Enjoy this blog that I follow ! :-)

There is amazing wisdom in the articles and links shared here:

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/p/about.html

 More about this blog:

My name is Mrs. June Fuentes and I am  happily married to Steve, my church planting husband, and am a blessed homeschooling mother to eight beautiful children that we are raising for the Lord. I have a heart to see mothers all around the world grasp the vision of biblical motherhood and to see this noble role restored in the 21st century to the glory of God. I strongly believe that weak homes equate a weak nation and therefore created A Wise Woman Builds Her Home  to minister to Christian women on how to build up strong Christian homes.

Quiet Time (The calm before the storm)

It is so good to find quiet time to refocus our thoughts and quiet our minds. Jesus often is found going off to a solitary place to pray. (Mark 1:35-37 & Matthew 14:2-23).  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:6 to go into our room alone and close the door and pray to our Father in Heaven.

I have one child who is 2 yrs old and babysit for friends and family on occasion. So I find I need that quiet time.

It's a little dark, but that's my daughter sound
asleep with her turtle, Spot.

Today I have my own child and my niece. Right now they are both taking a nap and sleeping peacefully.
Soon they will awake and the quiet will disappear! :-)

I enjoy using that time while they nap as my quiet time - usually. Sometimes I find myself doing laundry, dishes or other household work. But when it's quiet time - I either do devotions and pray, pay the bills online, or facebook or blog. It's nice to have a good 1 hr break or so to regather my thoughts and gain strength to finish the day.... raising children is a demanding, yet rewarding task, that takes all of me- 100% of my energy, brain power and strength. By taking that quiet time to think and pray, even if I am multitasking, I find that I have 'put on my own oxygen mask' so that I can take care of those who need me to take care of them.  (In an airplane they tell you to put on your own oxygen mask so that you can help others put on theirs.)

I would love to hear what others enjoy doing.  What do YOU do when or if your child takes a nap or has a quiet time in their room?

Deep Roots at Home

Here is an amazing blog I follow, enjoy the encouragement:

The Bad Guy

Okay so I admit-- I’m the bad guy.

I stay home with my daughter ALL day and devote about 85% of myself (my energy) to whatever she needs or wants… the other percent is taking care of myself to ensure I am able to take care of her.

I bathe her.
I rock her.
I cook her food.
I do laundry
I do dishes (sometimes)
We run around and play outside.
We go for walks.
I read her stories … A LOT of reading.
We go to library time for tots.
We dance.
We laugh.
We joke.
I kiss her boo boos.

But I’m the bad guy.

When I spank her.
When I correct her.
When I remind her to listen and obey.
When she goes into a time out.

That makes me the bad guy – when the people at the next table over at a restaurant send glares at me for disciplining my child. (scolding or otherwise and the tears start falling and she's crying because she isn't getting what she wants)

When Ellie gives me that look of disappointment, sadness that Mama corrected or disciplined me kind of look.

I am the bad guy.

I come to her at night when she wakes from a bad dream.
I soothe her fears.
I encourage her to keep trying when she says she can’t.
I praise her for just trying.
I hold her when she’s sleepy.
I tickle her so she will laugh when she’s sad.
I change her diapers and teach her to use the toilet, clean up her accidents.

But when I am occupied with table conversation for a few brief moments with other guests around inevitably -someone else, a friend or a Grandpa or Grandma or an Uncle or an Aunt takes those few moments that I look away to chat or take a bite to actually eat food … they pay attention to my daughter and make her laugh or just keep her out of mischief. I feel like the bad guy.

When my daughter is being a bit unruly (running around like a raving lunatic, jumping and climbing on everything and everyone) yet EVERYONE keeps saying she’s fine and she’s just being two – and I am the one to reign her in and remind her to be calmer or to sit still and if need be spank her – Then I get the stares or glares or other people “feeling bad for HER” I am the bad guy.

