Save a Nicke and rub Two Pennines Togetherl!

     Money comes and money goes just like Paul said in the Bible, I have known plenty and I have known being broke. This is the way my life is. Do I wish I would know plenty more than broke, yes. What I would really like is knowing how much money I will make, in a salary, each month to stay in the peaceful existence of not worrying about money. My life, as a mother, has not been easy financially and I praise God for the ups and downs in my finances, because that is where my faith has grown by leaps and bounds. God has lead me and taught me how to be faithful and trust HIM in meeting all of our needs.


     I have made a mental two column list in my mind of my wants in one column and my needs in the second. My needs are always the same; godly children, home, food, bills paid, health and so on. My needs seem to change regularly from a vacation to a new TV. Just like God's words is forever and never changing, my needs never change and are the same today as the faithful in the Bible were thousands of years ago.


     I am going to share my secret to saving money when there is none to save. I save all of my change! Every single penny, nickle, and quarter and every single dollar bill. At one time, I had close to 35 pounds of change and over $400 in singles. This is my personal stash to be used in an emergency, which always happens. 


     Saving any bill over a single, I just couldn't afford, but when I saved all my singles it didn't hurt my pocket book. It was actually really fun! We all need a little stash of money that we can use when needed and as a single parent, that little stash is harder to save. Saving your change and singles will give you that emergency money that is needed when something unexpected happens.
   

What to do? What to do?

       I have always been a single parent, even before Dori was born. (I will share soon why). As a single parent of a tween through young adult son, I was constantly telling myself I can love him for both mom and dad. I felt so much love for my kiddos that when he looked like he needed to they to shave, I tried to teach him. It was in that moment that I decided it was time for Justin to have male influences in his life. I felt desperate and that is NOT where God wants us. I prayed and asked a few men from my church if they would be a mentor to my son and spend time with him, and they all said yes. But, my son was not into that. I knew he needed a man's influence and mentoring, because I was unable to teach him everything manly even though I loved him for both, mom and dad.

      On September 24, 1995 I stood on stage and dedicated my children to the Lord and my pastor in prayer mentioned that my church was there to help me raise them. I took it as a contract and needed the church to full fill their part now. My church coveted with me to insure I will have anything I need in raising my kiddos.

      I was in church praying how can the church help me and God spoke to me that Justin should start serving during the week at church when the office was open. He was able to be at church because he was home schooled so day time hour were not an issue. Then my thoughts were how to get him there, because I worked. Then I realized the bus could take him directly to the corner and all he had to do was walk the rest of the way. Within 20 minutes I talked to all of the pastors and maintenance workers and it was approved so Justin could start in 2 days!

     My heart felt joy as I knew Justin would have godly men to teach him things in maintenance along with mentoring. Justin enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go 3-5 times a week and got the godly man mentoring he needed. My church stuck to our contract in helping me in any way to raise my son.

     Justin volunteered for about 18 months and worked with some of the strongest Christian men I have ever meet. Eventually it lead to a paying job at age 16 and he continues to work there today.
I encourage you, pray for godly influences to step in where you know you should not be teaching. This time with the church has molded my son into the godly man he is today and I will be forever thankful to my church!

Ugh Teenagers!!

    For me, I have always looked at parents that have successfully raised their children to love the Lord for guidance and ideas. If someone was trying to give me advice and their children were trying to build their testimony, I really didn't pay much attention. I made a comment to a godly woman that had raised 3 lovely godly daughters. I said how I was dreading my 2 young elementary aged` children becoming teenagers. She looked at me and replied that I should cherish these times and embrace those years in my children's lives. She preceded to tell me that this is when their lives are formed the most for adulthood and this is when they grow in the Lord and need our guidance the most.


     I am so thankful to that godly woman for those words because they changed my life!! From then on I was a better mommy and decided to embrace all those hormones that will be rampant in my home. I decide to embrace the teenage years! I will admit, the concept was very foreign to me and it made more aware of my attitudes to my children. I also knew I ned to listen to my children and not judge them for their choices.

