said.

She paddled harder.

She was growing frustrated, while all the rest of us started laughing. Her daughter was holding onto the back of the kayak. No matter how hard Bena paddled, she wasn’t going to get anywhere.

This is how parenting can be in the empty nest years.

Dec 10
Dec 10 The Mother Who Keeps On Giving

Natalie

Parenting

My middle baby snuggled onto my lap, his head was resting against my heart. I closed my eyes and thought of how I wish the moment could last longer than five minutes. I felt his little fingers secure around my hips. Every few minutes he would look up at me to make sure it was still me that was holding him.

I thought about how much work my children are. In the moments of squeeling tantrums, stubborn fits, and the sound of a rebelious "No!", somehow I learn to love my children deeper.

Dec 9

Dec 9 How To Be Most Effective in Ministry

Christin

Ministries and Missions, The BetterMom Updates

As women, we often have a heart to naturally help people. Typically we want to nurture the hearts of other women or children. Sometimes we minister to our own hearts' as we help others. But we need to ask ourselves, "What is my ultimate goal? Is it to be used by God?"

There is ministry outside our doors just as there is inside. Sometimes it's in the church, sometimes it's in the neighborhood or surrounding community, and sometimes it's overseas. There is no shortage of need and we were never meant to hide our lights remaining cooped up in our homes. However, there are still a few basic factors we need to remember in order to do ministry that's effective.

What are the elements for doing effective ministry while in the thick of motherhood?

Dec 8
Dec 8 10 Favorite Christmas Books for Children

Kara Chupp

Discipling Children, Faith, Following God, Fun For Kids, Homeschooling, Parenting

Every year as we pull out the decorations and recipes and ornaments, we also rediscover our favorite Christmas books! Most of these books are missing their dust jackets, the edges are worn, hot chocolate drops can be found on certain pages and some of them are even from my own childhood. But reading books together at Christmas is one of my very favorite traditions! Here are a few of our favorites...

Dec 7
Dec 7 7 Habits of Joyful Mothers

Ruth Schwenk

Following God, Parenting, The BetterMom Updates

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “Joy to the World.”

I love just about everything about it: the tune, the words, and the message.

With Christmas right around the corner, most of us are beginning to hear songs like this one ringing through the air of shopping malls, grocery stores, vehicles, and maybe even our own homes.

We sing about joy and celebrations and about all the reasons we have to be overflowing with happiness…but we don’t always feel joyful.

At times, even though we say “Merry Christmas,” some of us (if we’re really being honest), don’t feel merry at all.

Dec 6
Dec 6 Bi-Weekly Whole Food Meal Plan for December 7–20

Kelly Smith

Food, Gluten Free, Healthy Eating, Meal Planning, Real/Whole Food

Welcome to The Better Mom Whole Food Meal Plan.

Our free bi-weekly GF menus open into a convenient pdf that includes links to each of the gluten-free recipes featured making it easy to access them with just a simple click.

Once you click on the graphics below, you can easily save these gluten-free menus to your desktop for easy access anytime you need them.

Then, simply click on the links within the meal plan pdf to gain instant access to the gluten-free recipes.

New format! We've streamlined our weekly meal plans to focus more on our gluten-free, grain-free family-friendly dinner menu, while still providing several recommendations for healthy breakfasts and lunches too.