Our grand prize giveaway was inspired by my daughter Emily. Every year, Emily and I (below in January of 2013) go to Disney World together, just the two of us…
Our Disney trip is a tradition that has become a highlight of my memories with her. Emily, is my little “magic” girl. She has always loved to dream and pretend and ponder. And over the years, watching her dream as we wander around Disney, I have had many precious moments to ponder about Emily.
The Passionate Mom chapter about pondering is one I feel very deeply about because we moms just don’t have a lot of time to ponder about our children. We hear and see little bits of news and clues about our child’s life like little puzzle pieces but we don’t have time to put the puzzle together. Without a clear picture of our child we can miss strengths that need to be developed and weaknesses that need to be strengthened.
In the chapter on pondering I share about ways that I missed the boat because I failed to ponder, fortunately this was not one of them…
Excerpt from The Passionate Mom Chapter 2: Pondering
Pondering: A Passionate Mom must carefully ponder her child and the significance of what is happening in that child’s life. (click to tweet)
Isn’t that what we want to do for our children—deeply ponder what they need in life? How would our kids benefit if we made the time to really think about their character, their behavior, their struggles, strengths, and weaknesses? (click to tweet) What if we purposed to dwell on things that, deep down, caused us to wonder from time to time? Could it help turn a child from destructive behavior? Could it even save a life? Might we discover a hidden talent or gift?
We used to call one of my daughters Snow White. She had such different coloring from her siblings, and it bothered her. We live in Florida and love to be out on the water. Her brothers and sisters were of the easy-tanning sort, whereas our lovely little Snow White had to be slathered with sunscreen every four hours to avoid a severe blistering. She was never able to acquire that Florida tan.
The spring of her junior year of high school, after several trips to the lake, she excitedly informed me that she had a tan. Strangely enough, she did. And for several more months, every time she sat in my lap, I couldn’t help noticing how brown her hands were. It bothered me. My husband thought it was nothing; my friend thought it was nothing; my daughter thought it was great.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered reading about skin developing more pigment. I started Googling and read about Addison’s disease, but it was very rare. I finally took her to see the doctor. He wasn’t too concerned and told me that he had never even seen a case in all his years of practice. But he ordered bloodwork.
Two days later I got an urgent call; my daughter was in danger and needed to see an endocrinologist immediately. She had Addison’s disease.
Addison’s is adrenal gland failure and is seldom diagnosed before there is an acute, life-threatening adrenal crisis because there are so few symptoms. The first question the endocrinologist asked me was, “How did you know?” I told her the Lord prompted me to notice, and when I did, he wouldn’t allow me to let it go. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That doctor told me that my “pondering” may have saved my daughter’s life.
Making time for pondering—for deliberately contemplating what you have perceived—is crucial to preparing a child for the future. We won’t know how to train up a child if we haven’t pondered what he needs training in. (click to tweet)
Promise me you will ponder more about your child whether or not you get to go to Disney to do it!
Airfare is not included in this giveaway.
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