    Teenagers need to be balanced and the fights need to be of your picking not your child's. My daughter and I have had under 8 arguments and whenever we have started we both back down and retreat for a while to think things through before we converse again. We return with cool heads and are able to talk and listen to each other. 


     Those words, embrace your children's teenage years , was probably the best advice I ever listened to! I think the reality of raising teens was I was scared they would pull away from me and not like me anymore. Those fears vanished when I chose to embrace the teenager years and listen to my kiddos. When we listen to our kiddos and not just tell them what to do, they feel they have value. When you listen to them, you have a wonderful opportunity to help them get to the correct outcome of most problems that come up.


     I encourage you today to embrace the teenage years and respect your children so they don't shut you out!!

I Love Jesus More than I Love You!!!

       I love Jesus more than I love you! The first time I told my children that, my daughter started to cry. She was about 5 years old and did not understand the concept of putting Jesus first and foremost in our lives. As parents, it is our job, to lead by example, and put Jesus first and above all else in our life. As a new Christian, I had a hard time understanding this new concept to live by.


       What does it mean to love Jesus more than anyone else in your life? When we ask ourselves, where does all good and pure love come from? We answer Jesus. So, in order to love our children we need to love Jesus more and in that agape love, HE fills us with love for others. A love that suppresses all understanding and allows us to even forgive our enemies. This is the love we are to teach our children about!


      Putting Jesus first in our lives is not always the easiest path we take, but it is the most rewarding. Putting Jesus first means putting ourselves and our selfish-vain desires last. Some people may call you lazy or indecisive, and you should be when Jesus is making decisions for you!


     After the first time, I told my kiddos I loved Jesus more, they would tell me they love Jesus more than they love me. I have to admit, I didn't like it at first, being second to someone else in my kiddos lives. It made me a little uncomfortable and my children took note of it and told me regularly they loved Jesus more. After all, I was both mom and dad to them! When I got over myself, I was blessed that they understood we are to put Jesus first in our lives.

      I encourage you to tell your children you love Jesus more, it is a great ice breaker, and will develop into some memorable and productive conversations with your children.

Our Chilren Belong to Jesus First!

     Yesterday, I was reminded of just how true this statement really is. It is a strange thing to think of our children as our brothers and sisters in Christ, but that is exactly what we are suppose to raise them to be. Our job as mom is to make sure that we train them in the way of the Lord and teach them diligently about our Savior. Yesterday, I got news that a teenager I knew as a child has cancer and the doctors state that there is nothing else they can do for him.


     This got me thinking about the short amount of time we really have to train our children and how heart breaking it would be to not know where they will spend eternity. The good news is the young man I talked about, does have a relationship with HIS savior and the parents can have a peace, through heart break and tears, that they will see their son again.


    Our children do not have the luxury of time to return to the Lord as prodigals that we had. We are in the end times and the generation that saw Israel become a state are elderly, and the Bible states that this generation will see Jesus return for HIS children. 

Mat 24:34	"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Mar 13:30	"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Luk 21:32	"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.

     It is so important for us to know this, that it is in three of the Gospels. We need to take the Salvation of our children seriously stay on our knees in prayer for the Salvation of their souls.

     If we have a prodigal child we need to pray without ceasing and diligently for their Salvation. I would also ask everyone to pray for them and fill pout the prayer cards at church. Never give up and decide to just sit and wait for your child to return to the fold of Jesus!!

Home school? Who me? Really?

    Today marks a mile stone in my life, as I went with my daughter to take her assessment for college. They grow up fast, especially if you enjoy your kiddos and just like them along with love them. As I am completing my last MA Ed, they are both at the beginnings of their college careers. I remember every word the Lord spoke to me when HE made know HIS perfect will for my life to home school my children.


     I had been attending my church for about 8 months and was on my way to Wednesday morning Bible study and was having a conversation with God, I thought I was talking to myself. The Lord told me to home school my kiddos and I answered, "Home school? Who me? Really?" I preceded to tell the Lord why I am not qualified or life prepared to take on that responsibility. I tried to talk God out of it!


