5/7/04 JUGGLING MOM, KIDS, BONUS STORAGE, MARRIAGE, PEARL
Posted by: jhbreneman <jhbreneman@...>
ENCOURAGEMENT TO WOMEN
Compiled especially for YOU with LOVE by Lois Breneman
Words and music by Mary Rice Hopkins, a "Heart to Heart" mom in Southern California
And I struggle when I wear so many shoes
First a wife then a mother then a sister to my brother
And I struggle just to juggle all I do
I book the social calendar and juggle all we do
Dont ask me if I'm working cause a mom is always certain
That I struggle just to juggle all I do
And I drive a taxicab in between
Im a chef Im a cook who has time to read a book
Can you microwave my Lean Cuisine?
A psychoanalyst but thats all right with me
Dont ask me if Im workin cause a mom is always certain
That I struggle just to juggle all I do
Downtown to my C.E.O.
Oh there I go again to my OBGYN
Im a soccer mom at AYSO
And If Im acting like a mess they call it P.M.S.
If you added up our wages you couldn't even pay us
And you would confuse the IRS
I must confess nonetheless sometimes I need my rest
Thats why when we juggle we need to stop and snuggle
Cause the job of being mom is just the best.
© 1997, 1999 Big Steps Music
All Rights Reserved. (Used by permission)
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Dear God: I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset You made on Tuesday. That was cool.
Dear God: Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't You keep the ones You already have?
Dear God: Maybe Cain and Abel would not have killed each other if they had their own rooms. That's what my Mom did for me and my brother.
Dear God: If You watch me in church on Sunday, I'll show You my new shoes. Dear God: I bet it is very hard to love everyone in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I'm having a hard time loving all of them. Dear God: In school they told us what You do. Who does it when You are on vacation? Dear God: Are You really invisible or is it just a trick? Dear God: Did You mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?
Dear God: Who draws the lines around the countries?
Dear God: I went to this wedding and they kissed right in the church. Is that OK? Dear God: Did You really mean "do unto others as they do unto you"? Because if You did, then I'm going to get my brother good. Dear God: Thank You for the baby brother, but I think you got confused because what I prayed for was a puppy. Dear God: Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up.
Dear God: I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big, but not with so much hair all over.
Dear God: You don't have to worry about me; I always look both ways.
Dear God: I think about You sometimes, even when I'm not praying.
Dear God: Of all the people who worked for You, I like Noah and David the best.
Dear God: My brother told me about being born but it doesn't sound right. They're just kidding, aren't they? Dear God: I would like to live 900 years just like the guy in the Bible. Dear God: We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school they said You did it. So, I bet he stole Your idea. |
JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.
RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million
cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.
POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION: Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.
WAGES AND COMPENSATION: Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you
could only do more.
BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.
MOTHERS LIKE BURNED TOAST
Author Unknown ~ Contributed by Margie DeMonbrun of Missouri
I had been married only a few weeks when I first learned that my mother-in-law liked burned toast. We were preparing tea and toast one afternoon when a piece of toast was burned. My young brother-in-law announced that I should give it to his mother; that she liked her toast that way. I watched in amazement as she buttered and ate it, seeming to relish each bite. Were there actually people, I wondered, who liked their food burned? Or did their systems lack an important element furnished only by charcoal? After the men left the table, I inquired further into this strange phenomenon. My mother-in-law confessed that she really didnt like the burned toast, but rather than throwing it away she preferred to eat it. She said that most of the time it really wasnt burned it was just dark brown.
I then began to wonder about my own mothers strange likes and dislikes. I remembered the time the circus came to town. Eagerly the entire family made plans weeks in advance. Then my baby brother developed measles two days before the big event. Mother decided that she did not like circuses, really. The dust made her sneeze. I also remembered the china cupboard Mother had wanted for years. It was to be built into the kitchen and dining room wall so the dishes could be reached from either room, saving countless steps. Finally, when Father
had reached the point of measuring the walls, a sudden windstorm blew off the garage roof. Mother decided the china cupboard was not a good idea, after all. It would keep her too busy cleaning all that glass. I remember other things When we children were all outfitted in our new
Easter clothes and money was short, who decided that she liked last years spring styles much better than the new ones? When my first cake turned out a dismal failure, who ate it, saying it was the best cake she had ever eaten? When there were five chocolates left in the box to be
divided among the 6 of us, who was all of a sudden putting on entirely too much weight lately? When unexpected guests arrived for dinner and the table was crowded, who suddenly decided to stand for the meal because she was not all that hungry?
Besides burned toast, it appears that mothers like the backs of chicken, cold fried eggs, dark brown cookies, stale bread, extra work and, of course, last years clothes. They dislike the largest piece of pie, praise, admitting they were sick, ice cream, being waited on, and wasting
food. Mothers, I concluded, with their unusual likes and dislikes, employed a strange reasoning beyond comprehension to anyone but other mothers. Would I, when I had children of my own, learn the secret of liking burned toast?
Years have passed since that day when I first had tea and toast with my mother-in-law. Yet I always think of it when I give up a longed for evening out to baby-sit with my small granddaughter; when I sit through a western TV program every Saturday evening although I prefer a musical; when I hear our young son say that he is saving the heels of the bread for me because I like them; when I persuade my husband to use my favorite rocking chair by saying that the back is uncomfortable for me. Then I realize that I, too, like mothers before me, have joined this strange sect of humans who like burned toast. Well, not really burned just dark
brown!
All of us have probably been heard saying that we need more storage in our homes. How about investigating every available space in your home and putting it to good use if you are in need of more storage space? In many cases it is available and just waiting to be found. Here are some suggestions:
3 cups baby carrots 2/3 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter 2 tsps. cornstarch
The apple juice provided the sweetner in this recipe. Steam carrots in a covered steamer over 2 inches of boiling water for 3 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the apple juice concentrate and cook until it melts. Add the broth and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Mix together the cornstarch with the water. Add to the skillet, lower the heat, and cook until thickened. Add the carrots and toss well to coat.
NO PAIN, NO PEARL
"Tell me, why does it hurt so? the little oyster cried,
"The grain of sand imbedded so painfully inside?"
His mother said, My little one, one day youll understand.
Its all a part of Gods designed all-wise and loving plan.
Take a look inside, my son, tell me what do you see?
The little oyster stepped close by and peered inquisitively.
There imbedded inside her heart appeared a shiny pearl.
Right before his very eyes he glimpsed a miracle.
Oh, Mother, its so beautiful" --he said with eyes so bright.
"What is this Ive never seen? It's such a glorious sight!
She said, "My son, 'twas once like yours--a tiny grain of sand
That irritated and hurt me so; I didnt understand.
"But if Id never had the pain, Id never have the pearl.
I accepted this with grace and watched Gods plan unfurl.
I learned that God could take our pain and turn it into pleasure;
That He ordained to transform grief into a glorious treasure."
"So gladly bear your grain of sand as part of our Gods plan,
For He will work it for your good as only the Lord can.
One day," she said, "you'll look inside to find a heav'nly treasure,
A glorious pearl inside your heart of beauty without measure."
The purpose of the Heart to Heart Newsletter is to bring godly and practical encouragement to women through creative ideas for the Christian family regarding homemaking, marriage, children and much more. You may receive this bimonthly newsletter by sending your name, city, state, country and the name of the person who referred you to Lois Breneman at [email protected].
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