tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17253326969608669362024-03-08T09:39:06.578-05:00From a Mom's HeartLeahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-55882147823101422402018-07-21T15:23:00.002-04:002018-07-21T15:23:18.505-04:00Have You Been Thumped?? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Good Afternoon Moms!! I pray that you are having a wonderful weekend with your family and friends. Just wanted to talk to you a bit about the title of this post that I chose. Usually when we say we’ve been thumped we make comments like “You’ve got to be kidding!!” You May have had to deal with a grumpy teacher, a grumpy Mom, maybe a burnt meal because you were distracted, and I will end with this one. You are out driving doing errands and now you have a flat tire. Now those are some “thumps” that we deal with in our day to day lives.<br />
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Have you ever thought about the other kinds of thumps we deal with? How about in Luke 6:45 Jesus said “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Sometimes there's nothing better than a good thump to reveal the nature of a heart of someone. The true heart of someone isn't in momentary things. It's in the thumping-packed things of everyday living.<br />
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I find myself thanking God for the "thumps" He gives me. I am sure not to thank Him half-heartedly; I do it wholeheartedly. I rejoice, I jump up and down with a joyful heart thanking Him from the bottom of my heart. I find this in James 1:2-4 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." I feel that chances are God is doing the thumping in me and He's doing it for my own good. I take every thump as God is molding me, using it for a faith-building experience.<br />
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I find thumps like reading my Sunday School lesson then going to the service and finding Pastor says something from the lesson. Yes, that's a thump from God. I take it as a reminder of what I have heard and spent some time in the Word and prayer. I have had this experience in a small group that I am leading. I have just taught a chapter we have read and someone says something, I read something, God directs me in His Word and wouldn't you know it another thump. I take these as God moments. I hope you will too the next time you get thumped.
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Have a great day Moms!!
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-84154259146632157932018-07-11T13:47:00.003-04:002018-07-11T13:47:53.814-04:00The Shepherd's Oil...so Anointing!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>Psalm 23</b><br />
<b><i>The Lord is my shepherd;</i></b><br />
<b><i>I shall not want.</i></b><br />
<b><i>He makes me to lie down in green pastures;</i></b><br />
<b><i>He leads me beside the still waters.</i></b><br />
<b><i>He restores my soul;</i></b><br />
<b><i>He leads me in the paths of righteousness</i></b><br />
<b><i>For His name's sake.</i></b><br />
<b><i>Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, </i></b><br />
<b><i>I will fear no evil; </i></b><br />
<b><i>For you are with me;</i></b><br />
<b><i>Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.</i></b><br />
<b><i>You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;</i></b><br />
<b><i>You anoint my head with oil; </i></b><br />
<b><i>My cup runs over. </i></b><br />
<b><i>Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me </i></b><br />
<b><i>All the days of my life; </i></b><br />
<b><i>And I will dwell in the house of the LORD</i></b><br />
<b><i>Forever.</i></b><br />
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Good Afternoon Moms! I pray that you're having a beautiful day. I wanted to give you something to think about. I have been reading the 23rd Psalm today. My focus on this is in verse 5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; <span style="color: red;">You anoint my head with oil; </span>my cup runs over." Did you see the part that I have written in red? This is where I would like to focus with our sheep up above the 23rd Psalm. As you see the shepherd is holding the head of the sheep and pouring oil over the sheep's head. There is a good reason for this. </div>
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Sheep can get their heads caught in briers and die trying to get untangled. There are flies that torment sheep by laying their eggs in their nostrils which turn into worms. These worms can cause the sheep to hit their heads against the ground, against rocks to try and free them from the worms. Sometimes by the sheep doing this causes their own deaths. The sheep's eyes and ears are also susceptible to insects bothering them. The shepherd as you see in the picture will anoint their whole head with oil. There is now peace for the sheep. The oil creates a barrier of protection against the evil that tries to destroy the sheep. Do you worry about a lot of things in your life? Do you overthink things? Do you get so overwhelmed that you feel that the only option left is to beat your head against the wall? Have you ever asked God, your Shepherd to anoint your head with oil? He has an endless supply! He is there waiting for you to ask Him. Please don't wait! His oil protects and makes it possible for you to fix your heart, your mind, keep your eyes on Him today and always!! </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-78148476735881897942018-01-13T16:53:00.000-05:002018-01-13T16:53:32.562-05:00Mom's Heavy Heart<div style="text-align: center;">
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Happy Sunday Everyone!!! Hope you're having a great day! We are snowed in here in Upstate New York.<br />
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I have been sitting here thinking about all that has happened recently in my life and how much things will be changing in the next few weeks. As I have mentioned before that I have a bone disease. The levels are not where they ought to be. My bones are breaking down faster than they should, tendons are inflamed and tearing. Now, I face infusions to try and turn this around.<br />
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I know who can turn this around. God can turn this around. He could do a "snap" of the fingers and things are fine. This is not the path that He has chosen for me. No, the path that He's chosen for me is a slow path. I may not like His choice, but I will be faithful and lean into Him and press into Him for comfort. I need to learn to listen, be alert to His direction in the days ahead how I learn to deal with this.<br />
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This has been heavy in my heart not just for my husband, but our son. He and I both deal with the same bone disease. I see his fear when he looks at me and doesn't know how to process what is going on with me. I know he thinks this can happen to him. I remind him our ages are different and also he's just starting out in this bone disease. He's been treated from when he was younger, yet with me, it wasn't found until I was much older. Talking to your child about something like this is really hard. Never do we want to talk to our children about things like this, but we have to remember God has been preparing us and them when we do come together to talk to each other. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-9440722802499245552017-12-09T09:23:00.000-05:002017-12-09T09:28:12.940-05:00God’s Faithfulness<div style="text-align: center;">
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Greetings! I have been thinking how do I open this entry. There has been so much going on in my everyday life. That is not what this post is about. What this post is about is God’s faithfulness. He is faithful even when we aren’t. I know that seems harsh, but it’s truth. We may feel like we are walking with heavy things in our lives alone, but we are not because God is there! He is right there alongside us when we may not feel Him there. </div>
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My husband and I spent time in prayer day after day, week after week, month after month then it became a year then two years. There were times in those times of prayer “God are you hearing us?” He would show us in His Word He indeed was there. I remember one passage of scripture from Psalm 37: 5-7 “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.” The first part there “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him and He will help you...” This really was the greatest reminder for my husband and I. I am not saying we forgot or doubted the Lord because we didn’t. While praying about this heavy thing in our life that we were praying that the Lord would answer, provided it was His will. We can say the trials that came up in praying about it, the different negative things people were saying around us, trying to cause doubt and lose trust in God’s faithfulness was a challenge all in itself. I know I would always pray against that negativity. I would pray against the discouragement that it would cause in my spirit. This continued as I said, this went on for two years. </div>
