REAL Housewives to be released this month!

I Don't See You!

I spent time with my mother over the weekend, and one particular morning, I started speaking to her before I was in her presence. She tried to follow my voice, and said, “I hear you, but I don’t see you.” I replied, “This is God.” We laughed and talked about how we can’t see God, yet we feel Him, hear Him, depend on Him, follow Him, and even trust Him. It’s those moments of going through troubled times that we doubt His presence. I’ve been through enough in my life to know God is present regardless of how turbulent my storm is, or how I’m feeling.  

My flesh lies to me and makes me doubt God’s presence, so I have to be careful not to allow my wavering emotions to consume me and become strongholds. Those strongholds pull me away from what I know in the depths of my soul – that my God is real and He promised to never leave me. One of my favorite verses is John 15:4 - Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. When I am fully aware of God’s Spirit in me, my days are better. When I’m consciously aware of His presence throughout my day, my joy is full. It’s those days when I’m into my Self that I have issues with my thoughts and actions – yucky days. 

Abiding with God minute by minute makes a huge difference, and it begins with a simple thought of His presence – it’s that easy. Mothers wear many hats and it’s easy to feel frustrated and agitated, but remembering God’s presence, His perfect plan and timing makes our many loads lighter. We may not see Him or hear Him, but He’s always there! Have a marvelous Monday abiding in Him.

No Regrets

Mother's Day is 
Every Day!!!

Here we go again. Time to watch our once a year celebration commercialized with the advertising of jewelry and flowers. In all the years I’ve been a mother, I’ve never received jewelry or flowers. Well wait a minute – I think I did receive a necklace one year. Hmmm…where is that necklace? I think it was a heart-shaped locket! Another year, I didn’t get anything, and I remember the year they took me to brunch and I had to cook dinner later that evening. 

Of course all those celebrations were spearheaded by my husband – I appreciate his efforts, but the one present my husband gave me that I will forever be grateful for is his sperm. Sounds gross, but that sperm gave me two sons and the gift of motherhood - my greatest joy and my biggest challenge. I’m two years short of an empty nest, and it went by like a blur, but I enjoyed all of it – the challenges, the tears, the joy, the fatigue, the frustrations, the dirty diapers, the broken curfews, and even the tree in the backyard they think is full of money - children are expensive! 

My younger sister and I had a long conversation about mothering and we came to the conclusion that the only way to mother without regrets is to do our part to the best of our ability. There is no right way or wrong way. There is no perfect mothering style and no perfect child to raise. There is no secret potion to keep them out of trouble, and no words to keep them pure. They’ll lie to us, somehow embarrass us, and maybe act like they were raised in the wilderness, but as long as we do our part and mother to the best of our ability, there will be no regrets because our best is all we can do. 

Mother’s Day may come once a year, but we know it’s a 24/7 job, so celebrate and encourage yourself every day! Happy Mother’s Day!

Homrmone Guide

MOMSWEB May Giveaways

Every wife/mother is entitled to having a bad day, a valley moment, or a pity party. Sometimes you just need 5 minutes to whine, regroup, and get over it.

LIKE the MOMSWEB Facebook page for a chance to win a 

5 to Whine Care Package

Don't Wait!

I was speaking to a woman over the weekend who is a home health care provider. She was looking tired as usual, so I shared how I’ve incorporated a few, basic yoga poses into my exercise regime and how much more energy I have. Trust me, the positions are so basic, they shouldn’t even be considered yoga, and I know I’m not doing them 100% correctly, but it works! 

Before you let your mind run away with you, I don’t chant or mediate to other gods while I do my simple yoga; I’m stretching and focusing on my breathing, which allows more oxygen into my lungs and delivers more energy. Anyway, the woman mentioned she couldn’t wait until she retired, so she could take care of herself. Before I knew it, I laughed out loud, and couldn’t stop. I asked her if she knew how funny her statement sounded and said, “You have to wait until you retire before you take care of yourself? You might be dead, or too old and stiff to stretch!” 

Why do we (women), spend our entire life taking care of others without pouring into ourselves? I’ve said it a thousand times…before we can take care of others, we have to first take care of ourselves, or we’re left tired and easily agitated. It doesn’t take much to love on ourselves every morning - stretch, drink water, take vitamins, meditate and pray, look in the mirror and encourage ourselves. Can I be real? Even dogs know to stretch when they wake up, and believe it or not, there is a yoga pose called the dog stretch. Let’s face it. 

A woman is called to serve; yet we have to be sweetly selfish enough to take care of our temples first, and not wait until it’s too late

Mother Nature Knows Best

 There is a lot of talk about the weather these days. It’s supposed to be spring, but there is snow, ice, heat, and rain from coast to coast. Each state is experiencing their own “spring” weather, and some cities, like mine, are experiencing all four seasons in one day. The funny thing is how we expect spring to invite warm weather. Of course, it usually does, but Mother Nature is showing us that she can do what she wants, when she wants and how. She can also change her mind mid day without explanation. The key is to be grateful for another day regardless of the weather. 

The weather is similar to life – as it changes, we have to just go with the flow. Weather is unpredictable, and so is life, so unless we learn to adapt and adjust, we’ll live a miserable and frustrated life. Father Time and Mother Nature work together; and our only job in their process, is to be content in whatever season of life we’re in. Yes, the calendar says it’s spring, yet someone is going through a storm, someone else may be experiencing the happiest day of their life, someone else is grieving, someone is sick, someone’s health has been restored, someone is being born, and someone is dying. 

Life happens, and the best way to enjoy it is to not expect a sunny day everyday, but be grateful for each and every day. We set ourselves up for disappointment by looking for the sun. The rain is needed on Earth and in our lives, and aren’t we more grateful for the sunny days after the rain has left? It all works together. This spring weather may not make any sense to us, but it makes perfect sense to the One who creates it. Have a marvelous spring day!

Look!

 

It’s been a while since I traveled to Alabama to see my family, so Secondborn and I hit the highway this weekend. As usual, I noticed the beautiful, colorful trees lining the highway, but this time I pointed the beauty out to Secondborn. I didn’t want him to miss what I was seeing. I wanted him to take notice of the changing of colors and seasons in the beautiful trees. I related awareness of the trees to awareness of life.  We can continue to drive by the trees and focus on our destination, but we’ll miss the beauty the trees behold. Life is the same. I can continue focusing on my goals, dreams, and desires and miss the beauty of life happening all around me – the changing seasons of life, and the lessons and beauty they hold. 
Even today as I drive within my city, I should focus more on my journey rather than my destination. Most of the time, I’m rushed, so beauty isn’t on my mind, but getting where I have to go is; therefore, I miss my journey.  If I’m not careful, I’ll miss the journey of life by rushing to always meet the demands of others or feeling like my life is not fulfilled. It’s so easy to fill life with meaningless events. Life is fulfilled when we fill it with the One who created it! He is the source of our joy and fulfillment – nothing and nobody else can fulfill us like He can. I hear older people say all the time, “Life passed me by.” This is scary; I don’t want life to pass me by. Life is like a vapor – here one minute and gone the next. Let’s embrace this quickly-disappearing vapor called life. Let’s slow down and look at life happening all around us. Let’s recognize the journey – not the destination.