Category Archives: Inspirational Mama

Seven Ways to Raise a World Changer

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Changing the next generation, Home Education, Inspirational Mama, Reading Aloud, Strong families

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patrick with the map
Patrick Farris explores the world (picture by sister Hannah Farris)

1. Be a learner, a questioner, a mom who can be heard saying things like “Hmm…I wonder why they have to put so much gravel down on the road before they pave it?” or “You know, God sure did make a wonderful world!”

When your child asks a question you can’t answer that’s o.k. Wondering about something for awhile without the answer is part of the learning process.

2. Read.
A study by the National Endowment for the Arts found that just having books in the home (even if they weren’t being read!) has a greater impact on children than the education of the parents. Imagine the even greater influence of parents who read those books they have in the home. Mind-boggling!

3. Look your child in the eyes and talk to him. Listen, ask questions and converse! This means looking up from the electronic devices.

4. Give your child the life-changing experience of quiet time with nothing to do.
Let him hear the sound of his own breathing and the beat of his heart.

5. Read aloud to your child. Be inspired by The Secret Weapon of the Christian Parent and Created for Words.

6. Eat meals together regularly. Studies have shown that your family will be closer, your children will be more secure, less peer-dependent and smarter! Who knew?

7. Worship Jesus Christ together. Here are some Helpful Hints for a Holy Day. His peace is vital in this broken world.

Tell your child, “Who knows what great things you are going to do to change the world?” Raise a world-changer.

See The Light Art Lessons

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Holy Bible, Practical Help

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3.png God's runaway

I am not artsy. When I am asked to describe a color I can’t, because my brain doesn’t work that way.

But, as the mother of eight children, I’ve noticed something. Every. single. child. thinks. that. he. is. a. great. artist! And, it makes me sad when my children reach the age where reality sets in because no one ever taught him or her the basics!

See the Light helps non-artsy parents overcome that problem. I love the fact that the lessons are based on Bible stories but, more than that, I love the fact that I want to do those lessons even though they are geared toward children.

How’s this for a really creative by-line? See the Light; Drawing Children to Him.

Here is what See the Light says about themselves on their website;

“With a love for the Lord Jesus Christ, a heart for children, and a passion for ministry, Dave and Pat Holt bring you the SEE THE LIGHT team:
ARTISTS with specialties that include teaching a large variety of techniques, art history, chalk artistry, performance art, gospel chalk art (with black light), crafts, creative lettering, and more;
MUSICIANS whose talents include songwriting, musical performance, arranging, and producing. The SEE THE LIGHT team is dedicated to bringing scripture and biblical principles to viewers in a fresh, engaging way. . . and promising to teach some exciting art skills.”

The DVD I reviewed was based on the story of Jonah. It had 268 minutes of lessons included. Several different instructors showed different approaches to drawing the story of Jonah.

The first instructor showed a simple way to draw several big fish. Choosing the word “obey” as the theme of Jonah (because he struggled to obey God), the instructor incorporated the word “obey” in the mist that blew up from the whales blowhole, in the waves and in the whales teeth. Talk about simple but creative!

I also enjoyed the technique of using chalk pastels combined with a black light. The lessons look very creative and interesting on their own but turn on a black light and the whole picture is amazingly illuminated and beautiful! A black light costs only ten dollars!

The only drawback to the DVD that I found was that the first lesson was definitely geared toward younger children (ages 6-8) while the second lesson was for a much older or patient child. The instructors had different approaches in their teaching style as well. This needs to be clarified for the student.

I showed the DVD to my 11 and 7 year olds. The 11 year old has taken an art class for a semester and approached the DVD with a know-it-all air. She sat down next to me because I required her to but I noticed that she was quickly drawn in by the instructor. The idea of using a black light fascinated her and, at the end of the lesson, (when she saw the effect of the black light on the chalk drawing) she got very excited and asked if we could get a black light so she could try it!

Kudos to you See the Light!

The 7 year old just stared at the DVD with total fascination and then, immediately began looking for the chalk pastels in our cupboard.

Here is more information about See the Light.

Lord, Protect Our Minds…

29 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Holy Bible, Inspirational Mama, Rest and Refreshment, Thoughts and Prayers

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images.jpg women on computer

Lord,

We pray for our minds. Help us to choose to fill our minds with excellent and pure thoughts. Give us the strength to turn away from distraction and entertainment and turn toward those things that feed our minds and enrich our souls.

We want to be wise, thoughtful women. We are bombarded with news from so many sources, Lord, that we are overwhelmed. Give us the desire to open up Your word and feast on it. If we don’t have the desire, help us to choose to do what is right and to read it anyway.

Help us to be aware of the passing of time. Give us the peace that surpasses understanding so we can enjoy silence and being alone with You.

You are a good God. You are a sovereign God. You are a Holy God.

We praise Your name and we give You our minds today!

In the name of Jesus,

Amen!

Oxygen for the Soul

19 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Changing the next generation, Holy Bible, Praying for our husbands, Rest and Refreshment, Sharing Jesus, Sticking through tough times, Strong families, Thoughts and Prayers

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images.jpgbreathe
I have a confession to make. I’ve always found the subject of prayer…um…boring. For me, the word prayer was a bit like the word budget; it sounded restrictive and dull.

I’d read the missionary stories (God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom are two that come to mind) and those people made prayer seem vital, real and exciting.

But for me? Not so much.

Yet over the years I’ve prayed a lot and seen God work. I would pray when I was in great pain, pray for others who were experiencing sorrow and sickness and pray for my children when that middle-of-the-night-anxious-worry hit me.

In other words, I was good at crisis praying.

Almost two years ago I began praying weekly with an acquaintance who was going through struggles similar to ones I had experienced. I prayed to encourage her. I marked a date on the calendar and drove to her house just to keep her going. I didn’t want her to quit.

Together, we prayed.

Honestly, in the beginning, our commitment to a regular time of prayer wavered. We shared prayer requests talked too much before we got around to a short time of prayer.

It was a struggle but we kept meeting.

We had been praying together for a year when I moved to a new city with my family and our prayer time had to become a once-a-week phone call at an awkward time of day.

Strange to say, Thursday afternoons at 3 p.m. became the only time that mutually worked for us.

One hour…once a week.

Life is busy when you are middle-aged and the parents of adults, teens, in-betweens and an almost eight-year-old but, believe it or not, one year after my move, we are still praying.

Each week I feel like I’ve gotten a deep, wonderful gulp of life-giving oxygen as I lay my burdens down.

Life is so busy that we don’t want to use up our time together with small talk so we email our requests to each other beforehand. We fight hard to keep our commitment to pray together and it… is… hard.

Life goes on, you know?

images.jpg praying wife

Each week we both give all glory to God that we have remained faithful to this one hour of prayer.

It is our life-blood, our oxygen, our giving back to God our worries, fears and problems.

We’ve seen answers and we praise Him for that but, mostly, we’ve found peace and rest in realizing that prayer is not complicated. It is (like a simple budget) not just for the “experts”.

We simply join our voices and our hearts in giving glory to our Great God. We lay our burdens down and we lift up the weak hands of others as we pray.

A faithful prayer partner is a gift from God. You might find one (like I did) through a shared trial. Ask God to bring you a sister in Christ with whom you can come to God in prayer.

“Come let us know, let us press on to know the Lord, for His coming is like the rains, like the spring rains watering the earth.” Hosea 6:9

How do you get enough oxygen for your soul?

An Old Farmer’s Advice fer Livin’

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Humor, Inspirational Mama, Sticking through tough times, Strong families

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632d60bc6e41bd0ae7bb7f91d1497457.jpg barn picture

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.

Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.

Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.

If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

(Author unknown. If you know who wrote this please let me know so I can give them credit)

This Good Day

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Holy Bible, Inspirational Mama, Rest and Refreshment, Sharing Jesus, Sticking through tough times, Thoughts and Prayers

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Lord,

images woman praying with clouds

We pray for this day. It is a good day because you have given it to us, we are alive in it and we know You.

We pray that we would have hearts turned toward You today, minds focused on You and eyes opened to the many blessings and gifts that are ours in You.
You have given us so much. You have given us Your son, Jesus. You have given us the riches of Your word, the gift of the Holy Spirit who prompts us, teaches us and leads us. You have given us minds to understand and souls that long for a better eternity than this life.

Lord, You have created us to be women and women show forth Your creation in a unique way. Help us to joyfully embrace the gift of femininity.

Thank You that we are Your influencers and we leave a mark on the lives of others. Help us to use our gift of influence in a way that honors You. Keep us from being manipulative. Open our eyes to the powerful difference we can make in this world and give us Holy boldness to make a difference that glorifies You.

Lord, this is a glorious day and we dedicate it to You. We long for the day when You will make all things right and sin will no longer have dominion over us or the world. All of creation groans under the weight of sin.

Thank You for Your redemption. Thank You for loving us. images love never fails

In the powerful name of Jesus we pray,

Amen

Introducers

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by in Books, Changing the next generation, Inspirational Mama, Reading Aloud, Strong families

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P1020471abby on books

He leans against me as I open the pages of The Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and I begin to read,
“Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs.”

As I read I think to myself that this is the last time. It’s the last time I will begin this book series for the first time with one of our children.

I opened the pages of this book and read the entire series to his eldest sister, Lorna, when she was five. She is twenty-seven now.

I read the books to his eldest brother Phillip who is now twenty-five.

I read them to his sisters, Rosie and Hannah, and his brothers, Kealen and Noah.

Along came Abby (pictured above) and she determinedly said she would read them herself and the pattern was broken.

In the midst of Speech and Debate tournaments and Spanish and Greek classes for the teens, I savor this one last opportunity to begin, again; to be the introducer of certain books to this last child of ours.

I know, “introducer” isn’t really a word, but it should be. Isn’t every mother an introducer?

