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“She likes to do dances in the car, which are hilarious,” says Savannah, age 11. “Some of the dances I think are extinct. When she starts to dance to a song, I tell her to stop because I think she will hurt herself.”

Let’s just hope she doesn’t do the Twist. This is one of those extinct dances from the ’60s where the lyrics and dancers go “round and round and up and down.” It’s the down part that concerns me. Road visibility might be a problem.

“Sure, it’s annoying when she calls me my sister’s or my dog’s name, but sometimes it’s funny,” says Mary, 11. “I love my mom so much. She is very good to me.”

Isn’t that the way it is with Mom? She may be peculiar at times, but it’s OK because you know she loves you. I just returned from lunch with a family where the mom has the most peculiar laugh anyone has ever heard. Her 15-year-old daughter said she used to be embarrassed by it, but now, she thinks it’s cool because her friends try to imitate it. I suspect it has more to do with her mom’s love, which is evident to anyone who knows her.

“My mother reminds me of spring and summer because of her bright, kind smile,” says Kelsey, 11. “Her face is welcoming and soft. She has smooth, reassuring hands like the calm ocean. When I’m sad or worried, she looks relaxed and helpful. My mother is as lovely as a rose on a warm, sunny morning.”

What more could one possibly say about Mom than “the sun is always shining when she is with me,” says Stephanie, 11.

The sun of Mom’s love can be shining even when life brings storms. “The best thing I like about my mom is that she loves me!” says Morgan, 11.

Moms know instinctively that their children need love. It’s part of a divine package called “eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). No one has to teach mothers to love their children. God placed it in their hearts.

Love fosters security. No amount of fame, money or power can take the place of knowing one is loved. Even those with dysfunctional moms or no moms (orphans) can find security in God’s love. It’s hard to feel unloved when we consider how Jesus willingly suffered by taking our sins on himself so that he might save us and live in and through us forever.

As the Lord Jesus hung on a cross, he looked down at his mother and said, “Woman, behold your son!” (John 19:26). Jesus also said to the Apostle John, “Behold your mother!” From that day forward, John took Mary into his household.

In spite of the context of Jesus providing for his mother through John, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ conversation with a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-15).

When the Israelites beheld a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole by Moses, they were healed from poisonous snakebites. Because of its role in the temptation of Eve, the serpent is under a curse. Jesus took the punishment we deserve when he allowed sinners to lift him up on a cross.

Yes, even Mary had to behold and believe in her son as the one who became accursed for her sins. Will you?

Point to ponder: God designed mothers to love their children.

Scripture to remember: “Woman, behold your son!” (John 19:26).

Question to consider: Will you behold the Son of God by believing in him?

Tags: believe, Bible, children, eternal life, Eve, family, God, Jesus, John, kids, love, Mary, Moses, mothers, salvationbelieve, Bible, children, eternal life, Eve, family, God, Jesus, John, kids, love, Mary, Moses, mothers, salvation

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Sometimes we hear things from those we love and trust, and what we’ve heard becomes a fact without question when it truly was a lie. It’s worse when the lie was never intended as a lie, but as a true belief passed on as training.

I’ve been haunted for years by one of my dad’s oft-repeated old sayings when I was growing up:

There’s no better way to kill time than work it to death.

I never questioned the truth of that statement. First, I love my dad. He’s a really good man. Second, work is good. Third, work is what we’re all about, right. Right?

• Lie number 1: We don’t get anywhere in life without working hard.
• Lie number 2: The more we work, the more we make.
• Lie number 3: What we do is who we are.

We spend more time working than any other activity. Most of us sleep less than eight hours a night, yet we work more than eight hours per day. Our most important relationship is with those we love at home. Yet we spend most of our time, with colleagues who love us very little. And those at home (who love us most, remember?) get the tired, grumpy, raggedy remnants of the “best” self that we tried to be all day.

Work became something different for me about 10 years ago when, in one of the many heart-to-hearts between me and my oldest son when he was feeling his way through high school, he said, “Work is evil for you.” Evil is a strong word, never to be taken lightly. At first, I thought maybe he was just angry because I didn’t spend enough time with him. But he didn’t seem angry. He was just telling me what he believed. He couldn’t elaborate, but at 16, he opened a wound that didn’t heal quickly. It festered for years as I thought about that: How could work be evil if my dad said it was the best way to kill time?

I was on the fast track in the newspaper business with a great job. As a young man, I had climbed much of the corporate ladder in a field that demanded 24 hour-a-day response. When my radio (before cell phone proliferation) crackled my name, or the phone rang, no matter what time, I had to respond. It didn’t matter if I was celebrating a holiday or a child’s birthday, I was on call.

But I had a good job. People respected me. I was providing for my family. I was living, and buying into, all three LIES. But as with most addictions — and work was an addiction for me — I hit a bottom.

Something had to change. Work wasn’t the answer it once was. I changed careers and fields in an effort to control my workaholic ways. For a short time, things were better. But not for long. I discovered that I’d rather work than talk to most folks. And if I’m feeling blue, please give me a hard job to do so I don’t have to feel it. Work became a great way to avoid myself.

I needed new answers. I had to throw out old rules that haunted me, and new insights that wounded me. I had to discover what work was to me.
Answers came slowly.

• Answer number 1: The key to “getting somewhere” is knowing where you want to go. One of my favorite reminders comes from Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Many people climb the corporate ladder only to find that the ladder was leaning on the wrong wall. Been there, done that.
• Answer number 2: Work smarter, not harder. Another clich
  Tags: advice, balance, change, child, children, dad, father, life, parent, parenting, training, upbringing, workadvice, balance, change, child, children, dad, father, life, parent, parenting, training, upbringing, work

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