5/1/09 Mothers, Doing Right, Potato Salad, Wedding, Dehydration, Journey of Life, Grandparents
Posted by: jhbreneman <jhbreneman@...>
ENCOURAGEMENT TO WOMEN
Compiled especially for you with love by Lois Breneman
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MOTHERS ARE PEOPLE
MOMS ARE MADE THAT WAY
MOTHER'S PRAYER
HOW TO PREVENT DEHYDRATION DURING ILLNESS
THAT WONDERFUL, DAZZLING, DANGEROUS JOURNEY OF LIFE
A SWEET PRAYER FOR BABY DEDICATION
Author unknown
Like breakfast or lunch or a snack:
Dexterous people who hook things
With buttons or zip up the back.
MOTHERS are people who blow things,
Balloons and kisses and noses;
Green thumbish people who grow things
Like ivy and puppies and roses.
MOTHERS are people who send things
Like letters and strawberry tarts;
Magical people who mend things
Like blue jeans and elbows and hearts.
MOTHERS are people who find things
Like mittens and homework and germs;
Fussbudget people who mind things
Like cusswords and snowballs and worms.
MOTHERS are people who sweep things
Like porches and cobwebs and rugs;
Softhearted people who keep things
Like artwork, report cards and hugs.
MOTHERS are people who nurse things,
A boy or a girl or a spouse,
And all in all there are worse things
Than MOTHERS to have in your house.
(c) MMVI Dr. Vicki Panaccione & Better Parenting Institute - Used by permission
You try to set a good example for your children. Children learn by example. So, how you live your life, is the way they will learn to live theirs. When you take care of yourself, act responsibly, follow the rules, show affection, and be honest and trustworthy (and a million other things you do each day), your children are learning how to conduct themselves.
You teach morals and values. In your desire for your children to grow up to be responsible, caring, loving, trustworthy, moral adults, you teach them right from wrong, and hold them accountable for their own actions.
You foster independence. Children need to gradually take over more and more responsibility for themselves; and you, in turn, are gradually backing away more and more. If you do your job well, you will actually work your way out of a job! That would mean you have raised your children to be independent adults. Then you will have been truly successful.
You discipline constructively. Discipline is actually defined as, training that develops self-control. So, you hold your children accountable for their actions, teaching standards of behavior. When difficulty with self-control arises, you step in and provide appropriate consequences for the infractions.
You set realistic expectations. Its a balancing act when encouraging them to do their best, while being sensitive to their limitations. You reevaluate your expectations as they mature and develop greater abilities.
You value education. Showing an interest in what your children are learning, and how well they are doing, conveys a sense of importance about learning. Maintaining contact with the school also shows interest and active involvement in the goings-on of your childrens academic lives.
You spend time together. Whether its eating dinner, reading a bedtime story, watching a movie, playing a game, cooking, folding laundry, shopping or going on an outing, working and playing together builds a sense of belonging, community and connectedness. Being there for your children provides security and trust.
You express support. Your children need to know that you are proud of them. You praise their efforts and applaud their accomplishments. You beam with pride at their school plays, concerts, ball games and spelling bees. You show your children your support by being their biggest fan, and all-time cheerleader.
You show affection. Hug, kiss and cuddle your children for as long as they will allow. And when they get too old for mushy stuff, you look for other ways to stay connected, such as a gentle touch, a squeeze of the hand, an arm around the shoulder, etc.
And most importantly, you love your children unconditionally. This affirms your children and shows them they are valued and will always be loved no matter what! Loving gives them a sense of security and a strong foundation that they can depend upon as they venture out into the world.
And at the end of each day, I encourage you to stop and think about not went wrong or what you didnt get done. Instead, think about what you did right---and pat yourself on the back!
