Putting Yourself First – Living For Health and Wellness

Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and modesty, a virtue.  So is it any wonder that moms, work at home moms, and women in general have a hard times taking care of themselves first and setting aside time each day to improve mind, body and spirit?

As a mother, it is especially hard to find time in our hectic lives to pamper ourselves and to de-stress.  However it is of the utmost importance that we do so, so that our mind can center itself, the body can relax and the spirit can be renewed.  And although we sometimes get so busy that we forget to do these things, I would encourage you to somehow remind yourself to take this daily time to yourself, whether by using post-it notes, an alarm clock, and a note on the calendar, or even a computer reminder!

When you take time for yourself, it doesn’t have to be a long time (although, the longer you can afford to relax, the better!), because it is the quality of time that counts, not the length of time.  You start with taking just 15 to 30 minutes every day to let yourself unwind and relax.  This can be really early in the morning before the children wake up, during a lunch break, right before bed, or any other time that fits your schedule.

Here are some ideas that you can use to get started with your daily time to help yourself de-stress.  Please feel free to modify these ideas in any way to fit your lifestyle or personality!

Meditation – Meditating has a reputation for sounding much harder to do than it really is.  Take a few moments to either lie down or sit comfortably and clear your mind of worries, daily stresses, or other intrusive thoughts.  Relax your entire body and try to clear your mind, focusing only on deep, diaphragmatic breaths.  You can meditate for as long as you would like to.

Take a Warm Bath – Water has its own peculiar way of taking away stresses, relaxing the body and helping us to unwind.  But when you are putting yourself first and taking care of yourself, you don’t want this to be a short to-the-point bath.  Take time to add scented oil or bubble bath, fix yourself a cup of hot tea or cocoa, grab a favorite book and have a luxurious soak!

Prayer – No matter what your religious beliefs are, prayer has been shown to relax the mind and soothe the soul.  Take a few moments to pray or simply be grateful for what you have in your life.  This helps you center your spiritual self as well as to focus on you for a while.

Yoga – Yoga is so much more than twisting oneself into a pretzel.  Most beginners yoga poses are very easy to do, and help you to focus your mind, body and spirit all at once!

These are just a few of the ideas you can use when you take time for yourself.  However, putting yourself first doesn’t mean simply taking 30 minutes everyday for mom.  It also means that your own basic needs must be met everyday.  What are these needs?  Abraham Maslow. a humanistic psychologist developed a hierarchy of basic needs that every human being has. Let’s take a look at these needs and how they relate to you as a work at home mother.

1.  Physiological Needs

These include the very basic needs that are the most necessary to a human being.  They are: oxygen, food, water, sleep, and a relatively constant body temperature.  If these needs are not fulfilled they can influence your thoughts and behaviors, cause you to become sick or even cause pain, discomfort or death.

2. Safety Needs

When a person’s physiological needs are met, then the need for safety will come next – whenever one stage is fulfilled, the next stage suddenly becomes more important.  Safety needs include: physical safety (from violence, aggression, etc.), a secure home, secure employment, security of revenues and resources, moral and physiological security, family security, security of health, and security of personal property against crime.

3.  Love/Social Needs

The third layer of Maslow’s hierarchy after physiological needs and safety needs are those involving your emotionally-based relationships, including: having healthy friendships, sexual intimacy, and having a supportive and communicative family.  This includes feeling as if you belong and are accepted, and feeling loved as well as loving others.

4.  Esteem Needs

All human beings have the need to feel as if they are respected and to have self-respect.  Therefore the 4th level of needs include:  self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others and respect by others.

5. Self-Actualization

The fifth and final level of basic needs is self-actualization, which is the instinctual need of human beings to make the most of their abilities and strive to be the best that they can be.  Self-actualization can best be described as reaching one’s fullest potential.  These needs can include (but are not limited to): morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, and lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts.

With these basic needs in mind, think carefully…what needs of your own are you meeting?  Which are you neglecting?  At any given moment, think about which layer of the hierarchy you are on at the moment.  Can you improve this?

Even though as a mother, you have a responsibility to meet the needs of your children and family, you also have an obligation to take care of yourself first.  Because, quite simply, you cannot fully take care of others if you are not making sure your own needs are met first.  So each day, keep in mind what your own needs are, and see that you are taking care of yourself first so that you can take even better care of your family and loved ones.

