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Winning Words Wednesday: Change Ahead

I started this blog a year ago on my daughter's 5th birthday. Recently, we celebrated her 6th birthday and my one year "Blogaversary" (blogging anniversary), which occurred quietly and under the radar. This blogging process has been such a fun journey and a wonderful learning experience. It's been one of my favorite hobbies over the past year. During the last month or so, I've been thinking about a way to celebrate this blogging milestone. The word CHANGE came to mind. Often time change is met with resistance and uncertainty. But this time, I welcomed change with open arms.

While blogging remains a hobby, I've decided to give my blog a fresh new look and a new home.Yikes! Well, maybe there IS still uncertainty and my arms may not be opened that wide, but it's open just wide enough to embrace this change. Over the next week or so, I'll be migrating to a WordPress platform. I was told that it may be better for my blog in the long run. (Only time will tell). But for now it's a scary thought.  Because of this blog, I've connected with so many readers, blogs and the people behind the blogs. The thought of building my readership and blog following while learning to navigate WordPress a  is a little daunting, but I enjoy blogging so much that I'm up for the challenge. I hope that when the time comes, you'll join my site, subscribe and follow. PLEASE STAY TUNED!

How have you received change? Have you ever migrated your blog to a different platform or had to start over? How was the process for you?

Complete Obedience

The other day while I was cleaning up the house, my daughter was playing with her toys in the living room. I asked her to turn off the TV and take her toys into her room. I continued cleaning in other areas to give her time to move her things. About 30 minutes later, I went back to the living room and the TV was off, but she was still playing with her toys all over the floor. Disappointed, we had the following exchange:

Me: Did you hear me ask you to turn off the TV and put your toys in your room? Her: Yes. Me: Then why did you disobey me? Her: But Mommy, I obeyed the part about turning off the TV. Me: You have to obey right away and all the way.

How many of you have had similar conversations with your children? It made me think about our relationship with God in terms of delayed and/or partial obedience. In this post, I'm going to talk about partial obedience.  How many times do we disobey God, by choosing to only partially obey his commandments. When God told Noah to build the ark; despite the fact that Noah had never seen rain, despite the ridicule and mocking that he endured from his entire community, Noah diligently and completely obeyed God's instructions. He continued to build the ark while he warned the people for 120 years that there would be a flood. Genesis 6:22 says "So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him." He was in complete obedience to God's word. And as a result "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Gen 6:8". His obedience and faithfulness pleased God.

I believe that partial obedience to God is still disobedience. I want to obey God fully and wholeheartedly. I want my life to bring pleasure to God. Let's not pick and choose to obey only the things that are convenient or easy for us. It may be easy for us to love our friends, but we are required to love our enemies also. In fact, the word of God says we should pray for them, bless them and do good to them (Matt 5:44). It sounds like a lot, but sometimes complete obedience requires sacrifice. 

What can you do this week to be in complete obedience to God? In what ways will you make Him smile?

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16

Empty Spaces: Guest Post

Today we have a special guest. I'm so honored that Chris Carter, from The Mom Cafe is sharing her thoughts with us. If you missed the post where I doted about how wonderful a person she is and how inspiring her writings are, you can check it out HERE. Today, she shares her heart. I've been blessed by the message and I hope that you will also be encouraged to fill those empty spaces in our lives.

Empty Spaces

In our day-to-day living, there are empty spaces.  Those moments we are stuck at life’s stop sign, and we let our thoughts ramble on inside our minds carelessly, aimlessly.  We can be sitting in the car with a traffic standstill, waiting in line at the school pick up or at the grocery store, to name a few.  In the office or at home, there is so much wasted “empty space.”  I like to call it that because the moments when I can’t “do something”, I become restless and distract myself with thoughts that are not fruitful.  We all go about our days constantly scanning our “to do” list in our minds and wander anxiously onto the “next thing” we need to cross off that list.  We scurry in a hurry through each step of our day.  Stop and go.  Stop and go.  Stop and go…

Many, many moments are wasted on frivolous thoughts. 

Unintentional, yet unproductive.

I am convicted of this truth.

How many times do I wait in the car line pick up and think about my list of things to do or reflect on what I got done that day?

How many times do I huff and puff while standing in the long line at the store frustrated at all the time I am wasting and what I could be doing instead?

How many moments have I spent carelessly thinking about the lady in the weird hat or the adorable little child in the line at the P.O.?

What about those moments before a class starts when we play with our phone and wait to watch our little ones?

Perhaps we ponder our lists and mentally create more, while we are doing dishes, scrubbing the bathroom down or folding the laundry?

Oh the list goes on and on and on…

Empty spaces.

If you would add all those moments up in one day, you would be surprised how much time was wasted.

I have a new purpose for that time.

During this Lenten season, many people choose something to sacrifice in Honor of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for us.   It is the hope that this act will bring us closer to our Holy Father and deepen our faith.

What if we sacrifice our empty spaces for Him?

Each moment.  Each wasted moment can be used for precious prayer.  Seek His Presence in those empty spaces.  Draw Him near, my friend.  Transform those careless thoughts and fill yourself with His Grace, His Love, His Purpose.  And all those empty spaces will become full.

Full of what is Worthy and True.

Full of His Deep Abiding Love.

Full of Conviction and Discernment.

Full of Spirit and Deliverance.

Full of Focus and Richness.

Full of Light and Illumination.

Full of Forgiveness and Peace.

For this Lenten Season, I will sacrifice my empty spaces for Him.

I will fill those empty spaces with my heart, my mind, and my soul…

With Prayer.