(c) MMVI Dr. Vicki Panaccione & Better Parenting Institute - Dr. Vickis Top 10 Parenting Series! Week #1 -http://www.BetterParentingInstitute.com - 600 E. Strawbridge Avenue, Suite 300, Melbourne, FL 32901 - Dr. Vicki is going to be offering parenting tips in a free ebook for getting on her mailing list. Vicki F. Panaccione, the Parenting Professor - PhD Licensed Psychologist - Founder, Better Parenting Institute - http://www.BetterParentingInstitute.com - [email protected] - Dr. Vicki's articles are applicable to parents from all walks of like, and are not written specifically for the Christian parent. - Used by permission
MOMS ARE MADE THAT WAY
Writer: Mary Rice Hopkins - BIG STEPS 4 U - Copyright: © 1989 Big Steps 4 U (admin. by Music Services) All Rights Reserved. ASCAP - Used by permission - Song is from the CD, "Sing through the Year," which has a song for every holiday and a cute dad's song. These are also available on I-tunes a song at a time if they are interested - 818.790.5805 office
They come in all shapes and sizes
They're full of lots of surprises
But somehow they are the wisest
'Cause moms are made that way
Though she's not perfect, she's gentle and kind
She looks inside me time after time
'Cause moms have eyes that can see anything
So I never hide when she calls out my name
So thank you, mom, thank you
Thank you, mom
Will I be like her when I'm grown?
A taxi cab driver, I need a phone
Moms are all different in each home
Moms are made that way
Moms do more than their share
Sometimes it just doesn't seem fair
But if you need someone who really cares
Moms are made that way
I think God made moms that way
MOTHER'S PRAYER
Writer: Mary Rice Hopkins - BIG STEPS 4 U - © 1997 Big Steps 4 U (admin. by Music Services) All Rights Reserved. ASCAP - Used by permission - From the CD, "Juggling Mom" - http://www.maryricehopkins.com 818.790.5805 office
If you ask me what my momma did
How she got by, how she lived
From a child I can smile and say
She prayed, she prayed
Oh a simple ordinary wife
Down the hall I could hear her at night
All alone at the end of a day
She prayed, she prayed
Chorus:
Oh nothing compares to a mother's prayer
Bringing her children to Him
When life is uncertain and your heart is hurtin'
Oh God will meet us there
Just like a mother's prayer
Once there was a very young girl
Who became mother to the King of this world
Overwhelmed she was faithful each day
She prayed, she prayed
And when God said "You will bear a Son"
Mary's song sang of what He had done
And when He died on a cross
She cried and prayed, she prayed
(Repeat Chorus)
Well now my life goes on
My mom's a grandma, well now I'm a mom
And I hold my children close every day
And I pray, I still pray
'Cause if you ask me what my momma did
How she got by, how she lived
From a child I can smile and say
She prayed, she prayed
By Lois Breneman, © 2009, Heart to Heart Newsletter, [email protected]
By Laura Coble - Used by permission
For me, this year has been the Year of the Wedding. My own wedding was on January 3rd, and I have 6 more friends marching up the aisle sometime during this year.
As I listen to my soon-to-be-married friends talk with fervor and frenzy about their upcoming weddings, I cant help but to breathe a sigh of relief that my own wedding has been successfully completed. While I loved playing princess for a day, my blood pressure still jumps when I look at my leftover wedding decorations and remember the panic of searching Michaels for the prettiest, loveliest, cutest, dreamiest, and of course, cheapest decorations that would create a winter wonderland for a winsome wedding.
Most of my panic came from price tags. Thank goodness for Michaels Sunday paper coupon for 50% off ANY product in the store. Perhaps some of you are feeling a bit of that panic that accompanies the price tag for weddings. Its not just decorations its the cake, the caterer, the dress, the photographer, the jewelry, the reception hall and its not just paying for the sundry essentials of a wedding, its choosing which dress, which caterer, which cake, which song to play for the bridesmaids.
While I cant say as Ive had a lot of experience with weddings, I did plan my own wedding, and for any of you who are planning a wedding, will be planning a wedding, or are friends of a panicked bride, here are some of the lessons I learned along the way.
1. Pick a budget. A wedding can be planned on ANY budget. My budget was pretty tiny compared to some people who spend $10,000 plus on a wedding. Rest assured, it is possible to have a lovely wedding on less, even if it is just $1000. As you pick your budget, pray and ask God to stretch each dollar.
2. Be flexible. A lot of girls are determined to have the perfect dress, the most inspiring cake, the dreamiest location. But many of these things come at a significant expense. When I was picking out my dress, I looked on the $200 dollar sale rack at a wedding dress store and said, This rack may not have the dress I always dreamed of, but I can find a dress that I like. This thought process saved me many tears when what I wanted wasnt available for a reasonable price.