I hope your child’s imagination is filled to the brim with wonderful words put there by you. It’s not too late to start.


I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings–
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

patrick with the map

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be–
I had a Mother who read to me.

~by Strickland Gillian

Pictures by our talented daughter Hannah

Springtime Pleasures and Living the Dream (updated!)

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Inspirational Mama, Thoughts and Prayers

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I am overwhelmed by God’s goodness to us. The sun is shining and the flower boxes are full of flowers. Spring is in full bloom! Thank you, Lord.
Little Red Hen

Years ago we bought our “dream home” in Southern Idaho. The big log house on almost seven acres gave us lots of room for our five, then six and, finally, the seventh of our eighth children who were born in that house.

There was a lot I loved about that house. It was made out of logs and it was sturdy and homey. There was a lot I didn’t love about that house, though; it was drafty when those Idaho prairie winds blew and it was hard to heat. Because we used a combination of coal and wood in the wood stove our house often smelled like a train.

We didn’t have a lot of money during the seven years we lived there and I wanted chickens. Chickens, themselves, don’t cost a lot but they do need good housing and fencing to keep them warm and safe. We never seemed to have the funds for the materials needed to house chickens so we never got any.

Well, that log house was many moves and many years ago. I’d given up on ever getting chickens, but last September our son Kealen surprised us by making the chicken dream happen. He built a nice little chicken house and scoured Craigslist for chickens. We got four of the prettiest little hens ever (the maximum number allowed in our city backyard).

Chickens

There is something really wonderful about hearing their cheerful clucky chicken voices first thing every morning. They’re handy little animals who eat the bugs in the yard and have scratched and loosened the soil in our very large garden space so we don’t have to dig it up this year!

Since they are birds of very little brain, they make us laugh a lot! chicken counting eggs Here’s the Little Red Hen trying to do a math problem.

The eggs are “organically grown, free range” and wonderful! We put a light in their house and these nice ladies have laid every single morning all winter long!

Who knew four simple chickens could bring such satisfaction?

Our backyard backs up on a major street and we are just blocks away from the mall, Costco, fast food places and the fire station (think SIRENS). It’s not the farm I visualized having so long ago but…

the sun is shining, the chickens are clucking and I can hear the sound of my laughing children…

Abby and Eggs

(Enjoy this video by our son Phillip on Chickens)
…I’m living my dream.

*Photography by our talented daughter Hannah Jane.

For more of my thoughts on living the dream please read this and this.

He’s Not Here, He is Risen!

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Easter, Holy Bible, Thoughts and Prayers

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_mall_Crosses_celtic-cross-westend

He’s not here! Oh, Praise the Lord, Jesus the Messiah has overcome sin and death!

cross

We can fully live because of His victory on the cross…and, someday, He will wipe all the tears from our eyes and we will live forever…

th_threecrosses

…with Him!

Alleluia! He is Risen!

He is Risen, indeed.

Daily Treasures by Lorrie Flem (My Review)

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Changing the next generation, Holy Bible, Inspirational Mama, not-to-do list, Rest and Refreshment, Sticking through tough times, Strong families, Thoughts and Prayers

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I have to admit that this audio talk by Lorrie Flem of Eternal Encouragement (www.eternalencouragement.com) was not what I expected. Her approach to “Learning to value and remember everyday miracles” was refreshingly different than many similar talks I have listened to.

To begin with, Lorrie has a very sweet sounding voice and delivery so she is easy to listen to. She is the mother of eight children and, as the mother of eight children myself, I struggle with coming across as harsh and authoritarian so I appreciated the fact that she sounds sweet but she also speaks with conviction.

Lorrie begins by addressing the fact that children are gifts from God and, thus, they are treasures! As a matter of fact, she and her husband ask each other, “How are the treasures doing?” when they ask about the children. I love that idea and approach because the words we use to describe our children are powerful words and will shape them as they mature.

Lorrie tells her listeners, “Don’t bury your treasures; keep a record of them, and their sparkle will brighten many a dark hour” and then she gives examples from her own life of other things that she treasures and her “record” of her treasures. For example, she keeps a glove that was scorched by a fire that her young child started in their house. It was the glove, lying in just the right place that enabled her husband to grab the blazing container and put out the fire. Lorrie emphasizes that, although the ugly glove may seem strange to keep as a memento, it is precious to her because it reminds her of God’s protection and deliverance of their daughter from a dangerous fire.

By the time Lorrie finishes recounting other items that she has kept to remind her of precious memories, I wished I had done the same thing! In the midst of her busy life she reminds herself that the really important things in life have to be searched for as a precious treasure.

The hour long audio includes:

Learn what real treasure is, as defined by God
Effective treasure-hunting techniques
7 ways to remember instead of burying your treasure
How to accurately measure wealth

You can purchase this encouraging and inspirational audio talk at Eternal Encouragement. It is currently a steal of a deal at only 4.97.

I received this product for review purposes only.