I feel like I cannot win - if I let her run around I get the looks from people "Why is that kid misbehaving" and If I don't let her do what she wants and she cries ... the look is either "Make that kid be quiet" or "what do you do to that kid?" I can't win. :-)

My prayers are that one day this “bad guy” will have instilled in my children good manners, good behavior, a good attitude, and a politeness that cannot be found these days. And MUCH more… much more than that. :-)A respect for all people, a love for fellow mankind, a joy in serving, a thankful heart in receiving- a heart of gratitude, a servant's heart for helping.... and on the list goes. A person after God's own heart.

"Whoever spares the rod hates their children,
but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." Proverbs 13:24

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

What are your experiences with disciplining your child in public or large gathering of family? Share a time when it could not have been helped and you HAD to spank /correct immediately. Was it at home with a lot of family visiting? Was it in a grocery store or a restaurant? Was it in a kid’s playground /park? Was it at the Doctors office? Share your story here. :-)

Lean Green Machine

Is it July already? WOW!! Where does the time go? I wanted to get a post in before July flies by on me.

My Dad, bless his heart, has always taught me by example how to reduce my ‘carbon footprint.’ Now I’m pretty sure if I got the definition right- it means to reduce how much I consume/throw away etc.

Of course back then my Dad didn’t know about a carbon footprint – but he always had a sense about being responsible in taking care of the Earth while we are here. That pretty much sums up what I am talking about right there.

When I was a kid my Dad and I went on long walks around the neighborhood and we made a sport out of collecting cans to recycle. It was fun to see who would come home with the most. Gross you say? Well maybe. But my Dad was instilling in me a big green monster- recycling monster that is (usually recycling containers are green)!  I owe it to him and Mom too for teaching me that value. Today I have an extra garbage can inside the house that is for recycling whatever is allowed to be recycled at the recycling center in my town. Paper, plastic, glass. Etc.

My hubby and I have even taught our daughter to recycle by having her put plastic containers or cans into the special recycling garbage can.  And she's only 2 1/2! ;-)

Other ways I like to try to GO GREEN:

• Use hard plastic or metal water bottles instead of disposable plastic water bottles
• Wash my clothes in cold water (I read that someone didn't use their dryer for 1 yr! WOW!) :-0
• Turn off lights in any room in my house not being occupied
• Use a cloth grocery bag – I found a really triple large one at Aldi’s for only $1.99
– and I use it over and over again.
• I sometimes forget that cloth bag because I’m new to that one- so always reuse any plastic grocery bags by
using them as small garbage can liners, to dispose of diapers
• Okay you got me there- I haven’t gone to cloth diapers – but that is a good one to do!
• Reuse and re-purpose items as often as you can
• Donate instead of throwing away household items that can be used by someone less fortunate than you are. You
may not consider yourself rich with many worldly possessions, but hey one man’s trash is another man’s
treasures.  You never know who might be able to use that old bookcase in your garage or that old night
stand in your basement.  So long as it’s not moldy or broken beyond use


What are some ways that you like to Go Green? Please share by adding comments! Thanks!

Naomi Joy's Footprints

Happy Birthday Naomi Joy!

Today our daughter Naomi Joy, would have been 8 years old. WOW! My how time flies so quickly. Yet it just feels like yesterday. Oh how sad you may say - yes - it is bittersweet. And yes I do wish she was here with us. But I have come to a point now where I feel like I have and will continue to move forward each year. It's not that it is something I have "gotten over" -because you never can "get over" a loss of a child - it's just that I have learned over the past 8 years how to carry the loss with me. With God's strength I CAN carry on.

So don't feel sorry for me. Just look at the good things in my life that have come from such a loss:

For one thing, learning to trust & lean on God on a deeper level than I have ever known. This has caused me to grow and stretch my faith in the Lord so very much. At 1st it shook my faith greatly. But I choose to cling to the Lord - knowing full well that He does not want us to suffer like this. Knowing that He too is grieved when His children grieve. He weeps with those who weep.

