Stomach Flu?, Parenting Conference, and Meeting Your Spouses Needs.

Okay, so if you haven't figured it out from the random title I decided to post "Motivated Mommy Monday's" post and "Taking it to Him Tuesday's" post with today's "Wedded Wednesday" post. I've decided to start with "Taking it to Him Tuesday" because "Motivated Mommy Monday" and "Wedded Wednesday" kind of go together this week.

Taking it to Him Tuesday:

This week I am praying for family health. The reason: 2010 has not been good to the Goolsby family's health. Thankfully, we have not had any major illnesses. However, we have all had several sinus infections and colds. We even had laryngitis at one point! Things have been so blurred together that it was hard to pin point when one virus or infection ended and the next began. We finally got over all the congestion and throat problems last week, only to be bombarded by a stomach virus this week. It just hit in the early hours of this morning. At first I thought it might just be the Stomach Flu, but now I'm not so sure.

Warning: If my post last week about puke disgusted you, you may want to skip this paragraph.  @ 4 this morning Cherish woke up and walked to my room. I could hear her crying followed by the pitter patter of her little feet coming down the hall so I got out of bed to open the door and find out what was wrong. I thought maybe she wet her bed or had a bad dream, boy was I wrong. As soon as I opened the door I was hit with the smell of poop. Disgusting! She immediately turned and walked towards the bathroom. Of course, I followed and flicked on the light. That's when I saw that her pants were pasted to her legs with diarrhea. Again disgusting! I immediately stripped her down and set her on the toilet while I cleaned her clothes, her bed and the floor (bathroom, hall, and kid's bedroom). When I got her off the toilet to clean her up I discovered she had done it again. Thankfully this time it was in the toilet! But it doesn't stop there; my husband and I both were feeling rather weak this morning, which made me think we were all coming down with the stomach flu. However, it is early afternoon now and Cherish has only had one more incident since this morning. Plus I'm feeling much better now. So, I am praying it was just a 24 hr. bug. * Things are looking up. I just got a call about a friends little girl who was in the same class as Cherish yesterday when I went to my M.O.M.S. study. She had a bout of diarrhea yesterday afternoon, but was fine over night and fine this morning.*

Anyways, with the weather changing around here I really want for all of us to get better and stay better so we can go out and enjoy the wonderful Texas spring. So that's why this week's prayer focus is on family health.

Motivated Mommy Monday:

So, as most of you know I went to a parenting conference this weekend with Dr. Richard Marks. As promised, I wanted to share with you a little about what I learned. First, I will say most of what he taught I have heard before and already know the importance behind it. However, I still feel like I walked away a better parent.

Here's why: He drove home the truth behind the statement "Pain seeks pleasure."

Here's how: Dr. Marks talked a lot about how our society just wants us to "STOP IT!" without ever figuring out why we are behaving a certain way. Think about it, as parents we say: "Just stop whining!" or, "Stop hitting your sister", sometimes its "Stop throwing a fit", even "Stop getting into that", "Stop it, stop it, stop it!" I know I am guilty of saying some of these things to my kids. Dr. Marks is one who believes we have to stop that and figure out the heart issues behind these actions in order to deal with them accordingly (I will talk more about this in a few weeks when I go to Ted Trips Shepherding a Child's Heart Conference). For now, I want to focus on the unique point Dr. Marks made. His point was that we need to figure out if our childs actions are reflecting an emotional need he or she has. If so we need to attempt to meet it, because *if we fail to meet that need something or someone else will meet it!* As I mentioned before, pain seeks pleasure. If our child has pain from an unmet need he will find someone or something to fill that void with. This is exactly how kids fall into sin and addiction. It is also how they end up in destructive relationships.

So my question to you is does your child have an unmet need? If so is someone or something other than you and your spouse filling it? How can you attempt to change that? If it is not happening now how can you prevent it from happening in the future?

Here's what we need to do: Teach our children to SPEAK up and tell us what they need from us. For example: "I like it when" or "I don't like it when." Wow, doesn't this go against a lot of what our parents taught us about how children are to be seen not heard!  Then we need to learn to LISTEN to them. I mean truly listen. Think about it, how would you feel if no one ever cared what you had to say about something, never took the time to listen to you? Don't misunderstand me here; I am not saying understanding where your child is coming from means agreeing with how they behaved. If you disagree you simply say, "Son, I understand why you felt like that and reacted that way, but that does not make it right, so here is your punishment and here's why. Finally, we all need to COOPERATE with each other. This can mean compromising on certain issues but it doesn't have to mean that. What it usually entails is the child cooperating with the parent's rules and the parent in turn cooperating with the child to meet their needs.

Wedded Wednesday:

It didn't take me long to realize that the above "pain seeks pleasure" truth relates to all relationships not just parenting. We can also apply it to our marriages.

Here's how: we need to figure out if our spouse's actions are reflecting an emotional need he or she has. If so we need to attempt to meet it, because *if we fail to meet that need something of someone else will meet it!* Again, pain seeks pleasure. If our spouse has pain from an unmet need he will find someone or something to fill that void with. This is how married men and women fall into sin and addiction. It is also how they end up in extramarital relationships.

So my question to you is does your spouse have an unmet need? If so is someone or something other than you filling it? How can you attempt to change that? If it is not happening now how can you prevent it from happening in the future? Also, do you have an unmet need you need to express to your spouse before you fall into sin? Have you already fallen into sin? If so, how can you come clean with your spouse and leave the sin behind?


Here's how: SPEAK to your spouse about your needs and let them speak to you about theirs. Also, LISTEN to their heart. Truly listen. Finally, COOPERATE figure out how you can meet each others needs.

