Creativity

I received this in an email and liked it.   It spurred me on to thinking how parents can pray for creativity in the raising of their children.  I still practice that frequently.  I pray you are all doing well and would LOVE to get some questions on my desk!
Blessings
Marnie




We don't know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service. 


Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words: 

Dear God, 
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. 
Love, Meredith 

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note: 

Dear Meredith, 
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away. 
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. 
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.  I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

Love, God 
 

Power of a Mom

http://powerofmoms.com/2012/04/your-children-want-you/

This blog by April Perry is a MUST read.  It says it all and I agree wholeheartedly!
Thank you April for sharing your convictions!d

Blessings!

A Smile

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc.
The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.
That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke.
The tree went 'boing!' and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight.
The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, 'Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping,' and went on about his business.
A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he askedher, Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?' She replied, 'You won't believe this,' and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, 'Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.' She told the pastor, 'I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.'
Never underestimate the Power of God and His unique sense of humor. 
Anyone can count the seeds in an apple; but only God can count the apples in a seed.

GIVE ME A SENSE OF HUMOR, LORD
GIVE ME THE GRACE TO SEE A JOKE
TO GET SOME HUMOR OUT OF LIFE
AND PASS IT ON TO OTHER FOLKS
AMEN !

Long but Worth the Read

A few weeks ago I wrote on "Attitude"   A reader wrote back to share some of  what she had been learning in the "parenting realm"   I am going to send it along, with permission, because it is very sound and I believe you will find it helpful.  Read it and then read it again


Blessings!   Please send any feedback ~

In regards to this subject, I'd like to share something that has been such a breakthrough for me with my now 7 year old.

 

About 3 years ago I started out on this amazing journey where God taught me so many wonderful things through different people, books ("Loving your kids on purpose" by Danny Silk - highly recommended!) and talking directly to me as I sought his face.

 

My strong headed then 4 year old would get frustrated, show an ugly attitude, and constantly test her limits. I tried everything, from talking for hours, to losing favorite privileges, to spankings, you name it, I did it, consistently... (my husband and I were on the same page and he is very involved in teaching and disciplining our children). After about a year of frustration, where nothing seemed to work, the Lord showed me (several times in a short period of time, just like He does when He really wants to get my attention), that I was focusing on correcting behavior only, instead of focusing on understanding the root of the bad behavior and fixing it. It took time, patience, and lavishing love, to get my little sweetheart to open up her heart to me and let me know what was causing her to react that way. It turns out she was mad at me, she felt disconnected. It took a while for me to realize this, but the Lord showed me that I had to reassure her of my love for her, not only with my words but more importantly with my actions during difficult times. I'm Ecuadorian, our Latin blood makes us very affectionate. There's never been a shortage of hugs, kisses, cuddling, loving, chatting, but somehow my level of stress and frustration while disciplining her were speaking louder than my love for her. The Lord coached me through this process of healing her little heart and reconnecting. These are some of the things that we implemented in our home, if you don't mind me sharing:

• First of all, there continued to be consequences for every action and we made that clear. We always tell them to THINK in spite of their disappointment, anger, frustration, and make the right choices. "Good choices, good consequences; bad choices, bad consequences" is a phrase that you'd hear daily in our home.
• We prayed for wisdom and patience and lavished her with love, even more so when she got frustrated. We would show empathy ("Sorry you're feeling frustrated, there's no need to stump your feet. Come here, what's going on?"), encourage her to talk about it, to say (respectfully) why she was frustrated, and we would walk her through her emotions. It wasn't easy, it was time consuming, it was exhausting, sometimes it looked like it would never work, but the mix of lavishing love and consistency in consequences made it possible!
• We really try hard not to raise our voices, but treat situations in a business like manner: Not taking it personally, just following through without getting our emotions involved (easier said than done, but we try...). And when we loose our temper, we apologize for it, and coach them in recognizing what they did and how they should apologize as well. We always finish every 'session' with a hug and kiss.
• I picked a few reassuring phrases and repeated them to her constantly throughout the day, sometimes without an apparent reason:
  * I would come up behind her when she wasn't expecting it, and I'd sweep her up in my arms or tickle her and then hold her, look at her in the eyes, and say: "I ALWAYS love you! I love you when you are happy, I love you when you are sad, I love you when you are obedient, I love you when you are disobedient, I love you when you are excited, I love you when you are mad. I will ALWAYS love you!" I made sure she understood that my love for her does not diminish no matter what she does. BUT that there are consequences for her actions, like in real life.  I'd repeat this phrase to her when cooking, when doing laundry, when playing, several times a day.
  * When she'd say: I'm moving out! (that was one of her big things), I'd say, with a smile on my face: "Oh baby! I can't let you do that! We're family, and families stick together through the happy and rough times! We could never let you go!" And tried to keep and upbeat loving but firm attitude. If she started to get disrespectful I'd remind her about thinking her actions, and about the good choice/bad choice concept, and I'd follow through.
  * I'd make it a point to give her undivided one on one attention for 5 or 10 min. a day. It worked wonders.
  * I'd cheer her up and celebrate with her with every little one of her victories! Not only with words, but lavishing her with physical affection.  There's something special about making a child laugh. Tickling our kids is a daily bonding affair in our home.

My girl now is a different person.  Obedient, respectful, thoughtful.  It usually takes only a short conversation or talk to have her come back to a good place and make the right choices, and if not, the consequences are still applied. 

 

I'm SO THANKFUL that our Father loves us unconditionally!, and that's the kind of love that we want to show our kids. When our kids feel loved unconditionally, it's easier for them to trust our judgment and listen to what we have to say. We could always force it out on them, but that will only go so far with this generation of independent thinking minds.  When the matters of the heart are addressed, the behavior changes. A good balance of unconditional love, respect in spite of their little size and young mind, and consistent consequences (both good and bad), will really make a difference in their lives. Addressing the heart, is the goal in our home discipline. We are still on this road of discovery and learning, and I can't wait to see where God leads us!