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Kim

E-mail: Titus2Mom2Three@aolREMOVETHIS.com

Kim's Thoughts on Gentle Mothering

What does gentle mothering mean to you?

It means parenting well without causing distress in baby. It also means parenting my 12yo with a minimum of angry feelings, power struggles, etc.

Why do you feel that gentle mothering is so important?

It is what mothering is all about, or should be anyway. To a child, their parents are the first view of Christ. Gentle parenting is more about wooing a child to Christ, or simply expecting your child to walk alongside you as a natural course of events, rather than beating the fear of God into them.

Why do you feel that God wants you to parent this way?

I think it's as obvious as the breasts on your chest LOL. Kidding aside, I know this is how God wants me to parent - it is wholly Christlike.

Kim's Testimony

I was reared in Southern Baptist churches but truly came to Christ when I was 24 and inconvienently pregnant and not married. I was engaged but had called it off because my fiancee decided he could hit me, get roaring drunk and do drugs once he got the ring on my finger. Actually, he was already doing those things, just hiding them from me (rather a goody two shoes LOL) and I wasn't strong enough in the Lord or in confidence of myself to insist on waiting for a really godly man.

I know that I am saved. God is truly the husband and father of this family. Years later I did marry a man whom I believed was devoted Christian yet he abandoned me when I became pregnant with our first child...AFTER we were married. I stood in faith for my marriage and prayed for reconciliation.

After the state tracked him down and successfully sued him for child support, he immediately called and asked to get back together. It was an answer to prayer! The catch is that you have to be careful what you ask for, you may get it. I got an insincere reconciliation because that was all I asked for, essentially.

He wanted me to sign papers rescinding the child support. When he found out those papers couldn't be filed for six months, he left. He lived with me and our son (and my older son, whom he'd given a small ring and promised to be his daddy at our wedding) for six weeks. I encouraged him as a father. The three of us slept in the same bed - Michael next to the wall, me in the middle, Chris on the outside. I was still nursing Michael. Chris didn't really seem to care but I guess he had other things on his agenda.

Since I didn't use a high chair, Michael went from my lap to Chris' and Chris fed him from his plate. There was more that I did to encourage him but it was to no avail. Chris really wanted to be free from his responsibilities to us. After he left, I had a positive pregnancy test. The second time he came to visit Michael, I showed it to him. I knew I'd never see him again and I haven't. Our daughter was born in Jan, 2000 and he's never made any attempt to see her or Michael. He does not pay child support and he was able to obtain a divorce over my objections.

The Lord is with us. He is truly our husband and father. He meets all our needs. I often feel lonely and overwhelmed but we live with my mother and that enables me to stay home fulltime. I work sometimes from home, writing articles and selling things on eBay. I just started selling on eBay, so we will see how that turns out.