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The more time went on, the more I wrote in my prayer journal about this that we were praying for. The more I dug into God’s Word and spent time talking to Him about this. I remember times of pouring my heart out and the tears would flow. God would bring a scripture to mind, bring a song to mind, He would have a friend bring a word to me; they would say something to let me know He is still there He hasn’t left us. Friends, even our Pastor would say something that would encourage us to continue in prayer, continue in our faithfulness to the Lord. Our Pastor didn’t know what our burden was. He would ask praise and prayer in service when it would come up for “unspoken” that is when my hand would go up because then I didn’t have to say what the burden was, BUT God knew already what it was that was heavy on our hearts. He knew the significance this meant and the impact on our lives if this came about. This reminds me of a scripture the Lord gave me when I was carrying our son through a very complicated pregnancy. The verse comes from Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” We may have been feeling like this won’t happen for a long time if at all. Yes, we did doubt some because of some of the negative thoughts and comments being presented around us. I held on to the passage from Psalm 37 and others that God gave me throughout the two years of praying about this heavy burden. </div>
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God was faithful as He always is. He did things in His time, not ours. He caused us to grow, to trust Him more, to spend more time in the Word and allowing Him to show us scripture to pull us through. I have to say that this was a long, long, long journey, but I am so thankful because God blessed us and answered our prayer for this heavy burden and things will be changing in our lives. I pause to remind you to remember God is faithful! He is there with you when you feel alone. Those are times when He is wrapping you in His loving arms and carrying you through the difficult times to that peaceful shore if you will. He will get you to the other side; maybe not always what you hoped for, planned for, but He will show His will in what He has in store for you, you just have to trust Him. Thanks for taking a moment to read this post. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-85716085671765206332017-11-07T18:14:00.000-05:002017-11-07T19:29:58.232-05:00Friends Taking The Punches<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hi, Everyone! I just was talking with a dear friend of mine. She’s having some upcoming neck surgery. She posted on a website to family and friends. </div>
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My friend Judy said: “Greetings Friends and Family. Just posting a note to let all y’all know that I will be having neck surgery on Wednesday.Got injured at work some months ago and now that my tests, labs, paperwork are completed and approved. I’ve finally got the green light to get’er done. I’ve got several disks in my neck impinging on my spinal cord. I will be having a lumbar fusion to correct and protect my next from further injury. I’ll be in the hospital a few days (no visitors please; the surgeon will be going in the side of the throat, so I won’t feel like talking) But your prayers and well wishes are appreciated. Thanks!” </div>
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I said “I’ll be there visiting you, you won’t see me but you’ll know I’m there in spirit praying for you, giving hugs and encouragement when needed. I will be making you laugh ~ ok smile because of something funny just because you’re special!! Love ya my dear sweet friend. I myself am having back surgery Friday then again next Thursday. They’re breaking it up to make certain what they’re doing will work for me considering my bone disease. Ahh, there’s my Bluetooth keyboard... it deserted me mid thought ~ how dare it do that!! Know that I will be praying for you! </div>
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Judy then responded back “Wow! You take those punches like a champ! I hope I can keep my spirits up like you. You’re an amazing woman, Leah! </div>
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I wrote back Thank you, Judy!! Let’s take the punches together!! Let’s show the enemy who’s boss~ we will do this together!! You’re an amazing woman too, Judy!! Taking the punches isn’t always easy, but we have to take a stand and we ca get those punches and conquer!</div>
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I wrote this because I was blessed by her response, but more importantly I wanted her to know that I would be there with her in spirit lifting her in prayer that I would stand in the gap for her. Friends are treasures. We need to care for our friends. I am thankful for the ones that God has placed in my life.</div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-42778861102528989982017-10-21T16:01:00.001-04:002017-10-21T16:01:58.395-04:00Challenges come, how will you handle the storms?<div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Afternoon, Everyone! I hope that you have wonderful day today. I posed the question to you because I have had several challenges thrown at me recently. I thought by posing it to you I thought it would give you something to think about. I could have easily thrown in the towel and given up in the storms I am facing right now. I chose not to give up. I chose to face these storms head on. I know that God will carry me through them. We all face different challenges and storms in our lives; from things in our lives, the children, medical things, relationship things and more. The challenges I am facing right now are medical related. They’re overwhelming to me because they’re coming one after the other. Yes, I could give up, I could cry over them, I could get angry over them; I could worry; where would that get me? How would that resolve anything? It would not resolve anything, it would only stop me in my tracks. It would stop me from moving forward. I instead have taken each one of these challenges to the Lord. I have given them to Him to carry. I left them with Him and as I go through these challenges I will give all the new information that comes from each one and give it to the Lord. I know the days ahead will not be easy, but with the Lord they will be easier. How you ask? Here are some scriptures that I have read that will help me through the days ahead. I will share them with you here. After I share the scriptures with you I will open up about the medical challenges I am facing. </div>
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Psalms 27:1 </div>
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“The Lord is my light and my salvation —so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”</div>
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Isaiah 41:13</div>
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“For I hold you by your right hand — I the Lord your God. And, I say to you, Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.”</div>
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I Peter 5:7</div>
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“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” </div>
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As promised I told you I would open up about what is going on with me. The first storm has been my back I have been having lots of pain still from my injury in April with the aquatic therapy. I have now had two surgical back procedures and may be facing a third. A second storm that I am facing is one with my eyes. I was already diagnosed with early stages of glaucoma, but that is begining to change. I was told that the collagen defect due to my brittle bones disease is now affecting my eyes. I may be facing some serious things ahead. They did mention about surgery for the eyes. I don’t know as I am ready for that yet. I know these things generally happen later in your life, but I am experiencing things now. I did not think I would be experiencing these right now in my life. I also am experiencing injuries that are occurring without my doing anything to be hurt. I was dealing with extreme pain in my left elbow. I did not know what could be causing it. The doctor asked if I had been doing any heavy lifting or gardening; no, I have not. I have been recouping from a back surgical procedure two weeks ago. He said I guess you wouldn’t be then. They took some pictures and ran some scans discovering that the tendon in my elbow is inflamed and tearing. Again the words surgery come out of the doctor’s mouth. Not what I was wanting to hear. We will try other things before surgery. I will try physical therapy then from there we will see what needs to be done to resolve things.<br />
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How you take the storms that come in our lives will determine how you come out on the other side of the storm. If we let them control us then we can be negative, we can give up when there is a positive side that we are missing because we have decided to cover that with negative thoughts. This brings me to a scripture that I love a lot because I remember it often.<br />
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2 Corinthians 10:4-6<br />
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“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casing down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”<br />
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Thanks for taking the time to read this entry. I hope it has given some insight for you to be able to take on your storms in a different way.</div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-15827003772246857782017-10-10T20:53:00.000-04:002017-10-10T20:53:47.371-04:00Friendships Have Ups and Downs, Good Times and Hard Times<div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Evening Everyone!! I hope you were able to enjoy your day. I did enjoy mine; the sunshine, just the warmth of it all. The gentle breeze, the coolness of the air. Watching the birds and animals playing around outside in the beautiful day. </div>
