encouragement

Who Can You Trust?

August 18, 2015 By Mrs. Mom 2 Comments

Everyday we go through things. Life is filled with ups and downs. When we are hurt, we can begin to wonder, who we can trust…

No matter what there is one thing that we must remember.

That’s right!!!

We must trust in Him because He will never, ever, fail us.

There are so many people that will let us down. There are so many people that will forget…

They will turn and walk away. They may give up. They may say things that are hurtful, but there is One that will never treat you this way.

He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He lives up to being the Best and will always exceed our expectations.

Today, I want you to remember as I am reminded…our God is great.

Never wonder again who you can trust in…Trust God because He will never fail us.

When It Seems Easier To Pretend

August 6, 2015 By Mrs. Mom 2 Comments

There is a saying that goes something like this, “when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade…” Have you ever heard of it? I’m sure that you have.

That sounds like a great saying, but have you ever wondered what is going on between the receiving of the lemons and the making of the lemonade? Well I have.

I have wondered what the person is thinking and feeling. I have also wondered when it becomes clear that it is time to make some lemonade.

While dealing with these thoughts, it may be hard to focus on the good, to wait for things to get better, or to even know how to feel. At times like this, I think it might seem easier to pretend.

Upset and frustrated, I have often looked at a situation without knowing what to do or how I was supposed to feel.

Naturally, I am an optimist. Still there are times when I cannot see the bright side and I feel lost. It is at these times that I start to wonder if it would just be easier to pretend that I am not going through anything at all.

Have you ever felt like that?

Pretending means that you get to ignore the situation. You don’t have to talk about it, think about it, or acknowledge anything is happening at all. However, this does not magically stop us from feeling the stress and emotions of the situation. In fact, I think it would make it worse.

By pretending, we would be telling ourselves that the situation did not occur the way that it did. We would also be denying ourselves the right to feel the way we do about what occurred. Denying ourselves of our emotions is not wise because acknowledging our feelings allows us to process situations. Processing the situations, stimulates growth in our lives.

There have been many times when I have wanted to stop thinking about a situation. I have wished that it never happened. I have also tried to ignore my feelings about it all. The result is…well ugly.

When I have tried this in the past, I have become very nonchalant and emotionless about various aspects of my life. It is as if ignoring the situation allowed a totally different process to start in my life…I became cold and despondent.

Generally, that is not me. I care, I feel, I wonder. Yet, ignoring situations and my feelings about situations change me.

When I allow myself to see the situation, no matter how painful, I feel the emotions attached to it; when I feel those emotions, I process them. In processing them, I begin to learn from the situation. Learning from situations offers wisdom and helps me to trust in God.

I used to ask why God would allow me to go through somethings. I could not see with my eyes, why He would, in all of His infinite wisdom, allow me to endure such situations. It wasn’t until I read Romans 5:3-5

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

I realized that the tribulations, no matter how big or small, make me better. They encourage me to a place of being better and hoping in God more.

Now do you see why it is never good to pretend. We don’t have to treat others badly and act in a way that is unbecoming, but we should recognize the tribulation and allow the process of feeling, becoming, and overcoming to take place in our lives.

Today, I want to encourage you, as I have been encouraged myself. We have been given some lemons and it’s time to make some lemonade.

Sometimes, you may not know how to feel, what to think, or how to act, but continue to trust God. He knew what would happen and He has something great prepared for you in the end. Recognize how the tribulation produces perseverance in you. Take note of how the perseverance produces character in you. Understand how the character produces hope in you. When it is all said and done, look back and see how you are better and the hope that you have in God has not failed you. Remember that it never will.

I hope you have found this helpful and that you will remember these things.

When life gives you lemons, make some lemonade…

Until next time…don’t pretend and be blessed.

Thoughts on Today

August 3, 2015 By Mrs. Mom Leave a Comment

I have been sitting here thinking of what to share with you about my day.

It was very busy and full of emotional ups and downs.

The ups were about my day. The downs were about my past month.

There were things that happened, conversations that I had, and questions that I asked, which are still on my mind.

Today, I realized, more than ever, that we may not get to choose the circumstances of our lives, but we do get to choose our reactions to them.

So this is what I want to share with you today.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

The things that we think will help us act in a way that we can be proud of. The actions of others may cause us to consider doing things or saying things that are out of character, but prayer and proper thinking will help us to see life in a different light.

So try to make good decisions and have a good day.

Until next time…

10 Quick and Thorough Cleaning Tips For A Saturday

August 1, 2015 By Mrs. Mom 2 Comments

Happy Saturday!!! Its time to do a quick thorough cleaning so that you can enjoy the rest of your day…but first let me give you a few tips and encouragement…

Here are my top 10 tips for cleaning on a Saturday

There are so many ways that you can clean. If you aren’t in the mood to do it or you have other things on your mind, it could be a long and boring process.

You could get sidetracked and be ineffective in you cleaning…no one wants that.

Over the years, I have observed my own cleaning habits and realized that there is a way to motivate myself and use these 10 tips to get it done, quickly and thoroughly…

Tip #1 Decide what you would like to do for the day

Since you are reading this, it can be assumed that you would like to or have to clean today. However, I suspect that you don’t want to spend your entire day doing it. So, what else would you like to do? Maybe you would like to read a good book, spend sometime with family, go out for a nice meal, or even watch a good movie.

