Ways to Encourage #2 - Personalize Your Greeting Cards

Yesterday, our family received our first Christmas card for this season! It was fun to get our first card, and it was nice to know some friends of ours were thinking of us. Not only that, but these friends made the card personal by adding a few photos of their family, and also writing a simple note at the bottom of the card. The note said, “This year has been richer because of your friendship.” It was just one, short sentence, but it meant a lot to me to know we have made a difference is these people’s lives. It was a simple act of encouragement to us on their part.

Of course, you don't have to send Christmas cards to let someone know you are thinking of them. You can do this with Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Birthdays, Anniversaries, or Just Because. But, sending cards (of ANY kind) really does help to bring a smile to someone's face.  

When you DO send out cards, it will mean so much more to the receiver when you write a little note of encouragement in it as well. Make your cards personal by telling your friends and family how much they mean to you.

If your funds are limited, you can make your own cards. There are many different software programs you can use to help you with this, or just simply fold a piece of paper in half two times and use pen or marker to decorate it and add your sentiments. If you have children, you can get them involved by having them decorate the cards with sequins and glitter, or simply draw a picture. 

Another way to save on cash is to hand deliver your cards, if your friends are local (and you can add a hug into the mix as well). If they are not local, feel free to send cards and letters through e-mail also. E-mail may not be quite the same as a physical card, but it is still something to let others know you are thinking of them.

Here are a few different places online where you can send a FREE “electronic” greeting card to your friends and family, and can add a personal note to most of them at the end...

HALLMARK

DAYSPRING

INSPIRATIONAL FLASH MOVIES

RIVERSONGS

Have fun with encouragement!

Ways to Encourage #1

The dreams we have while we’re sleeping are usually pretty strange. But, I do believe there are times when we can learn something from our dreams. For example, a couple of months ago, I had a dream that gave me an idea to share.

In the dream, my family and I were sitting at our dining room table, passing around several pieces of paper. At the top of each paper was a name or a photo of one member of our family. For example, there was one paper for me, one for my husband, and one for each child. The papers went around the table and each of us took turns writing out something encouraging for the person on the paper.

A couple of weeks later, I decided to give this a try with our two children for a “creative writing” assignment. Our daughter was given a paper with her brother’s name on it, and vise versa for our son. Let me share with you what they both wrote:

Our 8-year-old son wrote:

I like [my sister] because... She loves dogs, and she loves me to play dogs with her, and she loves me too.

Our 13-year-old autistic daughter wrote:

I like [my brother] because... I love him. I like to play with him. We can play catch with a ball. We can play with stuffed dogs. We can play tag.

These are very simple sentences they each wrote, but special in many ways. They will be kept in a 3-ring binder and treasured to look back on. It is always nice to look at encouraging thoughts someone has written about you.

We haven’t done this activity with the entire family yet, but might do it soon. I’m sure it would be a good activity to do during the Christmas season. I encourage you to try it with your own family, and maybe even make a yearly tradition of it.

This suggestion will be the first out of a series called “Ways to Encourage.” Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing ten different ways we can bring encouragement to our family and friends, or even to a complete stranger. They will be simple things we can do to bring a smile to someone’s face.

If you choose to try one of the suggestions I mention, please share it in the comments section below (or send me an E-MAIL and I can share it for you.)

Also, if you have a story to share about how someone encouraged YOU in a special way, please share that as well.

Have fun with encouragement!

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Yelling: The Cause, The Casualty, The Cure (Review)

I am generally a quiet person, rather reserved and not wanting to draw much attention to myself. However, in my own home, where I am most comfortable, I have been known to “let loose.” I have danced around the kitchen with my family, tickled my children ‘til they can’t stand it anymore, chased them up the stairs, sang with them at the top of my lungs, and even laughed at noisy bodily functions.

Those are all "fun" things but, although I hate to admit it, I have also "let loose" by raising my voice at the children in a not so friendly way. In other words, I have "yelled" at them. Sometimes, I felt as if they deserved it, but most of the time they didn’t. That just goes to show, as much as I would like it to be, I’m not a perfect mom.

I also know I’m not alone with taking part in this negative response of yelling. Are there any perfect moms out there who have never raised their voice to their children? I honestly don’t know of one single mother who has never done that– not even Lorrie Flem of Eternal Encouragement Magazine! She is the first to admit she has yelled at her children, and she has received many letters from other mothers who have done the same, asking for help. So, Lorrie wrote an eBook about it, called, “Yelling: The Cause, The Casualty, The Cure.”

In this 21-page eBook, Lorrie encourages us to figure out what our “triggers” are. She also gives helpful ideas on how to plan ahead for those triggers, in order to eliminate them, or to respond appropriately to them. Yelling is not responding appropriately - to ANY misdemeanor. We expect our children to be respectful of us and to talk to us using a proper tone of voice. But, then, its okay for us to yell at them? What is this teaching them?

