As parents, we are bombarded with information on how to be a good parent. It’s overwhelming. Society tells us. Our kids tell us. Other people tell us. It is easy to feel like a failure, even when you give everything you have. We need to quiet out the excess noise, and pare down the hundreds of do’s and do not’s to what really matters. Setting priorities is essential to avoid the extra unnecessary stressors that distract us from what needs to be our focus. Take the reigns on what’s important in parenting and focus less on the frills that won’t make or break your child.

Marriage is a commitment filled with promises that are made between two imperfect people, yet tied together with love and a vow. With the words “I do”, you promise to love and cherish your spouse. Although society says love can be temporal and disposable, and that it is okay to disregard your vows; God paints a different picture. His is one of perseverance, companionship, love, and devotion.

I watch my precious kids grow up before my eyes. Each 24 hour period passes almost as quickly as it arrives. I try to balance all of life’s details, while still prioritizing my kids. Despite the slew of stuff that bombards each day, I want to stop and breath in the moments that make each day special. I want to appreciate my kids and savor the moments that I don’t want to pass by. Hopefully if I pause long enough I can create a memory that can’t be taken from me. So as I hear the laughter bubbling through my house, and the joy that kids bring, I want to put aside my tiredness, my work, my distractions and remember how fleeting these moments are. I want to soak in just one more memory.

Peaceful that is what I’d call this moment. How is this possible with 3 kids? When I had no kids I felt frazzled, and yet now I am relaxed? What caused this paradigm shift? I stopped living as though I had no kids.

In Genesis 4, two men offer a sacrifice to God. Abel is respected for his offering, Cain is not. Was God against vegetables, the offering brought by Cain? Shouldn’t just bringing a sacrifice be sufficient? What is the deeper meaning here?