3. Plan Ahead. Many brides get lost in the decision making process. While they have dreamt about their wedding all their lives, few have actually thought about what they would like to have in a wedding (other than a prince charming). If you start gathering ideas now, you will save a lot of brain cells when it comes to making decisions over which song to walk down the aisle to or what to do during the reception.
Dont despair! Planning a wedding can be overwhelming, but the one thought that encouraged me along the way was that ultimately, all that mattered was for Brandon and I to say our vows, even if everything else fell apart, if we walked away married, then we were successful.
For more advice and encouragement on wedding planning, please visit my blog at http://www.teabreakconnection.wordpress.com
Guess How Much I Love You Card A very simple card to make that will get a big smile from Mom.
Make Some Paper Flowers from tissue paper
How to Make a Mexican Paper Flower
Hawaiian Flower Lei Make a Hawaiian flower lei from paper, drinking straws and yarn.
Shadow Pictures (school-age) Make a gift for mom
Spring is here and for many of us that means spring cleaning! Today's tips are meant to help you make cleaning easier.
- If you have old linens that have yellowed, turned brown or are dingy, soak them in buttermilk or sour milk to brighten them and remove some of the stains. This works especially well for items like quilts or old doilies that you don't want to use anything harsh on.
- Soak colored cottons overnight in salt water to reduce fading of the colors.
- If you get a build up of spray starch or fusible web on the sole plate of your iron, just run it over a dryer sheet to clean it off.
- Keep a toothbrush by your kitchen sink to clean things like graters, choppers, mixer beaters and openers. You will be surprised how often you grab it to use on hard to clean places.
- Clean your coffee pot once in a while. Pour 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar into it and run it through as if you were making coffee. Repeat a couple of times using the same vinegar.
Pour 1/4 cup baking soda down your drain. Then pour the used vinegar from the coffee maker down the drain. Let it sit for a minute or so.
Next, pour 1-2 pots of water through the coffee maker to wash out the vinegar. When each pot of rinse water from the coffee maker is done, pour it into the drain. You now have a clean coffee pot and a clean drain.
- Take care of all your small appliances. It really does help them last longer.
- There is a little door on the bottom of your toaster that catches the crumbs. Open and clean out the crumbs once in a while. (UNPLUG THE TOASTER FIRST!)
- Wipe down your hand mixer after each use.
- Run your iron over a dryer sheet to remove anything gummy, including fusible web
-
Blow the dirt off of your fans, computers, or air purifiers. (You can buy cans of air for use with computers at office supply stores. These can be used to blow dirt off of other hard to clean items. I used to use an air compressor to blow the dirt off of house fans and grates.)
- There is a little door on the bottom of your toaster that catches the crumbs. Open and clean out the crumbs once in a while. (UNPLUG THE TOASTER FIRST!)
Ages: Adults and kids 2 and up
Looking for a fun way share family history and heritage? At your next get-together, allow your children to ask informative questions like those below. You'll be delighted by where the conversation takes you.
1. What is your favorite family story?
2. What is your earliest childhood memory?
3. Where were you on the day I was born?
4. Tell me something funny mom/dad did.
5. What was the biggest event in your life?
7. What was your favorite thing to do with mom/dad?
8. How do kids have it better today? How are things not as good?
9. Who were your heroes as a child?
- What was your room like at my age?
- What were your favorite foods?
- What were family meals like?
- What was your first day at school like?
- What was your favorite subject in school?
- What did you like to do after school?
- Who were your best friends?
- What did kids wear when you were my age?
- What were popular songs?
HOW TO PREVENT DEHYDRATION DURING ILLNESS
By Lois Breneman, © Revised 2009, Heart to Heart Newsletter, [email protected]
With a possible flu epidemic, something that may be of help to you, regarding dehydration is this. It isn't something modern medical doctors will advise you to do, but it is from an "old school" medical doctor and it does work. I hope this is helpful and will ease your mind as well.