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Article Source: http://www.faithfulgrannies.com

About the Author:  Stephanie Davies is a WAHM from Mid-Missouri.  She loves to read, write, knit, watch movies, build websites and surf the internet.  Her website at http://www.hostingwahms.com provides website hosting and other online services to work at home parents.  She recommends Christian Work From Home Moms and Grandparents http://www.faithfulgrannies.com as a great online source for work at home moms.

Good Thinking

You have a very realistic view of your possible future, but it might feel as if a friend or coworker is standing in your way. Thankfully, you have a specific mission now and you are not inclined to let others run your private affairs. Remember you can still care about someone, even if you won't back down. State what you feel is non-negotiable, but be kind in your delivery.

Taking Up a New Hobby

New Year Resolution: Taking Up a New Hobby It's never to late.

People make New Year’s resolutions for a variety of reasons, but at the core is a desire to change. While many people may choose resolutions where they are making sweeping changes to their lives – losing weight, stopping smoking, getting their finances in order – some people just make the resolution of taking up a new hobby.

When thinking about taking up a new hobby, it doesn’t have to be starting a coin collection. Hobbies are activities or interests which are practiced or engaged in mostly for pleasure and outside of your regular job. The benefits of having a hobby are varied.

One of the most important reasons for having a hobby is that it gives you an outlet for enjoyment rather than concentrating only on work. Another benefit is that hobbies allow you to spend time learning a new skill. Depending upon your hobby, you may actually have something physical to show for it when you spend time on your hobby.

Another reason for having hobbies is that it can actually help you to get a job. Employers want employees who are well rounded and have interests outside of work. They will probably ask you about your hobbies or activities you enjoy when you’re away from work.

What are some types of things you have always wanted to do but haven’t taken the time to learn? Some people want to learn to play an instrument, learn a new language or something similar. Now is the perfect time to take up a new hobby or learn a new skill.

Take up running and work toward running a short marathon. Learn to ice skate or you can learn to rollerblade if that’s more to your liking. Find a team sport to join if you prefer to spend time with other people. Softball, baseball, soccer and basketball are great team sports to play.

Find other people who share your interest. These could be people you meet in person or those you meet online. Look for forums or organizations related to the interests you have and then join in the fun!

Be sure to find a hobby that you will enjoy and not something you will have to force yourself into doing. If you love taking photographs you may want to set up a darkroom and learn to develop black and white film. However, just because you love to take pictures doesn’t mean you have to do scrapbooking. There’s no reason why you can’t take pictures and share them with others or let someone else put together a scrapbook out of the photos you’ve taken.

If you want to start a collection, begin your collection with something you may already have. Do you have a box of Barbie dolls in the attic? They may be worth money and be the perfect choice of a new collection. Men can start with their childhood baseball cards. Remember, you want to find something you can afford and enjoy.

Taking up a new hobby is a great New Year’s resolution. Think about your interests or what you’ve always wanted to learn. Knowing these things will give you some ideas of what New Year’s resolutions to make but you don’t have to wait until the New Year to begin.

New Year - New You

New Year - New You: How to Stay Motivated and Focused as WAHM

The new year is a great time for work at home moms (WAHM) to reaffirm their goals and boost their motivation. It's a great time to review the last year and to plan for the new year.
In fact, the new year can be the perfect time to reinvent yourself, your schedule and your business's systems. It's the perfect time to start anew.

Here's how to stay motivated and focused as a work at home mom this new year's.

==> Review the Past Year: Passion & Results

There are two things about the past year that need reviewing.
First of all, take a look at your results. Did you meet the goals you set for yourself over the last year?
How much did you earn? How are the other metrics in your business doing - things like traffic, number of paying clients, number of subscribers and so on.
Celebrate the successes and look for lessons in the places where you fell short.
The other area to review is your own personal passions. Over the last year, chances are you've experimented with a number of different things in your online business.
What did you find you particularly enjoyed? Were there things you did that you didn't particularly enjoy? What would increase your quality of life if you did it all the time; and what would you rather not have to do this new year?
Business isn't just about profit; it's about doing what you love as well.

