Harms Family News

I often struggle with comparing myself to other mothers. I'm often disappointed in myself when I read other mom's blogs or talk to other moms who say, "My child was struggling with such and such, and instantly this scripture popped into my mind and we were able to have a heart to heart discussion about it and apply it to the situation." Obviously, this will change as my children get older, since mine are still quite young, but I do want to be speaking scripture to them when we go throughout our day. But, to my shame, it's not always on my mind. I've been praying for more opportunities and wisdom with my girls. God answers prayer. Today, my eldest was having an attitude issue. I was reflecting on my response to her attitude, and I realized I was probably making it worse with my lack of patience. Then, as we were driving to our appointment, this verse popped into my mind: Pslam 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable ...

(Here I am with my unfortunate triangle haircut. I refused to have my hair layered, because my mom had her hair layered and I didn't want to look "old" like her. Sadly, this decision on my part ended me up with a mop of hair quite like a poodle, and when you cut curly hair when it's wet, it only gets even shorter when it's dry. I was not pleased with this harcut.) I'm participating in a project called Mommy's Piggy Tales, which gives women like me the chance to record their youth in 15 blog posts. It's been a lot of fun and has helped me remember how important the seemingly unimportant things in life were when I was young. If you want to read the others, you will find them here: Birth story , preschool , first grade , second grade , third grade , fourth grade , fifth grade , sixth grade , seventh grade , eight grade , and ninth grade . To participate in the project, click the button at the bottom of this post. In the summer before ninth grade, I took S...

For some time now, we have seen signs that Miss N is becoming more and more aware of God’s grace and salvation. Tim and I both felt burdened not to push her into any type of confession. Growing up, we saw our fair share of kids making a profession of faith in Christ at a young age, only to never really grow in grace. Tim himself was not saved until he was in his 20s, simply because he was relying on what his mom told him he did as a small child. I wrote about our conversation a few weeks ago about becoming a Christian. Since that night she hadn’t brought it up again. I was praying for wisdom and guidance as to how to broach it again or if I should, but did not have peace about bringing it up again. About three weeks ago we went to one of the local county fairs. She loves to go to the Child Evangelism Fellowship booth and get her face painted. A young lady went through the wordless book with her, a simple tool used to teach children about the plan of salvation using a book with colored ...

This post is a little late in coming, but I guess as they say it’s better late than never. On the 31st Megan turned the big two. She is quickly transitioning from a baby to a little girl, almost skipping the toddler phase. Here are some pictures to see how she had grown, and a little bit more about her. First picture with her. She was 10 lbs 4 oz! A few days old One year old! My big two year old! All About Megan Favorite foods : I love to eat! However, I prefer fruit, especially strawberries and bananas, over any type of vegetable. In fact, the only “vegetable” I will eat of my own accord is corn on the cob. I really love to eat cereal with milk. I’m a master of the spoon. Sometimes I spill, though, and I have to say, “uh oh, momma, uh oh, momma, pill.” I also love to eat toothpaste. For some reason, mommy’s not so happy about that one. Favorite words : Bike, ball, woof woof, neigh, momma, dada, papa, num nums (I said I like to eat), uh oh, and my newest one, People. If I am talking, y...

I'm participating in a project called Mommy's Piggy Tales, which gives women like me the chance to record their youth in 15 blog posts. It's been a lot of fun and has helped me remember how important the seemingly unimportant things in life were when I was young. If you want to read the others, you will find them here: Birth story , preschool , first grade , second grade , third grade , fourth grade , fifth grade , sixth grade , seventh grade , and eight grade . To participate in the project, click the button at the bottom of this post. As we sponged off after our PE class run in the basement classroom, since our school’s newly built building had no gym or showers, everyone was scrambling to make themselves look beautiful again after the hard workout. A couple of girls were looking at a list written in a notebook. All of the seniors were working on their Senior Books and filling out the “most likely to succeed,” “first to get married,” etc., lists from their class. These gi...

1. Grandma’s body is healing. This said in an awe-inspired voice from my oldest. My mom has chronic pain issues, and she got some relief from a recent alternative therapy she had, and she was able to pick up my little girl. This meant so much to both of them. 2. My youngest can say, “cow.” 3. My youngest thinks giraffes are cows. 4. My oldest is quite horse crazy. She was given the entire toy store to pick out a present from her great grandparents, and she picked a stuffed horse and a box of plastic flocked toy horses. It’s not my fault. Honestly. 5. My youngest loves the men in her family. A lot. Especially her “Papa.” Uncle “JoJo” is pretty well loved too. Grandma will do when “Papa” isn’t around. 6. A castle blanket makes all things scary just a little bit more manageable. 7. My parents’ church has a bakery – often they have a “visitor’s reception,” which offers muffins or cookies and welcomes guests with the opportunity to meet the pastor. When Natalie came out of her class, she sa...

I'm participating in a project called Mommy's Piggy Tales, which gives women like me the chance to record their youth in 15 blog posts. It's been a lot of fun and has helped me remember how important the seemingly unimportant things in life were when I was young. If you want to read the others, you will find them here: Birth story , preschool , first grade , second grade , third grade , fourth grade , fifth grade , sixth grade , seventh grade . To participate in the project, click the button at the bottom of this post. As I climbed aboard the bus to travel to the junior high building, a satellite campus for our Christian school as the high school had, in just one year, outgrown the newly built high school facility, my classmates turned their noses to the smell of freshly permed hair. I felt insecure as I realized it had not been washed, but I was proud of my “new” curls. It took a perm to tame the unruly mop, and I would always refer to that as “the perm that never grew out...

(Our two guests, three and five years old. Granted, they are from a tall family, but I think Miss N looks tiny next to them in this picture.) This week, we have been keeping some friend’s kids while they took the youth group on their annual summer missions/youth trip. I was greatly looking forward to this week – Miss N gets along very well with these girls, and I had lots of fun things planned. The second day we had them, one came down with strep throat. Monday the second one also came down with it, followed by Miss M with an ear infection. I’m not at all saying the girls gave my girls illness, since mine already had colds before they got here. But Tuesday Miss N came down with some illness, spiked a high fever that wouldn’t be controlled by Tylenol. I was doing fine. Sure, I am physically tired – with all of the sick kids I’ve been up at least once per night the entire time they’ve been here, and since I don’t go to bed until midnight, that makes for very little sleep. All in all I wa...

As I opened my locker, checked my image in the magnetized mirror hanging in the door. My bangs had started to fall. It was time for a quick run to the bathroom and a spritz or two from my hairspray in my purse. But with just five minutes to get from one class to the next before being deemed tardy, I didn’t know if I had time. I would just have to wait until lunch. Seventh grade brought me into the world of high school. Our school did not, at the time, have much separation between high school and junior high. We roamed the halls with the ninth through twelfth grades, doing our best to keep our heads above water. Without Debbra in my class, I had to make new friends. Luckily, some new faces hit the scene. I remember specifically Paula H, Rachel D, August B, and Becky B, all of whom I connected with fairly well that year or the next. I think seventh grade really solidified in my mind the fact that I was not “popular.” I think it bothered me more than I wanted to admit. While I liked the f...