Category: Daily Living

Stepmom’s Bill Of Rights

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http://www.tripadvisor.com/ Restauran...rida.html

There is a Facebook group I belong to called Stepmom Circles. They posted the Stepmom Bill Of Rights and I thought it would be helpful to read this morning. To read Jacquelyn B. Fletcher’s blog (the author of this bill of rights) click here.

A Revised Stepmom’s Bill of Rights

I will create a rock-solid marriage with my husband so we both feel confident in our commitment to each other and the family. I vow to always make fun together a priority.

I have the right to be on the parenting team with my husband but I realize that this takes time to develop.

I understand that stepfamilies are formed out of loss and that the people I’m living with are carrying wounds that will affect them forever.

I will congratulate myself every day on a job well done. Even on days when I’ve done or said things I’m not proud of, I will be gentle and kind with myself because I am a brave, courageous woman.

I will work to feel confident and worthy of love.

I will not look to my stepchildren for validation or self-worth.

I will protect my heart with healthy boundaries that help me to be a more loving and present wife, stepmother, and human being even if that means making difficult choices.

I will forgive my husband, the exes in our lives, my stepchildren, and myself for our human-ness.

I will try to understand what living in our home is like for every member of our family.

I will create a sanctuary for myself and make self-care a priority so I can recharge my batteries.

I will choose my battles.

I understand that control does not equal respect or love.

I realize that I don’t have any control over what the ex or the ex-in-laws or the kids think or do. The only person I have control over is me.

I will ask for what I need instead of making people guess what I need to prove their love for me.

I will find the gifts in being the outsider in a family that formed before I came along.

I will focus on building relationships instead of on who is right and who is wrong.

I will take breaks when I’m angry so I can be calm when I discuss issues that affect me but I have little control over.

I will hold on to the things that remind me of who I am.

I will plan things to look forward to with my husband and with my family.

I will remind myself often of the many reasons I decided to be with my husband.

I will choose hope.

I will choose love.

As I Wait

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I think of Sarah, who wanted a baby. She didn’t care that God said he would make her husband a great nation. She simply wanted one baby to kiss and to hold and to call her own. My prayer is not for a baby but it’s a hope nevertheless.

As I Wait

I think of Sarah who for a moment lost her faith in God and sent her handmaiden in to sleep with her husband. The consequence of helping God out was that Ishmael was born and the fight was on. I pray I stay in submission to the plan.

As I Wait

I see Sarah receive her promise in her old age and I wonder, God will that be me? Will my promise come at the end of my life?

As I Wait

I read God’s word and I see where he says, Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. How long is the wait Lord?

As I Wait

I understand that my timing is not God’s timing and that he deals in issues of eternity and I deal in issues of today. They look quite different in perspective don’t they?

As I Wait

Sometimes I have to confess that I am like the father who came to Jesus to ask for help with the healing of his son. Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Help my unbelief Lord.

As I Wait

I find that I have more strength than I thought I have.

As I Wait

I find that I believe more than ever that I have all the power I need.

As I Wait

I grow and I learn and I learn and I grow…

As I Wait

The prayer changes and takes on a different shape and so does my life.

As I Wait

I realize the answer begins to come into focus.

As I Wait

I praise You Lord for I am like Elijah and I see the cloud in the distance. It is only the size of man’s palm but I can close my eyes, I can take a deep breath and I can almost smell the rain coming.

Haiti Hit Again

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Another earthquake has hit Haiti. People are scared, tired and hungry, hurt and in dire need. Moms Against Hunger has moved into action.

You can make a difference in bringing aid  to Haiti!

Project Haiti

Mom’s Against Hunger supplies are being shipped to the crisis happening in Haiti now. Due to conditions beyond anyone’s control in the earthquake, deep human suffering, disease, and death are happening daily. Through our provisions we can ease the pain of Haitian men, women, boys, and girls.

Please join us in this most worthy cause of compassionate care for the earthquake victims of Haiti.

