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May 15, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

lost and found

I can’t find it!

This phrase I have heard too many times to count.  It’s the all-encompassing phrase… shirts, toys, socks, shoes (especially shoes ~ and always when we are already late)… this time the necessary pads.  Can’t play without the pads… the pads that protect…

I can’t find… 

Sighs, grumbles, loud (not very kind) words, more sighs, more grumbles, and tears.  Fine.  No playing today then.

You have to learn…

The moment passes.  The tears dry.

Days pass, searching, seeking, and the hunt ends in reward.  The pads are found.  All is well.  The player gets back in the game.

This lesson ~ the one of responsibility ~ taught… and learned.  Mom checks the square.

There are no coincidences…

A child, working diligently on her studies, “Mama, I know what a parable is…”

a story that teaches a lesson

She continues, “there’s a story about a son who was lost… he came to his senses… his father welcomed him home… he was found.”

An irresponsible son… joyously welcomed home by the father.

It’s a beautiful story.  Meant to teach us… a lesson.

You have to learn…   

Oh.  This lesson for me to learn.

This lesson of responsibility… the thoughts of the unkind words carelessly strewn about… the scarring of a moment… the opportunity to show grace… missed.

Whose lesson is this to learn?

This lesson of lost and found ~ it has eternal consequences.  I have been lost, I have hidden my face, I have forgotten…  

The open arms have welcomed me back.  This is the lesson… the lesson to teach… to learn…

Luke 15:32

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. 




Filed Under: Faith, Motherhood

May 14, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

the morning comes

Mornings.  I am not a morning person.  In all my years of being mommy, I still haven’t mastered the morning routine.  I start the morning with a prayer…

please put Your plans in front of mine today

That about covers it ~ and I have bucket full of plans for the day…

Then, as happens sometimes, the first words are a grumble.  The grumble is returned with a sharp tongue, and so it begins… the stomach churning ride up and down… the ride of emotions… frustration, anger, followed by apologies… short time passes, then more of the ride.  Splatters of laughter sprinkled between the pokes and jabs.  A day of many plans, too short time, even shorter temper, and the focus… blurs.

Crying, whining, gnashing of teeth (mostly mom’s)… and the picture of domesticity loses perspective.  The big picture ~ the God focus ~ gets lost in my plans.

The wish to start over… start fresh… a “morning re-do.”

Small arms wrap all around ~ longing for the same… turn back the clocks ~ reclaim the stolen hour, taken to welcome the spring.  The little arms, like an octopus, wrapping around mama’s frustrations and squeezing.  Mother angst has no choice but to release under that much pressure… the forgiveness so freely given, the embracing tentacles wrapping and unwrapping… unwrapping a new start.

That’s when God answers… when the plan is taken from my will… squeezed into His.  These God moments, they can not be predicted… a “re-do”… a message carried by a dear friend… sending words for the soul.  The words from Him ~ a sudden jolt to focus…

Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, 

for to you I lift up my soul. 


The morning comes… sometimes in the middle of the day.

Filed Under: Faith, Friendship

May 13, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

What If…

What if…

How many times have I thought that as a mom?  Countless.
What if I forget to… what if something happens when… what if they don’t learn this… what if they mess up… what if I mess up…

The countless “what if” questions run through my mind… keep me up sometimes at night… worry me.  What if I don’t teach them the important stuff… and teach it well.

I remember buying the first car seat.  The first of probably 10 car seats ~ no kidding (our garage bears witness).  What brand? What size? What color?

what if we have an accident?!

The cost didn’t matter ~ 10 times, the cost didn’t matter.  WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS?!  I had to be sure that nothing would happen to my little one.

I have gone through years of upgrading and updating those seats just to make sure nothing happens to my precious little ones.

The fear and anxiety can embed themselves, unrecognizable, as a part of what is called “motherhood.”

I watched my oldest son ~ he tried on the pads, the helmet, the gloves, the elbow pads, the mouth guard… I just stared at the proud boy ~ dressed as a small warrior.

All these years of carefully selecting, endlessly researching the perfect bubble…  and now this.

my boy, in body armour

heading out to the field… to run, exhilarating youth, around a field… hitting, checking, crashing.
All smiles.

I have worked tirelessly to create complete security, only to watch him run out there into the world.

I think of my German-born father… drafted during WWII… to fight for his country ~ he was fifteen.
Fifteen years old!  
He fought… he was wounded by a bullet.  He was only seventeen.
My dad was only a few years older than my boy.

What my grandmother must have thought?  How she must have prayed.  The fear, the anxiety…  the thought sickens… that much fear.  Her protective bubble burst.

My father became my dad 26 years later.  No amount of fear or anxiety would change that.  He survived.  The fear and anxiety did not change a thing.

fear and anxiety do not change a thing

The “what if” questions… they haunt us, but they do not change a thing.