Just some thoughts,
MEL

TGIF

If you can't tell I am soooo glad this week is coming to an end! It wasn't all bad, but none the less stressful. First, we continue to have problems with our computer/internet, though, nothing as bad as last week. Second, our refrigerator in the garage were we keep our stock pile of food went caputs (?) along with everything in it. To top it off, we just bought groceries Saturday and discovered it was shot on Monday. Third, our difficult eater Jeremiah (Cherish will eat anything put before her in seconds flat) after months of improvement has decided to revert to his old behavior.

Wednesday night Jeremiah got sent to bed early for not eating his tuna steak. He hates all things fish and seafood, so I shy away from cooking them. I even stopped cooking my husband's favorite dish Shrimp Victoria all together, because Jeremiah has thrown up every single time he has had to try it. Trust me it is not an allergy! It's the texture. Anyway, my husband has been craving tuna steaks for weeks, so I finally got up the courage to make them, knowing it would to be a fight to get Jeremiah to eat. Since our rule is to eat everything on your plate I mostly gave the boy salad and beans (both of witch he LOVES, thank goodness). Then I split the smallest steak between him and his sister giving her the bigger piece. To no avail though, he chose to go to bed over even taking one bite. Well, I guess technically he did try one bite, but then he spit it out! So off to bed he went.

Last night, I made Mexican lasagna anticipating no problems, after all he loved it last time we ate it. In fact, he had seconds and thirds!!! Much to my surprise, this time he didn't even want to touch it. So, after an hour or so of threatening bed @ 5:30 he started eating tiny bites (the only reason I didn't make him just go to bed is because I would be the one getting punish when he woke up @ 4 a.m.). Finally, he got down to two bites, but then he decided he was done. Of course, we were like you have TWO bites left (pea size I might add), just finish it! When I proceeded to put the next bite in his mouth he started gagging and THREW UP all over the dinner table! UGH!!!! I think I have mentioned before that he has the most sensitive gag reflex, so when I say he threw up I mean he threw up everything.

Side note: We are so weary of Jeremiah's gag reflex we even left the restaurant we had lunch at on Sunday before we had a chance to eat our food. See, Jeremiah had too much salsa and started feeling sick to his stomach so we boxed up our food and left. You might think we are crazy but we were not going to have him throw up at another restaurant! That's right he's done it before! Three times to be exact. The first time he got a chip hung in his throat at Chuy's. The second time he had a stomach virus, though we had no idea until he threw up at Cici's. Finally, the last time he got cheese from a cheese enchilada hung in his throat at Rico's the very restaurant we were at on Sunday. So now you understand. If not let me just say I probably cleaned up puke around 100 xs in his first 18 months of life. See, for the longest time he would scream and cry when we put him in his crib for bed. It didn't take long for his voice to get hoarse and for the coughing to start. When that happened, we knew it was all over. I was going to be cleaning up puke, if one of us didn't go calm him down and rock him to sleep. Thankfully, when we converted his crib to a toddler bed he stopped screaming and went to sleep without any problems. So we clean up a lot less puke these days. However, when we do have to I can almost guarantee you 90% of the time it is Jeremiah's. So there's a little background on Jeremiah's gag reflex.

Now back to this week, as you can see it was not exactly a fun week. Although, I will say we had a few highlights. First we had two fun outings to the park this week. The weather here has been GREAT! Surprisingly, in the high 60's to low 70's all week, after a little sleet and snow in some areas last week. See, Texas truly is the bipolar state! That's why we love it; it's never the same old thing around here.

Second, my sister in-law took some pics of the kids this week. I can't wait to see them after she edits them! I promise to post them when she does.  Third, my husband and the kids got around to cleaning my van yesterday after the dinner debacle and we had family game night after that. Oh and tonight and tomorrow Josh and I will be attending a parenting conference at our church done by Dr. Richard Marks. I hope to share some of what I learn on Motivated Mommy Monday. 
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Now to all of you from Friday Follow, I am so glad you stopped by. I hope I did not totally disgust you with all the talk about puke. Sorry, I just needed to vent a little. Anywho, please take some time to look around. I think you will like what you find (fingers crossed).

A little about me: I am a hard core servant of Christ! He is my life! In fact, I got a BS in religion so that I could write devotionals and Bible studies; although, for now I am a SAHM. I have two kids; Jeremiah who is 4 and Cherish who is two. Dispite this post I must say they are a blast! I love being home with them!!! In fact, they are the whole reason I have put my writing on hold. Well, not completely on hold, after all I started this blog so that I could still write a little. Though if you look around you will see my writing can be a little sporadic, I am still trying to figure out a blogging schedule that works for me.

Let's see, what else would you want to know? Well, I have been married to my husband for 5 yrs now and I love him more than ever. He truly is my best friend! I think if you look around you will see I mean that. Go ahead check out my posts on marriage (Wedded Wednesday's). You might also like my posts on parenting, prayer, and God. And there are even some posts for you readers and crafters. Please, feel free to look around and check things out.

 MEL

Taking it to Him Tuesday's: Philos.

We all know God calls us to pray without ceasing for ourselves, our enemies, our family, and our friends. Today, I would like to focus on that last part; friends, specifically Christian friends. I guess because it seems most fitting; see, all week God has been speaking to me about friendship and what TRUE friendship requires. First, as I mentioned in another post I am currently doing the Beth Moore study: "Living Beyond Yourself." This week is all about LOVE. Though the majority of the week is about agape love, day two which covered philos love really spoke to me (I think because I have a few friends who are dealing with a lot of drama right now and need TRUE friendship). Second, Sunday's sermon was on friendship (specifically that of Jonathan and David). Finally, I have a friend who is having brain surgery today and really needs prayer. So, you can see that God is definitely drawing my attention to friendship.

Now, I would like to share a few things that he has been showing me about friendship.

1. We are called to love our friends as brothers and sisters (1 Peter 3:8). The root word of philos literally means: "brotherly love." It is where we get the word Philadelphia which means "city of brotherly love." So you see we are called to love our friends as if we were blood related. If you think about it as children of God washed in the blood of Christ we are exactly that.