==> Starting the New Year with a Burst of Motivation

Start this new year by writing out a number of goals that are both exciting and within reach. Make it a stretch, but make it also a reasonable goal.
Write out most of your goals in a tangible, measurable manner. For example, you want to be earning X dollars a month by the end of the year or you want to have Y amount of traffic.
However, you'll also want to have a few goals that aren't metrics-based. For example, you might want to get healthier and more energetic by doing yoga and changing your diet. You might want to spend more time with your kids.
Once you've written all your goals down, put your paper down and take a moment to visualize yourself one year from now. Imagine this person having achieved all their goals. Feel what it's like to be that person. Step into that person.
Take that feeling and bring it back to today. Are you ready to create that life for yourself? If so, reaffirm to yourself that you're going to hit all the goals you laid out for the year. Use this motivation to move forward as your launching pad into the new yea

New Year's Eve Party Ideas

 New Year's Eve Party Ideas for the Whole Family

It’s not unusual for adults to celebrate New Year’s Eve by staying up to welcome in the New Year.  This year, however, why not try one of these New Year’s Eve party ideas for the whole family to celebrate together? 

Invite some friends with children to join you for a New Year’s Eve party the entire family can enjoy.  Start early enough so that the youngest children will be able to have fun before they get too sleepy.  You may want to plan on having a big slumber party since everyone will want to stay up to welcome in the New Year.  This way, if someone isn’t able to remain awake, they don’t have to worry about falling asleep on the trip home.

Stock up on plenty of snacks for the evening or ask each family to chip in by bringing something to share.  If you’re having a themed party, try to have food that will work well with your theme.  Since there will be children present, you may want to serve only non-alcoholic drinks.

You may want to have games planned for children, teens, and adults if there will guests from each age group.  Of course, the teenagers may decide to play the adult games if the adults agree.  For those people that aren’t interested in playing games, have several family-friendly movies available.

When you send out invitations to the party, why not include a request that everyone bring along an item to put into a time capsule.  The items should be small but meaningful to the person bringing them.  (Provide labels and a pen so everyone can identify their own items when the time capsule is opened at some point in the future.)  Bury or hide the time capsule so that it will remain untouched until a designated time, possibly in one or two years on New Year’s Eve.

Be sure to have several disposable cameras handy or ask your friends to bring their own cameras.  With all the fun that’s sure to be had you’ll want to get pictures of the festivities.  After the New Year has started, you may want to get together and create scrapbooks of the evening. 

Since the parents are going to be at the party with their children, see if they would be willing to allow the children to try to stay up and welcome in the New Year.  It’s not often that children stay up until midnight, and they probably won’t be able to stay awake that long, but let them try.

It’s a great idea to use these New Year’s party ideas for the whole family to enjoy.  Invite friends with children and you’ll double or triple the amount of fun your family would have on their own.  Remember that New Year’s Eve only comes around once a year, so be sure to enjoy yourselves and create precious memories for one and all.

Green Christmas Presents Also Mean Green Wrapping and Green Cards

Green Christmas Presents

Also Mean Green Wrapping and Green Cards

 

Green Christmas presents aren't just about what you choose to give as a gift - it's also important to think about wrapping paper and even the greetings cards you're sending out. Christmas cards are a fantastic way to get in touch with people who you may not have spoken to for a while, and are perfect for sending good wishes to family and friends. However, the numbers quickly add up, and most of us will end up using huge amounts of card for these yearly greetings. There are ways in which you can minimize the environmental impact of the cards you send.

Make Your Own Cards

If you're really feeling creative then why not try making your own cards from recycled materials? You can use parts of old greetings cards, or scraps of card, to put together cards that are personal and fun. This is an especially good idea if you've got kids who enjoy arts and crafts!

 You can also go digital and design your own cards on the computer. This can be another fun project for you or the kids and is an easy way to send out cards without wasting any paper at all! Save the paper cards for only your closest friends and family and you'll be helping to save a lot of trees this Christmas.

Wrapping Gifts

A lot of gift wrap is difficult to recycle, especially since it gets torn up and thrown out with other trash! Try not to add to this waste by using recycled materials to wrap your green Christmas presents, such as old newspapers, magazines, old brown paper bags, or wrapping that you've salvaged from previous years. Most people won't mind you wrapping in this way - in fact, you can usually make it look unique and creative with a little effort! If you still want to buy wrapping paper, many stores now sell recycled options.

