A Quiet Simple Life | Sallie Borrink

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

A Quiet Simple Life

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Sallie Borrink

Great Post About Having An Only Child


In my never-ending quest to find reasons to tick people off in the blogosphere, I’ve actually contemplated putting up a blogroll in my sidebar entitled something like “A Quiverfull of One – Bloggers With An Only Child”. I did previously have a “Moms of Onlies” blogroll, but never added it to this blog. However, I thought the addition of the term quiverfull might really make some people sit up and take notice. I’d also include a link to that classic Laine’s Letter “Private, Private, Private”.

However, I haven’t been feeling fully sadistic lately so it’s just been an idea running around in my head.

But it was so funny that Ashley sent me this link today because We’ve. Had. A. Day. I won’t tell you about it because I’m trying to respect Caroline’s privacy, but, um, it’s been one of those days.

In the midst of this day I said to David something like, “If I had to do this all alone every day I would absolutely have to be committed.” I’m not trying to be irreverent about people who end up committed. I truly believe that if I had more than one child and/or I had a husband who worked away from home I would end up seriously disturbed.

God knew what He was doing when He gave me a husband who works at home and an only child.

I no longer feel guilty about the only child thing. This is EXACTLY where I am supposed to be in life.

God bless you moms and dads who have multiple children and do it alone all day. But, by golly, I’m thankful for my precious only child and not ashamed to tell the world that I’m satisfied this is God’s best for me. And David. And Caroline.

And in case you were wondering… Those lovely bracelets are my napkin rings that Caroline took from the box of “shineys” (napkin rings).

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Surprised By Toddlerhood


I’ve always been a lover of babies and babies have almost always loved me. I don’t know if it is something about my face or my voice, but it is a very rare baby that doesn’t respond to me with a lot of joy. So when I was expecting Caroline, I expected to really enjoy her as a baby. I thought the time between infant/baby and age three or so would be my least favorite.

In actuality, it has turned out just the opposite.

I did not enjoy the infant stage as much as I thought I would. (That’s another post.) But I have absolutely loved the 18-23 months we’ve been going through.

Part of it is just the relationship. When she was an infant, there simply was not enough relationship for me to enjoy. (That’s another post, too.) But this little chatty, inquisitive, learning something new every hour child is just a delight to me.

Last weekend when we sat down in church before the service started, Caroline promptly jumped back down and began pulling the Bibles out of the pew rack. As she handed one to me and then one to David, she loudly pronounced, “Bible!” When she was done distributing the Bibles, she climbed back on to the pew and said, “Amen!” At the very least, the pastor and elders know that we are teaching her something at home! But I was so thrilled that she made the connection between what goes on at home and what goes on at church.

Last week I asked her, “Who loves you?” I was fully expecting her to answer, “Mama” or “Daddy.” Her answer? “Jesus.” My heart was just filled with joy! So I asked her who else loved her. “God.” I stopped asking the question. That was enough for me!

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Is Reverse Psychology With Children The Same As Lying?


Someone was recently explaining to me how she got a child to do something she wanted. It was classic reverse psychology. Telling the child, “Don’t eat that item” in an attempt to make it enticing so he will do it.

I was thinking about this today while we were eating supper. We had Belgian waffles and, for the very first time, Caroline wanted maple syrup on them and eagerly ate them that way. In the past, she would eat the waffles but did not want them adulterated in any way with strawberries or maple syrup. I let it go and eventually she came around on her own and asked for the syrup. The same thing has happened with several different food items. I keep putting them on her plate and if she doesn’t eat them, I dump them. I’m not going to get into battles over food. She is generally a good eater so if she doesn’t want something, I don’t make an issue over it.

So that got me thinking about this comment about reverse psychology. And, truthfully, I had never thought about it before as it pertains to parents getting children to do things. But after a little reflection, I’m thinking…

Isn’t it the same as lying?

You aren’t being truthful with the child. You are telling her one thing when, in fact, you want something completely different.

This truth thing is big for me which is why we won’t do Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. (I know some people disagree with that train of thought and that’s between them and God and their children.) I want Caroline to know that we will always be truthful with her as far as possible and as far as it is age appropriate. After reflecting on it, this seemed like a form of falsehood to me when I thought about it.

So what do you think?

Edited to add: I was thinking about this more. When using reverse psychology, you are basically telling the child you want her to disobey you. Think about it. You are telling her NOT to do something in the hope that she will. In order to do what you WANT her to do, she has to DISOBEY what you have verbalized. Doesn’t that set a terrible precedence for her understanding obedience?

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Contentment in Fully Embracing Our Choices


Over the past couple of years, there have been times I’ve been frustrated because circumstances were not what I wanted them to be, especially as it relates to our business and finances. One of the things that is challenging for me about having our own business is feeling quite out of control regarding the amount of work we have (and therefore our income level).

It isn’t like we work at a retail establishment and can simply ask the manager for more hours if we want to make some extra money. While we can actively look for new clients and opportunities, we really have to wait for them to come. So while we may be very motivated and wishing for more work, it isn’t always there. And when the work isn’t there, the money isn’t there either.

Funny how that works.

And so there have been moments when I’ve been tempted to wish that David had a regular job so we had a regular paycheck. Or I fantasize about David having a regular job and Caroline going to school so I am home all day by myself rather than all of us being together all the time.

But when I think about those possibilities, I really don’t want any of them. In truth, we are living out the life we wanted and prayed for. We can see how God answered those prayers so specifically and in His own time and way. We have a loving marriage, a home, a business that we can do from home, and a daughter that we already love to teach.

Whenever I become discouraged because things aren’t going exactly as I think they should, I just have to ask myself this: If God offered to change anything in my life such as giving David a regular job, would I want him to do it?

The answer is always no.

When we make choices, we have to be willing to fully embrace them, including the natural outworkings of them. I think it is easy to wish for something, pray for it, receive it, and somehow forget that we have to live with some of the negatives associated with it.

Contentment comes for me when I remind myself that these are the choices that we’ve made. Choices that God has apparently blessed. We need to live out our lives in joy and contentment and trust that God in His sovereignty is still working out the details for our good and ongoing sanctification and His glory.

Encouragement In My Shop 

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