Motherly Advice to having step ONE: FAITH

I am jumping out on a limb here, but I wanted to share this with you.

FAITH...
Faith is more than believing that something will happen. It's wholeheartedly placing the trust of things we cannot control to another. I want to talk about Faith in two areas. Faith in God, and faith in others.

The God thing...

Faith is more than the hope that we should all have in the cause effect relationship that exists as a result of certain actions. If I do "A" then "B" is logically to follow. No, it's more than that. It's having faith that even if I fail to do "A", I have faith that I am not alone. I have faith that there is a pervasive force at work in my life that will help all the pieces fall together. By Jesus' witness, I know that I am not alone, no mater what. He is with me, I just have to allow Him to be there.

Faith in Others...

How many times have you looked at your life and said, "I am such a mess, how could anyone love me?". For most of us these doubts started to creep in during our teen/preteen years when we started to question everything. This self doubt has, for some people, entered into our adult lives, and as mothers, it can be very destructive. It can tear apart our families because we don't trust, knowing that they will be there for us like we are there for them. I submit that you should trust your family with your whole heart. All of it. Realizing that I made many mistakes with my first marriage, having since relinquished control in my life to God, and trusting in Him to work things out for good. And, having wholeheartedly placed my trust in Jesus Christ, I am now able to fully and completely surrender to my husband without remorse or worry. I know that he is worthy of my trust, and even when i worry that he may fall short, part of God's promise in the marriage covenant is that we should trust our spouse because that is what God intends for us as a couple. Complete trust.

As far as FAITH, once we have faith in God, and our spouse, the next step is sharing that faith with others. The best and most obvious way to do this is to witness by the life we lead so that people will know who we are. This sharing may also come from blogging (like me) or from conversations with people. it's important that we share what we know, especially with our children and invite them to learn more for themselves. We should always be EXTREMELY careful to avoid hypocrisy. Don't cram your beliefs down someone's throat and be sure you lead an honest life with integrity. Show people grace.

Have faith.

Motherly Advice in SIX EASY STEPS!

The last few months have again gone by in a WOOSH.... But now that we're moved, and settled into the new casa I thought it would be prudent to give some motherly advice. I have been mom to SIX beautiful children now for over a year. Though we're a huge, happy, blended family and we're not without our flaws, for the most part things are going very well. Two in Junior High, two in Elementary in and two in preschool. We have a house full!

The intention of this blog is to offer a little window into my life and hopefully serve as a mentor to other moms facing family blending issues as well as medical challenges that we are facing in the wake of two diagnoses over the last few years. So here's my best advice....

1. HAVE FAITH.
If you believe in something, believe in it with your whole heart. Worship your God. Grow in the teachings of your religion and share those beliefs with your children. They will remember what you do and only about 50% of what you say, so go to worship, charitable events and show them that you believe in giving back.

2. LIVE.
Sounds simple, but may come as a surprise that most of us aren't out there LIVING. Put down the I-device or computer and GET OUT THERE! That's one gift that has been awarded me by my wonderful husband and children. I used to get so wrapped up in things that I forgot the one essential component to life; and that's to LIVE. Get out there. Coach the soccer team, run a race, draw on the concrete with sidewalk chalk, do things with your kids. Fly a kite. LIVE. Life isn't a dress rehearsal, make this life count!

3. FORGIVE.
The greatest gift you can give yourself and your family is forgiveness. But, forgiveness shouldn't be reserved for those who are closest to you. We all have deep scars from things that happened to us a long time ago or are currently happening. I encourage you to forgive. Do it now. Don't do it for the person that wronged you, do it for yourself! And... the other component of forgiveness, is asking for forgiveness when we mess up. Where would I be if my family didn't forgive my shortcomings and love me anyway? Nowhere, that's where I'd be, because I'm certainly far from perfect.

4. HAVE HOPE.
When S was diagnosed with a cancer-like disease, we thought we were facing a doom and gloom scenario. That's not at all how it's played out. I assure you if we didn't have hope, we'd be lost. I have hope that my kids will all grow up to be strong and healthy, contributing to society with their thoughts and actions as adults. I can visualize their lives. I encourage you to practice closing your eyes and trying to envision what your children will look like as adults. Don't push them to be YOU. Push them to be the best (insert their name here) that they can be!

5. DO THE WORK.
"Anything worth having is worth working for!" How many times did I hear that old adage growing up? Well this one is so true. When you think about your life, your debts, your problems, your fears, many of them can be helped with a little work. Whether it's time management, those last few pesky pounds or paying off debts, we must WORK for what we want in life. Nothing is going to be handed to us. And if you get organized and do the work, you'll reap the rewards!

6. REST.
Sleep deprivation is hard to avoid sometimes, but I encourage you to REST. Take time for yourself, get a manicure, massage, or take a weekend away or a date night with your significant other. You will reap the words by being a more balanced Momma.

More soon... "Motherly Advice to having Step One: FAITH"

Banquet chair up-cycle!

Today, I reupholstered some old banquet chairs in a kid-proof, Ballard Designs inspired theme. Each chair only took about $8.00 worth of fabric and upholstery foam. I have so much fun doing things like this!

Rules to live by...

Rules I live by, lessons learned. Love God! Think before you act. Breathe before you speak. Pray before you make any major decision. Make the best choices possible each day. Live a life free of lies. Be authentic and true to God, yourself and everyone who crosses your path. Admit when you're wrong and face the consequences head on. Love deeply. Mirror Christ's love to others.

Doing these things doesn't guarantee that your life will be drama free. But, Life is just richer and more simple if you do these things!

Happy Saturday Friends!

Linen closet

Here are before and after pictures of our linen closet which became a catch-all full o bleh when we merged two houses.

Check it out!

Halloween Art

Today, the kids and I were bored, so I got my preteens involved in making some Halloween art! Here is the first thing that is complete. We took scraps of fabric and tied it around an old bungee. We added a photo frame and some crepe paper and glitter and voila! Halloween wreath!

My preteen SON, surprisingly made the most of this! He had way too much fun! But shhh.... Don't tell him I told you that! Lol

Have a great day friends! More to come!

The pilgrimage & another Halloween craft

Throughout our life we have good and bad memories... Some of the good ones get suppressed until you have a day like I had Saturday. I remember the day well back in 1994, when a lady came through the store "The Limited", where I worked part-time. She commented on how helpful I was and mentioned her company's need to have someone like me on their team. She mentioned something about a commission structure, so I went and talked to her.

And the rest is history, which I suppressed until the paulkbunch and I journeyed through a major thunderstorm to go down to Austin for tax free weekend, the city where it all began. It was a time in my life where I finally took life by the reins and made it mine... I felt like much of my life had been planned up until my dear friend who was in my sorority at school attempted suicide under intense pressure and scrutiny and after making some very poor choices. I realized that it wasn't the path I wanted to take. It was so traumatic watching this all happen in fact, my life was never the same.

All at about the same time, the manager of Nine West recruited me and I just knew it was my ticket to a future, (I was 19 and thought I knew it all, I didn't) and it was a decision that forever changed my life. For better or for worse, the path forked and Saturday the memories came flooding back. I remember what I wore to my interview even how I wore my shoulder length red hair. I walked into the store with the confidence of a runway model to talk to the manager, Kelly and Kevin who was the assistant manager. Those conversations and first impressions as well as the decisions I made after them changed the course of my life. I moved up through the ranks and was not only the youngest store manager in my region, I also plowed through my supervisors expectations and made a huge impact on Nine West & 9&Co as a brand in Texas. I ended up leaving to pursue my bachelors but I thoroughly enjoyed my experience!

This was another reminder to pave my OWN path through this road called life!!! I just know I'm a different and better person because of my experience there.

AND ANOTHER CRAFT...
We took the bird houses that the kids made during the summer months, ad we are going to make some black birds to put in them. We made a "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" banner and put it up, looks small, but for now it's cute! I used some black crepe paper, tape, black card stock and tape, a ruler and a stapler to make the banner. FREE!!! Sweetness!

Next... Bats and a glitter spider web!

Have a great day friends!