Believe
Here are the bottom-line questions that surface in my mind and my heart when I need a “belief adjustment:” (And we all KNOW when we are struggling on the inside! So glad you understand!)
Do I really believe I will overcome the challenges of my life? Do I truly believe my children will grow up as happy, healthy adults, who enjoy and love one another?
Doubt is so subtle.
Our inner strength is dependent on our beliefs! I have learned to trace most of my overwhelmed, tired-of-the-battle feelings to a lack of belief that things will work out.
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Daily New Beginnings
Every family needs a new beginning. A New Year seems to give us all just that! But the truth is, YOUR FAMILY GROWTH REQUIRES DAILY NEW BEGINNINGS! What does that really mean? I believe it is “refusing to drag yesterday’s frustrations, hurt feelings and pressures into the ONE DAY you are currently living!”
It is simply “FOCUSING on NOW and finding fulfillment in ONE DAY lived well.”
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Enjoy
ENJOY! ENJOY!! ENJOY!!!
Whether it’s preparing to celebrate Christmas or multitasking on any given ordinary day throughout the year…WE CAN CHOOSE TO ENJOY THE MOMENT!
For most of us, the lessons learned from the past always include: “I wish I had stopped worrying and just ENJOYED everything MORE!!!”
“Everything” usually includes the big things, like living in a free country, our health, our family & friends…. as well as what we may call “little“ but really are great things, like sunsets, radiant colors of flowers, loving conversations and laughter!
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NEW SEASONS
Life is one big parade of New Seasons! Right? Just when you feel like you’ve got it all under control, strategy intact, and you start to relax or coast…THERE IT IS; a new season! Now what..?
Actually, new SEASONS bring new OPPORTUNITIES & BLESSINGS. Granted the “unknown “ is intimidating at times, but a good dose of curiosity, courage, and faith makes it exciting!
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Mercy Versus Excuse
Every parent needs discernment!!
Many times it is difficult to know whether your little one (or your teenager!) is being willfully disobedient, or if they truly did something without thinking, or if they were so distracted they weren’t even aware of what they did or didn’t do,.. OR if they were genuinely feeling bad physically!
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Smile
While writing this blog, I was in the Charlotte airport. Actually, it was in the Ladies Room... that I experienced the most fun, happy, helpful facilities assistant! EVER!! Everyone was greeted, “Hey pretty lady! Come on in!” She was wonderful! She told a little girl, “Hi, Pretty Girl! Did you know this is the Pretty Girl Bathroom!” Her goodbye to everyone was “ You have a happy day, honey!! God bless!!”
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Team Mentality
When I wrote the Best Buddies song ”BE A TEAM BUDDY”, it was out of 2 basically SELFISH MOTIVES! Lol!
First, I envisioned my children working together peacefully and being capable of figuring out some challenges, TOGETHER & ON THEIR OWN! Haha! That can sound impossible in some seasons… but have patience, it will happen!
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Giving Your Child a Growth Mindset | Part 2
Children are not built to live with a crippling pressure to succeed and be the best at everything!
Boys and girls flourish when they have the healthy mindset of valuing learning and enjoying new experiences, understanding that a growth mindset believes abilities can be developed. The common “fixed mindset” believes that abilities are fixed, with no hope of developing abilities (read “Mindset”, by Carol S. Dwell, PhD)
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Giving Your Child a Growth Mindset | Part 1
It matters how our children THINK!!
“I don’t want to try! I can’t do it!” “I did try and I failed!” “I look stupid! People are laughing at me!”
These are painful words for a parent to hear because we feel our children’s pain. But letting our kids miss the opportunities to grow and learn in life will handicap them from developing and maturing. Fear steals the joy in our childhood and adult lives.
How do we help our children have an appetite to learn and no fear of failure?
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Delays
How you as a parent handle delays is crucial because everyday we inevitably experience multiple delays! Our response may be healthy or unpleasant, and it affects and shapes our inner strength and perspective. Whether it is a traffic delay, wardrobe-malfunction delay, or kids-moving-in-slow-motion delay, we are all “schedule challenged” in our busy culture.
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