Month: September 2011

1,000 Little Blessings

tlc4women3 Comments

I hear some people in the Christian faith say miracles aren’t for today. I say miracles happen every second of every day. We merely have to look for them. You are a witness to blessings and miracles every single day of your life. You hear about them all the time. With cable, Internet and smartphones we are a privileged generations who are a witness to even greater things than any generation before us.

Yet, do you see miracles and blessings for what they are or do you just take them for granted? Do you acknowledge them or do you swipe them away with a wave of your hand as coincidence or luck?

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse.

Even if we choose today a curse rather than a blessing, we still see blessings if we only open our eyes to them.

Ask any woman who has miscarried, if her healthy baby’s cry in the labor and delivery room is a miracle?

Ask anyone whose cell phone rings with the command to get to the hospital immediately because an organ has been donated for their transplant if this moment isn’t a miracle?

Ask any family whose soldier has come home from war if it isn’t a miracle?

Ask anyone whose home has remained standing after a disaster if it wasn’t a miracle?

So today I begin a new series where I’m going to find blessings and hopefully some miracles in my life. I’m going to purposefully look for them. I’m hoping you do too. I’m also hoping you’ll begin to add your voice to mine and we’ll begin to see the world on a whole different level.

So here are my ten blessings for today. If you feel inclined to share I’d love to hear your top 10 too! Even if you just noticed one, post it!

1. I woke up today. Yeah I’m a pretty grouchy morning person but I have to say waking up is a blessing that not everyone gets.

2. I looked around the bedroom as my eyes adjusted in the darkness. It was 4 a.m. My dog Lulu was curled up and stuck in crook of my knee. My husband, Doug, was snoring and hugging a pillow, mouth open and oh so cute! What a blessing to have them beside me.

3. It was a cool fall morning today and the good thread count sheets and the comforter felt, well, comforting. What a blessing to have have warmth on a cool morning.

4. I had a nice hot shower. Not everyone gets to turn on a tap and wait for hot water before getting into a shower.

5. I had groceries in the fridge. I promptly put a roast in the crockpot for dinner and made some oatmeal for breakfast. Food was plentiful this morning. I need to give thanks!

6. I had a few quiet uninterrupted moments to read.

7. I got ready to go to work. Work is a blessing especially if you are a workaholic, which some have accused me of being. 🙂

8. I got into a car that starts. Just the mere fact that I have a car is a blessing.

9. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and the birds were singing. I’m not sure if this is three blessings or just one but I said I’d only give 10 things so I’m counting it as one.

10. I was greeted by great employees.

…..And it’s only 9:30 a.m.

In The End

tlc4women2 Comments
michellemarin.org

What were you worried about last month on the 24th of August? What were you worried about last year on the 24th of September?

If you’re like me, you were worried about something, you always are, but for the life of you, you can’t remember what it was.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Somehow it all works out. Just as God said it would.

So relax! That insurmountable thing that is weighing on your mind today will soon be replaced by the next big mountain. One thing is for sure and that is that there is something new worry coming on the horizon because there always is. What is not for sure is how you will handle it. Will you trust God with the faith it takes to work it out, or will you allow it to consume your days?

In the end it will work out. Maybe it will not work out as you envisioned an outcome, but an outcome nevertheless is on its way!

Happy Birthday Anthony

tlc4women3 Comments

Happy Birthday to my son Anthony who turns 30 today. You have been my joy, my love, and a precious gift. I’ll never get over how God allowed me to be your mom but I am forever grateful to Him for you. Enjoy your day my love!

If any of you are inclined to celebrate this day with Anthony, he has asked for no gifts this year but for everyone to contribute $30 to Charity Water a worthwhile endeavor. Here’s the link to read all about it!

The Frogs Asking for a King

tlc4women1 Comment
http://www.treknature.com

 

An Aesop’s Fable

The Frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King. Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down a huge log into the lake. The Frogs were terrified at the splash occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But as soon as they realized that the huge log was motionless, the swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears, climbed up, and began squatting on it in contempt. After some time they began to think themselves ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent a second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over them another sovereign. He then gave them an Eel to govern them. When the Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were none left to croak upon the lake.

Ruining Your Teen’s Life

tlc4womenLeave a comment

I received this article from Family Life and really loved it! Thought I’d share it.

 

the blue moon grille

 

How to Ruin Your Teens for LifeEleven ways to ensure that your teenager will not be prepared for the future.Tricia Goyer
Editor’s note: Tricia Goyer’s tongue-in-cheek article earlier this summer on “How to Ruin Your Kid for Life” was so popular that we now present her sequel on how to raise a teenager who will not prepared for life.   

1. Hide your past mistakes. Put on an act that you are perfect and your teenagers are the ones with all the problems. (After all, if your teens hear what you did in your past, they might want to follow.)

2. Don’t worry about where they are going and what they are doing. You didn’t want to be hounded at that age. You didn’t want to be asked all those questions. Instead, trust that they know how they should act and where they should go.

3. Don’t worry about them getting a summer job and having to work to make money. Teens are only teens once. They need time to have fun with friends and relax. There will be time to work later. They don’t need to worry about a work ethic now.

4. Don’t force them to attend church and youth group. Things are already touchy—you have to hound them about homework, about their friends, and about their clothes—don’t make church another thing you hound them about.

5. Don’t worry about talking to them about sex and purity. You’re their parent, for goodness sake. You don’t want to bring the subject up and have them thinking about you having sex. And you don’t want to think about them in their sexual lives. There are other people more knowledgeable and trained to talk to your teens; leave it to them.

6.  Completely shelter your teens from the outside world.  Make sure they don’t watch any secular movies or to any secular music.  Hide the newspapers, too.  Their “world” should only be about your family’s values.  They don’t need to learn about all that bad stuff out there.  They don’t need to make wise media choices or deal with unwholesome people.  They don’t need to see that there’s a world out there that is greatly in need of Jesus.  Let someone else deal with impacting and influencing culture.*

7. Tell them, “Do what I say, not what I do.” Make them accept the areas where you fall short, but expect them to do better.

8. Buy your teens whatever they ask for. That’s your role as a parent—to make your teens happy.

9. Don’t let your teen get involved in an overseas mission trip. There are all types of scary things that happen on those trips, and your first priority is to keep your teen safe.

10. Don’t become your teens’ sounding board. They’ll need to learn to figure things out on their own in the future, so they might as well start now.

11. Don’t share with your teen how important God is in your life. A personal relationship with God is personal, and it should stay that way.

*Special note:  Point #6 was revised after the initial version led to disagreement from some readers (see comments below).  We recognize that parents have a responsibility to protect their children from a hostile culture.  Tricia’s point is that OVER-protection can also lead to problems.  Tricia rewrote #6 to communicate this more clearly.  We welcome any further comments.  

Copyright © 2011 Tricia Goyer. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared on MomLife Today, FamilyLife’s blog for moms.



Because It’s Normal!

tlc4women5 Comments
college-style.com

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer sing a song that makes me laugh. Are we daughters who are just trying to stick it to our mothers as the song suggests? Is it because we are normal girls who were raised to be princesses by the moms who said they wanted equality? Then they figured out that equality wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and added burdens to their life?

Nancy White is the original writer and the lyrics to the song are:

Daughters of Feminists
(Nancy White)

Daughters of feminists love to wear pink and white
Short frilly dresses they speak of successes with boys,
It annoys their mom.
Daughters of feminists won’t put on jeans
Or that precious construction boot Mama found cute,
Ugly shoes they refuse. How come?
Daughters of feminists think they’ll get married
To some wealthy guy who’ll support them forever
Daughters of feminists don’t bother voting at all.
Daughters of feminists beg to wear lipstick
Each day from the age of three.
Daughters of feminists think that a princess is
What they are destined to be.
How do they get so girlie?
How come they want a Barbie?
Why does it start so early?
Why, when we bring her up just like a fella,
Who does she idolize? Cinderella!

(spoken) Honey she’s a doormat. You think when she marries that prince
he’s not going to expect her to run that entire castle? ..
Look at all those rooms. And he’s always on the road
Snow White? Doing all the housework for seven guys?
In return for room and board. This is no deal. Huh!

Daughters of feminists bruise so easily
Daughters of feminists hurt.
Daughters of feminists curtsey and skip
Daughters of feminists flirt.
They say, “Please mommy can I do the dishes?
And let’s make a pie for my brother!”
Are they sincere?
Are they crazy or
Are they just trying to stick it to mother?

How do they get so girlie?
And how come they want a Barbie?
Why does it start so early?

Daughters of feminists just want to play with their toys!

Copyright Nancy White
oct96

Late Again?

tlc4women4 Comments

Time management is a great skill to have. Notice I said it’s a skill. A person who cannot self manage themselves limits their leadership ability. People who are consistently late are saying loud and clear that they have poor planning skills. Psychology tells us that people who are consistently late are rebellious and care little about other’s time. They want to inform you that they don’t care about what the expectation is. In their own fantasy of life, they are the king or queen of the universe and you are the servant who will wait to be honored by their presence. Naturally, this is very strong language to be used so usually they deny it, but that realization will only do one of two things: reinforce the boorish behavior or modify it. It is simply a way for the person who is late to show people disrespect without having the confrontation of words. Leaving you waiting is of no concern to them. Actions speak louder than words so the message is perfectly clear.

If you have someone in your life who is chronically late, reassess your friendship. You are not valued by that person and they are not honoring you or holding you in any sort of regard. If you have a person who is chronically late in your workplace, they are quite simply stealing from the company. Time is important, too important to waste on those who think nothing of you.

If you are chronically late, quit making excuses. Everyone’s time is important. Yours is no more so than the people you keep waiting on you.

Running occasionally late happens. Running chronically late there simply is no excuse for.

Say Yes To The Dress

tlc4women1 Comment

Have you seen this show on television? I had not ever watched it before until a friend suggested it to me. At first glance this is a crazy mess of mothers who want to relive their wedding fantasies. I sat there stunned as mothers said to their daughters that the dress of their daughter’s dreams were not as important as the dress of the mother’s dream. In other words, I thought, you’ll get to pick the dress you want when your daughter gets married.

Then you see the daughters who have not fallen far from the mother’s tree. The mothers have clearly spelled out the budget. The daughters could clearly care less. “I know what she said”, one daughter exclaimed, “but I know that I’m the only daughter and I usually get my way.”

Thus begins the war. It’s such a complicated relationship with a mother and daughter. You must know when to speak up and when to be quiet. I admit I am not good at this as it was recently pointed out, I’m trying to do better now! Watching just a few episodes of this show made me wonder if I should just begin praying for wisdom when it comes to my daughters getting married. Maybe I should even begin praying for a muzzle?

One thing was for sure, it’s important for a daughter to receive her mother’s approval ultimately. At at the end of each show, whether the right dress was found or not, there was a bond between these two women that goes beyond love. Every time I saw a daughter come out of that dressing room beaming in the, no I mean “the” dress, the mother teared up and their eyes would meet. Suddenly all the squabbling subsided and hugs abounded. I realized even though it’s difficult I prefer my daughter’s happiness over my opinion. Yes, it’s hard to say, but it’s the truth of my heart and I believe it’s the truth of any mother’s heart.