2. Friends have similar hearts. As Christians we are drawn together by a heart for God.

3. Friendship requires sacrificial love. After all in John Jesus says "greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend" and that is exactly what he did for us.

4. Friends are ALWAYS there. In the good times and the bad. Galatians 6:2 requires us to carry each others burdens and Luke 15:8-9 calls us to rejoice together.

5. Friendship REQUIRES freedom and safety. Freedom to be yourself and freedom to be honest in a safe environment, KNOWING what you say to your friend will stay between the two of you! That is why true accountability can only happen among friends, because we trust them enough to share our struggles.

6. Friends build each other up and do good to each other!

So today I challenge you to pray for yourself that you would be a TRUE friend and that you would find TRUE friends. Pray that the Christians you know would be TRUE friends to others. Also pray specifically for the needs of your friends. Finally, if you could say a prayer for my friend Jim who is having brain surgery that would be greatly appreciated. He is already in surgery and will remain there until around 7 p.m. Our Sunday school class has arranged for at least two people to be praying for him at all times during his surgery. I have committed to pray for him from 2-3 this afternoon, pray I do not get busy and forget.  I have already said a prayer for him and his wife Michelle but I want to remain faithful to my word.

Just some thoughts,
MEL

Motivated Mommy Monday: Frugal Fun 2

Okay, so last week I made a list of fun and cheap things to do with the kids this spring and summer. I decided to save some for this week because that post was getting a little long. And let's be honest, mommies have little time to sit and read even if it is something that will benefit the family. Anywho, I don't want to make this post super long either so lets get started:

1.  Find out if your local sports teams have club memberships for kids. Last spring a friend told me about Astro's Buddies. For $17 (I think it was actually like 15 and I had to pay a $2 fee for paying online.) we got 4 tickets to one of six club member games. In addition, Jeremiah got a special edition Astro's hat, a drawstring bag in the shape of Lance Berkman's Jersey, a Lance Berkman card, a sticker for the car, a subscription to their newsletter, and 2 tickets to an autograph party. At the autograph party Jeremiah got to play around in the dugout and on the field, and of course; he even got a few autographs and pictures with players.

 We went to the game with the friends who told us about it, which of course made for even more fun!

We also chose a game we knew would have a fireworks show. Even more fun!

Two days of fun for only 17 dollars!

Check around and see if your local teams have similar deals. Even if your closest teams are minor league teams it could still be a ton of fun!

2. Take them to paint ceramics.  We have a place in our local mall where we can do this. Check around and see if you have a place locally where you can do it. I have never spent more than $7 total doing this. All you pay for are the ceramics, which range in price depending on size.

a.) I only get the cheap ones for the kids!

b.) I also limit their color selection based on what they get to paint and where I plan on hanging it.

         1.) Last time we went Cherish was only aloud to have pinks and purples for a ceramic picture frame that now hangs in her room. 

3. Vacation Bible School!!! Of course, this is a must for us. The kids love it and it's a weeks worth of free fun! Find out if your church is having one and if so make plans to be there. I know of kids who love it so much that they attend every VBS in town.

4. Take them to the beach. Most beaches are free and kids absolutely LOVE them! The only time you should have to pay for access to the beach is if you are parking on the beach or if it has showers! Trust me if they're charging for any other reason it is not a beach you want to take your kids to. Most of beaches that charge do so because they allow alcoholic beverages. Likely that means you would be entering a party atmosphere with young kids. Sorry, but I don't want to explain to my 4 year old why some guy is tripping over his own feet! lol.

 If you live with in a couple hours drive of the beach this is a must!!!

5. Check out local water parks and community pools!

a.) Since we are entering spring and summer you should start checking into specials now! Like I said in part 1 of this series some of these places have discount days and group rates and if you Google them you may even find coupons.

b.) If you have a pool in you neighborhood make sure you get a season pass! They are often free as long as you are a resident of the neighborhood. However, even the ones you have to pay for are usually worth it!

c.) Check out other community pools in your area to see if maybe you can pay for a days visit even if you are not a member of that community. It never hurts to ask! Last summer we actually found out about a pool at a church in Houston that is set up like Noah's Ark. We paid $5 each, spent the day there, and the kids had a BLAST!

6. Check out community fairs! Be on the look out for these they usually take place around holidays like; Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day but some can be sporadic. These are great because usually the consumer decides how much to spend! Give your kids a set amount and tell them to choose wisely. Not only will they have fun but they might learn a thing or two about money!


That's it for now! Let me hear your ideas,
MEL

UGH!!! Internet Problems!

So you may have noticed I was absent from the blogging world most of last week. No lie, a few hours after I posted Mondays blog our internet quit working.  We tried EVERYTHING, and nothing worked. Finally, Friday afternoon it mysteriously started working again. Anywho, I just wanted to let you all know I did not intentionally disappear for the week. In fact, I had some great blogs intended. I guess I will post a few of them this week and try to post the rest next week. 

MEL

Motivated Mommy Monday's: Frugal Fun

Yeah, it’s almost spring! Around here that means getting out and about to enjoy the return of our friend the sun. It also means summer is not far behind. That realization has me planning out activities for the summer. During the spring and summer I like to plan at least one fun activity a week for the kids. I do this because I feel like it is sooo important to have fun with our kids. Not just important for them, but for us too. Sometimes being locked up in the house with the kids can be exhausting, and in turn; can cause lots of animosity and irritation between parents and children. So, it is definitely good to get out and have fun together. We as moms need that refresher and our kids need the fun. We do after all want them to enjoy their childhood and have lots of fun memories, which hopefully include us and exclude trouble. However, as we all know taking the kids to places like museums, amusement parks, zoos and water parks can rack up financially. Thankfully, with a few fun filled summers behind me I have come across a lot of cheap and great ideas. So, I wanted to share them with you guys and hopefully learn a few new ideas from you too.



