Reflections on This Week- What He Did For Me!

I wanted to end my week and begin my weekend by posting the daily miracles and blessings I thanked God for each day this week. The thought came to me yesterday as the weirdest most frustrating thing happened. Thur morning, I was all excited because I got up early and washed a couple loads , started my dinner for the day, and started cooking breakfast for the girls. My girls were having a showdown over bathroom time so I sent my oldest to my bathroom....

A few moments later it was "mommy, the toilet is flooding" By this time it was 7 am and we have to be out of the house before 7:30, long story short I walk in to my bedroom only to hear the sound of flowing water, that's right, my bathroom floor was completely flooded( thank God it was clean toilet water!!!) I guess something got stuck or backed up when the water was refilling in the bowl, so anyway I grab this really expensive plunger that is supposed to be real heavy duty ( great for a single woman was what the sales guy told me) and it wasn't working. Finally I just prayed, God you know I have to go to work, the kids can't be late for school, my house is not clean enough for me to call maintenance ( yes I am very ticky about this!) and I just need you to work. Like clock work the next time I tried the plunger I heard that famous gurgling sound of water swirling down the drain. I immediately started to praise God! Now what's funny is this is the second time in a year I have had to do this- pray for God to fix my toilet, but those are the little things I need my girls to see. I need them to see me calling on my Almighty Fixer- Upper, my husband. They need to see that God can fix any and everything, no matter how silly, or innate it may sound. So with further ado I will list the other things that my Heavenly Husband did for me this week.

Monday-He laid it on my friends/ church member's heart to call and offer to pick my children up from daycare, and he blessed me with left overs from my jobs luncheon so that I could offer dinner as a way of saying thanks!

Tuesday- He gave my 6year old the confidence she needed to go on stage and practice for her piano recital and be excited about it!, He also provided a financial blessing unexpectedly right on time, the correct amount to the dollar! That night my check engine light came on in my car!

Wednesday- He woke me up automatically as I forgot to set my alarm clock and he provided me food for my soul as we had a guest minister from a out of state congregation to give the word at bible study- That night my check engine light went off mysteriously and hasn't been back on since!

Thursday- Well you read the whole story! Did I mention that no one was late that day!!! Ha Ha, take that devil!!!

Friday- I went to bed with a mind battle, and he woke me up at 3 am with scripture that comforted my soul, I went back to sleep and slept like a baby until 6:30 and still left in plenty of time!

All week- Traffic was not heavy and ran very smoothly!
I challenge you to sit down and write down a miracle or blessing God provided each day this week, I promise you you will have a page full. Just know that when you do this, your adversary the devil as a roaring lion will be seeking you out to destroy you! So stay prayed up, Be blessed and Stay encouraged!

Article- Girl, 7, shot 6 times saving mom

I read this really sad article today about a 7 year old little girl from Detroit who was shot 6 times by her mothers estranged boyfriend as she jumped in front of her mom to shield her from the bullets. What a courageous act of unconditional love! Thank God the child survived and is still fighting for her life( you can read more about it here). It is said that a mother's love is always unconditional, but so is a child's as is evident by this little girl's concern for her mother's life and lack of concern or fear for her's. Again, no wonder Christ tells us to be as little children...

After wanting to cry like a baby for this child, I thank the Lord for his blessings of safety on me and my family, I thank him for my salvation and my desire to live for him and let him be the head of my life, and I thank him for deliverance. I have also been in a situation like this and was blessed not to experience the worst case scenario. There are some people who will never understand the bondage of unhealthy relationships. They will never understand how Satan can bring you to the point that you don't see what isn't good for you and your babies. We need to pray for this momma. I can imagine that she is feeling a lot of guilt and hurt and her self worth may be at it's lowest.

We also need to remind ourselves why we are confident in living single for God. When the enemy tries to make us feel bad for our situation, let this be a reminder of why we are waiting on God. Why we dedicate our lives to him and why we allow him to be our husbands. I could never see myself dating again in this world. Every time the enemy tries to discourage me with loneliness, I will think of the safety that rests with being married to the Lord.

Correction on Practically Free Stuff from Buy.com

Okay, I have always heard the term if it seems too good to be true it probably is, well my post yesterday is almost too good to be true. I did receive a good deal on my item purchased. Noticed I said item because yesterday afternoon when i checked my email I had a nice little message that Google.com cancelled my order. The only reason I can think of is because later in their checks and balances they must have seen my name twice as a new user. So my apologies for saying that Google.com tracks only by email not by name. I feel slightly responsible only because my order went through and I received a receipt and all... But I still came out on top with a very nice deal, so no complaints here!!!

