Learning Mercy Through Mistakes

It's hard when your kids mess up. Things that seem extremely simple to me are difficult for my girls - like bringing dishes and laundry baskets down from their rooms, throwing trash in the trash can, putting their dishes in the dishwasher, or flushing the toilet. These daily annoyances add up and I get so exasperated. The reoccurrence and lack of care, or trying, makes me so angry! Yet, I try to be patient and choose my battles.

So why am I venting about these small annoyances? Well, sometimes they aren't small mess-ups. Sometimes they are big. The girls have been driving for a little over 3 months now. They were doing well, but in the past 7 days both Evie and Olivia have hit the side of the garage with their cars. Luckily Evie did it first and didn't damage her car... just the garage a little. She came running in the house freaked out. I very calmly hugged her and said, "We all do it honey. We all make mistakes. I've hit things before too. It's a good lesson to remind us to slow down." I was showing Evie grace.

A few days later Olivia too quickly backed out of the garage with a car full of excited friends heading to the mall. She swiped the side of her car and took off her side mirror. Now the other side of the garage was damaged! Brad had just fixed Evie's side of the garage door. (We are going to become pros at this.) Immediately I was worried. What would Brad say? He is going to be so mad. This time there is car damage. She was clearly driving too fast and not being careful. Yet, Brad simply said, "Well the good news is I now know where to get the weather stripping and how to replace it." Brad was showing Olivia grace.

It wasn't always easy for us to do this. We are learning. We are learning to be more patient, to realize our kids are going to mess up, and to put things in perspective. I'm so glad we are constantly growing and learning as parents. It is because God shows us grace that we can extend that grace to our kids. It is because God forgives us when we repeatedly make the same mistakes, bad choices, selfish decisions - that we can extend the same forgiveness to our girls. When we realize we are not perfect, it becomes easier to understand that our kids are not going to be perfect either... far from it! They've had a few less years than us to learn from experience ;)

So I hope my girls learned a valuable lesson about extending patience, mercy, and forgiveness. I hope they recognize when they are called to do the same. I pray that, as parents, we are good models of God's love... well, as good as we are humanly able.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Exciting Times

I'm excited to announce I have three drivers starting their sophomore year of high school. I am so excited for this year! Part of me is very nervous when I see my girls driving off all together in one of their cars, but the other part of me is so happy for them as I see them grinning ear to ear just enjoying running errands together.

In other big news, the press release for my devotional has been released and I found my first online publicity in a Medina County, Ohio publication.

https://www.medinacountylife.com/books/stacey-pylman-announces-the-release-of-her-debut-book-titled-be-still-a-pregnancy-bed/article_ee7eb580-1e36-11ed-addd-fbf9c337ccb2.html

The Triplet Life - Lean on Me

Four more days until the big birthday! Here's a snapshot of the triplet life thus far. They may sometimes fight, but they are such good sisters to each other. They always have that support system built in. I think they are finally realizing that.

Birthday Countdown - Six Days Until They are Sixteen!

Six more days until the triplets turn 16 years old and take off on the roads by themselves. I think each day this week I will post something fun about this trio in celebration of this big birthday.

Today I would like to share a video I made when they turned six and then forgot about!

The song on this video ("Three Babies" by Sinead O'Connor) was one I used on one of their first baby videos.

The Devotional is in Print!!!!!!

It took eleven years of writing and one year of publishing work, but it's here! Be Still - A Pregnancy Bed Rest Devotional is now available for purchase!

Maybe you don't need this book for yourself, but I want you to remember it when you hear about a woman on bed rest. Better yet, buy it now and write me a review on Amazon! I need a lot of reviews so that the book becomes more searchable. I promise that the devotions are good for any mom who is going through a tough time, even if you aren't pregnant and on bed rest. If you don't need the book after reading, hold onto it for a gift for someone in the future!

Now I need to work on getting it into hospital gift shops. If only I didn't have two other jobs (yes one of them is being a mom).

You can buy it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Be-Still-Pregnancy-Rest-Devotional/dp/1664268189/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1659040208&sr=8-1

Or you can buy it from Westbow Press here: https://www.westbowpress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/836207-be-still

Driver's Education x3

When people ask me if raising triplets was hard, I used to say, "It was really difficult the first year. It really is a blur when I think back... But also potty training them at three years old was also one of the hardest times. Plus, they had such attitudes at three. So yeah, it was hard when they were babies and when they were three, but the rest has been so much fun."

That was my answer until my girls reached fourteen and fifteen years old. This past year has been something else! I have been dealing with hormones, drama, stress of freshman year, anxiety, and this strange combination of laziness + wanting... and all times three!

But I would be remiss not to mention the driver's training! That's right... three girls in driver's training all at once. Yes, that meant we had to clock 50 hours of driving times three girls. It actually went ok once we realized that sometimes Brad would need to take some girls out for Sunday afternoon drives to catch up on hours when they fell behind. (He would bribe them with iced coffee.) 

The stressful part for me was actually all the driving and coordination of driving I had to do freshman year. Three fifteen year olds in different activities meant there was a lot of driving to and from school, friends' houses, and school events. When one of my friends was complaining to me about having to drive her fifteen year old everywhere I mentioned, "I think the busyness is God's way of helping you get ready to hand them the keys when they turn sixteen. If that last year of mom's taxi wasn't so horrible, we would never let them drive on their own!" Now I'm realizing that it really is true. I'm terrified to let them all get in a car together and drive off without me, but I'm so tired of driving them around that can't wait for it to happen. (I'm still going to be on my knees praying at home though!)

Well today we finally made it through driver's training. All three girls passed their road tests! Once they turn sixteen in August, off they go! We are turning a new chapter into independence. With licenses and cars, I will not be spending as much time with them in the car. They will be gone more doing teenage things. They will need to get another job to pay for gas. My girls are going to be quickly learning to be adults out in the world. Now more than ever, I realize that I have a few short years left to guide them into adulthood. They have passed driver's education, but I've got a lot of life education to share with them yet. As Proverbs 22:6 says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it"

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I'm Back!

It has been eleven years since I have written on this blog. Yup, the days are long, but the years have flown by! My girls are now fifteen years old and they are about to get their driver's licenses in a month!

So why am I going back to writing on this blog again? I am no longer on bedrest, my girls are teenagers, and I'm not sure anyone is following this blog anymore. The reason is quite exciting! I am publishing a devotional for pregnant mothers on bedrest! It took me ten long years to get it done, but it is going into print soon!

God put it on my heart eleven years ago to start writing a devotional for women on bed rest. I started writing the first few devotions with excitement. I laced together my stories, words from God, reflections on faith, and bed rest survival tips. But then life happened. I struggled with chronic illness. I went back to school to get my doctorate in teacher education, and I was a working mom. The progress on the devotional was slow... until the pandemic hit in 2020. I was again in lock-down, but this time it wasn't bedrest. I had extra time and God whispered, "Finish the devotional." I answered the call.

Now clearly I have a job, and I am not publishing to get rich. My goal and my prayer is to get this devotional into the hands of pregnant mothers on bedrest all over the world. I don't know how it is going to happen, but I trust God has a plan. I wait with anticipation, and let's be honest a little anxiety, as he unfolds it before me.

So, welcome back or welcome to my blog for the first time! I am going to give you all updates on the devotional, Be Still. I'm also going to share my adventures in trying to become a published author out in the world, share more fun stories of being a mom of triplet teenage girls, and share reflections on my faith. I'm also excited to hear from you all too!