Living a great story involves changing the way we approach life. Attending the Storyline Conference helped me clarify what a meaningful life looks like and how life is my story to create.
I wasn’t familiar with Author and Storybrand founder Donald Miller until a friend introduced me to Storyline. I gained a lot during my time with him and I want to pass along that wisdom to you my friends.
“You can’t take us to the mall, Mom? It’s ok, we can just UBER it,” says my almost 13-year-old. Excuse me?
Come to find out, this is really going on in the area where we live. Today teens need to get somewhere and Mom, Dad or Grandma isn’t available or willing, they can just press the black U icon on their little iPhone X. In a matter of minutes, a willing stranger appears to transport them wherever their little precious heart desires to go. Even better it’s all conveniently billed to Mommy’s credit card so they don’t even need to have a bit of cash on them or bat an eye at the expense.
Just what do you say to a Veteran to honor the sacrifices they have made for our country?
Does “thank you for your service” come to mind?
Do you know how those 5 simple words make a veteran feel though?
“Really awkward,” says Rico Roman, a retired Army Staff Sergeant who had his left leg amputated above the knee when wounded by an improvised explosive device while serving his third tour in Iraq in Feb. 2007. “I don’t go looking for that kind of recognition. I just say thank you back to people because I know they are sincere, but sometimes I feel very awkward.”
Isn’t that quite the question? Just what does it take to live a great life story?
I know it takes more than money, a beautiful house, comfortable lifestyle or high performing kids. None of that means a darned thing if you aren’t living for a greater purpose.
I wouldn’t say last week was one of my better ones.
My throat is scratchy from all the nagging and raising my voice (otherwise known as yelling) in frustration with my family. Every last one of them has been driving me nuts. Maybe you can relate? We are on each other more than normal and I’m going to own that it’s my negative energy leading the charge. It’s no way I want to live.
It’s time to regroup as a family unit because when Momma isn’t happy, ain’t nobody going to be happy. A Family Meeting is a great way to stop and talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly and comes up with a plan to get back on track.
When our kids were little I read every parenting book I could get my hands on. I took classes, went to seminars and looked to friends for wisdom, all in the hopes of doing this mothering thing the best I could. I have found that as the kids grow up, we don’t seek out as much guidance as we did in the younger years and really we need positive tactics now more than ever.
One lady has been influential in guiding my parenting since we met back in the preschool days in California. Susie Walton is a mother of four grown sons and teaches her own curriculum, “The Joy of Parenting” to families live and online. Susie is also the author of the book, “Key to Personal Freedom: How Myths Affect Our Family Lives.”
Did you know that Make A Difference Day always falls on the 4th Saturday in October? Tomorrow’s nationwide event is the largest day of community service and volunteering across the USA. I hope you are scheduled to do something fabulous in your community! But, if you’re like our family, what happens if your Saturday is already booked solid?
My creative Mother made me this handy clothesline out of rubber bands and we used it all of the time while on our RV journey around the USA.
Here’s how….
Remember that many campgrounds won’t let you hang clothes outside to dry, so this rubber band clothesline worked perfectly inside our RV too!
Here are 6 other tips for family travel in an RV!
What tips have helped you when traveling around by RV?
Did you draw up a contract with your child before handing over that cell phone? A parent-child cell phone agreement is a great way to discuss expectations and individual accountability upfront before that device ever lands in their hands.
We have been withholding the privilege of cellphones for our kids until now. We could’ve gone forever without giving in to the reality of society, but it is important to our kids, so we wanted to honor them. There are many reasons we wanted our kids to wait for this responsibility and I’ve written about that here. Our triplet sons just began 8th grade and their younger sister is in 7th. They are responsible, caring and hard working individuals deserving of this rite of passage in today’s culture.
