God would like to remind us through these child-rearing years that He is in control. He has a plan for our children, and we, as the moms, play a vital part in it. He didn’t make a mistake when He created you or your child. We can be confident in His call on our lives to be mothers, because it isn’t our plan we are fulfilling—It is His.

As moms we play the “good Mom” game: We try to handle everything on our own, wanting others to think that we have it all together. But if we really want to be the best mom to our kids, we need to quit trying to do it all alone and let God be our strength.

Lenten Fasting Program: Fast from harshness, and feast on kindness. Fast from bitterness, and feast on forgiveness. Fast from self-concern, and feast on the little marks of love from the kids. Fast from sorrow, and feast on the sunlight of serenity.

Lenten Fasting Program: Fast from worry, and feast on divine order by trusting in God. Fast from complaining, and feast on appreciation. Fast from negatives, and feast on affirmations. Fast from unrelenting pressures, and feast on unceasing prayer.

If we don't commit to putting major things into our day - time with God, investing in our families, we will constantly be chasing the small things - practices, matching stray socks, and may miss what is most important to us.

Ask your spouse this question, "Is there any way in which I can love you better?" Do this with an open heart, giving your spouse freedom to share their thoughts and suggest ways in which you can improve your relationship.

As moms there are tons of things that can light our fire. But there are ways we can throw water on the fire before it starts: by being less busy so we aren't always in a hurry, asking God to help us think about what it will sound like before words leave our mouth, praying and laughing instead of crying, and saying no with a smile. Those tools are sort of like mental fire extinguishers!

It is up to us to accept the truth: We cannot have it all. If you focus on what you don't have rather than the blessings that are yours, you will be unhappy. But if you make yourself dwell on what you are thanful for, you will find contentment.

Lord, help me not to do for my children what they can do for themselves. Help me not to give them what they can earn for themselves. Help me not to tell them what they can look up and find out for themselves. Help me to help my children stand on their own two feet and to grow into responsible, disciplined adults.

Dear God, I thank You for the gift of my child to raise, this life to share, this mind to help mold, this body to nurture, and this spirit to enrich. Help me, dear God, to help this precious child become all You mean him/her to be. Amen

When God wants an important thing done in this world or a wrong righted, He goes about it in a very singular way. God simply has a tiny baby born, perhaps of a very humble home, perhaps of a very humble mother. And God puts the idea or purpose into the mother’s heart. And she puts it in the baby’s mind, and then -- God waits. The great events of this world are not battles and elections and earthquakes and thunderbolts. The great events are babies, for each child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with humanity, but is still expecting goodwill to become incarnate in each human life.