At first it was tough on our marriage. We had a couple of rocky weeks. Nothing horrible. But not fun. But instead of driving a wedge between us - it drew my husband and I closer to each other. We read in many books and heard many people say that marriages crumble under such a loss. We did not want to be that sad story. We went through this -together- and this common experience on such an emotional level helped us grow closer. With much prayer and the Lord's strength and guidance.

I learned that sometimes we may never know why things happen in this life - but that we must trust that God has a bigger plan - a picture that we cannot see. We will never know until we get Home to Heaven.

Of course we have thought many times that- without Naomi Joy's loss- we never would have been able to adopt our sweet daughter - Ellie. :-) I would NEVER change that! What a blessing and privilege it is to be her Mama! To know that God chose her for us!!! :-)

Suffering such a loss helps others. Those of you who know me well- know that I LOVE to share Naomi Joy's story. It is my way of grieving. Talking about her helps her live on in me. And her little footprints walk on the hearts of all who hear her story and their lives are touched in some small way. Her short life and death helps other parents who have lost a child too.

The loss of one- helps the many.

Out of the ashes comes beauty. You have to go through the storm to see the rainbow. The only way that I got through such a "storm" was to keep my eyes on the Lord. To just let Him hold me.... to carry me through it.

One of several songs that helped me through was this one (copy & paste)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDZMgFax5vA Dancing with the Angels by Monk & Neagle

Bible verses that helped me through & still does are:

"...Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning." ~Psalm 30:5

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.." ~Psalm 91:4

May Naomi Joy's footprints be on your heart today, I pray her life has has touched your life. :-)
Please share how her life has touched yours. Or share of your losses, friends & family that helped
you through, and how God helped you/is helping you through.

Moneky See Monkey Do.

Keeping our children pure starts with us- the parents. What we watch, what we wear, what we eat, what we do. They will model what we are- who we are. They will do what we do.

Today at the park I saw a girl with her mom - she couldn't have been more than 5 years old. But she looked, was dressed and acted like she was 13. No judgement towards the mom. But of course the girl is only acting like what she sees. And the girl's mom, then in turn, is only acting like she has been inadvertently taught. What she has seen on TV, in ads, in magazines, her friends and perhaps HER mother. And so it goes on. The cycle must stop.

As a child of God, I like to try to set an example for my children. But it's tough. If you're a parent - you know what that is like. It's so easy to say, "Do as I say not as I do." But kids are more apt to follow the old adage, "monkey see, monkey do." I for one am the first to admit that I have a hard time changing -old habits die hard.

I think the girl at the park and her mom are both victims of a society that teaches us that we are only valuable based on what we wear, how we look and how 'pushy' /talkative we are. The mom doesn't know better because no one has taught her or modeled something better for her. Society is teaching us that, "If you are a beautiful, super-model, with an attitude- you'll be successful and get somewhere in life" Such a bad lesson our society teaches. Women are far more valuable than what's on the outside. It's what's on the inside that counts. Are you kind & considerate of others? Are you honest? Do you value learning? Do you read God's Holy Word and meditate on it daily? Do you 'do' the Scriptures or merely read it?

The Word of God says, " Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves...." I Peter 3:3-5

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter+3:3-5&version=NIV

As parents, we should teach our daughters to dress modestly. Which means of course that we should model that by what we wear (if you are the Mom), by throwing out magazines, and cutting the cable. This may sound extreme to some -but consider it an investment into your children's lives. It's so very worth it to teach them to value themselves (who they are- their minds, their hearts), rather than what is on them (or others).

Put God 1st in everything you do. Read the Word. Do what it says. Value what you put into your mind and heart - and see what amazing, God-fearing children will come from such an example! Remember that song, "Oh be careful little eyes." What we think, say, do, watch, where we go- all of it - should be all for God. Our kids will see that effort and try to do the same thing.

What kind of person do you want your kids to be when they grow up? I hope I can live like Jesus so they can be like Jesus.

Remember- "Monkey see, monkey do." (I know - yup. It is easier said than done, right?)