Alecia Baptiste

Writer, Speaker, Mentor

Imagined Trouble Doesn’t Get Imagined Grace

By 2 Comments

For some reason, my children love asking me hypothetical questions like, “Mom, what would you do if I took your phone and threw it on the floor?” Or “What would you do if I punched you in the face and ran out the door screaming?” My response is, “I don’t waste brain power on hypothetical situations.”  I have enough real problems that I need to ponder and pray over.  I don’t need to waste my energy on imagined problems.

Silly, right?

But how many of us, put ourselves  in hypothetical  scenarios without realizing it?  I’ve done it to my self ALOT.  I look at a situation that someone is in and think to myself, “I can’t imagine going through that.”  All the while, I’m trying to imagine how I would handle the situation.  And really… I can’t.  I believe that our imaginations were never meant to be used that way.  Our imaginations were given to us to create, not to “see” into the future or to project ourselves into someone else’s situation.Continue Reading

Lessons I’ve Learned from my Students Part 2

By 2 Comments

Continuing with my previous post, I’d like to continue sharing lessons that I’ve learned from my students.

Focusing on the negative sucks the joy out of life

Let me just say that this is a BIG lesson for me.  I’ve been a pretty negative person most of my life.  I’m always finding the mistakes.  I have a hard time seeing the good I’ve actually accomplished, because of what I haven’t accomplished.  I believe this comes from this unrealistic expectation of perfection.  As a result, I’ve found myself being hyper critical of myself and others, and at times–joyless.  I’ve seen the negative affects that it has on the people around me.  My negativity tears down the very people that I want to build up.  Instead of speaking life into my husband and children, my negativity sucks the life out of them, leaving them deflated.  This should not be!Continue Reading

Lessons I’ve learned from my Students Part I

By 1 Comment

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I currently work for a program called Brain Balance as a cognitive coach.  I work with kids and some young adults with a variety of learning, and behavioral challenges.  In the course of my time working with these struggling students, I’ve learned a lot.  Because my student’s challenges are so extreme, their challenges are quite obvious.  And because they are children, they don’t have the sophistication of adults who hide, excuse and mask their struggles.

As I’ve worked with my students, I’ve discovered some of my own flawed thinking about life. I’ve found myself thinking similar thoughts as theirs and making similar declarations.  It’s much easier to see someone else’s flaws than it is to see your own.  But the Holy Spirit is the perfect teacher and a revealer of truth.  He continues to teach me many lessons about life (and myself) through my students.

I’d like to share just a few of the lessons that I’ve learned from them, with the hopes that perhaps you will gain some insight as well.Continue Reading

The Myth of the Perfect Mom

By 6 Comments

Lately, I’ve been encountering this idea of the perfect mom.  We all seem to be striving for it, and falling miserably short. Yet, we look at other moms and think, “Wow, she’s such a good mom.”  Of course, she seems perfect.

I think in this modern culture where we’re able to connect with so many people from around the world, and yet not really know them, it’s so easy to perpetuate the myth of the perfect mom.  We read a blog or facebook post about something one mom is doing something with their kids that we greatly admire, and we think, “perfect mom”.  I’m not doing that. I’m not perfect.  As a result, we feel guilty, inadequate, and maybe even resentful.Continue Reading

Speaking

If you're interested in having me speak at your next women's event. Click here for more information.

From the Blog

Popular Tags

abundant life accepting our children all things are possible blacks and whites comparing comparison trap creative writing difficulty education philosophy expectations failure fear feeling inadequate focusing on what's important forgiveness freedom getting help grace gratefulness gratitude homeschooling journey Jesus joy lifestyle of learning love loving our children motivation needing help new beginnings new year our children are wonderful perfectionism planning poetry purpose racism reading rest service serving simple homeschooling simplify success systemic racism worry