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Encouragement

Encouragement

Count Your Blessings, Instead of the Cost

When I saw the image below I thought surely someone had snapped a picture of Mark and I on our last vacation—just kidding! This couldn’t be us. We don’t look this good and we weren’t alone on our last vacation. We had five kids with us. We also wouldn’t be lying on the sand. We Floridians know that you can’t get all comfy and serene on sticky, itchy sand. Nope, these are models for sure. The sand that this lovely, serene couple is lounging on is the soft sort found on the beaches in Sarasota where my husband grew up. We go there often—it is soft to walk on, beautifully white and makes the water look clearer and bluer. However, it’s still sticky like all sand and so fine that it is harder to get off.

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Encouragement

Using My Productivity Tools in Relationships

Sometimes, it feels as if there’s an app for everything. Technology seems to have a solution to every problem, a way to make any situation easier. But when it comes to relationships in our family, friendships and just using our gifts to serve, there isn’t an app to do it for us. The best you’ve got is right inside you not in an app. So rather than looking for a quick trick to help, try taking a deeper look at the strengths you have already built in you and I do have a little help for that. We all have strengths within us- whether it’s encouraging, listening, taking initiative, or anything else. Recognizing your God-given gifts can make you great at relationships with family, friends, and even co-workers on the job. Recently, I took the Clifton Strengths Finder assessment with Gallup to understand some of my own strengths and it really helped and even motivated me. Yes, it does cost $10 to take the online evaluation, but it is knowledge worth knowing! I recommend anyone interested in more deeply understanding their strengths try taking it as well! According to Gallup, here are 3 of my strengths and how I…

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Encouragement

8 Days of Being Thankful

I. Love. Christmas. But in my rush to get to Christmas decorating/crafting I have a tendency to slack off on Thanksgiving. So do the malls–our mall was decorated for Christmas three weeks before Thanksgiving! This year, there will be no Thanksgiving slacking! Because our team at iMOM had a great idea, an 8 Days of Being Thankful activity. It is a simple little craft (you supply the ribbon and the printable is FREE) to add some fall flavor in your home. Another big plus to this activity is that your kids will spend a little time reflecting on the blessings in their lives. You can use the printable all at once to make the craft, or you can do one each day in the week leading up to Thanksgiving and save the last one to hang as a family on Thanksgiving Day.

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Encouragement

The Balance Struggle: Home & Work

I was a source of endless energy and I was on a mission to start iMOM. I thought I could do it all, in the beginning. When we started working on iMOM I only had to be in the office in the morning and had the whole afternoon to run errands. All the random little things that pop up daily in a family of seven. Once we were up and running at iMOM, I increased my hours to 9:00-3:00. I thought I could handle it but suddenly I had no time to tie up all the loose ends before I picked the kids up from school. The to do list–laundry, errands and never ending meals spilled over into time that formerly had been reserved for my children. My daily responsibilities were impossible and my endless energy came to an end. Three things became very clear to me: I am not a disciplined: The reality is, all we can get done is simply that—all we can get done. I was undisciplined and I did not ruthlessly prioritize my responsibilities. I constantly allowed myself to be pulled into something that wasn’t a top priority because I hadn’t clearly defined what was a priority. …

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Encouragement

Suddenly Single

Christy is a dear friend of mine. I was with her on the night she lost her husband. She was suddenly, without any warning, the single mom of three of cutest pea-pops, ever . Her walk since that night has been nothing short of courageous and inspirational to me. She has been a beautiful picture of contrasts: vulnerable yet strong, crushed yet hopeful, exhausted yet persevering. She recently reached a point in her journey where she is ready to share. And I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to learn from the wisdom God is pouring into her. A guest blog post from Christy Davis: Almost seven months ago, I entered the world and label of being a “single mom.” I had been blessed with a wonderful husband of almost nine years who shared so much of a parenting partnership with me. From the time we brought home our first child from the hospital over seven years ago, he shared in the feedings, sleepless nights, sick days, and bedtime routines. I know some might say that I was royally spoiled to have a husband who was so hands-on and involved, and I probably would have to agree. The suddenness of …

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Encouragement

Serving Family Meals with Laughter And Love

I have to smile inside every time I think about Family Week. It makes me smile to think of how I would explain this to my grandmother. She would look surprised and, in all honesty, probably confused too. I chuckle because my grandmother would not understand why there is a family week. Both of my grandparents on my dad’s side emigrated from Italy with their families. Each of my grandparents had nine brothers and sisters; their life was family. Every Saturday, my grandmother and her sisters would get together in her basement and cook for the upcoming week. (Yep, she had two kitchens. The one she really cooked in and the one upstairs that she simply reheated and served from.) They met on Saturdays because they were all working girls; my grandmother was a seamstress. But that didn’t stop them from the serious Italian business of serving fresh pasta, sauce, bread, pizzelles, cannolis, and every Italian delicacy you can think of each night of the week. They would cook all day Saturday and on Sunday they would start the week with a big, extended family dinner. Adults and kids alike were comforted and filled with deliciousness, and we talked and …

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Encouragement

10 Ways for Busy Women to Make and Keep Friends

I missed a college reunion. It killed me, it still does. It was my fault. I had plans to go. I had a reservation, I had roomies from college to go with and I paid. But I didn’t go. I didn’t get organized enough to get my kids ready for college early, I didn’t get ahead at work and I didn’t allow any time for the unexpected. And the unexpected happened. My dog broke her leg and I ended up on the seriously short side of a packed schedule. I choked and I cancelled. And all weekend long I watched the fun from facebook and boohooed with self-pity. Do not be me in this situation because friends–old and new–are an investment that you have to keep up with. So lesson learned! Here are 10 ways busy women like me need to make and keep friends. Let’s hope I remember.

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Encouragement

When Life Happens

When you have a blog there is pressure to, well, blog. Regularly. But when life happens you can’t always do that. Like now. You have to do really important life stuff like college shopping for comfort away from home… and first time freshman, don’t leave me, college goodbyes…

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Encouragement

Mom’s Secret Life

While a mom is keeping up appearances, buying groceries and driving carpool in her SUV, major problems that can destroy a family can easily brew under the surface. So how can you, as a mom, protect yourself from developing a dangerous secret of your own? Set up and respect important guardrails that can save your life, even when you seem miles away from trouble. This video addresses preventative methods for alcohol addiction, drug addiction, online/social media dangers, and anorexia.

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