Lorrie says, “Look at it this way, if it isn’t life-threatening, if the house is not ablaze, if it is not time to call 911, or if the child you are yelling at is not half a mile away, then yelling is the wrong choice and not worth the cost.”

Lorrie can help you make a better choice through her “11-step stop yelling plan,” which is found in the “Yelling” eBook mentioned above. Order your own copy today at eternalencouragement.com.

I received “Yelling: The Cause, The Casualty, The Cure” as an official member of THE GABBY MOMS blogging program. I received it free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Inexpensive Ways to Spend Time With Your Family

You can spend time with your family, and you can do it very inexpensively. The following list has something for everyone - families with children, families without children, families with grown children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc...

Play a board game or card game.

Play “I Spy” (The object is to have someone choose an item in the room, within eyeshot of everyone. Then, each person takes turns asking questions about it until they figure it out.)

Play Hangman or Tic Tac Toe.

Ask each person 20 questions about themselves to get to know them better.

Play 20 questions, where someone thinks of an object and writes it down, then everyone asks questions to see if they can figure out what it is.

Draw pictures together. One of my family’s favorite games is to have one person draw one thing, then the next person adds something to it, then continues on until you all agree that the picture is done. My dad did this with us when I was growing up, and now he is doing it with his grandchildren as well. We call it the “Drawing Game.”

Tell stories to each other, or with each other. Just like the “Drawing Game,” telling stories works the same way. Someone begins, then the next one continues, until everyone has had at least one chance.

Bake together and share some with your friends and neighbors.

Have a family movie night with pizza and popcorn.

Have an ice cream sundae bar where everyone can add their own toppings.

Listen to music and dance around the room.

Sing with each other.

Rub each other’s feet and shoulders while watching TV or listening to music.

Exercise together.

Have a scavenger hunt.

Have an indoor picnic.

Do a craft together.

Do a service project together.

Play with playdough.

Learn about a specific kind of pet, then go pick one out together.

Go on a nature hike, or just a walk around the neighborhood.

Sit on the porch swing and watch the birds.

Go to the park.

Go swimming together.

Rake leaves together, then jump in them.

Play in the snow or go sledding.

Go camping.

Ride bikes.

Fly a kite.
 
Play a game of tag or hide and seek.

The list goes on...

What are some of your favorite inexpensive things to do as a family? Please share...

Happy 50th Anniversary to TWO Special Couples!

I just wanted to share the amazing milestones of two wonderful couples in my life...

Within the past couple of months, both sets of our parents (David's and mine) have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries.

In September, we celebrated with

David's parents, John & Sharon

This past weekend, we celebrated with

my parents, James & Carolyn 

Both sets of parents are such wonderful examples of what it means to follow through on a commitment. Through good times and bad, they have stayed together, and have promised to remain committed to each other until the Lord calls them home. It is a blessing to know these two couples.

Congratulations to both couples, and may the Lord continue to bless you in the years to come!

Homeschool Blog Awards Nominee



This blog (He Holds My Right Hand) has been nominated for the Homeschool Blog Awards, under the category of "Most Encouraging." If you feel this blog is worthy of winning this award, please go to THE HOMESCHOOL POST and place your vote. Thanks! 



Welcome Home, Daddy

I’ve heard it said many times that we need to cherish what we have, because we never know when it might be taken away. That thought rang true in my mind yesterday morning, after I received a phone call from my Paramedic husband.

On the phone, he told me of a how the Lord protected him on his way to the hospital with a patient. The driver of the ambulance was going 65 miles per hour, and a semi truck, not seeing them coming, turned out in front of them. If it hadn’t been for quick reflexes and solid brakes, the ambulance would have collided with the truck.

Thankyou, Lord, for protecting my husband! You can be sure, when he arrived home last night, I welcomed him at the door with several hugs and kisses.

Speaking of that, I just finished reading a book by Lorrie Flem called, “Welcome Home, Daddy.” It’s a book geared towards helping homemakers become more content in their roles, and more committed towards serving in the home. It gives helpful suggestions on how to make your family feel special, including greeting your husband at the door when he gets home from work. It also gives ideas on how to make family meal times more special for everyone, how to be hospitable to guests (and not always needing a spotless house to do so!), tips on having family devotions, how to teach your children to pray, ways to minister to others through home baked goodies, and how to support your husband in his role as well. Overall, the book is what you might call “a graduate course in domestic engineering.”

Some may consider Lorrie’s traditional views of homemaking to be a bit extreme, due to the world we live in today and the many career options available for women to choose from. But, for those who desire to be the best they can be in the honorable occupation of being mothers and homemakers, this book gives good ideas on how to make the hours that “Daddy” is home into cherished memories. I know I gleaned some inspiration from it, and I’m sure you would, too.

NOTE: I received “Welcome Home, Daddy” as an official member of THE GABBY MOMS blogging program for Eternal Encouragement Magazine. I received it free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

If you are a mom blogger interested in being a part of the Gabby Moms program for 2012, please go HERE for more information.