     I told Him I would get 2 jobs to put them in Christian school or drive them many miles to put them in a great public school. I also told Him I needed a break for them when they start school. I left the conversation telling God I would think of it. The Lord also gave me a verse I had never read before and couldn't remember where it was in the Bible.

Deu 6:7

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

     
     I went to Bible study and told the women the,"thoughts," I was having on my way to church and that I may just home school my kiddos. On Sunday evenings we always had a quest musician and the singer was telling us about home schooling and she even repeated the verse the Lord had given me.
I freaked out!! It scared me to think that lady knew what I was telling myself just a few days ago. I though it might have been the devil....I did not understand what was going on.


    My pastor was walking down the hall way and I ran up to him shacking and at the verge of tears. As my voice was cracking and I was trying to get the words out, he calmly explained to me that it was not the devil. It was God speaking to me and I just needed to listen to what He was telling me and obey it. God had blessed me with a conformation of His will for my life and it is a blessing not the devil. Whew...I guess I am going to home school! 


     From that moment on, I was a home school mom. Justin was 3 and Dori was 2. My family did not understand home schooling and were not happy with me teaching my own children. I was not an educated mom and didn't know a verb from a pronoun. All I knew is I wanted to obey God! 


     I was a single mom, not making much money and determined to walk in faith to follow the plans that God laid out for me and my children. I couldn't even read a curricilum, was scared and did not want to do anything to harm my kiddos. Teaching my kiddos to read terrified me. I did know that if I put them in public school they would be harmed, because it was not God's perfect will for our Familyx3 lives.


    It took years for my family to come around and support me as a home school mom. I think once they saw the goodness and how responsible my kiddos were, they relaxed and understood my choice, but really God's choice to home school.


     Thirteen years later my home school mom life is complete and my kiddos turned out responsible and independent. They both bought their first cars with the money they make at jobs and are able to pay for their cell phones and car insurance each month. I am glad I didn't know what I was doing 13 years ago, because I ad to trust God and pray more for guidance. God gets all the glory for my home school years and I praise HIM for raising them they way HE did. It scares me to think how things could have been different if I wouldn't have obeyed.


     Today I encourage you to listen to God and obey His will, so you can receive the perfect will in your life. No matter what the world says or how uneducated you think you are, Jesus will always know what is best for HIS children.
    

Bubby and Sissy Day!! Hurray!

     On Mother's Day I heard a child ask his mom why there is not a children's day. My children asked me the same question when they were about 7 and 8. I tried to explain to them that they get gifts on all the holidays, but they wanted a day just for them. This is how we started celebrating Bubby and Sissy Day. Making traditions was an important part of  their childhood, because in traditions memories are created that will last a life time.

     We decided on a date for that year at the beginning of each summer and chose a date right when they got home from summer camp the first few years. At summer camp there use to be a little store where they could buy each other a gift or I would take them to the Dollar Tree or Walmart.
    
      They were each given no more than $2-$5, it depended on how much I was able to donate, and they were off.  They brought the gifts home and wrapped them and then exchanged them. We celebrated Bubby and Sissy Day for about 9 years of their childhood and it always brings up fond memories and they tell me they will create a holiday for their children when they grow up.
    
      The importance of this "Holiday," to me, was creating a tradition that would produce happy memories. The tradition was not expensive and the kiddos looked forward to it each summer. There were years we would make a cake and cook a special meal.

      Another tradition we did each year began when Dori was about 4 years old. She called Valentine hearts, Happy Hearts because they made her happy. And from that we started having spaghetti because the sauce was red. They were my Valentines and I wanted to make more happy memories in a the traditions we had within our family. There were years I had coupons and we went to Alfredo's in San Bernardino to have really good spaghetti.

      The point I want to make is, traditions bring a family together and the kiddos will remember them when they are grown and probably laugh about them as well. Traditions do not have to cost lot of money and create priceless memories.  I wanted my children to have those memories of their childhood that would bless their heart as adults.

     When you look in the Bible there are traditions for each month of the year. God created them to bring times to remembrance, so the Hebrew's would not forget who God is. I took the premise  of God wanting HIS children to not forsake traditions and made my own for my Familyx3!

Eze 16:62

And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: