Praise for the Oversharenting Parent.

(I wrote this about a week ago in response to this article- but thought I'd share here)

Dear Jade Ruthven,

I wanted to drop a line and tell you how happy I am that you love your baby so much.  In a world full of disagreements, petty arguments, celebrity worship, hateful politics, parenting faux pas, and general disregard for other people’s feelings, I wanted to let you know how refreshing it is to see a mother so enthralled in her baby, that she can’t help but scream it out to social media.  If you had a mountain readily accessible to you, I know you’d be on it screaming.  I know, because I’d be on it too.  Like you, I am guilty of oversharenting.  Even on the bad days, like today, when my car repair man called to tell me my car was done forever, or last week when my ex got engaged, or the day I brought my baby home and didn’t think I could do this parenting thing all by myself: in those moments, I still would have climbed that mountain and screamed my love out from it.  We’re the kind of people that wake up in the morning, surprised at the amount of love we have left in us despite the way the world desperately tries to suck it out.

Jade, I do not believe that there is a limit to how much we’re supposed to love people, especially the ones we make.  The first time they handed me my baby, I swore up and down I could never love anyone that much ever again.  I’ve been breaking that promise every day I’ve been blessed to wake up, since. 

Perhaps technology just hasn’t caught up to us, yet. We’re the kind of people that, years ago, would have carried pictures in our wallets, pulling them out and trading them empathetically like baseball cards with our neighbors. While exchanging stories of our loved ones, inside were secretly and impatiently waiting for our turn to speak (not necessarily to brag, but) to remind the universe that despite our existence full of microwaveable meals, depressing news segments, reality TV and broken down cars, our children are something to be proud about.

That’s something worth sharing.

Cheers,

Abigail (a fellow over-sharing parent)

Maxwell's baby dedication letter. 2/8/15

Dear Max,

Tomorrow is your baby dedication and I am supposed to write to you a letter with a vision of the kind of person I hope you will be at 18, or when you become a man.  I honestly don't even know where to begin... But we have to start somewhere!

I have tethered so many hopes and dreams on to you, that sometimes I fear they will either carry you away, or they will weigh you down.  I hope to do neither.


 I have so many dreams for you that I cannot possibly write them all down, but my biggest wish is that you come to know the endless, depthless love of our Savior.

I hope that over the time God has placed us to be in each others lives, I prove to be an example of this love, over and over again. I hope that together we can practice this love with our family, our friends, our community.




I pray that you grow up to be a man of character.
 A man who fears God.
A man that loves people deeply.
A man with strong convictions.
I pray that receive you the wisdom that is offered to us all,
 but overlooked by so many.

I pray that you never question your identity.  You are wanted, you are important, and you have been called.  Before you were even born, God used your life to change mine, and I am forever grateful to you for being that vessel.

I hope that you grow up to know that your mother loves you, has always loved you, and will always love you very very much.  But this love pales in comparison to the love your father has for you.

Your father, the father that calls all of us to into being,

planned for you (Psalm 139:13),

has plans for you (Jeremiah 17:9),

desires to know you (1 John 4:10),

and he will never abandon you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

I pray that you as you grow up, you hunger for this relationship with your heavenly father, and know that it is the only thing in this world that truly matters. We will never lack anything if we have Him.

Maxwell,
I promise to do my best to raise you according to truth given to me in scripture, and know that God will take over from there. I thank God for entrusting me to be your mom every day. Being you mother has been the richest human experience of my life,

You are my joy and I love you so much.