Time with a Child Makes the Thankful Heart Rejoice
by Cindy O'Halloran
December 16, 2005
(AgapePress) - - The Christmas season is a perfect time to thank God for the many blessings we have. But what would a thankful heart be without including the children that give us so much joy? Those who have chosen to be a stay-at-home parent know all too well the job isn't an easy one, but Angie Peters' book Celebrate Home: Encouragement and Tips for Stay-at-Home Parents (Arch Books, 2005) offers a helping hand. Peters spent many of her childhood days with pen in hand. Her elementary school teacher wrote on her report card that she expected to see Peters writing in a magazine one day. "I guess that shows how much I have always loved to write. So it was natural for me to study English in college," says Peters.
Soon after she graduated college, she landed a job as a reporter for a newspaper. Peters started at the paper as a beginner then worked her way up to trend pieces and profiles of prominent business people.
"I loved it," she says. "I had always wanted to be a writer and felt like this job was the amazing realization of that goal." She considered herself blessed to have landed one of the few positions available to writers in her area.
Peters knew God was calling her to be home with her son and was excited about the prospect of it. She accepted what she thought to be stepping out of her writing career permanently, closing a door to her lifelong dreams of being a writer. "It took a good two years at home before I began to see evidence that He had plans for a writing career for me from home -- plans that were bigger than I could have ever asked or imagined," says Peters.
Since then, God has given her the opportunity to write articles for national magazines and to build a successful career as the author of several books, including A Stay-at-Home Mom's Devotions to Go, a book of devotionals scheduled for release by Extreme Diva Media in spring of 2006; Designed to Build: A Woman and Her Home (Bogard), a Bible study which is set for release any day now; and of course, Celebrate Home, the book that started it all.
"It just so happened that there weren't very many books on the shelves at that time about stay-at-home motherhood, so I decided to give it a try," says Peters. "I wanted to wrap all the encouragement, tips, and ideas I could in a book to give stay-at-home moms (and dads) the support they deserve."
Peters has been a stay-at-home mom since her son, Nick, was born 16 years ago. His sister, Lindsey, came along two years later and then baby sister, Erin. With two teens and a first-grader now, Peters spends lots of time shuttling them to school, church, games and lessons. "My best parenting tool at the moment is our very full, large-squared calendar," says Peters. She points out in Celebrate Home the wisdom of having a daily agenda. Peters does not suggest rigorous scheduling, but a general plan that should start with giving your day to God. To help in this daily planning, Peters offers pages of play activities and numerous suggestions for fun fieldtrips.
For the stay-at-home parent of school-age children, she recommends ways to be involved in their school. Peters talks about first day anxiety for the grieving parent and how teaming up with the teacher can ease the feelings of letting go. She also provides a clever "off-to-school" list.
Peters stresses the importance of taking care of oneself and presents a section on that subject. She includes appendices that provide lists of scripture references to lead you though various parenting situations and web links to connect you with outside interaction.
This Christmas, as your family gathers, look at the faces of your children, knowing your days with them make a difference.
Cindy O'Halloran, a book reviewer, writer, speaker, and playwright, resides in Richland Center, Wisconsin. She can be contacted via her website.
