Monday, October 19, 2009

A Tip on Encouragement

Stumble Upon Toolbar

If you see a lady at church, without her husband, and WITH her seven children struggling to keep the children quiet and attentive throughout the entire service, even though one child has already peed on her foot in the restroom and one child became hysterical after getting her arm stuck in the chair crack during communion, (the same child who spilled orange juice all down her face, neck and dress that morning), rushing up to her after church to say,

"I'm going to be PRAYING for you! Oh dear! You certainly have your HANDS FULL!"
will NOT be taken as encouragement. 


 Do you enjoy this blog? Subscribe in a reader.

8 comments:

JessieLeigh said...

I'm more likely to offer to take a kid or two. :) Sorry some people don't get it-- some folks also think it's helpful to give you dirty looks if your baby cries...

Allyson Kellner said...

So true--I think I figured that out after our kids were born. Now that all of my kids are in Children's Church, I'm usually the one at the back of the church holding someone else's baby so they can have a few minutes breather. Motherhood has taught me that, I cherish my children, but is such a relief to have someone trusted hold them (even for just five minutes)! Before my kids were born, I'm not sure I would have thought to actually get up and try to lend a hand!

Rachel said...

YES, YES, and YES.

I am a pastor's wife and sit with my six children (7 and under) with twins on the way alone while he preaches up front. And those kinds of comments make me feel not-so-pastor's-wifey and more like Imogene Herdman from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Watch out lady. After struggling with six children and heartburn for an entire service, your "encouragement"... well ... them's fightin' words.

How's about: "I'm so glad your family is in our church. I love to watch your children interact. And I know you don't believe me, but these days pass all too quickly."

Aaaaah. Much better. Your credibility may be weakened when you say such things, but our friendship just deepened.

Don'tcha think?

Aubrey said...

No. They. Didn't.

Kimberly @ RaisingOlives said...

It is posts like this that have made me decide to nominate you in the "funniest" category of the 2009 Homeschool Blog Awards.

Thanks for the laughs Connie.

Lene said...

Kimberly,
I'm so glad you said that. I was feeling badly that I was laughing so hard at this post. (Sorry, Smockity - you just present things in such a funny way...)

Monica said...

How funny and true at the same time!! I had many days like that when my husband was deployed.

Phillips Family said...

Love this!

I really get annoyed when people say such things...and I only have two children! You might want to have replied "I am praying for you as well, that your social skills improve soon."

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Swidget 1.0 6

 
Web Statistics