1) Find out if your local museums or zoos have free days, or maybe even a few hours each week when admission is free.

 

a) A lot of museums do this at least once a month. Because of all the cold this winter we had to plan a lot of indoor activities, so I did my research.

i) I found out our children's museum was free on Thursday nights from 5 to 8. It made for a great family night. I also plan on taking my son again soon with some of my girlfriends and their older boys for a mommy/son date.

ii) The science museum also has a free night; Tuesdays from 2 to 5. My kids love the science museum. Jeremiah really enjoys the dinosaur exhibit and Cherish loves the crystals. There were also lots of other fun exhibits for them. However, they are not quite old enough to really understand these exhibits yet so this museum is somewhere I would only take them for free right now.

b) Our zoo even does a few free days each year, usually on holidays like MLK day or President’s day. I think they even did New Years day last year.

c) One final suggestion, if your museums or zoo do have a few hours free once a week or once a month PLAN OUT your trip BEFORE you go. Know exactly what exhibits you want to visit and how long you can spend at each one in order to see everything in the allotted time. Remember because it is free it might be crowded. Thursdays at the children’s museum certainly is, but Tuesdays at the science museum are sometimes often vacant. It really depends on the time period.

2) Find out if some of your favorite places have discount days.

a) For example, we have a jump place right down the street from us. On Thursdays they discount their rates from $8 a kid to $5. Parents are always free but can still bounce and children under two are free. For the last two years, we have gone several times all three of us for a total of $5. Best of all, they both love it. This year though we have to pay for Cherish, but 10 dollars for the 3 of us is still a great deal.

3) Use coupons, memberships and club passes.

a) Every year we get a membership to ONE of the kid’s favorite places.

i) Usually, the zoo because they have not been known to have free days in the summer and our kids love it there. Also, because it is a pass we can use when we travel to other cities all over the country.

ii) Trust me, if you know you will use it even just two times it will be worth it.

b) Coupons are also great! We always use coupons at places like Chucky Cheese.

c) Finally, check and see if some of your favorite places have club passes, where if you go there so many times you get one time free. The jump place I mentioned above has a club pass. For every eight times you go and pay you get one time free. They also have shirts you can buy. If you wear the shirt when you come in you get a discount.

d) Check around; if you know you are going to spend a lot of time at a particular place this spring and summer wouldn't it help if you could get some sort of discount?

4) Set up group trips to do events like bowling and skating.

a) Most places offer discounted rates for groups so if you set up a church playgroup not only will you have extra fun because all your friends are there but you can also save money.

5) Plan a camping trip.

a) This is something that can be fairly cheap if you can stop yourself from going overboard.

i) With small kids keep it to one night, maybe do it in your backyard or a friends the first couple of times.

ii) If you don't already have a tent or other camping essentials think of the purchase like this you are investing in lots of future fun. When I was growing up we spent almost every weekend camping at the lake. Depending on where you go and what you already have this can also include fun free things like fishing and rafting.

6) Pick fruit at a farm.

a) We like to go pick blueberries every summer at a local blueberry farm and I think this summer we will also try a strawberry farm a couple of hours away. Check to see what’s around you.

b) This is a great activity and cheap too. Usually you only pay for what you pick, and it is much cheaper to pick it at the farm than to buy it at the store. You can freeze most of these fruits for up to 2 years or just have a cooking extravaganza.

c) It is also a great way to get a picky eater to try something new. If he picks it himself he is much more apt to like it, after all, he's invested in it.

7) Attend story time at you local library.

a) For some of us this is pure torture, trying to keep active kids quiet for so long. But if your kids are more laid back why not try it? Even if you have an active kid you should try it. You might even find it is worth the torture, one of our libraries gives away prizes which often include free tickets to museums. And eventually your kids will learn to sit still.

b) Join the summer reading program. Usually if a kid reads 10 new to them books (or is read to) they get one book to keep. You will just have to see how your libraries program works.

c) Barnes & Noble also has a story time every week and they usually include a craft so it is lots of fun.

8) Check out Chick-Fil-A's events schedule.

a) If you know what that is you are BLESSED. If not sorry. Chick-Fil-A is a great Christian based fast food restaurant. Very family friendly. They are always having cool events and giving away GREAT free food. We have play dates at ours all the time.

i) One of ours has an event every Friday called Mini Moo it includes a story time, balloon animals, face painting and they even pull out some cool toys like mega blocks and play doe. I love it because my kids can sit and listen to the story for as long as they can take it. Then, WHEN they get antsy they can leave the playground and return to the dinning area to play with the toys.

ii) Our other Chick-Fil-A has a mad scientist night. One of our local science teachers comes and does cool science experiments with the kids.

iii) They also have family night with a clown, face painting, and balloon animals.

iv) Then there are a ton of one time and annual events.

(1) For their anniversary (in the summer) they always do Cow Appreciation Day. If you dress as a cow you eat free. Lat year one of ours had a petting zoo and a helicopter that dropped 200 stuffed cows with parachutes from the sky. Seven of the cows had a years worth of free Chick-Fil-A.

(2) They have also done events like Star Wars Night.

9) Check around for dollar movies.

a) AMC usually offers $1 movies on Wednesday mornings during the summer.

i) Often they are movies that have been out for a year or so, but young kids could careless they just like to see movies on the big screen.

10) Feed the fish or ducks at a local pond or lake.

a) Kids love this!!! When my son was little we had to hold him by the belt loop or keep him in the stroller because he would try to jump in after the fish.

11) Get creative.

a) Go to a candy factor and see how it is made.

b) Or do like Mandy @ Capitol Heights Mommy did with her daughter this weekend and go to Petsmart or another pet store to look at animals.

c) Take them on a tour of a fire house.

d) Drive to a local airport and watch planes take off and land.