Would you join me?

Chris is a wife and mother of two children. She has a passion for children and people. She loves connecting with people and enjoys investing her time and energy into deep relationships. Her hope is to touch lives any way she can and shine a little light in their world through her writing. 

To connect with Chris, visit her at The Mom Cafe.

Winning Words Wednesday: Don't Quit!

My winning words for this Wednesday are Don't Quit!

When I was a little girl, I memorized the first and last stanza of this poem. I read it in a book and immediately fell in love with it. I'm not sure why I was so intrigued by it. Maybe it was because growing up in a family of nine, the part of the poem "funds are low and debts are high" resonated to me. My parents didn't have a lot of debt, but feeding, clothing and providing for us wasn't always easy. What ever the reason, this poem has been ingrained in my psyche and deep rooted in the fibers of my being. Even when I get out of the line, I won't stay out for long.

I hope this will be two of your winning words this Wednesday. If it seems like you've hit a wall or a problem you're facing seems insurmountable, rest, if you must, but don't you quit. Be encouraged and stay strong. I will be praying for all of my readers this week. What ever you want God to do in your life, I'm believing with you. If you would like me to pray for a specific need, please send me an email on my contact page. And remember "So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit- it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!"

The other two stanzas of the poem are:

Life is queer with its twists and turns, 

As every one of us sometimes learns, 

And many a failure turns about, 

When he might have won had he stuck it out; 

Don't give up though the pace seems slow-- 

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than, 

It seems to a faint and faltering man, 

Often the straggler has given up, 

When he might have captured the victor's cup, 

And he learned too late when the night slipped down, 

How close he was to the golden crown.

Do you have a favorite song, poem or scripture that encourages you? Leave a comment below, I'd love to check it out.

12-12-12

Over the weekend our family traveled out of town to attend the funeral of a colleague and friend. The last two funerals I attended were that of my parents. While I sat in the church feeling a sense of loss and deep sadness for my colleague, I became overwhelmed with emotions as thoughts of my parents, especially my mom, overshadowed everything that was going on. I began to sob. I decided to revisit a post that was written over three months ago. It became increasingly painful to post especially with all of the excitement and celebration of the holiday season. So I delayed publishing it...until now.

~Written 12-12-12~

12-12-12 is a meaningful date mainly because its a once in a lifetime occurrence. According to numerologists, it is the last major numerical date using the Christian calender for almost another century. The next time three numbers will align is 01-01-3001.

For me, today, 12-12-12 marks 4 years since my mother passed away. I remember quietly pleading with God to let her recover and live. I felt like I wasn't ready for her to die. I felt like I still needed mom. I still had so many questions to ask her about marriage and raising kids. I had unanswered questions about her life. I remember watching her lay in her bed as life was leaving her body. I still remember the sights, the sounds, the the movements she made as she was transitioning from this life, to eternal life. I miss her all the time, especially during this time of year. (I type as the tears are falling.)

My mom had seven children. She had an opportunity to be "grandma" to all of her grandchildren except mine. I'm the youngest and was the last of my siblings to have children. I used to feel guilty for waiting so long to start a family. Then I felt cheated because my son is the only one of her 34 grandchildren that was born after her death. Now, there is a new generation of great-grandchildren who, like my son, will get to know mom by the legacy she's left behind.

The holiday season for me is always received with mixed feelings and bitter-sweet emotions. But I'll choose to focus on the treasured memories of a loving mother. I keep her memories alive to my children through videos, pictures and stories. I read her writings from her old bible and if I listen carefully its as though I can hear her voice speaking to me. Last May, I posted a special mother's day tribute  that describes the type of mother she was.

~Today~

I actually feel better about this post. I feel like a piece of me that was bottled up inside was released. It's as if the funeral I attended gave me an opportunity to grieve openly and freely. It didn't take away from sadness I felt for my colleague but it was a catalyst for my own catharsis.

What experience have ignited an opportunity for you to grieve, release, or let go of something that's been bottled up inside? Perhaps its a significant or unique date. I'd love you hear about it.

Little Miss Fashionista: Birthday Edition.

Today is my daughter's 6th Birthday! I can't believe that my first post was exactly one year ago on her 5th birthday about her birth.  She is a whole lot of things; articulate and smart, reads on a 3rd grade level, Very caring and fun, cries at the drop of a hat, uses her intellect to manipulate your words and make you feel guilty for punishing her (sorry, I got carried away). But today, I'm celebrating her creativity and sense of style. Yesterday's post celebrated her dad 's birthday (which is tomorrow).

She designed a "Wal-mart bag" swim suit and a basket turned wicker hat. She recruited her poor baby brother. I'm not sure of the look she was going for, but to me he looks like one of the wise men that brought gifts to baby Jesus.

She loves wearing her ballet outfits and trying out new combinations of clothing. Although she has never seen snow, she like to pretend like its snowing. She also enjoys dressing like  fairies and princesses (all of them). Thank God for the after Halloween costume sales.If you missed that post, you can check it out here.

Her fashion sense isn't limited to costumes. She also enjoys playing "dress up" in mommy and daddy's clothes and shoes.

I'm not quite sure where she got her sense of style, but her creativity has always been present since her toddler years. She is definitely a "fashionista" in the making. Recently she learned how  to pose and have been practicing her runway walk.  (A very funny sight to see).

Most of all, she loves being a princess. A beautiful, lovely, precious princess. Happy 6th Birthday!

 "Children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Psalm 127:3"

Do you have a junior "fashionista" or model in your home? What is the craziest outfit they "designed" or modeled ?