A Mommy Project

Challenge Day: 39 I just finished reading chapter 13 of The Power of the Praying Parent , it talked about having the desire to live a healthy. Today's chapter in this book is about nourishing your body and spirit. The authors recalls a time when she went to visit her daughter and son in law in Morocco. While visiting she learned one of their customs which they referred to as "afternoon visits". At around 4 pm neighbors would go out and visit other neighbors without any advance notice or planning. No one complained about it or found it inconvenient. Upon returning to the United States she missed attending afternoon visits and wished that we had customs like that here in the US. As time passed she forgot about it until one day on her birthday she received a call from a friend who was inviting her over for an unexpected birthday lunch. That day she was nourished by her friends meal, friendship, and kind gesture. As I read the chapter I thought about how important bein...

Challenge Day: 36 Music is something that can be used for both good and evil. I can tell you first hand about the influences of music in my life. I have been around music most of my life. I began playing instruments at a young age and have been involved in bands and choirs thought the years. There have been a few times in my life when I have found myself wrapped up in secular music and noticed the negative influence it had. Most recently, I found that I needed to clean my iPod out because a lot of what I had on there was music that didn't glorify God and my boys were learning it. They have such great memory, they can memorise anything very quickly. It was when I heard my boys singing secular music and not knowing what they were saying, that it hit me, I had to turn on the Christian station and have them fill their little brains with uplifting inspiring music that glorified God. This year the words of the music I hear on the Christian station have been so comforting to me and ...

Challenge Day: 34 The author tells of when her father was in his last hours of life. As she stood there watching her father dying, she wanted to be there but at the same she didn't. Then she thought of Philippians 3:14 and realized that though it was very sad to see her father dying, he was finishing his race here on earth. When she was told that her father was gone she said, " He made it! I wanted to shout Hallelujah!, he has crossed the finish line, and now he was in full possession of the prize for which had run so long and hard. Though I miss my father very much, I have great peace knowing that he is safe and at rest in the Lord he loved and served all his life. Praise the God that turns mourning into joy!" I'm not going to write much on this chapter because I have never had to go through that experience. The closest that I come to the loss of a loved one was the death of my mother in law. She passed away in 2009, at young age, from cancer. I can't imagin...

Challenge Day: 33 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 To reflect on God's goodness I think you have to be able to see the good things around you, the blessings He bestows. If we are always focusing on the negative aspect of life or the tough times that come, we will miss the blessings. God doesn't want us to suffer, suffering is part of sin, and we will go through pain. But if you seek God, you will be able to reflect on His goodness. I have to admit that though I am a born and raised Christian, I never really had a relationship with God until this year. These past few months have been very stressful and it's through this time that I have seen first hand the love of God and His goodness. How, do you ask? I have made a decision to make time for Him everyday and ask Him to take my life in His hands. First example, I didn't want to be yelling a my kids or raising my voice at them just because I was stressed, irritate...

Challenge Day: 32 Karen was at a seminar, when a man approached her and asked if she was Karen O'Connor. She said yes, and the man proceeded to tell her that he had read her article, in Reader's Digest, and had not liked it. Karen began to feel bad and second guess her article, but then realized that she believed in what she had written and she was not going to allow anyone to take away her joy. The article was about always making the effort to share with other's life moments whether joyous or solemn. She kindly apologized and said she needed to return to the seminar. As she began to walk away, the man said, "don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" She didn't really want to hear anymore and kept walking. He then shouted, "it worked!" Karen stopped and turned around, he told her that though he didn't like the article he mulled over the words and then realized she was right. He decided to attend a family reunion that he had been i...

Challenge Day: 31 The author recalls the story of her friend, Kris, that was caring for her aging parents. The responsibility of their care rested solely on her because she was an only child and that made it extra hard. Her parents would go over to eat a few times a week. Just when things started to become overwhelming, something wonderful happened, her husband began pitching in. One day when her mom was having a really hard time and was being irritable, Kris's husband held her hand and said, "Mom let's have some ice cream!" He knew it was her favorite, at that instance she changed her demeanor. That action not only changed her mom, but Kris too, she saw her husband in a new light. She knew that she could always count on his love and kindness no matter what happened later in life. That night everyone experienced joy all because her husband chose love over negativity. The human heart cannot love the way God wants us to love, unless we first open our hearts to Him. I...

Challenge Day: 30 It was New Year's Day and Dan was finishing up dinner when the phone rang. It was his daughter calling to cancel her dinner plans, with her father and brother, for the third year in a row. Dan was upset, he took a deep breath and told her exactly how he felt. After he hung up the phone he said he felt a sense of joy and he that he wasn't going to let anything take that joy away. He said he started a daily inventory of his thoughts and asked God to help him in dealing with his adult children. And he was learning to trust more in God and less in himself. No one can make us happy or take our joy because it's through God that we can experience joy. So here is how I've been holding on to joy. As I motioned in my last post, I have recently gone through a tough time, but I have seen and felt the love of God. The joy that I'm experiencing is the joy that God is with me. I've come to understand that no matter what I go though I can find peace and c...