After Christmas

Once Christmas is over you'll likely be left with a huge number of Christmas cards that no longer have any use. It's important that you recycle cards as much as possible - whether this means re-using them for your kids' craft projects, or dropping them off at local stores who include a Christmas card recycling point.

Although these are easier to recycle, you should also try to save as many envelopes as you can when receiving cards. When it comes time to send cards again, you can reuse the better quality envelopes by using special “reuse labels” to cover up old details. This is a habit you can continue throughout the year, too!

 You can also recycle holiday gift wrap. When unwrapping gifts, try to do it carefully rather than tearing it all and you can use it as is. This is the perfect way to turn the presents you receive into more green Christmas presents!

Snowmen Treats

These are too cute for words!! Nutterbutter Snowmen Treats!! I'm guessing it's just white chocolate coating, but I am sure you can use any white candy coating or yogurt coating ;)

Avoid the Stressful Christmas Shopping Rush

How to Avoid the Stressful Christmas Shopping Rush.

The Christmas rush happens when you are so busy creating shopping lists, organizing Christmas dinner, and preparing Christmas cards, in addition to your normal busy schedule, that time slips by too quickly. You are soon left with one week left before Christmas, and your list of things to do is nowhere near complete. Not to mention the fact that you don't have time to enjoy what the season is really about!

You can avoid the Christmas rush and reap its benefits with some simple tips.

Plan Your Christmas List Early
Start planning your Christmas list as early as spring, if possible. With a planned list, you will know well in advance who you want to purchase gifts for and can add to this list as you remember more names. This also helps to stop you from overspending, as so many of us do each year.

Each year, if you keep track of your gift-giving list, you can just readjust the list if you need to, and have a sure direction of your purchasing plans. There are many applications available on smartphones that can keep track of these lists for you, and remind you of what you bought a particular person last year so you don’t end up buying them the same gift each year.

Shop Early

Once you have your planned Christmas list, the shopping becomes much easier. When you start your list early, your shopping can start early as well. You'll avoid the Christmas crowds and help to reduce stress as you get everything you need. You'll also be in a better position to shop around for bargains. And, the closer to Christmas it gets, the more you can sit back and enjoy it, knowing you've already gotten the shopping out of the way.

Purchase Meaningful Gifts

When you plan and shop early, you will most likely be able to purchase gifts that have special meaning for your family and friends. You won't be purchasing gifts for the sake of it just because you're in a rush. Putting thought into the gifts you buy in this way makes them more meaningful, and brings you closer to the true spirit of the season, rather than just spending money thoughtlessly.

Spend Less
When you take the time to plan, you can adjust your Christmas list according to a budget. With a clear idea of who you will be purchasing gifts for, you can always take advantage of special sales. Many department stores hold sales during other holidays, such as Labor Day, giving you more opportunities to save money.

Many of the sales held during the Christmas season are on the same items, which many have already marked up. The chances of getting a unique gift decreases as more Christmas shoppers are also looking for the sales.

Taking the time to plan and anticipate the season of Christmas before it arrives will allow you more time to spend with family and friends, viewing Christmas lights, and maybe even taking the children to see Santa Clause at the Mall. Why waste time rushing to buy gifts, when you can relax and enjoy this special season and all it has to offer?

Tips for a Deep, Rejuvenating Sleep

Want deep rejuvenating sleep? We have 6 Tips for a deep rejuvenating sleep night.

Over the years, we’ve seen a change in the recommended minimum number of sleep hours a body needs. Where once it was suggested a full 8 hours was necessary, we now recognize that every person is different and our needs may change from time to time.
Regardless of the actual number, there is strong evidence that shows that a shortened or disturbed sleep process can compromise one’s mood, alertness and performance. If you’re having problems sleeping, try these six tips for a deep, rejuvenating sleep.

1. Schedule your day to allow for “downtime” before bedtime. In other words, don’t stay busy right up until it’s time for lights out. Give yourself a chance to relax for at least an hour before you go to bed. This means turning off the television and listening to soothing music instead. It may include taking a luxurious warm bath to ease the tension in your muscles, reading a book or simply doing some deep breathing exercises.

2. Eat earlier in the evening. Some people are so busy they don’t get to eat until right before bed. When you eat so late, it makes it difficult for the body to begin digesting the food before its time to sleep. If possible, try to avoid eating anything at least three hours before you plan to go to bed. Avoiding caffeine, chocolate, pork, potatoes, tomatoes and cheese is also a good idea since these foods inhibit the production of the chemicals which help you sleep.