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I want to tell you just how important friendship is and how you build and keep your friendship when trials come. I say this because I just went through a very trying time with a friend. I say this because friends are very important in our lives; how we continue our friendships really matter. I got to thinking about this being Friendship Sunday and with the events of this week I have to say that I am thankful, grateful that I still have my friend even with the hard time that we just went through.<br />
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I would like to open this with many of our issues were misunderstandings. Sometimes when we would disagree on things much hurt went between us. This was difficult to recover from sometimes. Now things have changed between us, we have agreed how we would communicate with one another. Today we had a conversation that was going well then something was said that my first reaction was to get angry and let my friend know I was very hurt by what was said. I didn’t do that though. I paused, took a step back and answered my friend, but I did let her know that I was hurt by what she said. I was hurt by what it implied of me. She also paused before answering me; she said she was asking a question, nothing else and also said she was sorry I felt hurt. I told her I was hurt by the way it came across or was assumed. I took a moment to stop, wait do not react to what she’s saying. I had to tell myself not to jump in, but to wait, let her talk more. I did just that and even though she asked me to forgive her I said no need to forgive. I felt this was a matter of misunderstanding and rather than she and I to argue through the conversation we talked through the conversation. Now, we have agreed this approach to when things hurt us, we misunderstand or it makes us want to “attack” with words we now pause, wait until what is said is said then read it. Again pause before responding back right away this way there is less arguments and hurt feelings. This approach is different for her and I, but this is going to the best way. I can say that it will make our friendship stronger for that. I give her Biggest Hugs for standing by me in our friendship to take us on a closer journey as friends.<br />
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I hope that this has and will help many of you that may have a friendship that has bumps in the road. Please take the time to really appreciate and talk with your friend when you hit one of these bumps. Do not let a bump cause a roadblock or a destruction in your friendship. Stay close to the Lord, dig in His Word. Look to Him when you have a bump in your friendship and your life He will get you through even when you feel all alone. I can tell you there have been times I have felt alone; not until later did I realize that He was carrying me when I was at my weakest.<br />
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I will close this with next Sunday, October 15th is Friendship Sunday be sure to invite your friends to church with you. You will have something else to talk about. A new subject, how great is that? </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-19435751764439571152017-09-29T19:39:00.000-04:002017-09-29T19:39:24.822-04:00Grateful Attitude.....What are you grateful for? <div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Evening, Everyone!!! I hope you’ve had a wonderful day and have had some time with your families this evening. I had a good day with my family. My son and I had some fun during the day. You might think how? Don’t they have school?? Yes, he does have school. He’s currently out on excuses absence due to surgery. He will be returning soon. </div>
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I promised you that I would keep the attitude of gratitude going. I am not sure when I will take a break from it. Here is yesterday’s and today’s. </div>
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<b>Thursday</b> </div>
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<b>Grateful for...</b></div>
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1. Being given opportunity to teach.</div>
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2. Quiet morning to spend in the Word.</div>
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3. Rock out times with Bev-co-conspirator hehe great times!!!</div>
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4. Good family time.</div>
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5. Take an idea->to design->to cut->display,gift, pay forward, something to enjoy.</div>
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1. God placing Godly friends in my life and the friendships blooming! Feeling like we’ve been friends for a lifetime. </div>
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2. Great Open House last night. Many great comments about Robbie;many well wishes & messages. One had two opportunities for him that he’d be head of; a club and another group opportunity. </div>
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3. The teachers. Not only are they great with the students, but they work as a team and make connecting with them easy for students and parents. </div>
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4. Nice crisp morning. Reminds me of the crisp mornings at camp on the river (1,000 islands). The mornings reading my Bible enjoying quiet time with God and watching the river. The coffee time with my Dad before he passed-great memories!</div>
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5. Surprise blessings that come out of nowhere and continue to surprise us through the night and morning!</div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-2516292171890876252017-09-29T17:27:00.000-04:002017-09-29T17:27:08.706-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
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With a growth mindset, each of these situations provides a chance to learn and grow—NOT to dial back or give up:</div>
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*Challenges are answered with effort and determination. A misstep simply means you regroup and move on.</div>
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*Setbacks don't discourage; they teach, through self-reflection and analyzing what went wrong before trying again.</div>
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*Criticism or stigma reflect someone else’s point of view; they don't define or stop you.</div>
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When you think of how challenges really make us plan, dig our heels in. Any challenge isn’t easy to take on. We need to have determination, but also be able to accept and move on when we maybe get sidelined. I think of the challenges that we have as Moms we are always trying to juggle schedules, appointments and so much more. </div>
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When we hit a setback as a Mom do we let it discourage us and upset our day or do we take it head on?? We take it head on because we are Moms. We learn from mistakes, teaching moments from other Moms who have been on the battlefields we are on currently. I have had the privilege of a wonderful Mom to help me through these moments. I also have a Godly Mom in our church to help keep me going forward on the battlefield. The two of them will push me to try and try again. They will direct me in a Godly way to help my family. </div>
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When someone criticizes what we do we need to step back take a breather. We need to lift those words spoken to the Lord. Pray asking Him to control our words that we want to fire right back in the heat of the moment. We need to pause, wait a moment then think about our words. We want to be careful as once the words are spoken they can hurt. We may have been hurt by the words already spoken to us so we need to make sure our words are not spoken out of anger. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-46271539530869918112017-09-27T17:58:00.000-04:002017-09-27T17:58:39.745-04:00A Challenge for you Mom’s - will you accept? <div style="text-align: center;">
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Greetings, Moms!!! I hope you’ve had a wonderful day today. Were you able to do anything special or fun with your family? I have been taking special care of our son as he had surgery on Monday . The surgery was successful; the pins and tension wire were removed from his elbow. He’s very resilient in that the first day out he says, “Mama, look!! I can turn my wrist full rotation out!! “ I was greatly excited to see this as this has been a limitation due to the hardware being in the elbow. I just wanted to open this up casually before getting to the challenge. I didn’t want to leave you hanging for too long. </div>
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Now for our challenge to think about. I am part of a Mom’s Connect Group in our church. We read through books to study. We will sometimes do a devotional study as we are now. The current study that we are doing is “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grouchy-Great-Finding-Journey-Motherhood-ebook/dp/B00KNXMTY4">Grouchy to Great: Finding Joy In The Journey Of Motherhood.”</a> The challenge that was presented to us was to write five things we are grateful for. We are to do this for the next five days. While this activity may end in our group; I choose to keep it going and will continue in my journal. I find that this activity really puts a different perspective on how you decide to open your day. Maybe you had interrupted sleep. I for example last night and the last few weeks have been up several times in the night due to pain in my back. I could have chosen to complain about it, but I haven’t. I in fact have been putting things up with friends “Thank you Lord for the middle of the night wake up. What do You have planned for us these wee hours??” I will now post for you my five things that I have been grateful for since the start of this activity. </div>