By knowing that you would like to do these other things today, you will motivate yourself to clean faster and get the job done.

Which leads to tip 2

Tip #2 Decide how you will reward yourself for cleaning thoroughly and quickly

Our human minds are generally motivated by some sort of reward, whether it be by a positive reward or negative reward.

Yes, I did say negative reward. Let me explain…

When you give yourself something to encourage an activity, that is a positive reward. For instance, you would like to read 20 books, so you decide that at the completion of reading those 20 books, you will give yourself a budget of $40 total or $2 per book that you read, to buy books. (I like reading and reading analogies.)

Then there is the negative rewards, which was probably the statement that placed a question mark over your head in the first place. This means that you take something away in order to encourage a positive action or when you are doing something undesirable. Using the same analogy above, the negative reward would be that for every book that you did not read, you would take away $2 from the overall book buying budget of $40.

The reason why I am suggesting this is that you will find that if you have a few things that you would like to do after you are finished cleaning. If you have not met your own expectation, rewarding yourself in this way will help you to stay motivated. You will either gain something or lose something based upon your cleaning actions.

Tip #3 How long will you clean?

It is important that you decide how long you will clean. Give yourself a start time and an end time to get all of the cleaning done for the day. Will you clean for 2 hours? What time will you start? What time will you end?

Remember, it’s Saturday and we should be spending time with family and/or friends, doing things that we enjoy. If not, you should at least be spending sometime doing something that you enjoy.

Tip #4 Make a list of rooms that you will focus on

It is very unlikely that you can clean your entire house thoroughly and quickly in one day. This is why you need to decide which rooms you will focus on cleaning thoroughly and which ones you will do a light cleaning.

You may decide that you will thoroughly clean your bathrooms today and then lightly clean your living room and dining room.

Write these things down and remember that the objective is to clean quickly and thoroughly. The rooms that you lightly clean, like your living room, can be thoroughly cleaned on another day of the week.

Be sure to check off the rooms that you have cleaned as you do them.

Tip #5 What are your focal points for each room

Every room has a messy point where you normally drop things down. It can even be a space that collects a lot of dirt, paper, or trinkets. This should be one of your focal points for that particular room. For those rooms that you are lightly cleaning, at least decide to tackle those focal points.

Tip #6 Clean in increments

This is a tip that I acquired from the Fly Lady over 10 years ago. I hold on to this tip because I have found it very helpful. Her tips are so helpful, you should check out her site.

Decide the increments that you will clean in. I recommend using the 15 minute increments. I use a stop watch and allow it to sound automatically. You can use your phone, kitchen timer, or find an online timer.

When you are cleaning in increments, you give yourself time to focus and refocus on various tasks while cleaning. You offer yourself a bit of adventure and stop yourself from getting board with the task. You might even speed up, knowing that you are supposed to be finished with a specific task in a certain amount of time. You will also begin to notice how much you are getting done with each time that the alarm sounds. This will also motivate you to continue.

Tip #7 Take breaks in between the cleaning increments

As I stated above, I recommend that you clean in 15 minute increments. Do this three times and then when your alarm goes off the 4th time, on the 45 minute mark of the hour, take a break. For more clarity, understand that if you start at 10am, you will clean until 10:15. Once the alarm goes off, you will refocus. Do that again at 10:15 and again at 10:30. Once your alarm sounds at 10:45, give yourself a break.

At your break, sit down and do nothing. Studies have shown that if you take 15-20 minutes to do nothing and rest, you will be thoroughly replenished and rejuvenated.

*Perhaps my word for the day should be thoroughly…*

Tip #8 Aim for clean not immaculate

This is a tip that I have had to tell myself over the years. I clean my house all week-long and there are many times where I wonder why my husband seems to do it faster than I do. I have learned from his wisdom and I want to share it with you.

Everyday is not a day to clean thoroughly to the point where the house is spotless and immaculate. That being said, we are aiming for clean and that is a personal standard. I am however saying that if today is not the day to focus on the kitchen, don’t begin to pull out the refrigerator and stove to clean behind them.

It’s Saturday, remember the plan back in Tip #1…that’s why I had you do it.

Tip #9 Play some music, watch a movie…

This tip is something that I highly encourage. Although it says play some music or watch a movie, there are so many options for things that you can do to help you clean.

The purpose in doing this is so that you are not thinking about the mound of laundry that you are folding. Who likes the repetition of grabbing, folding, and putting down? I know I don’t. However, I do like to do it while I am watching a movie, listening to an audiobook, watching a YouTube video, or listening to some music.

You will find that this tip will help you get your cleaning done quicker that you thought.

Tip #10 Try not to stress and have a little fun

I know that you just read that tip and wondered if you were still reading the same article.

Yes! I said it…you can clean and not stress. You can also have a little fun while doing it. See how long it takes you to do the tasks that you have set up. Make it a game for yourself. Enjoy the music or videos that you are listening to and watching. As your house begins to look the way you want, smile and realize that you are doing a great job. Remember the rewards? This is the time to remind yourself of them and to do your best.

Have a Happy Saturday!!!

My hope for you is that after reading this, you will be ready to tackle that Saturday cleaning, so that you can then have fun with your family and friends, read a great book, or go out to dinner. I hope that you have found encouragement within this post. As you apply the tips that I have given you, decide which ones you would like to tweak a little and which ones work best for you. Come back another day and tell me how it went…

Until next time, Happy Saturday!

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