Tag Archives: timing

Timing Is Everything… Or Is It?

Racing against the clock is a futile exercise most parents endure while raising children. If time kicks your butt getting out the door in the morning, consider the consequences if you choose to ignore it when disciplining your kids. To be effective, discipline must immediately follow a child’s transgression… or so claims numerous childhood experts. Easy enough if you are dealing with a toddler whose actions are fairly simple to monitor.  Not so when your kids hit an age when they would rather you not be a constant presence in their lives. Or present at all. Parents of school age … Continue reading →

When Not to Have an Argument

So you have a frustration in your marriage that needs to be aired. You need to sit down and talk to your spouse. But there are times when you should definitely NOT start a deep and meaningful discussion or an argument. You need to try and pick a time that is convenient to your spouse, which means not when they are in the middle if doing something like watching their favorite TV show. It means not bombarding them, when they are just come home from work and are tired. Or when you have just come home from work and the … Continue reading →

Sunday Christians?

In Romans 12 Paul urges believers to be ‘living sacrifices’ verse 1. What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? It means that we will ensure that we make decisions and choices each day that are pleasing to God. That may mean sometimes having to put aside what we want to do to help someone else or to so something for God and for His Kingdom. Like today I had to put aside going shopping do for some summer tops while they are on sale to do what I believed God was calling me to do. It’s no good … Continue reading →

Why Am I Here? – Part 1

Have you ever had to live in a place where you would not choose to be? But you are there because of work, or family, circumstances, or perhaps because God directed you there. I’ve been in that position at varying times in my life. God showed some important truths during these times. I admit, I haven’t always been as receptive to learn them as I could have been. But here are some of the things I learned during these times. ‘From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the … Continue reading →

Challenges And Habits

In my last blogs we looked at the idea of being challenged to take on a new area of service or ministry or challenged to continue on after failure. But there is another way we could look at challenges. So often we pray the Lord’s Prayer saying, ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ Matthew 6:10. How is God’s will done in heaven? Perfectly – always. Do you and I always do God’s will perfectly on earth? No we don’t. I’m sure each of us have areas in our lives we know are not pleasing to … Continue reading →

Consider Restructuring Time Management

Again and again we talk here in the Single Parent’s blog about how important time management is to the function of a single parent family. Many of us pride ourselves on being able to juggle multiple tasks and keep all sorts of balls in the air. Our concept of time, however, may not be meshing with our family’s needs. If your child is balking at certain times of the day, or you are having power struggles or a hard time fitting in the things that you really want to do together, it might be time to consider restructuring your time … Continue reading →

Is it Time to Make Friends?

Timing is important when making friends. We must be ready to make friends and open up to others. Years ago my husband and I went along to a church near where we lived. The people were so friendly, they overwhelmed us. We never went back. At that time we were still on our journey back to the Lord and we were not ready to be swamped with friendliness or commit to others. Back then such friendliness was all too much. It frightened us off. When we planned to move house, any number of people told us stories of people who’d … Continue reading →

The Role of Timing

As much as I sometimes hate to admit it, there is something to be said for timing–things happening at just the right time vs. trying to force things to happen when the timing just isn’t right. As single parents, we can ease our workload and our stress load some by taking into account the role that timing can play in our lives. I wrestle with the whole concept of timing myself–it is hard getting older and feeling as though time is starting to slip away and that I need to “get a move on” and still understand that there is … Continue reading →

Do Kids in Single Parent Families Get to Stay Up Later?

I had a debate recently with a couple other single parents about whether we think our children got LATER bedtimes because of our single parent status or EARLIER ones. I argued that when my children were younger, they probably had an earlier bedtime than their peers because I had to get up early for work and during the years I was going to college, I really needed those nights for my study time. As they got older, however, I know that the bedtime got a little more lax so that we could have time to spend together over dinner, homework, … Continue reading →

Have Patience or Get it Over With?

I did not used to be a naturally patient person. If truth be told, I am still not a “naturally” patient person, but I have learned more skills and have fostered the ability to remain more patient. Part of it is due to mistakes I’ve made by rushing into things and losing patience. Still, there are those times in our business when patience only takes us so far and we have to take the leap and just get something out of the way. Sometimes, patience really pays off—if we can wait for a fee to drop or wait until the … Continue reading →