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<b>Monday:</b></div>
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<b>I am grateful for...</b></div>
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1. Family; whether we agree or not we will come around one another. </div>
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2. Special friends that are there for you in good times and difficult times, but that I too can be there for them. </div>
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3. Small Group-Mom’s Connect-friendships made and reconnected. </div>
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4. Pastor who cares for us in the church and those who are not that we mention for prayer. My church family. </div>
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5. God bringing people into my life and opening doors to opportunities that I never saw coming. I am excited to see what God has in store for these opportunities. </div>
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<b>Grateful for....</b></div>
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1. Successful surgery for our son. Great surgeon, caring team. Huge Praise! First day out FULL ROTATION OF THE WRIST!!! The hardware and tension wire prevented him from having full range of motion. </div>
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2. His friend called just to check on him. The encouragement that came from the phone call. We were all blessed. The support of others praying and checking on him — grateful!! My friend Bev, my co-conspirator who spent the day with us at the hospital-beyond blessed!! </div>
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3. My husband, his service to our country, a Veteran, provider for our family. That he’s able to allow himself vulnerable to express how great love between us. </div>
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4. God’s Word, able to read it daily; grow from the reading and able to apply to my life. </div>
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5. For being able to change perspective on things in my life that otherwise could be negative. I put a perspective of positivity on it instead. This also has become an area of ministry as I was able to minister to someone at the hospital during our son’s surgery. </div>
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1. God’s Amazing Grace! </div>
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2. The Lord is my Shepherd wherever He leads I’ll go. </div>
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3. Beautiful warm sunny day.</div>
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4. Middle of the night wake up times. </div>
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5. When plans don’t seem to fall into place-God puts them into place in His time. </div>
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I hope to hear some of the things you’re grateful for. I pray that you will be able to see the good and not let circumstances steal your Joy, but that you’ll be able to keep your Joy!</div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-21570635920463583292017-09-23T13:31:00.001-04:002017-09-23T13:31:05.481-04:00A Heavy Mom's Heart -- Filled with Love for her child<div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Afternoon, Moms! I hope you're enjoying your weekend. This weekend is beautiful, but challenging for this Mom. I have a heavy heart this morning. I don't mean as in the loss of a loved one. I mean that I will be taking our son for surgery on Monday that will be longer than four hours. Last year we were at our camp, our son was trying his best to get a photo of a large snapping turtle. He ran down from our site and he got his shot. He was excited that he captured the turtle the way he wanted to in this photo. He was rushing to get to me back at the campsite. As he was climbing the rocks he slipped and fell straight onto his elbow breaking it in three places and separating it from the growth plate in places as well. We had to go to a hospital facility that we were unfamiliar with they did the diagnosis to let us know of the fractures and separations. They wanted to send us further on to another facility that we were not familiar with. We were told by one that was caring for our son that he didn't recommend that we go up there. He told us to tell them "ok", but then to get home as quickly as we can to the hospital that we are familiar and comfortable with the care of our son. We did just that which was almost a two-hour ride from where we were. We did that and they told us that he'd be facing an over four-hour surgery to place hardware and tension wire in his elbow. Now the time has passed, we are now a year out from injury. We are now returning to the hospital with our son to have surgery to remove the hardware and tension wire from the elbow. This surgery also will be over four hours. I am having a heavy heart because the part of the surgery that makes me cry is when they put him under. This I feel is one of the most difficult things that we have to do with our children as parents. Not every parent will experience their child going in for surgery. Those of us that have I have heard from every one of them that, them taking their child back to put them under for surgery has been the most difficult for them. It's the fear of the unknown. Every surgery is a risk, but when we have God in our lives and trust HIM, giving our children over to HIM - He's in control. They're in His care. I also think of one of my favorite verses found in II Timothy 1:7. God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind. I know several of my Mom friends and other Parents have told me the feelings I am having are all natural. I have a dear, a dear friend of mine coming with me and my husband to the Children's Hospital to pray and support us while our son is in surgery. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-61797536238945504742017-09-14T10:49:00.000-04:002017-09-14T11:36:34.835-04:00Feeling Discouraged, Overwhelmed, Defeated-Go to the throne! Pray! <div style="text-align: center;">
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Good morning, Moms!!! Hope you're having a wonderful day. The craziness of the morning rush is over now that the kids are off to school. I know my morning routine can be crazy, exciting, frustrating all depending on how our son responds to his day. I am always busy trying to get to the source of his frustration, his craziness when he cannot find what he needs or if he feels rushed. I tell him take a step back, breathe, pray. Ask God to direct you to what you need, ask Him to calm your spirit. After he's calmed and more like himself I send him off for his day. He's a great son. </div>
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I chose the picture for today speaking on feeling defeated, feeling down, feeling pressed against the wall because of circumstances in your life for a reason. I had an injury that occurred in April and lasted an extended amount of time. I am still dealing with some of the extenuating things from that injury. I at first felt so defeated, alone, questioned why is this still continuing? I stopped, paused then got myself around some great Godly friends and asked them to pray along with me. They still don't know all that is going on, but that didn't matter to them. What mattered was that I came to them asking them to pray with me when I was feeling discouraged by the circumstances. We prayed and added the Word, and are continuing to pray for what God can do! Amen! We know what He has done for all of us, but I will continue to be thankful and rejoice in what He can do! I know my battles are far from over, but God is with me! I know He is with me through this now and going forward. </div>
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So when you're feeling crushed, defeated, burdened, down--look up! Pray to the Lord. Let Him take it, let Him help you through-lay it down at the cross. Ask Him to help you, to comfort you, to refresh you. He will do it for you, trust Him. As much as I have been in His Word, singing praise music, shedding tears; I know He has this -- I will get through! Now I leave you with this other picture; this one I designed from using the pine near our home. I also want to leave you with a few verses to think about. </div>
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He alone is my rock and my salvation, </div>
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my fortress where I will not be shaken. </div>
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(Psalm 62:6 NLT)</div>
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God is our refuge and strength, </div>
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always ready to help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1 NLT)</div>
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The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, </div>
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a refuge in times of trouble. </div>
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Those who know your name trust in you, </div>
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for you, O Lord , do not abandon those who search for you. (Psalm 9:9 - 9:10 NLT)</div>
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For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17 - 4:18 NKJV)</div>
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A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10 NLT)</div>