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Does God Give Us More Than We Can Handle?

We’ve all heard it at one time or another...

We are going through a difficult time, one thing after another is going wrong, bad news keeps turning up, we just don’t know how much more we can take! Then, a well-meaning friend will say it.... “Just remember that God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

Oh, really? What if I’ve lost absolutely everything that means anything to me (as in the case of Job in the Bible)? What if I'm so full of sorrow that I can't think straight? What if I'm so stressed out that I feel as if I would break into a million pieces if just one more bad thing would happen? Wouldn’t that be more than I can handle?

I’ve been there, you know.... I’m not “there” at this moment, thank the Lord, but, I’ve been there! (And, I know plenty of others who have been there, too - with some that are “there” right now.) But, you know what? It took going through tough circumstances that helped me realize I could NOT handle these things - not at ALL - not on my own, anyway! I needed the LORD to handle them for me - to bear/carry my burdens - instead of trying to do it myself. I needed to lean on Him for strength, just as we all do.

Many well-meaning people will use 1 Corinthians 10:13 to say God doesn’t give us more than we can bear: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

My husband pointed this out to me... If you look closely at that verse, you can see it has nothing to do with the trials or hardships we endure; unless, of course, one of your struggles is dealing with temptation. The verse says God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear (or resist, as some translations say). It says nothing about us being able to handle/bear our trials. In fact, I can’t find ANY verse in the Bible that says this (If I am wrong, please share!) But, what I DO find are many verses that tell us to rely on God for the strength we need to get us through the difficult times.

Ps 28:7 - The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.

Ps 37:39 - But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble.

Ps 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Isa 40:31 - Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

and the list goes on...

So, does God give us more than we can handle? Sure, He does! But, He also provides us with the strength we need by carrying our burdens for us... IF we allow Him to.

We don’t always know the reasons for the things we go through in life - at least not while we are going through them. But, no matter what, it is helpful for us to remember that the Lord does love us and will always be there for us in our time of need. He is there to listen, to comfort, to bring peace and/or reassurance to our heavy hearts, and to bring us strength. Trust in Him.

Real Rest

Are you weak in spirit? Is your heart heavy with a burden? Read what it says here in Matthew 11:28

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.”

Its not just a physical kind of rest Jesus is talking about here. (Taking a nice warm bath, or getting a massage can help with that for a little while.) Its REAL REST He’s talking about - the kind that comes from within - the kind that comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus and allowing HIM to carry our burdens.

Think about this past week for a moment....

• How often have you lost your self-control?
• How often have you yelled at your children for something they did wrong?
• How often have you raised your voice to your spouse because he/she wasn’t meeting your expectations?
• How often have you “chewed out” a friend over something that was rather unimportant?

Losing your self-control in these ways is usually caused by being tired, stressed, overworked, and feeling unappreciated. I admit I am among those of you who have felt this way this past week; and I know ALL of us do at one point or another. It is a typical human response as we seek fulfilment from others, rather than from the Lord. Lorrie Flem of Eternal Encouragement Magazine, understands this. So, she felt led to produce a new product, specifically geared towards women, that helps us learn how to be more ENERGIZED AND FULFILLED WOMEN OF GOD.

NOTE: This new product is not an e-book or an audio download. It is a physical DVD that is sent in the regular mail. The DVD also includes a PDF with a study guide that has the acronym of REAL REST on it. Lorrie uses the video and the study guide to walk us through how to find “real rest” when we are so worn down physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Lorrie helped remind me that sitting at the feet of Jesus is what will bring more rest for weary souls than anything else. She says, “You cannot be a nurturer unless you yourself are nurtured.” But, it’s a matter of choice. If we neglect Him, or don’t take the time to rest in His presence, our feelings of frustration and despair will get the best of us. So, what do YOU think would be the better choice?

I love this old hymn that talks of this very thing (Click on the title below to hear the music).

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

Words by: Joseph Scriven, 1855

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge

Take it to the Lord in prayer;

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer;

In His arms He'll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Disclaimer: I received Energized and Fulfilled Woman of God as an official member of THE GABBY MOMS blogging program for Eternal Encouragement Magazine. I received it free of charge, and all opinions are my own.
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Listening Sheets for Children

I first learned about "Listening Sheets" from THE BISHOP'S WIFE, and decided to try them out. These are pages you can print out and give to your children to use during a church service, which helps them to listen and pay attention better. For the past two Sundays, I have used these with both of our children (ages 8 and 13), and it helped them to keep their hands busy and their minds more attentive. There are  sheets for all ages, including non-readers up to those who read fluently.  Here is a list of the places I found (or was directed to):

• MAMA'S LEARNING CORNER (4 Listening Sheets for Non-Readers)
• RAISING ARROWS (5 Listening Pages for Fluent Readers)
• THE BISHOP'S WIFE (3 Listening Sheets)
• MINISTRY TO CHILDREN (1 Sermon Note-Taking Sheet)

Give them a try and see what you think!

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