Family

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.-- Jim Rohn

I'm busier than a one-toothed man in a corn-on-the-cob eating contest.


Plan to be spontaneous .......... tomorrow.




To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there. -- Barbara Bush





A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.

-- Ogden Nash
A happy family is but an earlier heaven.-- John Bowring


Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance.-- Milton R. Saperstein Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:

Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.--

Jane Howard

Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts. -- Author Unknown

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.

-- Evan Esar

Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.

-- Gail Lumet Buckley

Family life is full of major and minor crises -- the ups and downs of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce -- and all kinds of characters.

It is tied to places and events and histories.

With all of these felt details, life etches itself into memory and personality.

It's difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul.

-- Thomas Moore

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.-- Anthony Brandt

In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair.-- Auguste Napier

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.

-- Joyce Brothers

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.

- Evan Esar

Thankfulness ...

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." W.T. Purkiser
"God is glorified, not by our groans, but by our thanksgivings."

Edwin Percy Whipple
"A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most complete prayer."

Gotthold Lessing
"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie
"Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character."

Author Unknown, from Be Thankful
"We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning."

Albert Barnes
"If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get."

Frank A. Clark
"When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup."

Sam Lefkowitz
"Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action."

W. J. Cameron
"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

Albert Schweitzer
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

William Arthur Ward
"Gratitude is our most direct line to God and the angels.

If we take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we can find something to be thankful for. The more we seek gratitude, the more reason the angels will give us for gratitude and joy to exist in our lives."

Terry Lynn Taylor
"Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life."

Northrup Christiane

Thank You Lord...

2 Corinthians 9:15 – "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
1 Thessalonians 3:9 – "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?"
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 – "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Colossians 2:7 – "Rooted and built up in Christ, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
Colossians 3:17 – "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Deuteronomy 8:10 – "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."
Philippians 1:3-4 – "I thank God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."
Philippians 4:6 – "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God."
Psalm 18:49 – "Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name."
Psalm 30:12 – "That my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever."

Woman to Woman

A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward.-- William John Bennett

Especially for women, there's many occasions where you have to give it away.

To your kids, your husband, your family, your work and so on.
Somehow as a woman,

you possess an innate inability to see that the more you give away, the more you receive in return.

What you get could be an immense sense of joy, purpose, satisfaction and more.
So let's rejoice in the art of giving and soak in the good feeling that comes from the simple, beautiful act of giving away.

A Song of Ascents

I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of Heaven & Earth.

He will not let your foot slip-

He who watches over you will not slumber:

indeed, He who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you-

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm-

He will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore

Psalm 121

How come I deserve that?

Sometimes I think I must be the worst mother in the world.

I am forgetful, often stressed out, and sometimes even lose it with my children.

For Instance, my 5 year old is the baby of the family, so of course she thinks she rules the roost and likes me to cater to her every whim.

Yesterday morning when I attempted to wake her up, she grunted at me, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

By the time I finally got her out of bed, I was running late for work and was quite angry.

Then she wanted me to get her clothes for her and help her get dressed, although she has been able to do this herself for quite some time.

I ended up yelling at her by the time we rushed out the door. But do you know what she did last night?

She came into my room and gave me the biggest hug and kiss and said, " I am so lucky to have a mom as great as you!"

Now, I KNOW I did not deserve that!

Being a mom is such a humbling experience. No matter how many mistakes we make, our children still love us-Everyday...

No matter how badly we mess up, our children always forgive us, always have time to give us a hug or a kiss goodnight, and still think that THEIR mom is the BEST.

My children have taught me so much.

They have taught me

that it is never too late to say. "I'm Sorry."

They have taught me that hugs HEAL.

They have taught me that I AM WORTHY OF THEIR LOVE.

But most of all they have taught me that

MOTHERING MATTERS....

~Susie Sims

MOM, You Make a Difference

PG54,55

Bigger than Mommy...

"MOM, I NEED YOU!" with the speed of lightning, I was on my feet in the dark not really waking up until I was halfway down the hall.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? did you have a bad dream?" Our three year old croaked, "I don't feel so good." I felt his forehead pulled up the covers, and asked, "Does your throat hurt?" "Uh-huh, and my tummy feels like its going to be sick too." I hurried to the medicine shelf, returning with a thermometer, Tylenol, decongestant, and a glass of water. I wondered if i should get the steamer. As I bustled around, I reassured him, "Mommy is going to take good care of you and get you all better." That tiny, croaky voice said, "But Mom, what I really want is for you to ask God to make me better." Oh, how quickly a little boy brought his all-grown-up mom to a halt. I want to believe that I can be everything my child needs.

But the truth is that, in a way, I am no more than a child myself.

While there are lots of needs I can meet, my little guy already knows there is someone bigger than mommy.

~Lil Bowers,

~EnCouraging Reminders from Real Moms, Pg62

B Blessed!