When our first child was a baby, I asked our pediatrician if there might be anything that I could do to prevent my baby from dehydrating, in case of vomiting, diarrhea and being unable to keep down fluids. Dr. Roger Grady told me that I could use a bulb syringe, fill it with lukewarm water, put a little Vaseline on the tip, insert it into the child's rectum and slowly squeeze the ball of the syringe to release the water. He said to do that every half hour if there was any chance of dehydration.
He said it would not harm the baby either way, but could possibly save a baby's life. Dr. Grady said the baby would absorb that fluid and would have wet diapers, which would prove that the fluids were absorbed into the babys body. The good news is that the child would not dehydrate because of that precautionary measure. It gave me peace of mind to know there was something practical that I could do for my baby if that should happen. And even if not necessary, this simple procedure for dehydration would help release toxins from the body at a faster rate.
Dr. Grady also said that if a child had a fever, COLD water could be used every half hour to bring down the fever. I was so thankful for that piece of good common sense advice as well, and I pass it on to others every chance I get. Of course, this simple common sense method works for any age. For an older and larger person, two or three syringes-full could be used every half hour to prevent dehydration or bring down a fever.
THAT WONDERFUL, DAZZLING, DANGEROUS JOURNEY OF LIFE
By Bethany Hargett - Used by permission
(Note from Lois: Ladies, you may want to print this article for each of the special young people in your life. This is an excellent article from one of our "Heart to Heart" ladies! Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family has also written a powerful book entitled Life on the Edge which goes into even more detail for youth in choosing the right path for life during this crucial time. "When you stray from God's plan, you can have your "kicks," but you can't control the kickbacks for you or those you love!" Instead, why not camp on James 1:17 where we read, "Every good gift is from above." It would be wise to refocus on the One who promised to give you every good gift.)
Bethany's Introduction: This is written especially for one very special young person in my life, but is appropriate for all of you or for someone you may know. So I send it to you this early morning, after laboring much of the night, with love and concern for the pitfalls before you. This is for each young person in the family to have their own copy, if the parent so desires. Please, read, and consider deeply this parable of life.
You are not alone on your journey, although you do paddle your own canoe now. You have had your life greatly enriched by the earliest guides of your life. Although these guides are the earliest, and bear a great responsibility to you, and desire everything that is good and right for you, even they can lead astray if they lead without the guidance of the Great Guide.
The same is true of the other, more distant guides of your life. Some of these have passed in and out of your life, leaving a mark, but not staying there for long. Some have even been the earliest guides of your earliest guides. One or more are special guides that have, by reason of the value of the guidance they give, been given permission by your earliest guides to give detailed directions, and even warnings of the many pitfalls along your path of life. These special guides are dedicated to one thing, that of pointing you to the most important Guide of all. This is a Guide that never fails, that never lies, that never sleeps, and that never errs in judgment. This is the only Guide that will ultimately bring your journey to a successful end.
This Great Guide has entrusted you with a paper Guide with no beginning and no end, and with every answer for every perplexity you will ever face on your journey of life. What a treasure it is to have this, as many have had to paddle their canoe without this Guidebook that never fails. And there is another Guide, one that cannot be seen! This is an amazing one, and although it is there for all, few will ever receive it. It can never leave you once it is yours, and as long as you keep your own canoe free from mud, debris, pleasures, and the weight of possessions, you can hear this guide saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it."
You see, all is not beauty and glory along this river. There is often great danger, and that of varied sorts. In the river itself are rapids, waterfalls, cataracts, and whirlpools, jutting rocks and fallen trees that block free access. The seasoned guides specially assigned to you have passed this way already and will usually know where these dangers lie, and if they are alert, and reading the Guidebook themselves, can give timely warning. But there are dangers that are not predictable as to their location. Along certain long, wild stretches of the river are pirates, thieves, enemies of virtue and goodness. If you were to pass through their infested areas without protection, and they were ready for you, you could not fight them off yourself, but would be sure to be overcome and wasted, perhaps even destroyed. There are snakes of the poisonous kind, and vicious creatures of the deep, that would drop on you as you pass under trees, or come up against your fragile canoe from the bottom to tip you into their gaping jaws. You need the help of your guides to escape them, and especially that of the Great Guide.
