Our Wonderful Men

Yesterday, I watched another Dr. Phil episode, (yes, againJ!) The last one I caught had a woman on it who was so fearful that she was going to be attacked in her own home that her family had spent over $16,000 on home security. The thing that caught my attention though, was not the fact that she had an out of control phobia, it was her husband.

How he loved her! When he was asked questions about his wife, he told Dr. Phil that he felt like a failure, because he could not make his wife feel protected. He actually had to pause, because he got tears over the fact that he felt like he was not doing his job. He wanted to protect his wife and make her feel safe, but nothing he had done had been successful.

He was doing all he could for her. Her phobia was out of his control and yet, he felt like he was at fault.

It was such a sweet thing. It made me think of my husband, and the men in my life, who care so much about their families.

So many men go through such lengths to love, protect and provide for their families.

They endure so much stress. Especially during times like this, when so many companies have been forced to close their doors or have had to layoff employees. Times are tough.  Luckily, our men are too, but this husband was a reminder that sometimes they are not as tough, as they let on.

Men take it hard when they are not able to provide everything they would like to for their families. 

It is so important for us wives and mothers, to not only be supportive during the difficult times, but also to be appreciative and remember, that our men always provide us with the most important thing they can - love.

A tender moment between my brother & his daughter

(1 Timothy 5:8, 1 Peter 3:1-7)

Just another day to be thankful...

Happy Friday friends!  

Thankful Thursday

As of today, we are 9 days away from Christmas. I cannot believe it. My calendar is pretty filled up for the rest of the month. I ran to the grocery store to get a few things for the house this morning and it is cold outside! The last week it has been warm here. it really does not feel like Christmas to me when we are not bundled up drinking hot cocoa. Finally, the sky is cloudy, the air is foggy and I am feeling awfully Chilly J hurrah!

I am thankful that my shy little girl did not seem so shy at her school performance.

I am thankful for my niece mya who always comes up and gives me hugs and love even when I am not expecting it.

I am thankful that my husband is so loved by all of the kids, they actually stand in line just to play with him!

I am thankful for the time I stay at home, because it allows me time each week to spend with my grandma.

I am thankful for my stepson, Who remains responsible, respectful and kind.

I am thankful for my mom who has taught me there is a time to hustle, but also reminds me that slowing down and enjoying a day now and then is okay too.

i am thankful for my neighbors who share their christmas joy.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for all of my blessings!

Please continue to keep my family in your care.

Keep us all healthy, happy, safe and strong

for the remainder of the year (and always.)

Bless all the little children in the world.

Amen.

Let us be Grateful



May we be filled with peace and love today.

May we understand that today is good.

Yes, it could be better.

Yes, it could be worse.

However we choose to feel

about this particular day,

Let us recognize that it is ours.

To do with it as we please.

To hug our children.

To love our spouses.

To smile at strangers in passing.

May we trust in God's plan.

Let us not be burdened by our daily struggles.

Let us not attempt to change the things we cannot,

but focus on the things we can.

May we simply...live.

Completing our every day chores

with a happy heart.

Loving.

Learning.

Praying.

Enjoying.

May His presence surround us.

May our souls be blessed, cleansed,

renewed, free.
May we be grateful today and every day.

A Season to be Thankful (poem)

If it were possible for me to gather up all of the love in the world and comfort you with it, I would.

To make you feel as wonderful as I do today.

You see, my world has become imperfectly perfect.

To step out of a mindset that had kept you broken, confused and angry and step into a life of love, freedom and possibility...

I can’t even begin to express the joy that overwhelms me.

The beauty that I see.

The gratitude that I feel.

You see, the stages of loss are textbook.

The character that develops as a result, is not.

You will experience much of what I have.

You will come to a point when you realize that you can do everything alone.

Then the most wonderful thing will happen.

You will realize that you are not alone.

It was you and Him all along.

He will provide for you, if you allow Him to.

There is much beauty to be found in silence, solitude and surrender.

On that day that you hear His whisper, you understand that you were not meant to be alone.

No, you will not understand everything.

WHY. WHEN. WHAT IF.

