Hi, I’m Heather MacFadyen. Here’s a bit of my story…
God has been a part of my life since I prayed a simple prayer in Kindergarten. From 3rd grade thru 8th grade I was homeschooled (no, I never won a spelling bee…just the math pentathlon). After graduating from a Christian high school, I attended Taylor University in Upland, Indiana (right smack in the middle of the corn fields).
My freshman heart fell head-over-heals in love with an outgoing, optimistic, encouraging, 6ft 3in tall, skinny, curly haired senior named Bruce…my tall drink of water. On my golden birthday (21 on the 21st) he knelt outside of Taylor’s bell tower and asked me to be his wife. Besides the time spent in Upland for college, I had only ever lived in Carmel, Indiana. Once married all that changed. We moved to a different city every year for our first five years of marriage…Wheaton, IL, San Francisco, downtown Chicago, then settled in Dallas, TX.
After 6 years of marriage we celebrated the birth of our huge 9 1/2 pound son. Since my hubby has 3 sisters and his dad has 4 sisters, we were thrilled to have a boy and carry on the strong “MacFadyen” name. Little did we know 6 1/2 years (to the day!) after the birth of their 1st son, our 4th son would be born. 4 boys in exactly 6 1/2 years…yeah I think we’ve got that last name pretty well covered. One of those boys should be able to find a wife and make a couple of cute kids.
(Here’s a post where I introduce my boys: the Mac boys)
My humbling…
Motherhood is hard. Having four boys in such a short period of time is down right ridiculous. The needs are great. The sacrifices are many. Because of all the comforts and conveniences I’ve given up being a mom, I cling to my rights. I stubbornly demand to remain at the center of my life.
So, on a daily basis mothering four boys reveals my self-centeredness. All my “issues” boil down to one heart condition: pride. Like Spurgeon said, “You can either chose to be humble, or be humbled.” Motherhood is more about the change in me than in my boys. In order to become truly humble I must replace “me” with “He”, looking for His will for my days.
This blog chronicles my messy journey of “relentlessly replacing ‘me’ with ‘He’”. Sharing the daily struggle of remaining God-centered while mothering four wild-at-heart, energetic and often stubborn boys.
God has a big plan. I am one player in that plan. At this point in my life He has called me to love & train four boys. Before long they will be men & God will use each of them uniquely. My hope is too look back fondly at these years, knowing I was faithful to serve and love my family…despite all the mistakes & chaos!
To learn more about getting centered & staying centered…check out the series page.
To read about my struggle (& hope) when I found out my 4th child was another boy read here.
Contact me here.
Follow me on twitter: @GodCenteredMom
Join in the conversation on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/GodCenteredMom
Heather, I have just become aware of your wonderful blog. I saw it on facebook, for I am a fb friend of Tammy Maltby’s. I am already in love with your words and perspective on mothering and life! ♥ I am farther along the road than you, our two children are grown and our daughter has two precious ones. I can still relate to much of what you write – for mothering has changed my life forever and I have so many cherished memories of those busy days when I felt a bit…..humbled.
Thank you so much for your gift of sharing with all of us! I will let my daughter know about this wonderful place for her to gain encouragement and inspiration – she’ll love it too, I know! Bless you and your family!
Julie Hyatt
Popped over here from Twitter — congratulations on your pregnancy! How exciting! I very much understand your feelings as you ponder your future (will it an all-boy party, or will you be able to buy those cute little dresses?!) as I had three sons first and then, a little girl.
Really enjoyed your introduction to yourself here; I see so much of myself in it! Mothering is indeed a humbling, ongoing transformation… if we’ll let it be. I look forward to reading more here!
loved reading this post:) reminded me of myself pre-children:) i thought i would be able to do it all too. it took awhile, but i learned i couldn’t be the good mother i planned to be in my own strength!
fortunately, God intervened in the lives of not only us, but our daughters as well. Although they remember some things about their childhood that I don’t, they have (fortunately) forgotten a lot of the negatives and remembered many of the positives.
the great news is that they are all walking with the Lord. they are all married now and have children of their own. the older they get, the more gracious they become in regard to their childhood. What a mercy!
Thanks Martha for your encouragement! good to hear that positives primarily prevail!! at that mercy increases with time. God bless!
Such refreshing honesty! It’s a pleasure to “meet” you and I’m looking forward to meeting you in person at Relevant!
thanks beth! look forward to meeting you as well!!
I have 4 kids, and have been doing the mom thing for 11 years. I will let you know if the humbling moments ever stop…
HA! thanks cassie! i’ll look for your email.;)
Hi Heather! I’m visiting from the Relevant blog hop!
Nice to “meet” you and look forward to seeing you there! 
Hi Heather, I can definitely relate to humility in parenting. I have a daughter who is 4 and she has autism. Interesting that you have a background in pediatric speech-language pathology. I confess I don’t know much about that. But my daughter is making great strides in her language using the iPad with her speech therapist! By the way, I’m visiting as part of the Link-Up Party with Relevant. I hope to meet you there!
Heather, I am so glad you started this blog because I completely agree with you. I have often told others that motherhood is God’s way of teaching me humility. Of the seven capital sins, Pride has definitely been my downfall, and I didn’t even realize that I needed to battle against for a very long time. Being a mother has made me realize that it’s okay, and even good, to ask for help, and that you can’t always “measure” your productivity, among other things. I am really looking forward to reading more of your entries.
*raising my hand to join the club of imperfect mammas!*
Lovely to meet you, Heather. Looking forward to IRL at Relevant!
So true! I’m not sure I would’ve aced that pre-mommy test, either, though.
Looking forward to meeting you at Relevant!
Hi,
Your blog address was sent to me by Lorrie Flem the publisher of Eternal
Encouragement magazine. I am the Head Mama (coordinator) of a blogging
program called The Gabby Moms. We are a group of moms that review and
blog about Eternal Encouragement products. We are looking for moms for
our 2012 program.
To learn more about our program, you can visit our blog at:
http://www.thegabbymoms.com/
Lorrie has been to your blog and thinks you would be a good fit.
If you are interested, please fill out this application:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dFJ1VXRCQnkzVENzQnZHU0kwUFVXbEE6MQ#gid=0
Thank you for considering our request,
Cindy
Head Mama
The Gabby Moms
Wow.. I look forward to reading more.
Ok, I love you! This bio made me laugh! And frankly, those 4 boys you’ve got, it’s making me a bit envious that I don’t have one! can’t wait to browse through your posts!
Hi Heather,
I can so relate – I too had 4 boys in a little over 6 years and so badly wanted a little girl, especially with #4. Your journey in mourning the loss of all those girl dreams mimicked mine, but God is faithful and I cling so closely to the promise that His plan is far better than mine…even amidst the craziness of 4 young boys! Few people can truly relate to my situation, so I’m so glad to have found your blog through the MOB society…
Thank you Jennifer for sharing your story here. Good to know we are not alone in our struggle and in our joy. Look forward to getting to know you better!