Saturday I entered my ninth month of pregnancy. My little girl isn’t here yet but already my life has been changing.
Since I got pregnant, I’ve slowly been backing out of all the activities I was involved in. I quickly found that I no longer had the energy to keep up with everything I was doing.
The nursery sits empty, awaiting her arrival, and my husband and I anticipate how our life and marriage are about to change.
While deciding how we want to raise this child, we consider how we were raised in our families. My mother taught me many life lessons that I’m just beginning to realize will prove beneficial while I train up my children.
Of course there’s things I think of and say, “I’ll NEVER do that.” But then I smile and chuckle to myself knowing that chances are, I probably will.
There are several lessons I’ve learned that I’m determined to make happen in my family.
• Family first. My parents were at every event I participated in growing up, as time allowed. Of course, if they had to work, I understood. But they attended as much as they could, and I remembered. My dad even coached my park and recreation softball teams in the latter years of high school. Those are times spent with him I’ll never forget.
• God first. The only thing that comes before family is God. But God is the center of my family, and church is a Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night occurrence. Bible studies are important in the church and at home.
• There are more important things to do than clean house. Don’t tell my husband this one. We had a beautiful home and it was kept nice, but my mom made it a priority to spend time with me and just play than spend all day cleaning house. That can wait.
• Life isn’t all serious. There are times to be serious, but having fun is important as well. You’ll remember the times spent laughing more than any others.
• Never pass up a good deal and always use a coupon. My family is well-known for saving money and even for winning things. We shop garage sales and thrift stores proudly. There is no shame in saving money and using it for something more important, like going on a family vacation. And there’s always a coupon available when you’re going shopping or out to eat somewhere. Just look.
I only hope that my husband and I can be as good parents as ours have been, and still are, for us.
Monica Faram
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