12) If all else fails take them to a park.

a) We like to rotate parks so that the kids don't get board with them. However, we can do that because we live in an area where there are lots of parks.

i) If you only have one or two parks in your area I suggest taking some items along with you to add something new and exciting for the kids.

(1) For example if you have one you can take: a bike, or power wheels, a skateboard, skates, sidewalk chalk, kites, sand toys, etc.

(2) Finally, our favorite item to take to the park is...dunt, dunt, dun: A FRIEND. Let me tell you, we have had some great park playgroups! Everything from power wheel playgroups to Easter egg hunts; they have all been a blast for the kids.

(3) You might also consider driving to the next big town and visiting their parks one day.



Finally, when my son was little (before my daughter was born) we lived in a small town, so I know how hard that can be when trying to entertain kids. My advice: don't give up! We would car pool with friends to the next big town (30 min. away) just to take the kids to a new park. Now that we live in a big city we often drive an hour or so to visit some really cool parks. I'm sure with a little research you can find some awesome and cheap things to do.

If you are new to a town, ask around, meet new people. If nothing else you might be able to have play dates. My friend Lisa just meet a mom at the grocery store last week because their boys (who turned out to be a week apart) would not stop talking and playing together in the check out line. They exchanged numbers and had a play date. Then, at the play date found out their next kids are due a week apart too. I bet they'll be friends for life! Oh, and did I mention Lisa's new friend is new to town and Lisa is her first Houston friend.
See, it works! Get out there, meet people, ask around about fun places to take the kids, use your internet, get creative. Go get going. Now! Go, go! Oh, and tune in next Monday for some more great ideas, I still have a few to share and hopefully you guys can add some more. Please share if you have some creative and cheap ideas.



MEL

Catching Up, Lent, and Family Rules Canvas

Hello all,

So, I know some of you maybe wondering what my deal is this month. I have to admit your concerns are warranted, my posts have no doubt been few and far between.  Sorry. I would like to say I have a legitimate excuse, but to be honest I don't. In fact, it's just been a little bit of everything. At first, I was just trying to not be such a stickler about posting every weekday. It was stressing me out and I could tell my husband and kids were frustrated because it was taking time away from the family. Probably because I still have yet to figure out a working schedule for all this blogging. I have also been a little busier since the holidays ended. All our weekly events are in full gear again and that has only made it harder to fit in blogging.

Anywho, I wanted to catch up with all of you and just let you in on a few things I've been up to. First, I recently started the Beth Moore study "Living Beyond Yourself" for the second time. I barely made it to week two the first time I started years ago, but I knew it was one I wanted to finish. Then, all the ladies in my lifegroup got together and voted to do this study as our Spring Bible Study, I was in!

Oh, and I made a book mark especially for this study.

If you haven't seen this let me tell you they are so cool. They open up and fit over the corner of the page.

What's next?

I'm also doing a study with my sister-in-law at her church; it's called "Wired That Way." It's actually a personality study, not a Bible Study. Regardless, it has been fun and informative thus far. The lady leading the class actually trained under the authors Marita and Florence Littauer. Has anyone ever taken this test? If so what is your personality type? I'm borderline Powerful Choleric and Perfect Melancholy, and I do mean borderline. I have taken the test 3 times (once by myself, once with my husband, and once with my sister-in-law) and every time I was dead even between the personalities. At first I was surprised, because I thought I would be Perfect Melancholy all the way. Then the more I thought about it I realized EVERY single person on both sides of my family is either pure Powerful Choleric or a combination of it. It's obviously in my blood. On top of that, it only makes since that in such a family one would learn to speak up in order to just be heard.

Finally, for Lent I added a prayer study called "Seek GOD for the City 2010."  I have to say; though I am only 3 days into this devotional I'm so glad I'm doing it. It is so refreshing and humbling to pray on behalf of others, and it's just another way for me to dive into prayer in 2010. If you want to learn more about Lent you should check out Coffee, God and Me she is doing a great series on it.

Let's see what else...? Oh, My Family Rules Canvas!!!

 

I'm not quite done yet. I still have a few embellishments I want to add, but I'm having a hard time finding them.

First, I have this really cool G stamp and I want to it to the left of "Family Rules" so it will say "G Family Rules". I just need to borrow my mother-in-laws light blue stamp pad.

Then, I want to add a set of wedding rings and a briefcase to the right side of "work hard". To symbolize that we should work hard at every aspect of life: school, sports, marriage/relationships, and careers.

Finally, I want to add one more butterfly to the right border of "Guard Your Mind" and "Pray about Everything & Thank God Always."

Here are some close ups of the rest. I have to say so far I am very satisfied with it!

For directions on how to do one of these check out The Pleated Poppy.

My Rules are:
1. Pray about EVERYTHING & Thank God ALWAYS.
2. Guard your mind.
3. Work hard.
4. Have fun.
5. Be honest, keep your promises.
6. Be kind, use your manners.
7. Be respectful, ask first.
8. Listen carefully.
9. Obey your parents, your teachers & God.
10. Build others up.
11. Find contentment in EVERY circumstance.
12. No whining.
13.Act responsibly, think hard, choose wisely.
14. Say I love you often.
15. Hands are for hugging NOT hitting.
16. Forgiveness is mandatory, NEVER leave angry.
17. Bless your food, be grateful, eat together.
18. Be a good steward, clean YOUR stuff.
19. Share EVERYTHING, there is NO "MINE", it is ALL GOD"S.
20. Love the LORD your GOD.

Finally, if you are joining from Follow Friday I am so glad to have you.

Here's a little about me:

First of all, I love the Lord.! Beyond that, I have been married to my best friend Josh for five years. We have two kids Jeremiah 4 and Cherish 2 and I get to stay at home with them.  If you look around you will find posts on everything from marriage and parenting, to prayer and growing closer to God, even a few crafts.

