Children
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You’ve Got Mail
I love Valentine’s Day! Now I know this holiday can be a love or strongly disliked day, so let me explain… I love valentine’s day, quite possibly, for the reason that most parents don’t like it and are quite possibly “over it” today. For me it’s the excitement of children, little mailboxes built by little hands, crafts, and hand written cards, and school parties (although I didn’t see or hear of many this year 😕 has our world banned these too?!?) Now all the adult hoopla, I could absolutely live the rest of my life without! Too much pressure and too much drama! You see, I was the kid that…
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Clean Underwear
“Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident and they have to cut you out of your clothes.” That’s what my grandparents would say. Or if not an accident, you never know when you might get stuck in traffic, or have to go to the hospital, and the list went on. Matter of fact, my grandma was so sure this was going to happen that she always had an extra pair with her in her purse! Why do I share this? Simply because I was watching the View this week and this came up in conversation, and it hit me – this really was a…
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A Love Breaks Through
Talk about a winter the world had never known, Talk about a silence that hardened up the soil; No more life left in Eden, but You knew the time would come... 'Cause You were growing up a family that You would call your own, And through a fragile people the Light of Life would come, And when it seemed like we'd never see Sprint, Heaven gave a King! Like an Amaryllis, blooming a Christmas, When everything was cold and dark Your love broke through and You shined With the brilliance of summer, Right in the middle of winter! You came surprising the night, Like a Christmas Amaryllis... Here I am…
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Unrepeatable!
Do you ever just take a minute at look at the palm of your hand? Do you realize that absolutely no one else will ever make the exact same handprint that you are looking at? All of the handprint art that children make, are 100% one of a kind! Unrepeatable! In the adoption process your fingerprints especially become an essential part of your home study. Unless they just can’t retrieve your fingerprints, which is possible! One of the first things they do when you are born is make handprints and footprints to document who you are, who you belong to, and all the important information about your birth. I, personally,…
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Who Knows What the Children May Become?
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy. If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty. If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to have confidence. If a child lives with praise, he learns appreciation. If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice. If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance…
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Three Million New Blood Cells
” Have you ever watched them (children) watch? Their mouths may hang open; they’re not, like adults, aware of themselves- they’re only aware of what they’re watching… And your child is in process, as a person. Every eight days he gets a new layer of skin. Every eight years every cell in his body has become new. Look at that child right now: since this time yesterday he has three million new blood cells.” Children are Wet Cement, Anne Ortlund If the above quote doesn’t stir something inside of you, then my words today may not make sense either. When it comes to babies and children, I am a firm…
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These things you don’t forget…
“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Greek Proverb The above quote has been among my favorites for a long while. I believe this because I have been blessed to have had multiple men and women who have prayed, encouraged, invested their time in my life. On our back porch last month we had a small glimpse of seeds being “planted” that were not intentionally planted, yet they fell on good soil and bloomed. Let me give you a little background on our soil. Before we plant anything in our back porch area, we have to dig a big hole…
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Schultute, Read on 😊
Schultute is a “back to school” tradition originating in Germany in the 1800s. The tradition was started by grandparents and/or godparents, and would happen on the first day of school all across Europe. Each school would have a certain tree or either a metal tree in the schoolyard for grandparents/godparents to come and hang school cones for their children to welcome them back for the first day of school. Originally the cones were made of paper and would be decorated according to the child’s interests, along with the child’s name. The cones would be filled with candy, school supplies, small toys, and even clothing. One of my favorite things is…
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Conversations with my Jesus
Prayer. A conversation with God that never ends, at least on God’s end. As humans we tend to shut it off when we don’t see the “need,” this is a big lie we tell ourselves. It is a conversation compiled of words, silence, tears, walking, kneeling, laying down, sitting, deep breathing, cries. Words often spoken: please, help, why, come, near, save, wisdom, need, want. Lately I have been reflecting back on being a kid and how the culture has progressively gotten to be extremely fast paced, and now is constantly pushing a narrative of something or someone being “better.” As my mom wisely reminds me, “everyone is equal at the…
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Thoughts of a Photographer
Let me start with a fun story: A couple weeks ago, my niece, my mom and I were out shopping and the subject of photography came up. Particularly how images can be photoshopped/made to look the way you want them to instead of how they actually are in reality. I honestly was encouraged that my niece had noticed this and had the courage to bring it up in conversation. Also, I found that, for her age, she had quite the eye for photo art! We talked about what she didn't like about this kind of photography, she basically said you can tell it is fake and photo shopped and why…
