True Forever Friends are a Gift
True forever friends are a gift.
Yesterday, my dear friends were telling a bit of their present day “transition story”. They shared this devotional in a group setting, where we had gathered for a Gogo Grandmothers Board Meeting. I have not stopped thinking about this over the past 24 hours because it challenged me to look more closely at my own life. When trustworthy friends speak life into me I have learned to STOP AND LISTEN!!!
Here is a paraphrase of the devotional they read from, called Streams in the Desert. “After He has gathered His own flock (When He puts forth all His own), He walks ahead of them, and they follow Him because they know his voice.” John 10:4
It would not be conducive to our true welfare to always stay in one happy and comfortable place. He therefore “puts us forth” (gathers us up and goes ahead of us). It could not be BETTER to stay when He determines otherwise, and if the loving hand of God “puts us forth”, it must be well. He goes before us. Whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him. Faith’s eye can always discern His majestic presence in front and when that can not be seen, it is dangerous to move forward. The Savior has tried for Himself all the experiences through which He asks you to pass; and He would not ask you to pass through them unless He was sure that they were not too difficult for your feet, or too trying for your strength. This is the Blessed life-not anxious to see far in front, nor careful about the next step, not eager to choose the path, nor weighted with heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following behind the Shepherd, one step at a time.…
Read MoreShow YOU Some Love!
I just love this time of year. Spirits are high. There is HOPE as we prepare for a new year with new goals.
Want to know a secret to make it last? Show YOU some love.
That’s right! Celebrate your strengths! Celebrate your relationships. Celebrate your efforts. Celebrate YOU!!!!
You are fearfully and wonderfully made by the God of the universe. Yes, YOU!! Praise the LORD!!! He made you, so don’t you think YOU deserve to be loved and cared for? “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14
Here are a few important ways to show YOU love:
Take care of your body. Fuel it right, and get moving!
Do things you love. EVERY DAY!
Rest. Your body needs time to recoup. Pick a favorite way to find peace and rest in each day.
Love others! Give back. Serve. Be a light in someone else’s life. Be the person that smiles and tells them they are beautiful.
Tell yourself you are beautiful. Remember that verse? You are fearfully and wonderfully made!
Spend time in the WORD. Fill your heart and mind with God’s truths.
Build relationships. Be with other people. Especially other people that lift you up!
Sing, Dance, and LAUGH. It is good for the soul.
What are your favorite ways to take care of YOU? How do you show love to that beautiful amazing self?
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Celebrate the Wins!
We are a few weeks into the new year… how are you doing? Are you focusing on the things you weren’t able to keep up? Or are you able to keep going one day at a time with your focus straight ahead? Regardless of where you were yesterday, today is a new day. Don’t let a few setbacks get you down. Don’t focus on the things you haven’t done. Celebrate your wins. Focus on the steps you have taken. Give yourself a breath of fresh air and take one step. But you have to give yourself that freedom to see the good things. Celebrating your wins keep you motivated and positive towards the bigger goals. Yes there may be setbacks, but don’t let the negative take over. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn” How are you going to live your life?
Some benefits of celebrating wins:
- Acknowledge steps in the right direction
- Builds energy and motivation
- Inspires
- Positive outlook
- Gives you a mental break from routine
- Creates a winning culture
- Helps you love yourself for the good
So keep going. Look at how far you have gotten today, not how far you still have to go. Love yourself for where you are today and look forward to continuing to work towards your goals.
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Deals, Deals, Deals
We love to find a bargain!! Any deal we find, we love to share with our family and friends! In this new year, I am going to be sharing more deals and discounts from some of our favorite stores such as Buy Buy Baby, Target, Sprouts and more!
In just a few days, Babies “R” Us is having their…
GREAT TRADE-IN GEAR & FURNITURE EVENT!
Starting on January 20th, turn in an old piece of baby gear or furniture and get a 25% coupon to use on a new piece of gear and furniture! If you’re a Rewards ‘R’ Us Member, you can take advantage of this event TODAY!