Pop Culture Idolization and our Daughters/Children

This weekend I was able to spend some much needed girl time with my daughters! We had a fun day Saturday just piddling around going from store to store and just people watching. The only downside was they were able to see the chaos and hysteria of the Christmas shopping experience up close and very personal. "Why are people so rude? Its Christmas mommy, they should be happy!" My six year old pointed out... Out of the minds and mouths of babes!

It was also an experience for me too as Saturday was the Hannah Montana concert here and there many mother/daughter combos out in mass. I was extremely disappointed in the state of immodesty, worldliness and idolization with these young girls and the promotion of it from the mothers. I mean it was if miniature Hannah Montana's had invaded the city. Now I am not all personally attacking the artist, I have seen her show and cannot say anything negative about it. However, the commercialization of her art outside of her television show/album and the extremes I saw it displayed was heartbreaking. It seems that whoever the hottest little teenie-bopper group is at the time, the young girls emulate at levels that are sometimes beyond innocent and borderline adult with help from their mom's. It is the nature of a child to want to be like their favorite idol, but what happens when parents contribute even to the seemingly innocent idolization goes awry... It's not cute, its not innocent, its a potentially devastating thing. Look at all the little girls who equate their self worth, through the eyes of some star they idolize and when they don't feel like the person they want to be, they can sometimes go to extreme measures to achieve what will and can never be perfection. It is a principal that can start out seemingly innocent and over time become a full-fledged battle.

It breaks my heart to see this because I wonder how many of them put forth the same effort to promote the worshiping of God that they do to the worshipping of pop culture idols. When we teach our children the commandments, we need to really break the surface on idolization and how it is not only praying to graven images but worshipping anything other than God. When they start to become attached to a favorite character or group would be the best time to show them that its okay to like something a lot, and for it to be your favorite, but they can not like that thing more than God. It may sound silly, but I wish I had done it earlier than I did.
So will always continue to show my daughters more biblical and Christian role-models. I mean I would rather my children want to be more like a woman of the bible, or a strong upstanding Christian role model than what they have to choose from with today's pop culture and entertainment's faux- glamorized idols. To put it even more personal, I would rather my daughters want to be like me as I follow Christ than someone else's mother, daughter, or sister. It may seem selfish, but I believe in my heart that is why the Lord blesses us to be mothers. Be Blessed and Stay Encouraged!

Interesting Article on The Perception of Women and Managment

I saw this piece on GMA ( Good Morning America) this morning, and thought it was quite interesting. It is a study that was done on the perception of women in executive level management. I found it startling but true. I used to want to be the women executive, but over the past few months God has really been dealing with me on the feminist movement. I am starting to see that the balance of power that comes with breaking the glass ceiling and being a TRUE Godly woman, wife, and or mother can never be equal. I know the challenges that I have with balancing my career and my family life and I am seeing that my desire to climb the career ladder is dwindling... I think of the Virtuous Woman and how the time she spent taking care of her family and being the woman God called her to be could never fit with the demands of Corporate America. I used to be one of those women who looked down on other women who made the decision to be stay at home mothers and keepers of the home, but the more I work and have to put my job before my family the more I desire a safe retreat from the wiles of the working world. Just my thoughts! You can read the article and watch the segment here.

Practically Free Stuff from Buy.com/Google Check-Out!!!

I found this really cool deal over at MoneySavingMom last week. I now actually wish that I had taken the time out last week to take advantage of the free shipping at Buy.com but the deals I got today were a tremendous blessing to my very frugal budget. I was able to purchase a gift for both of my daughters for about $15 total!!

So here is how this works. Click on this link here to Buy.com $10 retail bin, choose a item and put it in your cart. When you are ready to proceed to check out, click on the Google check out icon and register as a new user. By doing this, you are then eligible for the 10$ off your order promotion for new users. So in essence you will only be paying for shipping and handling. Note that last week the shipping was free for all so that is why the link may say free shipping, but to buy a gift that is already marked down to 10$ and then only pay a minimal amount for shipping is worth it to a bargain hound like myself. Plus it keeps me from having to wrestle with the shopping chaos that occurs during this time a year.

This is what I purchased for my oldest daughter and you see what I paid for it, and this is what I paid for my youngest daughter, her gift was a little more pricey because it wasn't 10$, but combined with the 10$ off I received, it still wasn't a bad price. You can still go straight to Buy.com and purchase other items that are over 10$, they have a sidebar with items sorted by price range, so still you can receive a really great deal on a purchase with the $10 off your order promotion listed above.

There is a trick to Google check out. You can only receive the promotion once as a new user, but you can register more than once if you have multiple email addresses. Yep that's right! Google check out only keeps track of the email addresses associated with the account and not the account holders name. If you have more than one email address it can't hurt to try. It may sound tedious, but as a frugal momma with an even more frugal budget I don't mind working for a deal. Just click on the hyperlinks throughout this post and you should be fine. If not then just email me, and I will help walk you through. Be Blessed and Stay Encouraged