As I sit here on the first flight back home, I’m reflecting on the last week in the Dominican Republic, serving on a mission trip with the Paradigm Foundation.
It’s hard to pinpoint just one part of this trip to call my ‘favorite’ so, I’ll talk about two things that stick out most...
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As we all know at this point, Father’s Day is tomorrow. While we’re preparing to honor and celebrate the men who have been a father or a father figure to us, I’ve been thinking…
What are the TOP things I've learned from the two greatest fathers I’ve known- my dad and grandfather? As I narrow these thoughts down, I hope you too reflect on the lessons your own father or other great men in your life have taught you. Share in the comments! Now to let you in on some incredible life lessons. The top thing I learned from my dad is... The past summers I’ve had a babysitter come throughout the week to help me while I juggle work and kids. But, this year looks different. Summer 2022 is the summer I’m home and fully on mom duty. My work hasn’t disappeared. I just want time with my littles before my oldest heads off to Kindergarten.
I don’t know about you, but I was overwhelmed when the last week of school hit. What are we going to do all day? How do I juggle it all.? “Okay, Kaley, breathe.” When I stepped out of the panic, I realized I wanted this next few months to be purposeful. A summer that’s intentional and fun. One where core memories are made. And, that’s not just going to happen by itself. So, here are three simple things I did to get a family plan together to have the best summer ever with our kids. Can you believe that May 2022 is already wrapping up? We've spent our weekends dashing from graduation party to graduation part. Just yesterday, my oldest graduated from preschool. May is always wild and ends with a bang- the beginning of sweet summertime.
Since we've zeroed in on building up Mama's in May, I wanted to end with an excerpt from the devotional book that I wrote and published in the dead middle of the wild, fun, turbulent waters of my own motherhood experience, "Matrimony, Motherhood and Me." I'll tell you one thing, it's easier to write on something you've already been through because it's reflective. When you reread it, it doesn't cut at you because you've already healed. It doesn't push you in the right direction because you're already there. I wrote this devotional from the dead middle of mothering littles, a season I'm still currently in. This entry in particular seems to elbow me right between the ribs because fighting for space is a battle we're still in as a family. Maybe you are too. So, let's talk about space. Because, as mothers, it's sacred... So often I am completely stilled that the God of the universe would answer my greatest and deepest desire with the story that he has.
From as early as I can remember, I have always dreamed of being a mom. As the oldest of four children, I always felt like I was my siblings' second momma. When I was little and someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always “a mom”, or “I want to work with orphans and love them as my own.” It's funny how God plants those little seeds in our hearts from the youngest of ages. However, God's timeline was different from mine, but gracious. It was perfect. The miracles he has worked in my life have drawn me closer to him in ways that I never imagined possible. He took that desire to care for orphans and children and made it my story through adoption. So, THIS is my story and my greatest heart’s desire is to use all for His glory… When you speak a blessing, you are declaring favor and goodness over people and reminding someone who their God is to stir faith in them. If faith is stirred through speaking blessings, and faith can change the world, why couldn’t we shift the hearts and perspectives of ourselves and our children by deciding to speak blessings over them each day?
If you need somewhere to start, here are five blessings to speak over your children... I’ve found that "mom guilt" is more accessible than it should be and easier to yield to than I am willing to admit...
Here’s the truth. Mom guilt started way before motherhood; this is not something that magically appeared after giving birth to a fun size version of myself, it has always been there. There’s always an array of guilt, we have just done a great job at putting words in front it. Now there's- job guilt, wife guilt, friend guilt, food guilt, shoppers’ guilt. Guilt is guilt no matter what word we place in front of it. For me, this started as a little girl who was groomed to meet the unyielding expectations of others. If I dared to not meet them, I would be greeted with rejection, feelings of abandonment and words that affirmed I wasn’t good enough. These repeated moments wrote the words to a novel I was never designed to be a character in. Through these exchanges, I learned how to easily deem myself guilty. The judge was my unresolved issues of the past throwing down the gavel, validating my charges and sentencing me to guilt prison. This isn’t new, it’s just matured.... The term "mom guilt" has conveniently given guilt permission to grow with us into motherhood and occupy space in different areas of our lives. So, how do we choose God's grace over "mom guilt"? When we got married, my husband and I decided to pour sand into a jar instead of lighting a unity candle. We took turns laying layer upon layer of tiny pebbles on top of each other to declare that our lives were so intertwined they'd be as impossible to separate as those tiny sand grains.
Through moving, decor rearranging, and just general time passing, the layers inside that jar are no longer straight and pretty. They've shifted into each other. They’re wavy and out of place. They're imperfect. Did you know that... Friendships. They were easy to create as kids, don’t you think? You go to recess and find someone on the swings and start talking. Viola, you have a friend. Fast-forward to adulthood and swing sets are replaced by desks and fluorescent lights and conversions aren’t as easy. It was His original idea. All because He recognized that it’s not good for us to be alone and He saw the importance of relationships (Genesis 2:28).
We’re wired to help each other, encourage each other and forgive each other. And we’re also wired to receive help, encouragement, and forgiveness. It’s all over Scripture (If you have time, consider spending a little more time reading these verses Colossians 3:13, Ecclesiastes 4:10, Romans 12:10, and Proverbs 27:17). If it’s part of God’s original plan for us, why is it so difficult to do? It is at the crossroads of the ordinary obstacles that we have the opportunity to change the trajectory of our lives. We can take the everyday obstacles and turn them into purpose and use them for good. Oftentimes, we are forced in one direction or another and in those times, we can take a leap forward and create the beautiful life we want with what we have been handed. Instead of feeling stuck, we can take those obstacles and use them to propel forward. A lot of this is mindset and refining the tools we can cultivate within. The cliché of “we only have one life here” makes it even more necessary that we walk into our greatest selves and make it worth living. As a first generation Indian woman born and raised in the south, I faced the challenges that many ethnic groups faced and still face…but I knew as a little girl in Greeneville, TN that I was meant for a greater purpose. It was something in my heart that could never be shaken. And at 50 years old, it still is firmly planted. I had no identity-I wasn’t white and I wasn’t brown. In fact, I tried so hard to assimilate in the white American culture that I grew up with a lot of hate and anger towards my family, towards Indian people, towards white Americans. Pretty much everyone. I felt unseen and unheard for a large part of my teen and early adulthood. I was wronged in my career and by people who wanted to hurt me because of their own unhealed parts. The anger only ended up hurting myself and keeping me in a victim mentality. I couldn’t connect with people at the deepest level because my belief was that no one understood me. I didn’t even understand me fully---my power. And, if I harnessed that power for good, I could impact so many lives. Here's what happened when I found God...
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AuthorKaley Rivera Thompson is an author, copywriter, Bible teacher, speaker, and worship leader. When she's not championing other women, cheering on the rising generation, writing or playing her guitar, Kaley loves to sip strong coffee, go on hikes, or take a day trip to the mountains with her family. She takes the most pride in being a mom to three little girls, Lina, Lili and Ceci. You can follow her on instagram at @kriverathompson or find out more on her website at kriverathompson.com. Archives
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