I would like you to welcome with me, Carol Emmert, to my blog today. Carol is a sweet lady with a quick heart to pray, and heart to listen to others.
I asked her if she'd be willing to be part of this encouragement series. I am so delighted that she did so, you must simply read this great post on Tying Heart Strings.
I asked her if she'd be willing to be part of this encouragement series. I am so delighted that she did so, you must simply read this great post on Tying Heart Strings.
Tying Heartstrings
Moms have a lot of things to focus on while raising children and managing their households. We support and love our husbands; raise, train, and care for our children, not to mention all of those tasks that go along with keeping the home and making sure everyone gets fed ~ every day! You probably already have some ideas in mind for how you want to raise your children. In the midst of all your other responsibilities, remember to tie heart strings with your children.
While the wording of tying heart strings might be new to you, the concept is one I’m sure you’ve already been doing. You start tying heart strings with your child when you first hold them, and it should continue their whole lives ~ even into adulthood.
When our girls were little, we did a lot of reading together on the couch. Beyond just instilling a love of reading, I was tying heart strings with each girl, and they were tying them with each other. We would make a weekly trip to the library and both girls would help me choose several picture books for us to read. As the girls got older, and Emily became a proficient reader, we added in a lot of easy readers so she could read to Arlene and I. I’ve never regretted a single minute of the time we spent reading together. Whether it was another book from the Come Along, Daisy! series, or an adventure of Henry and Mudge, each book gave us uninterrupted time together to tie heart strings.
Moms have a lot of things to focus on while raising children and managing their households. We support and love our husbands; raise, train, and care for our children, not to mention all of those tasks that go along with keeping the home and making sure everyone gets fed ~ every day! You probably already have some ideas in mind for how you want to raise your children. In the midst of all your other responsibilities, remember to tie heart strings with your children.
While the wording of tying heart strings might be new to you, the concept is one I’m sure you’ve already been doing. You start tying heart strings with your child when you first hold them, and it should continue their whole lives ~ even into adulthood.
When our girls were little, we did a lot of reading together on the couch. Beyond just instilling a love of reading, I was tying heart strings with each girl, and they were tying them with each other. We would make a weekly trip to the library and both girls would help me choose several picture books for us to read. As the girls got older, and Emily became a proficient reader, we added in a lot of easy readers so she could read to Arlene and I. I’ve never regretted a single minute of the time we spent reading together. Whether it was another book from the Come Along, Daisy! series, or an adventure of Henry and Mudge, each book gave us uninterrupted time together to tie heart strings.
As the girls got even older, the activities we did and the opportunities to tie heart strings changed, but they were still vitally important to the strength of our relationships. Motherhood is a challenging job. It is full of the highest joys, and the deepest sorrows. You might, at times, be a friend of your children, but it is so much more important to be their parent!
Your little children start growing up and become big kids, then teenagers, and eventually adults. A large part of how those transitions take place, and your continued ability to speak truth into their lives will depend on how many heart strings you have ties when they were young. During those years between them turing 10 and 14 you may find it much more difficult to tie new heart strings between you and your child ~ but keep trying! It is difficult but necessary works to be tying new heart strings when it feels like your child is spending all their time cutting them. Keep loving your child, even when you don’t particularly like them, keep hugging them, even when they resist. Not every child will fight with you all the way through puberty, but for those that do, you’ll be thankful for each thing that goes right in your relationship.
Although we’re approaching the end of our homeschooling journey, (the girls are now 18 and 16,) we continue to carve out time to tie heart strings with each girl ~ with each parent and as a family. It takes more effort to set aside separate times for each girl in our full schedule these days, but we still do it. Our oldest is navigating the waters of adulthood, but she is still my little girl! I love it that most night she still seeks me out to give me a “goodnight hug and smooth.”
Tying heart string is a wonderful thing to do with and for your adult children too! The day that Kurt and I got married, my Mom told me that “you will always be my baby girl.” I better understand that now that I am older. She has never told me what to do with my life, my mother instead has been a constant source of love and comfort throughout my adult life. Just a few days ago my Mom and I went on a short afternoon adventure while the girls were spending time with their friends. When we were getting ready to walk back to our cars, she asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream. That’s right ~ I have an awesome Mommy! I didn’t need her to buy me ice cream, and I hadn't thought of it yet myself, but she saw an opportunity to tie another heart string and she took it.
Wherever you are in your relationship with your own children, whether they’re 4, 14, or 40, find as many opportunities this week as you can to tie some more heart strings. Your life, and theirs, will be richer and fuller because of it!
Your little children start growing up and become big kids, then teenagers, and eventually adults. A large part of how those transitions take place, and your continued ability to speak truth into their lives will depend on how many heart strings you have ties when they were young. During those years between them turing 10 and 14 you may find it much more difficult to tie new heart strings between you and your child ~ but keep trying! It is difficult but necessary works to be tying new heart strings when it feels like your child is spending all their time cutting them. Keep loving your child, even when you don’t particularly like them, keep hugging them, even when they resist. Not every child will fight with you all the way through puberty, but for those that do, you’ll be thankful for each thing that goes right in your relationship.
Although we’re approaching the end of our homeschooling journey, (the girls are now 18 and 16,) we continue to carve out time to tie heart strings with each girl ~ with each parent and as a family. It takes more effort to set aside separate times for each girl in our full schedule these days, but we still do it. Our oldest is navigating the waters of adulthood, but she is still my little girl! I love it that most night she still seeks me out to give me a “goodnight hug and smooth.”
Tying heart string is a wonderful thing to do with and for your adult children too! The day that Kurt and I got married, my Mom told me that “you will always be my baby girl.” I better understand that now that I am older. She has never told me what to do with my life, my mother instead has been a constant source of love and comfort throughout my adult life. Just a few days ago my Mom and I went on a short afternoon adventure while the girls were spending time with their friends. When we were getting ready to walk back to our cars, she asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream. That’s right ~ I have an awesome Mommy! I didn’t need her to buy me ice cream, and I hadn't thought of it yet myself, but she saw an opportunity to tie another heart string and she took it.
Wherever you are in your relationship with your own children, whether they’re 4, 14, or 40, find as many opportunities this week as you can to tie some more heart strings. Your life, and theirs, will be richer and fuller because of it!
Carol is a wife of more than 20 years, Mama to two teenaged daughters, and avid gardener. She blogs at Home Sweet Life where her family shares its unique experience-based educational life, Road Trip ideas, book reviews, and encouragement for healthy families. Carol spends time volunteering as a local 4-H Leader, and at Conner Prairie in Fishers, IN. You can often find Carol outdoors with her family, and her camera. One of their favorite family pastimes includes long hikes in the woods and she photographs the wildlife they see.
Google+, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Google+, Pinterest, and Facebook.
RSS Feed