I think of the first lines I ever memorized… now it strikes me… they were meant for me.  A mother.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I am thankful, I pray… now, release the fear…

Do not be anxious about anything…

Filed Under: Faith, Military, Motherhood

May 13, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

live right now

Score!

My daughter was playing a heated game of lacrosse (as heated as the sticklettes get), and suddenly… she raised her hands in victory ~ sheer joy.  It was a score!  Not in the goal, of course, but… she lost a tooth!  This little tooth had been wiggling and had caused her some grief during the dinner hour.  She had cried with pain while eating her hot dog.  Now… score!  The tiny tooth had popped out… in the middle of a field, in the middle of a game.  She stopped the game and proudly showed her prize to a gracious, understanding coach (a mommy).  Both cheered as the spectators watched with anticipation ~ wondering ~ what is going on?

My little one stopped in this moment and drank in the incredible joy of a lost tooth.  (The mommy coach, without the slightest grimace, took the bloody tooth in her hand while this mommy ran into the field to claim it.  The tooth fairy would be alerted…)

It was a glorious moment… watching my little one share this child moment with team mates and opponents (while others scored goals around her).  No game, no rules, no “there’s no time for this right now…”  Just this moment.  She relished it.  She lived… right. in. this. moment.  It was beautiful.

her toothless smile

I remember the look on my dear friend’s face.  The last time I saw her feeling really well.  The last time I saw her feeling really alive.  It was a November afternoon… November was her favorite month.  She stood on her front porch and smiled her beautiful smile… her eyes shone with joy.  She felt good that day and it was a beautiful day.  She relished it.  Just that moment.

her beautiful smile

She told me many times, in our last conversations, that she was learning to live for the day.  She was learning to live for just the moment.  It was not easy.  We all tend to look to the next.  The next hour, the next day, the next year…

I wonder how it would look if we lived in just this moment?

I wonder what I can do to stay right here ~ in just this moment?

I wonder when I drift away to the next… how can I get back ~ to just this moment?

How can we live NOW?

Nuture our relationships ~ right now

Open our eyes ~ to what is right in front of us

Write it down ~ write now… right now

A butterfly has a life span of two or tree weeks.  My kids and I just watched five caterpillars transform into breathtaking painted beauties.  We released them.  We watched them fly.  It was a beautiful moment.  The beauty shone radiantly in my children…

their beautiful smiles

 

Matthew 6:33-34

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

 

Filed Under: Faith, Motherhood

May 13, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

words of a mother

So much to say.

It’s been a week of so much to think.  So much to say.  So much to learn.  So much to teach.

The thoughts of children, parents, siblings, spouses, old friends, new friends, friends who have passed on…

The thoughts of lacrosse games, meals, Key West, illness, health, beaches, cold weather, warm weather, meals to prepare, a house to clean, a party to host, a Bible study to begin, babies, toddlers, kids, love, aggravation, exhaustion, energy, coffee (one of my new favorite things), pets, splinters, boo-boo’s, bandaids, and on and on and on…

It’s the time of day when I, the student of this life, download.  It’s amazing how much can happen in one week…

7 days

Many amazing things can happen in 7 days.  7 days.  God made everything in 7 days (well, on the 7th day He rested ~ why can’t we learn? There is a day meant for rest).  Yes, I’ve heard it, I’ve believed different ideas at different times of my life… I know some say “7 days,” some say, “well, it’s just a representation of a period of time…”  I’ve heard it.  All I know is The Book says…

7 days

All I know is that I believe The Good Book.

If I can do all of this and think all of this in 7 days… yes, God could have made it all in 7 days.  He’s God.

It’s funny as I sit down to write ~ the thoughts come to me as my fingers pound the keyboard…  this beautiful release… this writing… these words.  God gave us words.  He filled us with words.  Mental words we dare never release… and the words that we set free… words of comfort, words of anger, words of joy, words of sorrow, words of fear, words of love, and on and on and on…

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day.  The day that reminds us of our past, opens our eyes to our present.  There are too many words to cover what a mother is… what a mother does… what a mother does not… what a mother means… what a mother does not mean.  These words inside us.  Sometimes, I, as mom, have released the words I did not mean.  Most of the time, I have showered the words I want to fill my little ones with… the words I hope fill them and carry them into adulthood… knowing Mom loves them… and God loves them more.

This treasure of words inside us.  I make another attempt on this new Mother’s Day to release the words of love and fill my young children with them.

Inside our mommy souls, He has planted treasures to share with them.  The beautiful surprises inside.  His Spirit within, stirring to transform… us and them.

Happy Mother’s Day

John 1:1-2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.

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Meet Karin

Hi! My name is Karin Madden. Writer. Warrior wife. Mom of six pack. Homeschooler. German-blooded southerner. Welcome to the place where I explore what it means to grow stronger - spirit, soul, and body. I write to inspire and encourage - to remind you we are not alone. By being bold with grace and speaking truth in love, we can become who we are meant to be. I'm glad you are here.

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