3. Make sure your sleeping environment is peaceful, quiet and dark. Even if you feel that you’re tired enough you could fall asleep standing in a corner, it is a good idea to make your bedroom someplace that is relaxing and quiet. Lower your shade and pull your curtains to so no outside light keeps you awake. Playing soft music or nature sounds can also be helpful in reaching deep, restful sleep.

4. Add sleep-inducing herbs to your nightly routine. Passion flower, chamomile, lemon balm and valerian are common herbs that will calm and relax you so you can fall asleep. These can be enjoyed as a hot cup of tea each night before you go to bed or you can take them as capsules, whichever you prefer.

5. Plan to exercise each day.  Being active each day really does help you sleep at night. Of course, it’s important not to exercise too close to bedtime, but exercising earlier in the day can do wonders for healthy sleep. 

6. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day, even on the weekends. Your body has its own rhythm – circadian rhythm or internal clock – so having a set time to go to bed and get up each day will help set this internal clock.
It is possible to get deep, rejuvenating sleep each night. You can use any or all of these tips to help you achieve peaceful sleep. However, if you work with your body to give it the rest you need, and you’ll find sleep problems are soon a thing of the past.

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Get Creative with Handmade Christmas Gifts

Don’t let your budget deter you from having an enjoyable Christmas season. This is a time to remember, and it's not all about the expense of a gift, but the thought that you put into the gift. Yes, there are those who may feel different, but for the people who are close to you in your life, they are more likely to be appreciative of the time and care you put into the gift than how much money you spent on it. People love being recognized and thought of, and managing your budget with handmade Christmas gifts is a wonderful opportunity to show how much you care.

Here are some ideas to get you going:

Dessert Baking Jar

 

This is a cute idea to share one of your favorite dessert recipes, such as cookies or a special bread (like banana bread or cranberry bread). First, use your creativity and computer skills and type up your recipe on fancy Christmas stationary. You can either glue it to a medium sized jar or tie it with a ribbon to the top of the jar.

Your recipe should state what needs to be added to the dry ingredients. Also include what type of baking pan to use, oven heat, cooking time, and any other specifics to make this recipe special.

Fill the jar with all the dry ingredients for the recipe. Be sure to add the ingredients one at a time to the jar, so it creates a nice pattern. Decorate the lid in Christmas paper and tie ribbon around the top of the jar to give it that original Christmas look.

Recipe Gift Basket
Creating a gift basket of your favorite dinner recipe, or a favorite of the recipient, makes a unique and special Christmas gift. If you collect baskets during the year from gifts you received, you can save time and money by recycling one of those.

First, fill the basket with all the non-perishable ingredients needed for the dinner meal. For example, if the recipient of your gift loves pasta, you can purchase two different types of pasta, pasta sauce, special spices, and maybe even a bottle of wine that goes with the dish. Decorate the basket with Christmas ribbon and don’t forget to include a recipe if it requires special preparation.

Mini Scrap Book

 

Grandparents and those relatives that live far away from you will enjoy and cherish this gift idea. Gather pictures of your children, or you and your significant other, or even just of you doing different things during the year.

Purchase an inexpensive plain drawing journal with no lines so you can paste your pictures and write a little blurb about the significance of the picture. If you have children, you can also include milestones in their life, which will be heartwarming to grandparents who adore their grandchildren. Wrap it with some fancy ribbon and you got a special gift that mainly only cost your time.

Personalized Notecards
  Everyone loves blank notecards that they can use for any occasion. If you know what your friend or family member loves, you can create personalized notecards at a minimal cost. Purchase blank envelopes and cardstock white paper. Cut the cardstock paper in half along its width, then fold in half to create a notecard. Now decorate with ribbon, stationary, material, stickers, etc., that represent the recipient.

5 Tips for Buying Christmas Gifts at the Last Minute

Christmas Gifts at the Last Minute

No matter how much you may try to avoid it, there may be times when you need to find a gift at the last minute. No one is perfect, and you may have forgotten someone on your shopping list, or maybe you just couldn’t find the right gift anywhere no matter how hard you looked.

Last minute Christmas shopping may be a dreaded task, but it can still be thoughtful and creative. Here are 5 ideas for finding the right gift.

