52 Things Kids Need from a Mom. What Mothers Can Do to Make a Lifelong Difference

172 Pages·2011·1.1 MB·English

by  Angela Thomas

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
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Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Published in association with BrandWaves LLC, Brentwood, TN 37027. www.brandwavesllc.com
52 THINGS KIDS NEED FROM A MOM
Copyright © 2011 by Angela Thomas
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thomas, Angela
52 things kids need from a mom / Angela Thomas.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-4391-8 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4392-5 (eBook)
1. Mother and child—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.
BV4529.18.T449 2011
248.8'431—dc22
2011014612
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 VP-SK 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For
Taylor, Grayson, William, and AnnaGrace.
More than all these things, I give you my love.
I will adore you forever and ever.
Mom
Acknowledgments
A very special thanks to my husband, Scott Pharr. Because you are by my side,
loving these beautiful children with me, I am learning more about what it means
to be their mom. You have given strength and stability to our home. You make
every day fun and set the tone of our home with your consistent good attitude
and humor. Your selfless spirit and compassionate heart challenge me to become
more like you. Because you lead us with godliness, I too want to keep growing,
taking every next step toward greater maturity in Christ. The children and I love
you deeply. So much of this book, I have learned from you.
Thank you to LaRae Weikert for thinking of me to write this book. What a
privilege to partner with Harvest House for this message! Thank you to Bob
Hawkins and Terry Glaspey for your encouragement and work alongside me.
And mostly, to my Savior, Jesus. You have carried this broken mom. Healed my
broken kids. Restored my broken home. Mended my broken heart. If I could
only give one thing to my kids, it would be You. Thank You for everlasting love.
Contents
Acknowledgments
From Angela
Kids Need Their Mom…
1. To Pray in Secret with the Door Open
2. To Never Stop Touching Them
3. To Hang Hearts of Love over Their Lives
4. To Watch Them Go Out of Sight
5. To Keep a Date Night with Dad
6. To Make Them Sit Around the Table…and Linger
7. To Let Her Yes Be Yes and Her No Be No
8. To Be Delayed, Rerouted, and Canceled with Poise
9. To Make Them Wait to Take a Bite
10. To Take Christmas to People Who Have Nothing
11. To Miss a Few Things They Do Wrong
12. To Put Down the Phone
13. To Learn Their Unique Love Language
14. To Occasionally Be a Supermom
15. To Turn Their Beds Down at Night
16. To Ride a Roller Coaster…for the First Time
17. To Talk to Them like They Are Fascinating
18. To Treat Their Friends like Family
19. To Cheer Wildly from the Stands
20. To Give Grace-Filled Consequences
21. To Be a Passionate, Alive, Spiritual Lover of God
22. To Indulge Their Silly
23. To Have a Hallelujah Party
24. To Keep a Family Blog
25. To Become Physically and Emotionally Healthy
26. To Become Spiritually Healthy
27. To Believe They Will Not Grunt Forever
28. To Make a Big Deal Out of God
29. To Keep Her Promise
30. To Wait on Them Hand and Foot…When They Are Sick
31. To Tell Them to Buy Another Token and Keep Swinging
32. To Pray Them Home and for the Will of God
33. To Be a “Groovy” Mom
34. To Teach Them How to Know the Voice of God
35. To Believe in Their Strengths and Speak Life into Their Gifts
36. To Make a Home Where Grace Lives
37. To Throw Down the “MOM Card”
38. To Tell Them What She’d Do Differently
39. To Make a Big Deal Out of Grandparents and Extended Family
40. To Teach Them How to Keep Their Money Straight, in Order, Facing the
Same Direction
41. To Be Patient About Things like Thumb-Sucking and Pacifiers
42. To Let Them Make Really Dumb Mistakes Without Condemnation
43. To Introduce Them to Her Friend Named Jesus
44. To Set the Tone for the Family
45. To Teach Them to Genuinely Respect All People, Cultures,
Denominations, and Creeds
46. To Teach the Boys How to Love a Wife
47. To Teach the Girls How to Love a Husband
48. To Identify the Characteristics of a Fool and Tell Them What to Do When
They Meet One
49. To Train Them to Listen to Her
50. To Teach Them to Not Be Easily Offended
51. To Live as Single Moms with Amazing Lives
52. To Teach Them a Gracious and Generous Hospitality
More Great Harvest House Books by Angela Thomas
From Angela
D
ear mom like me,
Tonight as I write to you, I am praying for you and for your children.
Oh, how you have such a tender place in my heart. Being a mom is the greatest
privilege that has come to me, and I know you feel the same way. It is such an
honor to meet you here in these pages and share a bit of our journey together.
I want you to know that I have written these 52 things as prompts. Ideas.
Creative reminders. Two of my girlfriends read the contents page for this book,
and both of them called me to say, “I haven’t done even half of them. I hope
there’s still time left.” So I want to tell you what I told them: “There is no guilt
in these pages. They have not been written as a checklist for women who want to
be impressive moms. Each of these chapters was written out of longing, desire,
and love.”
Some of you could write 1052 other things kids need from a mom. My friend
with an autistic son could help us all learn so much more about patience and
championing your child. My friend with adopted children would be able to give
us lists of things kids need to adapt to a new culture and make the transition from
orphanage to family. Another one of my friends spends almost every moment
caring for her baby, who has had life-threatening issues and too many stays in
the hospital. Oh, the things she could tell us.
The point is that we are each on a different journey, but we all long to love
our children well, to be great moms, and to become even better along the way. I
am praying that in these pages you find encouragement, renewed inspiration, and
hope. I pray that you can laugh at yourself, and your kids, when necessary. I pray
for you and for myself that when we know better, we’ll do better. I am not done
yet. I still want to become the mom God had in mind when He entrusted four
beautiful children to me.
Before you jump into the chapters, I just want to give you the pre-thing