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I pray that this helps you in your time of need. If you need or want to contact me please leave a comment and I will respond when I can. </div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-20724546595273527202017-09-02T15:24:00.000-04:002017-09-02T15:24:36.313-04:00Beautiful Saturday <div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Afternoon, Everyone!! Hope you're having a blessed Saturday. It's been a busy day for us here. My husband has been busy, hard working to do things for himself and for our family. I love him so much!! Our son has been busy doing things he likes as well as helping around the house. He's been helping me with tasks as well. I love him, he is one of the best gifts from God. I have been trying to do things on the computer for my husband. I am hoping that I am doing what he's looking for. I also have been looking at my next books to review. I hope to have a good one to write about. </div>
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Upcoming news, our Mom's Connect Group will be doing the book "From Grouchy to Great: Finding Joy In The Journey Of Motherhood" by Ruth Schwenk. A description I will share with you about the book. All of us moms, struggle to keep it all together sometimes. The battle for Jesus to reign in our hearts and through our emotions is a fight we all face every day. The good news is that we don't have to battle alone. This is a resource filled with real life stories to strengthen and encourage you that the battle can be won by God's grace and wisdom. I hope this helps. </div>
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I must say that these last weeks have been challenging with pain from my injury back in April. I have been keeping my attitude in check with God's grace. I have been going to the throne when I feel defeated or that I can't control it anymore. He's been there to lift me, hold me, wipe my tears - I mean in taking me from a tear stained face to a face glowing with a smile and feeling that I can do this!! I love how our Lord does this. There are so many things He does for us in our lives that we see and don't see. We may take things for granted, but we need to slow down and thank Him for what He does even if we don't see it. His love for us is unconditional, never ending. Go to the throne! I saw this quote today and decided to make a picture with it. I will share it with you. </div>
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May you have a wonderful weekend. Will be thinking of you all as your children start or have started school and we get adjusted to the new schedules. </div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-30926059652781873972017-07-29T16:20:00.000-04:002017-07-29T16:20:13.902-04:00A Warm Summer Day<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hi, Everyone!! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! Feeling blessed to have a nice warm sunny summer day without the rain. We've had several days this month already with rain and many of us are dealing with flooding. Those that are dealing with the flooding be safe. I pray that you will get through this. Our Lord is amazing! He may bring us to things, but He doesn't let us go them alone. He's right there by our side. He's holding our hand, walking with us through our challenges, trials, difficult times. We may shed many tears, tears of sadness, tears of feeling overwhelmed; there are many types of tears we may shed, but our Lord is there holding us up, wrapping his arms around us. When I think about that this verse comes to mind from Psalm 91:4 "He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." The reason I think of this verse is how much our loving Lord protects us His children. When we are weak He is there to lift us up. In Him we need not be afraid as He is our refuge. We can take refuge in Him.<br />
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Another great passage that comes to mind a wonderful friend shared with me. We have made it our friendship verse. These verses are from I Thessalonians 5:16-19. "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit." I am thankful that the Lord put Mary in my life. She sent me a great message the day that we laid our beloved Aunt Cora to rest. In Mary's message she said that she felt she needed to pray for me, but didn't know why. When we chatted later I told her that we were traveling as a family about an hour away for the funeral of our beloved Aunt. She then knew why the God put me on her heart. Just as Mary praying for me and my family I do the same when God puts someone on my heart. I immediately stop what I am doing and spend time in prayer. While we don't always know why we are praying for the one that God laid on our heart He guides us through our prayer for them and for their need. He already knows what their need is or are He gets His prayer warriors praying for His children. I am so glad He does. I have prayed for family and friends this way and when I talk to them later I sometimes find out that they were in a difficult situation or something was happening that they needed prayer, but didn't reach out to anyone for prayer. I love when God does this in His own way. I feel He let's us see these moments to encourage us to take it on and heed His guiding us in prayer when He lays someone on our hearts - so don't shy away from being a blessing to someone who needs someone to pray for them. </div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-73872147424804349752017-07-25T11:19:00.001-04:002017-07-25T11:19:21.057-04:00God's Plan<div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Morning Everyone!! I hope you're enjoying your morning. I have been enjoying mine and have listened to the rain as God let it fall to water his garden and care for all that He's created. I love how God takes care of us. We may not always see it at first, but when we take the time to look deeper we see it. </div>
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I am writing because I was thinking through the hurt, the pain, the challenges I have faced whether they be by injury, surgery or other obstacles that have come up in my life God is sovereign. He knew the plans He had for me. He knew how I would go through these things. Just as He says in Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope."</div>
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He knew the struggle, He placed the right people in my life to influence me in the direction He would have me go. Even if I wanted to be stubborn and not want to comply at first, but in the end, I do and did; I was very blessed. I was very blessed with what He taught me through the struggle, through the challenges. So I challenge you to step out, walk out in faith when you think you can't He's there, He's by your side -- Take it up!!! Walk with Him!!</div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-11981522832814129292017-07-19T20:48:00.002-04:002017-07-19T20:48:44.507-04:00A Day wih my Husband<div style="text-align: center;">
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Greetings Everyone! I don't usually get a lot of time with my husband alone. Today, we were fortunate to get some alone time even if not long. We went to an eye appointment for me. The visit went well, however, I am to return in two weeks due to the pressure in my eyes not being where the optometrist would like. After the visit, we had to pick up some packaging material for my husband for items he needs to ship. We picked that up without any problems then from there we were able to do any last minute things before returning home to our son.</div>
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My husband decided to surprise me by stopping at our local ice cream stop. We each had our choice of ice cream. He requested his favorite, mint chocolate chip. The girl at the counter said we don't have our hard ice cream flavors yet, but I can make you a mint chocolate chip. She told him how she'd take vanilla ice cream, adding mint flavoring then chocolate chips to it and mix it up. He said sure! She did it and he tried it and he enjoyed it. I was looking at what options I had available to me. I decided to get a Dole Whip Strawberry cone. I liked it. I was trying to figure out the calculation for the points for Weight Watchers, but I couldn't find it in the app. I asked if they had a barcode I could scan or if they had the nutritional value for it. I got even better she handed me her notebook containing all the nutritional value of their selections of ice cream they have available. I really appreciated her going above to assist. </div>
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I really enjoyed the time with my husband after we got our ice cream and dole whip. We went under a tree that also had a bench, but with my wearing white pants I didn't think was a good idea to sit on it. I was a bit uncomfortable with my back as I am still healing from a previous injury. I didn't mind standing while talking with hubby. He was also standing and giving a few kisses here and there. We did get a few beeps of the horn from cars passing by. My husband said we need date nights and date days. We agreed and really enjoyed today's "date." My husband said I want to get to know you all over again like we did when we first met. I loved that, that he cared to share that with me. He asked when we could go walking again. I want to go walking for exercise, but also to help with conditioning my back and making it feel stronger and better than it does now. </div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-66745735622623996712017-07-14T18:29:00.004-04:002017-07-14T18:29:36.314-04:00Rocking Good Fun with a Great Godly Mom, Friend, Co-Conspirator, Sister and the list continues<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hi, Everyone! Hope you're having a great day. I had an early start to my day. The alarm went off promptly at 5:30 am. I got up got myself ready as usual. I then made a light breakfast. I then got into my area that I love in my living room and spent some time with the Lord there. I got into the Word, then started thinking of songs to have ready for "Rockin' it Out Time" with my great friend Bev. She's a Godly Mom, Sister in the Lord, Co-Conspirator, now that last one that's a good one. She is because we are usually teaming up on our men. We love them, but when they need to straighten up we are on it. We have fun at it and they don't see it coming. We also will plan meals and other fun things right in front of them at times and they miss it. I love Bev because she will talk to me about things, she will get with me on the scriptures. While at times I may shed a tear, she may push me, I most likely won't like it, but I know it's for the best. I love when she brings things to me that I need to hear, need to read, or even just a hug she brings to me and that's all I need. </div>