Find the extensive list of items for this event here.
When we were getting ready for our Baby Girl, we were able to take advantage of this event. We turned in an old pack n play to get one of our favorite and most used (and most recommended!) items: The 4MOM Playard
I will be reviewing this item in a later post but with this event we were able to save $75 on it!! When we turned in the pack n play, we got a 25% coupon to use on a new car seat, stroller, travel system, high chair, placard, bassinet, swing, and more!
It does not matter how old the gear or furniture is, or even if its broken!
AND, if you have an “R” Us Credit Card, you can get 30% OFF of your new item!
Not only did we love our 4MOMS Playard, but this little one did too 🙂
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Soul Clutter (de-clutter your soul and give a gift to those you Love)
We all know about the stuff we leave on the counter, intending to put away later. We all have articles of clothing and multiple pairs of shoes that we never wear. Our closets are jammed, our kitchen cupboards are overflowing and we keep things that we haven’t used or looked at for years. It’s our clutter. This is the same way that clutter comes into our mind and our souls. Soul clutter is the stuff that we shove down thinking we will attend to later. Soul clutter affects my priorities. It clogs up my thinking, causing me to become self-focused, overly critical and self condemning.
Last week when I posted about de-cluttering my life I was focused on the task of reorganizing and sorting through my physical stuff. But as I have continued to work on my New Year’s project of de-cluttering my home I have been thinking a lot about how easily my clutter effects more than my physical surroundings. Being disorganized can affect my closest personal relationships. So I started thinking this week about “Soul Clutter” Is my stuff altering my priorities? Do I spend more time taking care of my stuff than taking care of the needs of those I love? I my stuff clogging up my ability to think and plan and maintain a balanced schedule? Do I neglect my own emotional and spiritual needs and those of my loved ones when my life is full of clutter?
I will do whatever it takes to be the healthiest me I can be so I can truly LOVE these blessings!!!
Soul clutter can be a by-product of my physical clutter. When we keep too much stuff and do not give it away it may be because we have fear, guilt or shame.
Fear asks, “what if I …
Fail. Learn. Grow.
We fail. It’s part of our nature. Part of learning. Sometimes we fail small. Mostly, we fail big.
Maybe you are failing at something right now. I know I am.
But here’s the secret:
It’s only FAILURE if we give up.
Are we going to choose to learn and grow from a fail, or do we let it define us? When you are defined by a fail–that’s FAILURE.
It’s a few weeks into 2017 and chances are you aren’t living up to all your expectations. Maybe you’ve already failed at a few of your resolutions/goals. I’m here to encourage you. I’m here to tell you to keep moving forward.
Failing is part of the journey. When you go big, there are more opportunities to fail, but there are also so many opportunities to GROW.
“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
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Diapers Diapers and More
As a new mom, I feel like I have spent countless hours changing diapers, ALREADY! So today, I wanted to write a few things I have learned as necessities to changing diapers, and feature my sons changing table, which actually turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!
I absolutely love my changing pad. Thanks to Iviebaby! @iviebaby. I found something to go with my theme and couldn’t resist!! I bought my changing table from a friend and the matching bins at Target. They fit perfectly. I put diapers, wipes, and burp rags in the bins. On my shelf I have some creams, diaper cream, toys, thermometer, tylenol, pacifiers, wipes. And of course I bought the jars at Target too. and pardon the overflowing trash… (that’s real life right??)
When Changing Diaper
- Put new diaper underneath
- Lift baby legs
- Cover (if you have a boy)
- Wipe front to back
- Have a diaper pail close by (empty regularly)
Necessities at Changing Table
- Changing pad
- Extra pad on top of changing pad (helps when things get messy)
- Diapers
- Easy access wipes (one-handed)
- Diaper cream (I like using coconut oil or lanolin)
- Toy to distract baby
- Extra trash can
Those first couple weeks are intense! Warnings to new moms, you probably will get peed, on pooped on, and feel like that is all you are doing. It gets better, well a little bit. But then its gets smellier… and we won’t go into blowouts… Good luck everyone!