Taking it to Him Tuesday's: As Homemakers we should Pray for our Homes.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to make our home run more effectively. As a homemaker/ stay-at-home-mom I feel like it is my responsibility to create a peaceful and productive environment for my husband and my kids. I want to keep a clean and organized house so that my kids have a safe and fun place to grow-up and my husband has a peaceful sanctuary to come home to and relax. I also want to fill their bellies with delicious and nutritious food.

Evaluating myself, I feel like I have always done a good job at running our household by planning meals and keeping our home clean and organized (and I know my husband would agree). However, I have to admit over the last year I have become a bit relax in these areas. I think I just got overwhelmed. As some of you might remember from previous posts last year my husband and I moved our family in with my mother to try to pay off our debt and save up for our first home (we were sick of renting). Needless to say it has not been easy trying to create a home for my husband and kids in someone else's house. Especially since we are cramming five people in a three bedroom house, we just do not fit. I have had a rather difficult time trying to find a place for everything, which in turn makes it a LOT harder to keep the house clean from day to day. From personal experience, I can tell you it is much easier to keep your home clean when there is a PLACE for everything. So needless to say at times I have let myself become so overwhelmed that I just gave up.

Gladly though I can say that God has been refreshing my soul, and in turn has been leading me to refresh our home. However, I know now that I cannot go about doing this in the same old ways I always have. Obviously, they are not going to work in this household. So, I have been researching some more effective ways of running this home. Today, I realized I need to be praying more about what will work here. That realization got me thinking...shouldn't we all be praying more about how to run each of our homes effectively? You may already do so, if so I would love to hear about how God has answered your prayers and directed you in managing your home. If you are not alread praying about this I want to challenge you to join me in praying about how to manage my (in your case your) household in a way that is most peaceful and productive. May I suggest that if running an effective household is something you struggle with this is probably just what you need to discover better ways of doing things, ways that work for you. I KNOW God will direct us in the way that is best for us.

Just some thoughts from what God is teaching me,
MEL

Motivated Mommy Monday's: Kids Really Do Desire Boundaries.

Today's post was inspired by Melinda over @ Coming Clean: Confessions of an Imperfect Parent. Earlier I was reading her post about a recent interaction she had with her daughter. You should check it out! What struck me was her last statement: "Sometimes I feel weak – not up to the fight. But retreat is not an option. One day my kids will be glad I did battle."  I went to comment on the truth behind this statement and realized I have way more to say on this subject than can fit in a comment and since its Motivated Mommy Monday I decided to blog about it.

When I was 15 or 16 I remember sitting at Super Summer in large group and the speaker asked a question that I probably never would have thought twice about had the response from the audience not blown me away. The question went something like this: "How many of you wish your parents had set more boundaries, enforced them, and fought harder for your purity (not just sexual purity but purity in general)." Remarkably, the majority of the hands in the room went up. I cannot say for sure how many people that was, but I think it would be safe to say 70% of the students there raised their hands. In a room that had well over a thousand students that is at least 700. See, kids really DO want boundaries!

To all you parents of tweens and teens please don't stop fighting for your child's purity!!! I know the moments when they seemingly resist your boundaries may out weight the moments when they willingly adhere to them and understand your reasoning, but trust me ONE DAY they WILL get it. The question is; will they be thankful you stuck to your guns or will they wish you had cared enough for their purity to be the mean parent with all the rules. I know it sounds harsh, please understand I AM NOT trying to offend anyone. I just want you to get it; your kids need a parent more than another friend.  Perhaps that is why Proverbs 13:24 says, "He how spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."

Though most kids would tell their parents they do not like nor want structure, discipline and boundaries; they secretly NEED them and crave them. It truly is a desire of their hearts! These things make kids feel safe and secure. For example, I once watched an episode of Primetime where they showed a study done about how kids play on fenced-in playgrounds verses fenceless playgrounds. The results showed that when on the fenced-in playground the kids where much more likely to explore the entire playground; where as, when on the fenceless playground they tended to stay close to their parent. After a little probing the researchers realized the kids on the fenced-in playground felt safer.

Let's apply those results to parenting for a minute; boundaries are the fence, and the playground structures represent the kid's abilities. When we put a fence of boundaries around our kids we allow them to explore all the structures out there in a safe environment, which they can comfortably figure out what God made them good at and we can then raise them in the way THEY should go. Now, unfortunately we cannot prevent a few dangerous elements from sneaking onto the playground (that is up to God); however, by putting up a fence we CAN protect them from the dangerous elements that lurk outside the playground. If we remove our fence we allow ALL the dangerous outside elements to FREELY enter the playground. The result: kids who are so BOUND by fear they fail to explore and figure out what God made THEM good at. Or worse they eventually work up the guts to wander around and before long they look up and they are lost in the woods without a sense of how to find their way back. Or maybe they become ENTANGLED OR ENSLAVED by some dangerous element (sin) their parents had no idea was out there and therefore CANNOT get back to the playground even though they want to.

Don't just take it from me; think about what YOU know to be true. Think about you kids as babies. Were they happier when they were on a structured schedule or when there was no schedule for the day?  I know my kids were a LOT happier on a schedule!!

I hope you are inspired by this post as well as Melinda's post to STAND STRONG. I know I was inspired by Melinda and I will be all the more eager to stick to the boundaries, because to be honest I was one of those kids who raised their hand that night. I wish my parents had stuck to their guns. They had WAY to much trust in me. What a mistake! It is not about trusting your kids; it's about NOT trusting the world!

Just some thoughts,
MEL

Taking it to Him Tuesday's: The Power of Prayer (please share your stories).

Okay, so as you all know I did a fast yesterday on behalf of my kids. Thank you so much for your prayers. I did great until dinner time, then I started to get hungry. But don't worry I saw it through to the end, and first thing this morning I ate.

