Double Portion Inspiration

My kids:  Running joyfully and loudly through my house Me: "Stop running or someone is going to get hurt." My kids: They stop for a second, look at each other and start running again Me:  "Didn't I say to stop running in the house." (louder tone) My kids: "Okay mom, you don't have to yell." Me:  "If you would just listen I wouldn't yell." My kids:  Within ten minutes they were running again, but this time my youngest son hits the corner of the wall.  He is holding his hand to his head and all I see is blood. Have you ever had this scenario play out in your house?  My first reaction, after screaming at my kids, "I told you to stop running!"  I gazed at the wound and applied pressure .  The blood soon stopped after applying pressure and an ice pack.  Thankfully, there was no harm to my son except for a big bump on his head. Life can get crazy in the blink of an eye.   What should you do?   Apply pressure !   Press ...

How many NCAA basketball games can one person watch?  My husband is glued to the tv during this time of year.  He is a huge basketball fan.  March brings an avid basketball enthusiast great joy having so many options of games to watch. I find the entire process complicated to follow.  If you are following it closely you find it a challenge to keep up with the scores and highlights of every game.  The games, brackets, and schedules can all be confusing as 68 teams compete in a single elimination game.  Talk about pressure, one game to play, win and advance to the next round.  These college teams and fans feel the frenzy, exhilaration and a myriad of emotions during the month of March. So who will win it all-Louisville or Kentucky?   The Elite 8 narrow down to the Final Four and finally a National Champion rises to the top. During the games you can see mothers, coaches, family and fans with so many different feelings.  Some are crying ...

Hopefully you didn't miss Monday's post about my recent experience picking strawberries.  Here's the link  if you missed it.  One of the benefits of our strawberry harvest, was trying out delicious recipes. In today's post I will share the recipe and photographs for Strawberry Monkey Bread.  It was easy and fun to make with the kids.  It's also a winning recipe from the first Florida Strawberry Recipe contest. Yummy goodness!   Ingredients: 1/2              cup toasted sliced almonds or pecans 1                 (16 ounce) container fresh strawberries, cut into slices (about 2 1/2 cups) 1 1/2           cups sugar, divided 1             ...

Spring is in the air!  Can you feel it?  Longer days, shorter nights and warmer weather are just some of nature's beauty this time of year.  I decided to take in some of the great weather this weekend by taking the kids to pick strawberries.  I've only picked strawberries one time, during the 3rd trimester with my son.  Needless to say, it wasn't the greatest experience by any means.  This time, it was completely different.  For starters, we could smell the aroma of the berries permeating into my truck as we drove along the highway.  The crops were plentiful!   Everywhere you looked there were rows and rows of strawberries.  Never did I imagine, this experience would become a spiritual lesson.  From my understanding, the winter strawberry season begins in the summer.  The farmers prepare the soil to receive the strawberry plant that will require watering, near perfect weather conditions, a...

What do you desire for your children?  What request do you make of God for their future?  Successful adulthood.  Loving spouse.  Homeownership.  Flourishing business.  Grandkids. I'm sure we've all prayed along those lines when imagining their future and where God may take them once they leave the nest.  I've prayed this prayer even before my kids were conceived.  Envisioning and praying for success by today's world standards became effortless and simple.  Last Friday changed my mindset.  The words that leaped off the page while reading, "Parenting Beyond Your Capacity" were profound and life changing.  The authors, Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof, suggest there are simply three prayers we should declare over our children. You want your children to become people who pursue a relationship with God . You want your children to become people who love others the way God does . You want your children to become people who see th...

I walked into my house and a portion of my floor was covered with little, black ants.  I instantly knew the kids had dropped some sticky substance on the tile floor. That mess attracted what looked like an entire nest of these little, pesky insects.  They were all moving around in unison enjoying what was probably going to be their lunch or dinner. Ironically on Sunday, a dear friend gave me a wonderful scripture about the lesson we can learn from ants.  Really, I thought, how can I possibly learn anything from something that annoys me so much.  I guess you know where I'm going with this.  There is a lesson to learn from ants about efficiency and productivity.   The ants didn't waste any time moving into action to retrieve whatever mess my boys left on the floor.  Not only that, they called all of their "ant" friends to help them in this insurmountable task. Are you a slacker?  Do you like to procrastinate?  Do you constantly have the a...

Last week I had an opportunity to guest blog for A Beautiful Blog .   It was the final week in their Love & Money series.  I was excited to share some of my couponing secrets.  Here are some highlights from the blog post. My pantry! There is nothing better than saving more on your grocery bill than you actually spend.   It is a tremendous way to avoid paying more on groceries than you need to.   For the record, I am NOT one of the ladies you see on the popular reality show, “Extreme Couponing.”   I don’t have a separate room in my house or a custom built garage shelving system that holds hundreds of boxes of cereal and toiletry items.   I’m just a gal who loves to save! I save on average 50%-60% on my grocery bill.   We are a family of four who used to consistently spend $550-$600 a month on groceries.   We now pay about $300 a month (including pull ups for the 3 year old).   A recent shopping trip at Publix cost me $26 fo...