We just kept running into each other everywhere. . .the zoo, the arboretum, Michaels, the grocery store. Finally we decided God wanted us to be friends and we set up our first playdate at the park. That was 6 years ago.

Since we continue to be admittedly bad at the “planned meetings”, we are thankful for the times our paths cross around town and at church.

I’ve written before about Kris Habashy, labeling her my “bump into grace” friend.

She not only brings grace into my life, she shares Truth. She is not afraid to ask me the hard questions and offer me wisdom in the midst of this mothering journey.

Today I get to share Kris with y’all. In fact we chatted so long (typical) I’m going to split our conversation into two separate podcasts.

This episode we focused on: the struggle of allowing our children’s behavior to define our value; the “hard” nature of motherhood; the benefit of making sure everyone’s needs are met; and the steps to training manners.

To me the summary of all those topics is . . .obedience, training, serving are all hard, but once we expect them to be and push through the challenges, we experience the good–the blessings that come with perseverance.

More specifically we chatted about:

• Her homeschool experience & what prepared her most.
• How Kris handles the struggle of tying her value to her kids’ behavior and academic performance.
• Seeing your value as a child of the King, responding to that Truth with love, apprehension & honor doing what God says is the best design for me.

“Life works better when we obey.”

• Having great relationships relies on your relationship with God.
• James 1:19-25–the irony of the perfect “law of liberty”.
• How to handle when children behave badly. . .especially when we respond badly to their behavior.
• The hard choices, actions, & inconvenience required of motherhood.

“You will do something hard every single day of your life. What are you going to do when things get hard? Lower standards, get out of it, complain. . .”

• How making sure everyone’s needs are met helps you handle the hard things better.
• Kris’ AMAZING Friday night ritual for rest (and sanity).
• How she trained her kids in responding to others, interrupting an adult conversation, and appropriate behavior at playdates.

“Really big consequences to small things go a long way.”

Did you expect motherhood to be hard? What has been the hardest part for you?