Freshen Up Friday – Love Notes

April 17, 2015April 17, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Keeping any relationship fresh requires thought, effort and communication. Writing a note to let your spouse or a child know you love them is a great way to deepen the bond you share. It says more than what’s on that paper, doesn’t it? It says, “I cared enough to stop in my busy day and let you know I am thinking about you!”

When was the last time you left a note for someone you love? I am grateful when I find something that helps me be thoughtful. I found these at Hobby Lobby in the card and stationery department…

These are pads with love notes printed on them. The back of each card is blank so you can add more to what is already there, if you want. It makes it easy to pull an appropriate one off and leave it in a place where your husband, child, grandchild or even a Sunday school student or neighborhood child will find it.You could mail it to someone outside your home or leave it for a family member to find. Some places to leave them would be..

Next to their toothbrush
In a dresser drawer
At their dinner plate
In their lunch box
On the steering wheel or taped to the rear view mirror
At the computer
In a shirt pocket
In a suitcase
In their Bible

Freshen and brighten up someone’s day by leaving a love note like this one, or one you’ve created.

Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop, but a good word makes it glad! Proverbs 12:25

The best Word you can hear and share is God’s Word! Be in a Bible-preaching church Sunday!

Stay refreshed,

Motherhood

The Loving Touch

October 15, 2013July 14, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I was just an elementary age child when my mother was hospitalized for many days so that she might have an operation. This was at a time when they kept patients a fairly long time for a major surgery like she had.

I can remember the ache in my heart for the day my mom would return back home. Oh, my dad took good care of me and my sisters, but our home just wasn’t the same without her there! I remember going to the front coat closet and burying my face in the fur of her winter coat and crying out of sheer loneliness for her company!

Try as a man may, he cannot bring to a home what a woman does. We are the ones that bring the “homeiness”, if you will. We are the ones that make a loving atmosphere. We turn the house into a home. Dear friend, are you careful to maintain those gestures for your family? Or do you get so caught up in your own busyness and fatigue that you forget to add that softening and loving touch that your family craves? Have you recently…

set a pretty table for supper
played soothing music at the time your family returns home so that things are calm
lit a candle on the kitchen counter to provide ambiance and a lovely fragrance
made a special breakfast – your family’s favorite, to start their day off just right
added a seasonal touch to your living room or kitchen table
combed your little girl’s hair and added a barrette or bow so she’ll be pretty for daddy’s return
cut your son’s hair and combed it over so he’ll look just like his daddy
left a note on your children’s bed telling them how special they are
sang a special song to your husband to let him know how you love him
planned a fun activity for your family to enjoy together – a game night and popcorn, making cookies together, playing tag in the backyard, or s’mores over the grill

These are the things moms do best! Ask the Lord to help you know how to add the softening touch to your family’s lives, then make a plan to do it.

With love,

Motherhood

Motherhood: A Picnic?

July 13, 2010January 9, 2015 RefreshHer4 Comments

Years ago I heard about a woman who was seen with a group of children at the park. A man walked up to her and asked, “Are all those children yours, or are you on a picnic?” She replied, “They’re all mine – and it’s no picnic!”

Mothering is a wonderful gift of God, but it isn’t for the faint at heart, is it? When my girls were growing up there were many days when I wanted to turn in my parenting badge! It’s not that they were so awful, there were just days in which they revealed their sin nature more than others! It seemed on those days that all I did was discipline, correct and instruct, and many days it was over the very same things. Someone wasn’t getting the message, or they were testing my resistance and we would have to reapply the board of discipline to the seat of the tester!

I remember being in tears myself after those trying times. I would often go to my bedroom for a moment of solitude and cry out to the Lord. As I prayed and read His Word I’d be reminded that this was my responsibility to instruct my children. If I wasn’t doing it who would? If nothing else got accomplished in the day but teaching a child to obey, to talk in a way that honored God, or to tell the truth, then I had to view it as a day that was prosperous.

Proverbs was such a help to me. These verses are highlighted in my Bible:

Proverbs 19:18 – Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Proverbs 29:17 – Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:15 – Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Proverbs 29;15The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

I’m writing to encourage those of your that are in the thick of the training years. Don’t faint – you will reap a harvest. Right now you’re sowing the seed and you are wondering if the harvest will ever come – it will! You will reap in another season that you sow. Make sure you’re sowing the seeds of the Word of God as you discipline. You will reap the same kind that you sow. Be faithful. You will reap more than you sow. One day you will see that it was worth it. Be consistent and don’t throw in the towel! One day you can take all your children out to the park and it will be a picnic!

If you could get help in one area of mothering, what would it be?

With love,