But you understand the HOW and the WHO.

When our life becomes complicated, unbearable and harsh, I believe that He is crying with us.

He is standing by offering us peace.

Waiting to help.

Wanting to help.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose,” He says.

Several Thanksgivings ago, I was full of tears and heartache.

Standing there with my vision blurred.

I remember that time, because it was my time.

My time to weep.  

But HE was there to help me move past that SEASON.

I am grateful for that season and for that pain that I experienced.

That moment led me to this one.

I am especially thankful for this season because I “Live, Get, Embrace, Laugh, Dance, and Love.”

He has given us all many reasons to be thankful and HOPEFUL!

If you happen to find yourself with a blurred vision this holiday, remember that He is there.

Forget the other voices and listen for HIS.

Forget the WHY and focus on the WHO.

Let His peace fill you up this holiday and remember that He has promised that your “time” will come.

May He be everything that you need this season and may you have a very blessed THANKSGIVING!

Plans That Didn't Work Out & Other Blessings

This weekend, my husband and I were planning a slumber party for our daughter Trinity’s birthday. On Friday, I went to the store for the food and gifts, prepared the ornament crafts and put the candy bags together. Jocelyn and I stayed up late drinking hot cocoa, listening to Christmas music and wrapping individual smores for the party. 

A few hours after going to bed on Friday, I woke up feeling terrible. On Saturday, my hubby and Jocelyn completed the remaining chores for me. They cleaned up the kitchen, baked the cupcakes and helped me decorate when I finally made it out of bed. I knew that I wasn't going to be much help, but I was hopeful that we would still be able to pull it off! Unfortunately, a few hours later my husband started feeling just as sick. We decided to cancel the slumber party. We knew that there was no way we could care for, feed and hike the mountain with ten girls!

We managed to pick Trinity up and drive over to my parents' house to sing to Happy Birthday to both dad and Trinity. My husband didn't make it and slept in one of the bedrooms during the dinner and gift opening, and I barely moved from my spot on the sofa. The girls did get invited to spend the night at their cousins’ house so things still worked

out for them.

Yesterday, while my husband finished up some of the chores, I was thinking about how lucky I am.  I have a husband who willingly picks up where I leave off. Had he not gotten sick, he would have been happy to assume all responsibilities for the party and would have gladly taken the girls on the hike alone the next day.

I knew how disappointed our daughters and nieces were going to be when they found out the the party was canceled. Then a few hours later, I felt so blessed,  because my brother Ernie and sis-in-law Vanessa offered to take our girls home so that they could still have a fun night.

When I picked the girls up they were tired, but were happily  sharing stories about the fun they had. The best part is that in four days they will get to have that fun all over again on Thanksgiving. A holiday that is designed for families to come together to focus on their blessings. However, if we are wise, we are grateful for these things everyday, all year long!

It was raining just before I left to pick the girls up and on my way I came across a rainbow. Rainbows are my absolute favorite miracle! I never get tired of sharing the fact that years ago, I went through the end of one with my grandma. Because of that experience, I always look at the rainbow as a very spiritual reminder of how blessed I am.

It is not hard to find blessings. In moments of sickness when nothing seems to go as planned, we can find them. During the months that we are scrambling to pay the bills, we can find them. When we are having relationship difficulties with spouses or other family members, we can find them. 

Plans do "have a way of falling down in midflight" and life doesn't always work out exactly the way we hope, but it does work out. Whenever I am in need of a reminder to show me just how blessed I am, I don't have to look very hard to find one. In fact, most days I just open my eyes and one is laying next to me in bed.   

Today I am linking up with Julie for Marriage Mondays.

Staying Connected

 It is Sunday morning.

I am on the computer writing.

My husband is in the gym room making work calls.

Our girls are in the living room watching Sunday morning cartoons.

Our son is upstairs asleep.

We are all disconnected, for the moment.

We are under the same roof, but each of us is doing our own thing.

Just waking up and getting ready to start the day.

This is a lazy Sunday.

Usually, we are up early picking up two of the kids from their mom’s house before we head to church.

Today, my husband is working from home.

Soon, I will run to the grocery store.