By clicking on the Donate button on the top of this page you can get aid to Haiti. Moms Against Hunger has already moved into action to help. To read more about Moms Against Hunger click here.

Potential Is Risky Business

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Just the mention of this word sends the women of TLC into laughing mode. It’s because when they come to me about a man and they use the phrase, “He has potential…” I always answer the same way, “Potential is just potential until it’s put into play.”

Please don’t make life changing decisions based on potential unless you are willing to take a risk. Potential is just possibility. It doesn’t make it a reality. It makes it a maybe.

Dictionary.com defines Potential as:

1. possible, as opposed to actual
2. capable of being or becoming
3. Grammar. expressing possibility

Has everyone told you that you have potential? If so, it’s possible you could move ahead in that area but you may not. It remains to be seen. I won’t bet on it unless I am willing to take a risk. There are some things worth betting on. There are other things that are just to precious to risk a bet.

Make wise choices!

A Year Ago

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Worship Leader Steve Valencia and Pastor Doug Young

One year ago today we received a call on Sunday morning to let us know the church was on fire. Today a year later, although we aren’t back in our building yet, we should be back in another month or two. We are looking forward to the possibilities. We are happy, we are healthy and we are moving forward.

If you would have asked us what our struggles were last year, it was finding a place to have service, it was a feeling of displacement, it was a feeling of despondency. This year, there is hope, there is excitement and there is the anticipation of a move-in date.

Never throw in the towel. So much more awaits you on the other side of your biggest challenge. Today our troubles are completely different than they were last year. Today we know that in adversity we are people of velocity.

Respect Your Elders

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Remember when you were a child and you were told to respect your elders? Do they still teach that today? I wonder!

Two weeks before Christmas I was standing in a long line at the Post Office getting some packages mailed out. When I was two people away from the window, yes one window open because we’re a small town, a woman walked in leaning heavily her cane, walking slowly with her little black purse. She stood in the back of the line about 5 people behind me.

I didn’t hesitate. I said to the people behind me loudly, “You guys don’t mind if I let this woman go in front of me do you?” Now, they might have, but thankfully everyone pretended to see her for the very first time and they all said no. She turned bright red and said, “Thank you all, I don’t get around as well as I used to.” She shuffled forward to get in front of me. By then I was one away from the window. Do you THINK the guy in front of me had any chivalry at all? No! He looked back at her and turned away. She then asked us if we could help her open her purse as she couldn’t unzip it very well.

This is when I wish I were even bolder than I am because I SO wanted to ask the guy why he wouldn’t give up his place in line for an elderly person? This is when she smiled at us and said, “I’ll be 90 on Christmas Day.” We all smiled at her and wished her happy birthday.

Just a reminder everyone! One day we’ll all be in this place, shuffling through a line where a younger generation or two will be busy being world changers. Will they prefer us and help us or will we be on our own? The only way it continues is for us to teach, and to be the example to the elders of our generation.

Not Likely

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chrisbrady.typepad.com/

“All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of superintending providence in our favor. … Have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the Ground without His notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid?” –Benjamin Franklin

Lessons on Life

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This email was sent to me by my friend Cynthia. It is so true I thought I’d share it! I don’t know where it originated but it’s worthy of distribution!

These are pictures of the same place at different seasons.

Lessons on Life

There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the Winter, the second in the Spring, the third in Summer, and the youngest son in the Fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said “no” it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful. It was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you can not judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s Winter, you will miss the promise of your Spring, the beauty of your Summer, the fulfillment of your Fall.

Moral:

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don’t judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come.

Live Simply.

Love Generously.

Care Deeply.

Speak Kindly.

Leave the Rest to God.

Happiness keeps You Sweet,

Trials keep You Strong,

Sorrows keep You Human,

Failures keep You Humble,

Success keeps You Glowing,

But God keeps You Going!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

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http://www.hearing-guide.com

Oh Lord, that I may be a good listener!

Proverbs 8:33. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life.
34. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.
35. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.
36. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.”-“The Message”