P.S. More info on nursery to come
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Focus on Something Small
At the beginning of a new year, many people will set resolutions of different goals they want to accomplish throughout the year. Sometimes these goals are small, sometimes they are big; but all require focus and determination.
For the last six months, my biggest focus and struggle has been figuring out how to get Sophie to nap. She has been the happiest baby, except when I leave her in her crib. So, it has been months of trying different strategies and tactics to get her to nap in her crib, most of which have ended up in me carrying her around in my Tula Baby Carrier just so she would get some rest. This has been very discouraging.
With the new year arriving, I stepped back from the situation to figure out what I could control in what felt like a very out of control situation. I realized that I could control putting her down in her crib. After months of trying, it became easier to just put her in the Tula – skip the screaming, skip what felt like false hope every time there was silence which was really when she stopped screaming to take a breath, skip the discouragement just so she would get the rest she needed to grow and develop. However, I knew that this was not helping the situation in the long run. Here are some pictures from our “Napping Adventure”…
So, this became my goal – put Sophie down in her crib for both of her naps and continue throughout the week no matter the result. There were a few successes and there were a lot of “failures”; out of 14 attempts, she fell asleep two or three times on her own. But, when it came down to it, I accomplished my goal! Now, …
Read MoreLet’s De-Clutter in 2017
My life is FULL of treasures!!
I love my family. I love photographs and I love children’s art. I am a mom that hangs every school art project that my girls have ever brought home to me on my walls and on my refrigerator. And now the next generation of budding artists, my grandchildren) have begun to mail me incredibly adorable drawings to decorate my kitchen.
I love antiques. My parents collected antiques and passed many beautiful pieces of Pennsylvania Dutch furniture and decorative brass and pewter items to me. My husband and I continued collecting antiques when we lived on the East Coast.
I love books. I love to read and my husband and I both love to learn so we have a huge collection of resource books, travel books and bible study books. I began to read to my girls when they were very young because I also love children’s books.
I love to cook. I collect cookbooks and recipes and kitchen tools. I was the blessed recipient of all my grandmother’s hand-me–down kitchen stuff and I have loved and used every baking dish, platter and utensil.
I also love to do any and every kind of arts and craft and I love to sew……..
Here is the problem…..I do not like to waste anything and I always believe there will be a use for anything leftover….leftover food goes in the freezer, leftover craft materials go into stacking bins for the next project or for when the grandkids come to Gammie day camp. Material leftover from a sewing project can be used for quilts or lining baskets for gifts. So the bigger problem is that I now have a clutter problem.
For the past three weeks I have been sorting boxes and packing boxes and working around the …
Read MoreSmall Changes, Big Results
This year I am focused on progress. I love that quote, “Progress, not perfection.” This is the year of looking at my life, my journey (not comparing myself to others) and making small changes, big results.
There are too many opportunities to compare or set ourselves up for failure with unattainable goals or unspecific resolutions. “I want to be a better mom” means nothing without an action plan. A clear definition of what “better” looks like, for me being more PRESENT can be achieved with action steps.
Last week I started a new habit. I made a small change to wake up extra early and do devotions and my workout in the morning before the girls wake up.
When I evaluated my daily habits, I realized I do so much to be home with the girls: balancing passions/teaching/working/etc, but I wasn’t really THERE. Do you know what I mean? I felt like I was saying, ” not right now,” “after I finish this,” “after my workout,” TOO MUCH and I wanted to be more fully present.
Instead I want to say:
“Yes, I can play with you.
Yes, let’s color.
Yes, we can go to the park.”
It’s hasn’t been easy making this change, but I’m LOVING IT. Not only do I feel more present, but I have way more energy in the morning and I’m having FUN!!
This week we made 2 play dates after school, something before I was less willing to do because I NEEDED that nap time for a break and time for me. Now, with this new schedule, I’ve had time for me and I can focus more on quality time for the girls.
I encourage you to do the same. Look at your life/day/habits currently. What is one area you need to work on?