Since, it is a day off for the kids, the girls will probably play in their bedrooms most of the day and our son will stay hooked up to his video games.

This evening, we will tell the kids that the weather is finally cool enough to take them on that hike on the mountain that we have been promising them.

When we get to the top of the mountain, we will spread out a blanket, eat some dinner, pull out a surprise birthday cake, and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to our daughter.

We will have accomplished a small feat, prayed, shared a meal, looked down at the world below admiring it's beauty, and cherished a loved one...
together.

As the sun disappears, we will walk down the mountain, feeling connected, once again.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me yet another day, to spend loving my husband and children.
Amen

Rose-colored Lenses (On Our Children)

Once a reporter stood in front of a fire as it consumed a house and then he turned to see the homeowners and their little son watching it burn. The reporter fishing for a human-interest angle, said to the boy, "Son, it looks as if you don't have a home anymore." The little boy promptly answered, "Oh, yes, we have a home. We just don't have a house to put it in."
 ~Barbara Johnson


What a story! I just loved that little boy's answer. Where did he get such a positive outlook? Probably from his parents! Children may not always turn out exactly like their parents, but for the most part, they do! My first thought when reading that was, I bet his mother had already had an encouraging talk with him. Poor boy, I didn't give him much credit did I? :) However, that was my first thought! This mother was training her child (Proverbs 22:6) to be positive!

Don’t you just love being around positive people? I do! I love happy people. Now, let us not confuse the party people with the positive people. I am not talking about the loud, “I’m here, ready to have a good time, and be the life of the party” type of people. (Very sorry, if you are one of them!) I am interested in talking about people that are positive everyday of their lives! I am talking about the people that are happy before the party, even if it means blowing up one hundred balloons, baking dozens of cupcakes and barely having anytime to get dressed. I am talking about the people that love their life even when it is not all fun and parties. People that are passionate about their sometimes boring, sometimes chaotic, sometimes backwards life.  The people that feel fortunate, grateful and blessed.

The other day when talking to my cousin, I was telling her how weird it is to look back at certain times in my life, like birthdays, weddings and family reunions and feel a twinge of sadness. Almost, like I missed some very special moments. Moments that should have been filled with happy memories, but they were not, because of my disposition and the relationship that I was in. Thinking about those days now, seems like it was a completely different life and I was a completely different person. I can find myself starting to look back and think, wow, I wasted a decade of my life being unhappy. 10 years of my life that I will never get back! However, instead of dwelling on the negative, I find myself feeling grateful to have learned so much.

If I had not gone through what I did, I would not be the person that I am today. Those times were tough and I fell down many times, but I kept getting up because I knew that better days were ahead. I survived, because of prayer and positivity! Our situations vary and our circumstances can sometimes seem bleak, but a positive outlook can make all of the difference. I truly believe that! My life got happier once I started looking at my life, my future, and my circumstances through rose-colored lenses.

We are human and life can be painful some days. I believe that it is okay to give ourselves a mourning period. It is okay to vent to our friends and even tell God, we do not understand why “this” is happening to us, as we ask him for strength, but then, enough is enough. We must get up and get on with our life, because this world has too much to offer.

My mom was always one of those happy people! She was like a happy little bird chirping in the morning and singing her songs, telling us, “Rise and shine. It’s a beautiful day!” Although, I didn’t always understand her happiness and my response was usually "Mom, seriously?!" Now I am going through the same thing with our kids! Yesterday, my hubby and I were joking with our son and he was so serious! He never even cracked a smile, but I kept joking and laughing, because I know that even if he does not appreciate it now, in a few years he will. Then this morning, I walked into the girls' bedrooms singing, "Good morning! It's a lovely daaaaay!" Both of the girls groaned, complained, and gave me grumpy looks. It made me think of my mom!

Kids are going to be grumpy. Kids are going to find something to complain about, but as their parents, we are going to continue to give them all the reasons that they should look forward to their life. To their day. To whatever comes next!

Much like that little boy’s mother did in the story above.  That way when our children become adults, they understand that bad things may sometimes happen to good people, but positive people never let the bad things keep them down!