1) Purchase Gift Certificates
Although this isn't the most creative gift, there are gift certificates available for any taste. You can purchase a gift certificate for a pedicure and/or manicure, gym membership, spa day, massage, yoga class, or a dinner at a nice local restaurant. Think about what the recipient of your gift loves to do the most, but doesn’t have the time or even the money, and give him or her a special treat.

2) Purchase Gift Cards
There are so many available gift cards from places like your local grocery store, where you can purchase a gift card perfect for that special someone. Local stores now carry gift cards from many different vendors, from home improvement to clothing stores, either locally or online.

3) Shop Local
You can avoid the crowds of last minute shoppers and empty store racks in department stores by visiting your local small businesses. These stores are more likely less crowded, and will offer you more choices in unique gifts. It is also a great way to support your local economy.

4) Be Practical but Creative
Think of what your friend or family member really loves to drink, whether it is wine, energy drinks, or diet drink mixes. Purchase one or several varieties, and include the type of glass commonly used for that beverage. For example, for wine, you can purchase a pair or set of wine glasses. Or for diet drink mixes, you can purchase an eco-friendly drinking container.

5) Purchase a Special Christmas Decoration
This idea is great for the person who loves all types of Christmas decorations, or who loves to collect original pieces. As Christmas approaches, many of the decorations are on sale or clearance, still giving you a reasonable price for the uniqueness of a gift. For example, you can purchase an ornament where you can add your own family picture, making this gift very special.

Just because you're shopping last minute for a Christmas gift for a friend or family member, it doesn’t mean that it has to be without thought. It may take some creativity, but don’t settle for purchasing an item just because you need a gift. He or she will know it was a last minute thought when you buy them a pair of mittens and they live in Florida!

You can still make the gift special, although it may take some thinking, but there are always gifts out there that you can purchase at the last minute to make someone’s Christmas special. After all, it is the thought that counts!

6 Top Work at Home Business Ideas

6 Top Work at Home Business Ideas

It’s incredibly easy for anyone to work at home, and since you can get started without any money down, you can start earning profits fast. There are many great ways to generate an income from home - but certain work at home efforts show up repeatedly as having the top income potential.

The first business you can work from home is to blog for AdSense Cash. AdSense Cash consists of ads that are put on your blog or site. These ads are tied in to your site content (think apples to apples) so you might write a blog about health products and get ads that promote health products.
But if you’re new to this, then how do you know what kind of blog to set up? Would a blog on some obscure topic earn you as much income? No. How to make sure your blog is a money maker (besides providing relevant and fresh content) is to set up a blog based on what’s trending.

If you go the home page of Yahoo, it’ll even tell you what’s trending. What you do is choose a category based on what’s trending. For example, celebrities is a good one. Sports is another good blog, and making money is another one.

You can also make money from home by promoting Amazon items and this is second in the top work at home ideas. You get started on this by signing up to become an Amazon associate. You then promote those products on your website with links back to the product on Amazon using your affiliate ID.

Another avenue and also in the top ways to make money, is to sign up as an affiliate at ClickBank and start promoting their digital products. You’ll want to test out the products that you promote so that you’ll better understand how the product works and you’ll be able to tell your customers what’s good (or not so good) about the product.

You earn a commission (some of them quite high) based on what you promote. If you don’t like the idea of promoting, but you enjoy writing and feel that you have some information that could benefit others, then write an eBook.

An eBook can sell countless times (giving you residual income). You can write an eBook on any topic under the sun – but it’s best to choose a topic that people will pay money for, which usually solves a problem.

Working from home as a virtual assistant is also in the top 6 work at home ideas. It’s a fast growing field and is relatively easy to set up and start. You can network and build clients online, through word of mouth and by positioning your site at the top of search engine results.

Finally, you can break into freelance writing or graphics. It’s easy to turn your writing skills into a way to make money by writing for others. You can become a ghostwriter and write everything from blogs to essays to articles to eBooks and reports.

Love

Love is patient... Love is Kind...

it always protects,

always trusts, always helps,

always perseveres,

Love never fails.