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You ask about this Rockin' it Out Time. Well, here's the low down on that. This is how we got it started. I had gone to physical therapy for my back. The doctor prescribed aquatic therapy due to my bone disease, Osteogenesis. He didn't feel that regular therapy would be the best option as weight bearing could cause more injury because of the fragility of my bones. They're compromised because of the bone disease. I was injured during aquatic therapy which landed me three days to the hospital of which by the time I was released I could not walk. I then spent the next three months learning to walk and care for myself again. Bev was one of the loving ladies that came over to help me through this injury. She would talk to me about the sermon our Pastor was bringing to us each Sunday. She would talk to me about a devotion she read, but one of the important times was when she brought me a book Red Sea Rules. This was a very good book and it helped me so much during the healing through my injury. If you'd like to get a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Red-Sea-Rules-God-Given-Strategies/dp/0529104407">Red Sea Rules</a> just click the link. There were so many lessons learned during this time and with reading this book. We also would spend time watching DVD's of The Gaither's and many others that she'd bring over. We would crank the volume on the television to sing out the hymns and other music choices we would play. Now that I am doing better Bev isn't here every week like she was early on in the recovery of my injury. Now we look at our calendars and plan a day that we can rock out to music and learn some stories behind the most cherished hymns that we grew up on and grew to love. Today was one of our "Rockin' Out Days"; I love the time with her. I know these are memories that I will carry with me forever. </div>
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I must get going now is time to make preparations for supper. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-29275805655981174682017-07-12T16:27:00.001-04:002017-07-12T16:27:18.897-04:00One of the Many Trials in Motherhood<div style="text-align: center;">
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Good Afternoon, Everyone! I hope you're enjoying your day. I have been enjoying the time with my family and now spending some one on one time with my son. We have been working on a project together that he'd like to get started in the building. </div>
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Yesterday was a day of many appointments with our son. We had to first go to the Children's Hospital for an ultrasound then to the Urologist, Dr. Mason for the reading of the ultrasound. We had discovered over a year ago now a calcification in our son's testicle. He had been experiencing some testicular pain. We found the calcification; at first as all parents do we worried about our son. What are our options? What is our next step?? Who do we see from here?? What is the plan of care?? We then paused after the running of the fast forward button of our minds. We went to the throne. We went to God in prayer; we sought Him in our next steps. We knew and know He is the Great Physician, the Great Healer. We trusted Him with this and prayed that in His Will, His timing that this calcification is removed. God has His plans, His ways; we have to trust the way He leads in our circumstances. </div>
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The ultrasound went smoothly, two technicians came in and took pictures as one of the techs was just learning what is expected and being trained. I was fine with this because I was able to be there to see the photographs that they were taking. Meanwhile, our son slept through his entire ultrasound. Yes, he was that relaxed. We then walked across to the urologist's office. We arrived for our appointment and discussed the results with Dr. Mason. He assured us that everything looked good. The calcification was still there but had not changed at all in size or shape. He also told us that unless there was an issue he would see us in two years!! We praise God for this!!! </div>
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We then left for the Diabetes Center to get our son's DEXA scan for his bones. We need to see where he stands with the density of his bones to determine if infusions are again needed or if we can continue on with our break from having to go to the Children's Cancer Center. I was in the room while they performed the DEXA and what I saw of the previous scan to this one his bones look much better. I will know better after his appointment with the Nephrologist where we stand far as infusions. </div>
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I must say again that I am seeing great things with the Vitamin D-3 that we are taking. Our levels have improved instead of decreasing. I know we are in our Lord's hands. I am so blessed that we are Children of God as it says in I John 3:1-2 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called <u>children of God</u>! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved,<u> now we are children of God</u>; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."</div>
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I will update this post as soon as we have the results of the levels and his bone density. I am not worried about this result. I know God has him in His care. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-53528606525706327232017-07-10T18:09:00.000-04:002017-07-10T18:28:58.729-04:00Getting Real<div style="border: 0; margin: 0; position: relative;">
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Hi, Moms! I just want to take this moment to introduce you to a very special and dear friend of mine. This is Kathleen Spencer everyone. She has been a large influence in my life. I met her when I was a young girl growing up. She was friends with my parents first and she would nurture my brother and me along with her husband with our walks with the Lord. I appreciate and thank you very much for that Kathleen. I love you, my friend. We have some things that we wanted to bring to you, to think about. May you be blessed with our words. </div>
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I have been thinking about the time we have on this earth. Is our time short, is our time long, do we really know how much time we have?? No, we don't the only one that does know the time we have is our Heavenly Father. This thought of time took me back to the time when my Father, Tom Eggert passed away. I loved him deeply. I am glad that he knew the Lord in a personal way. We are saved by grace through faith as spoken in Ephesians 2:8-10. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." I encourage you to listen to this sermon from my brother, Pastor Brian Eggert. He's Pastor of Old Town Christian Fellowship Church in Maine. Click here for the sermon --><a href="http://www.oldtowncf.com/uploads/1/0/5/4/105403225/matthew_24_1-20_be_june_25_2017.mp3" style="color: #ed6487; text-decoration-line: none;">How much time do we have?</a> Here is a second one talking more about our time we have left and how important it is for us to have relationship with Jesus <a href="http://www.oldtowncf.com/uploads/1/0/5/4/105403225/matthew_24_21-51_be_july_2_2017.mp3" style="color: #ed6487; text-decoration-line: none;">How much time do we have? 2 </a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><u>Here are words from Kathleen's heart:</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Sharing a concern I have. Seems there are those who talk about God all the time and all the favor they want from Him and yet they don’t walk in obedience to His word. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">If a person is still living a life of willful sin the scripture is very clear that they are not saved and not to expect anything from God except his righteous judgment. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">If a person is truly sorry for their sin and asked God with a truly contrite heart to forgive them, but has something or more than one thing that they still are struggling with they need to find an accountability partner to pray with them and for them and seek God for the renewing of their mind through reading His word continuously. If you don’t seek Him with all your heart I promise you, you will not be set free. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">A person who claims to be a Christ Follower and is still walking in disobedience is not following Christ but his greatest enemy and yours, the Devil himself. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I hear the excuse all the time... “No one is perfect”... That is true, but God is, and he commanded that we be holy just as He is holy. If that were not possible he wouldn’t have said it. He looks at a heart that wants Him more than anything else in this life. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I am not writing this in condemnation. I was raised in a strong Christian home and for many years I was a very, very weak follower of Jesus Christ but in my heart I loved Him. The war that Paul talks about in Romans was waging in me, but thanks be to God I discovered the next verse that through Christ we can be overcomers. It went from desiring what I wanted to desiring what God wanted. I also am very aware that temptation is always out there and I may need to run to someone for help again one day. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I am a non-judgmental listener who knows what it’s like to struggle so if you need an ear you’ve got one. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">It’s not about me anyway.. if I could get away with some sins, of course like anyone else I’d jump on that train quickly. But it’s about what wanting the very, very best God has for you and for me and not wanting you to miss the mark. Our eternal souls are at stake and we have a powerful enemy who wants us to spend eternity without God. But we have a much more powerful Lord and Savior who wants us to spend eternity with Him and wants to empower us to live a life holy and acceptable to Him so we can experience the greatest joys and abundance of blessings from Him and empower us to spread that message to others. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Galatians 5:19 “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures.” New Living Translation</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Galatians 5:19 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness” KJV</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I Corinthians 6:9 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor those who participate in homosexuality.” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Galatians 5:22-23</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">We were made for more than running after the things of this world. We were made for greatness as sons and daughters of the King. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">I will not reject you even if you toss this message aside. I will continue to love you and pray for you. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Blessings!!!</span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;">Kathleen</span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="color: #4a4439;">Kathleen, thank you so much for allowing me to post this to my site. I pray that we will reach many hearts for our Lord. Feel free to leave us some love at the end of this post. Any questions that you may have Kathleen and I would be glad to write with you.</span></span></div>
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Have a great day Moms!!<br />
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-88356280180662416642017-07-05T11:33:00.001-04:002017-07-07T12:05:58.523-04:00Good Morning Lord.....<div style="border: 0; margin: 0; position: relative;">
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Good Morning, Everyone!! Hope you're having a good start to your days. I have been in the Word this morning. I spent some time reading from my devotional by Joni Eareckson Tada, <a href="https://www.christianbook.com/spectacle-glory-light-shining-through-every/joni-tada/9780310346777/pd/346773" target="_blank">A Spectacle of Glory</a>. The one this morning really touched me on so many levels. I mean seriously, how often do we allow distractions to interrupt us and keep us from doing the things we ought to be doing. This here is the devotional...</div>
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July 5 Psalm 25:15</div>
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It's difficult enough trying to grab a quiet few minutes with God and His Word. But sometimes it feels like you're running through an obstacle course of distractions to get there. You head toward your Bible or the Bible app on your iPad, but find yourself checking Facebook first. Or the headlines. Or the latest sports scores. Or something totally unrelated to anything! Or maybe you think a cup of coffee will help your concentration, which leads to a snack ---and before you know it, the time has flown and you have to move into your day without seeking the Lord.</div>
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Life has always been full of distractions. But we truly need to connect with the Lord and His Word every day. That's why today's Scripture gives such an effective reminder when distractions keep sidetracking us. "My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare." If we keep our eyes on Him, He won't allow us to become tripped up or entangled in trivialities.</div>
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<b>Amen, </b>Lord! I have spent too much time filling my mind with worthless distractions and the empty ways of this temporary world. Turn my heart! Draw my attention. Rule my heart. I need to spend time in Your presence, feeling Your nearness and listening to Your voice. </div>
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There's so much in there to chew on today. I know this will keep my focus on His Word. Thanks for stopping by today!!! </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-74424136256062484382017-07-05T09:10:00.002-04:002017-07-07T12:05:13.545-04:00Feeling Blessed......<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi, Everyone!!! Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday! I have been having a great Sunday with my family and church family. It felt great getting out with the family. That was one thing that I had decided when I was down with the injury. I decided when we get out other than doctor appointments; family outing will be to church. We did just that. The surprise welcome that we received was overwhelming and we were so blessed. The love we felt from our church family was amazing!! </div>
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We felt the love. I was so happy to see the ones that came to me, but so blessed to see the ones that came around my husband. I know he was so moved by the love that everyone showed us in those few minutes. My husband said we are "home"; we found our home church. I was so pleased to hear those words from him. I know when the ladies were coming to our home to help me while I was recovering I told them I need to go "home." I was referring to "home" = church. I missed my church family and being fed in the Word. I know I can read the Bible on my own which I do. I also listen to my brother who is a Wonderful Pastor in Maine and to my Pastor at our church. It's just not the same as being there. I have seen changes in my family just in the years we've attended there. The friendships we each have made. I know we are so blessed with our church.<br />
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-78086589455338266582017-06-23T18:45:00.001-04:002017-06-23T18:45:14.886-04:00I love my son!!<div style="border: 0; margin: 0; position: relative;">
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I know I am posting a lot on here lately, but when things come to mind that is important to me I just want to put them here so I can save them. I have a journal too as well, but I wanted to share them with you too. </div>
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I had a few moments to talk with my son. I love the after school talks. The quiet talks when his Father has gone upstairs to his office for a bit. My husband says that, but our son and I both know what that means. You ask what does it mean? It means, "upstairs for the night see ya tomorrow"; that's what it means. Now back to the talks. Our son and I had a few moments to talk; we talked about school, friends, God, the Bible. I then mentioned something that he'd always ask me. He'd ask "Mama, what do you do to fall asleep? I can't fall asleep." I would answer I simply first pray to the Lord and spend some time with Him before bed. I then when I am finished will continue to talk with the Lord about things until I fall asleep asking Him to help relax me that I may get rest and be ready for what He has planned for me. He would when he was younger say, but I don't know how. I would ask him to then pray with me. He would and he'd do great. I would then say ok, now just keep talking to Him and ask him to relax you and help you to sleep. I would usually hear a quiet ok, Mama. I would then walk out of his room and go to our room. In our talk, I asked him so what's going on? Anything bothering you? No, Mama nothing bothering me, but I am working on this coding project for school. I was in our recliner in the living room because of an injury and he was on our sofa. It was getting late; he looked over and noticed I wasn't falling asleep. What's wrong Mama, are you ok? I answered reluctantly knowing how he responds. I said no, not really. I am hurting and I can't fall asleep. He said, "Mama, here, do what you taught me. After praying to God, just talk to Him. Ask Him to relax you, Mama, ask Him to take the pain away and let you fall asleep. That's what I do when I can't fall asleep; I pray then talk to God." Not often do we like when our kids put our words back in our faces, but with him, this rarely happens. I was so blessed and touched when he said these words back to me. He brought tears of joy to my heart. I love him so much!! You could say it was a God moment. God showed me how much my words touched our son's life.</div>