I have not yet described your companions. These are given to enrich your life. Some bear a family resemblance to you, and share the same earliest guides. Some come along side for a season, share some adventures with you, and then disappear into fond memories. Some share many adventures, and paddle beside you a great distance. Some are living, breathing, and have often been on the river of life about the same amount of time that you have. But there are other companions who are not living. They are shadows of lives that have lived, and that usually you have never known. They would have been preserved on paper, or on screen, or on some sort of memory device that allows you to listen. They can come in different forms as well. They can be stories, texts, songs, music, advice, dramas, even just narrations. These shadows act the same as living companions, since they are the fruits of the labor of those who have once lived, or who are still living outside your acquaintance.
There is a great danger in companions.
While there are several kinds of guides, there are only two types of companions. Those that point you to your personal guides and those that pull you away from them. The first of these may not understand all the dangers themselves, but they follow their own guides as well as they can, sometimes failing and receiving injuries from not listening, but always trying. They would encourage you to do the same. They have never been this way before either, so cannot know the dangers intimately. But, knowing their own failures, and desirous to share their own small successes, their life and words both point you the Great Guide.
The second type of companions will entice you away from your guides, and before long, actually become your guides, by your own permission. Sometimes these companions can just be happy-go-lucky, never really listening to their guides because they are having too much fun and they don't want correction. It may seem they are very happy, and thus attractive, but they are foolish and will get hurt. But other companions have a motive for what they do in winning your allegiance. Companions of this caliber are very subtle. They may come along beside your canoe a little at first and make you think they follow all their guides as you try to follow yours -- your earliest guides, your valuable guides, your paper Guide, and your invisible Guide. You may not even realize until it is too late, that their veiled words have divided you from all that have willingly and lovingly called out warnings, sounded depths, fought off the thieves, shielded you from lurking living creatures, charted your course, guided you around treacherous waterfalls, and sometimes even physically carried you when you were too weak to paddle your own canoe. They make you doubt your own guides. Since you can never gloriously finish this journey without your guides, those second type of companions are actually deadly. They would sever you from the only way to success you have.
There is an even greater danger in the shadows of lives you read, view, or listen to, since you cannot know whether they made their journey successfully or not. You cannot know how many whirlpools almost got them, how often pirates attacked and what they lost to them, or what quality of trip they chose. You cannot know their end. They only share what they choose to share and they may not be truthful. There is no counting the shipwrecks who have used these shadows as their guides. The earnest one on the journey of life will examine these carefully and discard most of them. For you are not left without guidance in your paper Guide, for it says you will know them by their fruits, as even these shadows of lives will either encourage you to your guides or away from them.
So how are you on your journey of life? Are you still listening to your guides and your Guide? Or have you exchanged the guides mentioned previously with these who were meant to be companions? How can you know when that is the case in your life?
Have you been turned away from the Great Guide and have you lost the sweetness of the inner Guide? Has the paper Guide lost its value to you, so that you no longer eagerly search it for answers and warnings? Have your earliest guides become your enemies in your thinking? Has your valuable, special guide, who labors in nothing else but to point you to the Great Guide, received attacks from your companions? Does it seem that when you look at your guides they are covered with mud and slime, that they have evil intentions, and that they are faulty and mistaken? Have you received accusations against them? Has your own canoe become loaded down with contention and strife, a place of nettles and thorns, discontent, and anger? Have you listened to your companions' assurances that there is no real danger in the places where your guides have insisted there is? Have you mocked your living guides by showing them how close you can come to the pirates and thieves without being attacked? Or how near to the whirlpool you can paddle without being sucked in? Do you laugh at their warnings? If not openly, then behind their backs and with your companions-turned-guides. These are sure signs that you will be destroyed, unless you make a change of counselors, for you are refusing to hear the voice of instruction and consenting to the enticement of sinners.
Remember, you are paddling your own canoe. It is your choice how you do it.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:14-16)
A SWEET PRAYER FOR BABY DEDICATION
The purpose of the Heart to Heart Newsletter is to encourage women and build biblical values into daily living through practical creative ideas for the Christian family regarding marriage, children, homemaking, and much more. Receive this free bimonthly newsletter by sending your name, city, state, e-mail address, and name of your referral person to Lois at [email protected]. New subscribers will receive a "Start-Up Kit."
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