I decided to do the fast because in my concern for my kids I could not stop thinking about the deep anguish David felt in 2 Samuel 12, when Nathan told him that because of his sin the son he and Bathsheba conceived would die. In his anguish he fasted for days, so I decided to do the same. Unfortunitly for David his son still died, but after that he and Bathsheba concieved Solomon whom is says the Lord loved. That of course is evident in how blessed Solomon was. I have faith that God will her my prayers and bless us far more abundantly that I could ever ask or imagine, even if it is not how I expect him to answer them.

Anyway I wanted to hear from you your stories about how God has answered you prayers far more than you asked or imagined (Ephesians 3:20).

I'll share one story about our local radio station KSBJ; yesterday they held a telethone for Haiti. It was their prayer that they would raise 50,000. They had raised about 700%  of that the last time I tuned in; that's 350,000! Wow, God is great!

MEL

Motivated Mommy Monday's: Ending Generational Sin

I have to go pick my kids up from their Nana's, so I will try to keep this short.

Last night a call from Josh's mom about an incident that happened with our kids got me thinking about generational sin. We all have those family sins that seem to carry on from one generation to the next. What is your family sin? For some it is pride, for some it is sexual immorality, for some it is greed, for some it is anger, the list goes on and on. Whatever it is, I am sure if you are like me you cringe at any possible sign of it in your children's lives.

I am so afraid for my kids to be inhabited by our generational sins that on numerous occasions I have sat in their room and prayed over them as they slept. I prayed that our generational sins would end with Josh and me and that our kids would never know their enslaving power. But with one phone call I realized we have not done enough to protect our kids from this sin. We have to do more, but what? Josh and I are honestly at a loss for how to deal with this. First, because our kids are at an age where they really do not understand why this is so bad, we know that scolding is not the answer. However, merely talking with them about it is not enough. So, we have decided to take it to God in a more serious urgent way: we are fasting today.

We need direction about how to handle this and we want to show God we are committed to ending this sin with us (it's been a struggle in both of our families). So, I am asking for your prayers today. Please pray we have the strength to follow this through today. My husband becomes very cranky when he does not eat and he often gets headaches from skipping a meal.

I am also wondering if you might need prayer over a generational sin. If so please share in the comments, even if it is just an unspoken. I would love to pray for you today.

MEL

Motivated Mommy Monday's: Kids who Clean? Say what??????

That's right @ 2 and 4 my kids clean. As a neat FREAK it has always been important to me that they pick up after themselves, so that's where we started. When they were babies I would make them put away their toys after playing. Then, when they started walking I made them put their dirty dishes in the sink after eating, and their dirty clothes in the hamper when they changed, I even made them walk their dirty diapers to the trash, and get a new diaper out. For a long time those where the only chores I made them do. But as my daughter (the 2 year old) gets older I have started to think more about how to prepare her to fulfill her roles of helpmate/wife and mother. Last week Mandi over at Capitol Heights Mommy wrote a great post about the importance of training our daughters for this role, you should definitely go check it out.

I feel very convicted to raise children who understand the roles God calls them to as men and women. I feel like too many of today's CHRISTIAN marriages fail because of this very reason. Statistically, the divorce rate among Christians is 53%, that's about 3% HIGHER than the national average. I believe that PART of the reason more Christian marriages fail is because as Christians we go into marriage expecting that our spouse is going to fulfill their God give role in the marriage. However, because of the society that we live in few of us actually know how to do this. Instead, we follow the world's pattern for men and women and in a Christian marriage (any marriage for that matter) this can be disastrous! In my own marriage it has been a struggle. Those of you who know my husband and I are probably laughing because you know exactly what I mean when I say that. Josh tends to be more laid back and finds it hard to take the leadership/decision making role on and well I am definitely a strong-willed natural born leader who finds it hard to submit/serve. For a long time we struggled to accept our roles as God designed them and the result was a LOT of conflict. In the last couple of years we have really turned things around, but it was/is not easy. That's why I am determined to raise kids who not only understand their roles but fulfill them!

For me that means raising a daughter who is not only loving, respectful and submissive, but who is also able to run her household like the Proverbs 31 woman. I want her husband to have confidence in her ability to do so. It also means raising a son who is not only the spiritual leader of his home but works hard and loves like Christ. Christ who lead by example; who though he was worthy of service, came not to be served but to serve others. That is why I find it so important to teach Cherish to keep a clean house and Jeremiah to see a need and meet it.

I know that it would be much easier and less time consuming to just do it yourself but we need to remember that as Christian mothers we have a responsibility to not just keep a clean house for our family but to train our kids in the way they should go. I also cannot stress the added benefits; first it is a great way to spend time together. We try to have fun with it by making games out of cleaning, which I think has in turn taught them to find joy in serving.  Another, great benefit is that as they get better at these things my "job" gets easier, Woo Hoo! The greatest benefit is raising kids who glorify God by fulfilling the roles he has called them to.

So, here are a few examples of ways I am training my kids:

1. They help with the laundry.

• By putting their clothes in the hamper when they are dirty.
• By helping me separate all the clothes when it comes time to do the laundry. 
• By pulling the clothes out of the dryer.
• By mating socks.
• By helping putting away drawer clothes.

2. They do the dishes.

• By putting the dirty dishes in the sink.
• By pulling their chairs up to the kitchen sink and helping wash their plates, utensils, cups and snack bowls (don't worry they never wash knives and they are always supervised). 
• They also have a play kitchen that they pretend to cook in. When we bought the kitchen for our daughter @ Christmas we also bought her a play cleaning set so that she could learn how to keep her kitchen clean. It includes a broom, hand broom, dust pan, mop, hand held vacuum (which actually works), a duster, 2 sponges, 3 spray bottles and a cleaning apron.

3. They clean their room.

• They pick up their toys. I have them organized in a way that makes it easy for them. We have bins for all the small toys; balls, action figures, cars, blocks, etc. 
• They make their beds.
• They put away laundry (dirty and clean).