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Right now between my posting this and thinking what to write next he's sitting on the couch playing a game. Mama, Mama look at the screen. I look up and look at the screen. I then hear, "Mama, are you looking?? Do you see the screen I tell him what I am looking at (Mario with a bouncing key behind him)? He then is surprised, "how are you typing and looking at the tv at the same time. I tell him because I know where the keys are and I learn the feel; when I make a mistake I know. Hehe, the things we Moms can get away with. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-70246037748742280872017-06-23T07:50:00.001-04:002017-06-23T07:50:56.451-04:00Bittersweet Day........<div style="border: 0; margin: 0; position: relative;">
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Good Morning! I pray that you have a wonderful day today! This morning is a happy day but at the same time a bittersweet day. I say this because it is the last day of school then summer begins for us. You may think how ungrateful are you Mom for saying that about the last day of school. I know just how much our son loves school; he loves his routine. When the routine changes, when the routine ends, it takes him time to get adjusted and that can be difficult and take some time. He went out the door with a sullen look on his face. I know this is going to be a long day for him. He tried to sound chipper as he does saying his last words out the door, "Mama, I love you. I'll see you when I get home." I hurt for him because I know how much he loves school and the routine. I have been planning for this day for a while. Throughout the year I look for things to do during the summer. I plan these and make sure I have the supplies for the things we can do together. I will ask him at times what would you like to do during the summer? Have you thought about this at all? Sometimes he will surprise me with answers; other times he won't have anything to share. Those are the times I dig a little deeper to find something that he'd never think of and do that together. </div>
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I do hope that we can get to camp sometime this summer. Camp, as we both say, is heaven on earth. We love getting up there. The St. Lawrence River is majestic! We love to get out there! Time to get on with the day........</div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-87833261464978630462017-06-22T22:06:00.001-04:002017-06-22T22:06:22.284-04:00Grateful for my Family<div style="border: 0; margin: 0; position: relative;">
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Good Evening! Hope you all have had a wonderful day. I titled this "Grateful for my Family" because I am. I know simple right, but it goes so much deeper than that. I recently went through an injury that had me laid up these last three months; it was a difficult journey. I not long into it started sensing things with my husband. I didn't know what to think. I would mention it to one of the beautiful ladies that came out to help me. They really touched my life, my husband's life, and our son's life in so many ways, on so many levels. I said I didn't know what to think about what I was sensing, feeling from my husband. I must say that God moved in such a way with him to touch me to my core. I say that because he made himself so vulnerable. I mean I could have hurt him so big, I mean big if I was that kind of woman. Thankful that God made me not that kind of woman, but a woman of great patience. I listened to his words that he shared with me, he said he had to disconnect himself from me, separate himself from what is going on around him, separate himself from watching me struggle to walk. He said that it crushed him, it hurt him deeply to see me that way. I was humbled by his words because they spoke to me so deeply. I cried my heart out to him even through my pain. I told him I loved him so much already, but I love him even more. We are even closer now that I am starting to come around from my injury.<br />
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I am not going to end the post here just quite yet. I must also include our son. I am so thankful for him. God really had me wait a long time for him. God knew the desire of my heart; that I wanted a child. God knew also that in 6th grade when we were asked to write a paper about what we thought our future families would be when we grew up and were married. I wrote in there that I wanted children, but I also asked God for a special needs child that I could love and nurture the way He would have me to do. I prayed that He'd give me the heart of a Mother for a special needs child. I prayed and watched, heard others and friends having babies around me. I remember saying "that should have been me;" I had shed so many tears in this time of waiting on God's timing. His wonderful timing that we are sometimes too quick to try to speed things up, but God still makes us wait. The time for me was fifteen years. I know that may seem like a super long time, but I am glad that God had me wait that long. He was making me be the mother I am today. Our son is such a wonderful young man. He is my special needs child that I prayed for and also shares the same bone disease with me; Osteogenesis Imperfecta. This is a speck in our lives it's not a part of us. You say, yes, yes it is. Hear me out, I said a speck in our lives because that's what it is. It's not a "part" of us meaning that when we meet someone we don't walk up and introduce ourselves and add on there "I have Osteogenesis,......" We just don't do that and I have taught him that it is a piece of him that it doesn't identify him. Yes, his friends and others know he has it because they've been there with us through the infusions that we have to receive. I have received so many compliments from teachers, friends, family, and others about him. In fact, one teacher bragged on him because of his stepping up to ask if he could do his class project on his bone disease. She thought this was very big of him because he could have been ridiculed by classmates, put down, bullied, and others could be nice and accepting. I have to say that all his classmates have accepted him and they treat him like their other friends and will brag on him to me as well. She said he was very informed about the disease. He wasn't afraid to share about it; he explained about the anger that we deal with because of the continuous breaks with the bones. He even included in his project about my diagnosis after his. Mine being diagnosed as an adult; the teacher said you could hear a pin drop with the class. They waited eagerly for his next word. Then he told them how many fractures I've had. The sound they made, made the teacher laugh. He then told them how when he broke his elbow that after he fell and said "OW! My ARM!........Is my camera ok?" We got a good laugh when it happened. I told him we needed to get his arm fixed and we will find the camera. Our son is such a blessing. He and I have much time together and we enjoy one another. Yes, there are times when he may not be on his best behavior as is expected with children. I have a phrase that now I cannot finish without him interrupting. I have told him when he does he must tell me what it is. We then discuss his behavior and he then writes scripture out based on the behavior. I then have him write a prayer to God also about his behavior. The phrase that I use with him during these times is the following, "When you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences!" I haven't had to use it a lot, but it really hit deep with him the first time I used it that it didn't need to be used much. I now can get "When.....(that's it) and it's "Mama, no, please, please don't finish it. I would reply, "Ok, I need you to tell me what my phrase is and what it means." Well, I have gone on for a bit. Go spend some time with your families. Thanks for stopping, feel free to leave a comment. </div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725332696960866936.post-61603990225241019462017-04-06T20:19:00.001-04:002017-04-06T20:19:19.135-04:00The Battles in Our Lives<div style="border: 0; margin: 0; position: relative;">
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<i>Good Evening, Moms!!! I pray that you're doing well. I am sure you're days are eventful; praying you are able to get some Mom time. I know when I do I cherish every second. </i></div>
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<i>When we are in a battle we sometimes can be confused, unsure, unable to discern and the list could go on. I will end it there though. I know when I am under attack I try not to be anxious, this is something that I am working on. I know that it will take time, but God is walking by my side through the battles. He's the calm in my storm. The verse that comes to mind for me referring back to being anxious is found in 1 Peter 5: 7 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." I look at that verse "give all your worries" -- give all your anxieties to God, to God why? Why, because He cares about you!!! Don't let the anxiety take you over. Don't let it get you to say, "I can't do this, I am not strong enough..." You are strong enough, You have God by your side. He will walk this with you.</i></div>
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<i>We as Moms go to battle for our children. When someone offends them or harms them in any way we are on the battlefield to protect our children. When someone offends or harms a family member same thing we are out there on the battlefield fighting for our family member to protect them. We just want what is best. To be the best at fighting on that battlefield we need to be in our prayer closets, becoming, being the best prayer warrior God has. We also need to be out there on the battlefield being trained by God to fight against the attacks of the enemy. Are you ready to join God's Army, to be His Prayer Warrior?? </i></div>
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Have a great day Moms!!</div>
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Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03617248950614798174noreply@blogger.com0