Unused Gears

October 19, 2012 — My first bike had one gear. Whether I was going fast or slow, uphill or downhill, that gear did everything. My next bike had three gears: one for level surfaces, one for going uphill, and one for going downhill. My third bike had ten gears, allowing me an even broader range of choices. Even though my last bike had several gears to choose from, I didn’t use all of them every time I rode. Some were best suited for starting and climbing, others were reserved for gaining speed, and others were best for a leisurely pace. But the thing about gears is this: Even though I wasn’t using all of them at the time, it didn’t mean I would never need them.

The same can be true in regard to our spiritual gifts and abilities. During times when I feel I am not being used to do certain things I once did, instead of feeling useless and unappreciated I thank God for the “gear” I’m currently able to use. Just because a skill is not needed right now doesn’t mean it never will be. Our spiritual gifts are needed in different ways at different times. Needs and circumstances change in unforeseeable and unpredictable ways. The apostle Paul reminded Titus, “Be ready for every good work” (Titus 3:1). May that be true of us as well. Heavenly Father, I need to remember that what I do is up to You, but how I do it is up to me. Whether I am busy or still, may I be peaceable, gentle, humble, kind, and loving. Keep your tools ready—God will find work for you. by Julie Ackerman Our Daily Bread Read: Titus 3:1-8 Be ready for every good work. —Titus 3:1 Bible in a Year: Matthew 23-25

Christian Quote

Christian Quote of the Day Friday, October 19th, 2012 As well could you expect a plant to grow without air and water as to expect your heart to grow without prayer and faith.

Christian Quote of the Day

Thursday, October 18th, 2012 There are three kinds of people in the world; those who have sought God and found Him and now serve Him, those who are seeking Him, but have not yet found Him, and those who neither seek Him nor find Him. The first are reasonable and happy, the second reasonable and unhappy, and the third unreasonable and unhappy.

Halloween Costumes - Girls

Halloween Costumes for Little Girls - The Ladybug Girl Fancy Dress Costume .

A great way to decide on a fancy dress costume for your little girl is to take a look at the books that she enjoys. One particular book that has become very popular with little girls is the series called The Ladybug Girl. Now your child can dress up just like the heroine of these stories and enjoy herself while out trick or treating.

The Ladybug Girl – Get the Costume

The ladybug girl costume is a really fun option. It consists of lots of red and black. You can decide to either purchase this outfit or your can create your own if you are handy with a needle and thread. As the name would suggest, the aim of this costume is to look like a little ladybug so the most important feature is the wings. You can get them in all different sizes so you want to be sure to pick the right one for your child. These wings are usually made with straps that your child will need to put her arms through. This is a lightweight structure so will not cause any discomfort at all.

The other essential part of this costume is the bright red tutu skirt. Again, this is something that you can purchase ready made or you can buy some red netting or chiffon tulle and create your own by sewing a loose running stitch through the top and pulling slowly on the thread in order to gather the whole thing together to create the tutu effect. Add a ribbon tie to the back so that it sits securely on the waist.

A Ladybug costume would not be complete without a set of antenna. This can be made from a simple headband in red or in black. All you need is to add a couple of fuzzy little baubles on the top.

In The Ladybug Girl books, our little heroine runs around in a pair of bright red rain boots. You could also add this to this costume or simply get your little one to wear a pair of plain black shoes and attach the same type of fuzzy little baubles that you used for the headband antenna.

Don’t Know About The Ladybug Girl Books?

The little girl in these series of books is called Lulu. Just like all children, she has a vivid imagination and so she has created a heroic alter ego known as Ladybug Girl. There are currently 10 books in the series which was created by husband and wife team Jacky Davis, the writer of the books and David Soman, the illustrator. The stories were actually inspired by their own children.

By using your daughter’s reading books as a source of inspiration, you could create a wonderful Fancy dress costume suitable for any Halloween party or birthday bash.

Lighter not my granddaughter was a lady bug when she was one and half. Adorabble  red buntting with black dots and head band. The memories of that halloween time of many years ago. A great place to find Halloween Costomes online is Birthday In A Box for all your holiday and party needs.

Christian Quote For The Day

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you. - H. Jackson Brown Jr

Inspiration Quote

 

Christian Quote For The Day

Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one. -Benjamin Franklin

Inspiration Quote

 

Christian Quote of the Day

We can never live in the past as if it were our true home…. And it is a good thing that God draws this veil over the past even without our asking. In so doing, He allows us to live today for tomorrow with just the few memories we need of what was. - Karl Barth