4. They help clean the bathroom (don't worry I use organic cleaners, there's no harm to their health).

• They use baby wipes or rags and spray bottles full of warm water to clean the counters and the toilets usually after I have already cleaned them.
•  They help sweep and mop the floors.
• They put their toys away after they bathe.

5. They help take out the trash.

6. Jeremiah has tons of play tools and lawn equipment to teach him to learn how to serve in these areas.

I know it sounds like a lot but I assure you they do not do these things everyday. The only things they are required to do daily are pick up their toys (including bath toys), put their dirty dishes in the sink and their dirty laundry in the hamper. The other things are just ways they occasionally help, they usually only do one or two of these a week. The idea is not to make them our slaves or rob them of their childhood but to prepare them for life. And no we do not pay them an allowance for doing these things, we feel like it is their contribution to the family and they should do it for that reason.

If anyone else wants to share ways to get your kids to contribute please do so. I would love to hear your ideas and see if I can incorporate them into our household.

Finally, I am NOT implying that the God given roles to men and women prohibit us form doing anything outside of what I described. I am simply saying that no matter what else we do with our lives as men and women we are required to fulfill certain responsibilities. Men are to be the spiritual leaders of the household even if they are not the primary breadwinners and women are to be homemakers even if they work outside the home.


Just some thoughts,

MEL

My First Award

Yay! I got my very first award. Mandi from Capitol Heights Mommy graciously chose me for the Best Blog Award! Thank you so much Mandi! I love your blog too.

The Rules for Accepting This Award:

1. To accept this award you must post it on your blog with the name and a link to the person who gave it to you.
2. Pass on the award to about 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are great!

3. Contact the other bloggers and let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Okay, so Mandi actually gave me this award a couple of weeks ago but @ that time I really had not been blogging long enough to pass the award on to more than four blogs. However, since then I have come across some really great blogs.

So here are my 15 Bloggers:

• Sharing the Pages of Life
• Coffee, God and Me
• Beautiful Mess
• Women Living Well
• A Pretty Cool Life
• Tatertots and Jello
• Seven Clown Circus
• Wenderful 365
• Coming Clean
• The Eco-Cheap Mom
• Adventures in Diapering and Beyond
• Pixel Perfect
• Ordinary Inspirations
• Domestic Niche
• Lil Blue Boo

Enjoy,

MEL

Thursday's in His Tent: Getting to Know the Creator

I almost took the day off from the blogging world, because I'm a little worn out. Unfortunately, I had to take my husband to the airport in the wee hours of the morning and I've been busy every since. However, I just COULD NOT let that keep me from sharing the GLIMPSE of God I got this morning. Oh, and Thursday's are probably my favorite day to blog because they are all about my first love. So, let's get started:

This morning after I read a few chapters in James I decided to read a little out of "Jesus Drives Me Crazy" by Leonard Sweet (I absolutely love it!). One of the sections I read touched on how creative God must be to have made everyone of us unique. It got me thinking about how no two of us are alike, not even close. I mean it's not like there are only one or two differences between me and someone else out there, no there are tons!

I remember when I was growing up I was so desperate to find a "best-friend," someone just like me. Incredibly, I never found that friend (I had a lot of good friends but no one just like me), at least not where I was looking. I did eventually meet him when I was 14, I call him Friend or Jesus or God, etc. Ironically, I never found the kind of best-friend I was looking for because God never made her. No one on earth is like me, NO ONE.

There are a lot of people out there with similar looks, similar views, similar backgrounds, similar likes and similar dislikes, but still NO ONE just like me. Ha, I'M UNIQUE!! And so are you! Think about how incredibly intrinsic God must be to have made each of us so unique. I mean I like to think I'm pretty creative but my creativity is nothing compared to Gods. It's not even close, not even on the same scale. After all, he thought everything into being, out of NOTHING. Oh but it doesn't stop there, not only did he create everything different and unique but he created it so that it all works together for a purpose. How? How does he make it all work?

Do you think we can ever grasp all that he is? I mean when we get to heaven we will see him for ourselves and it will bring us to our knees. But even then, do you think we will really grasp all that he is? Or will we spend the rest of eternity trying to?

Just a glimpse,

MEL

Wedded Wednesday's: Finding Time Together when Life is Chaotic.

I write today's post as my husband is driving home from Fort Worth. Though it was only a day trip I know it made for a long day for Josh, which means he is going to want to head to bed early tonight. He should get home sometime after 6 P.M., maybe later if he decides to swing by the office to pick supplies for tomorrow's job. Oh yeah, did I mention he is flying to Los Angeles at 7:30 in the morning, another reason he will want to go to bed early. Ironically, Wednesday's are my busiest days of the week, especially Wednesday evenings.  Let's just say write now I'm running back and forth between cooking dinner, monitoring my son as he washes the lunch dishes, fixing my hair, and writing this post (yeah that's right my four year old does the dishes, it's only a few plates, a pizza pan and some snack bowls, but I'll save that for a motivated mommy post), .

You might ask why I would be trying to cram all of these things in at one time. The answer is simple, my son has to be at AWANA's at 6:30 and when I get back from dropping him off my husband should be home. So, my goal is to have everything that needs to be done finish when he gets home, that way I can devote my time to him. See that's what this post is all about, when life is crazy you either drop some things or make sacrifices for each other. My sacrifice is rearranging my schedule to make life even crazier right now, so that I can help my hubby pack in about an hour. That's okay though, because hopefully it pays off and we'll get to relax together afterwards.

What sacrifices will you make to ensure you have some much needed couple time? Let's face it, if it's not right now at some point life will be busy, will you be prepared to do what it takes to maintain a relationship with your spouse? After all, when life is busy that's when we need one another the most.

Just some thoughts,
MEL