TGIF! You know what time it is, right?! It’s time for Five Minute Friday with Lisa-Jo Baker!
The idea is to write for five whole minutes on the prompt word given. You are to write your little heart out without worrying about how it is coming across. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to be your words straight from your heart. Deal?
Now …More
You are beautiful. Yes … You! The one reading this right this very minute.
Proverbs 3:15-18 ESV She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.
When times are tough and things of this world threaten to shatter our peace and steal our joy, quickly turn your thoughts to pleasant things that speak life into your heart and soul. What restores your peace and joy, friends? Allow me to share my thoughts here.
For me, when the world comes crashing in, all I have to do is shift my focus to my darling daughters. I escape the grownup woes for a little while by playing like a child again in their world. Oh the fun we have dancing around, laughing freely, throwing our heads back as we laugh so hard that our sides hurt. Just tonight we had such a moment. We were watching Titanic, of all things. My entire family was glued to the television. During a dancing scene, my oldest daughter disappeared into her room and returned shortly thereafter shuffling her feet, dancing around, kicking up her heels, all the while twirling a blanket over her head. We burst into uncontrollable laughter. None of us were expecting that, but it was the best thing she could have done to entertain us at that moment. These are the times that we’ll remember forever!More
My mind wanders back to my childhood days where I would run wild and carefree just as barefooted as you please with the hot summer sun beaming down on me. I would chase my dad’s chickens all through the “chicken yard” as they scrambled and extended their wings at times to escape my tomboy ways. I smile at the thought of those days that are long gone now.
There are so many things I can recall from my childhood. Another favorite is playing in the forbidden hog pin. My dad warned us about not getting close to the hogs, but did I listen? Not as good as I should have, but that, too, brings a smile to my face and causes me to pause for a good long chuckle. I fondly remember trying to be Wonder Woman as I jumped off the ramp at the entrance of the hog pin. I would also climb the highest mountain (okay, it was a pile of wood), adjust my silver wrist bands, and position myself in that super hero pose as I jumped. One time the landing didn’t go so well, and I found myself laying on the ground trying to recover as I knocked the breath completely out of my body when my knees hit my chest on impact. Thankfully, I did not break anything. There were no injuries, except to that of my pride. More
Last night my family and I watched the movie Unconditional at a friend’s house. If you have never seen this movie before, I highly recommend it. I had no idea what the movie was even about when it started. But, my, oh my, did it ever bless my heart.
While I have no intention of giving the entire movie away, I will tell you that part of the story line struck a cord with me because of how much I can relate to it. One of the main characters was a writer. However, something tragic happened in this lady’s life, and she lost the desire to write after that. If you’ve read the “About Us” section, you’ll understand that this struck a cord in my heart because I went through something very similar after the death of my only sibling, my sister. Before, the words just seemed to flow like a river. Once tragedy struck, though, it felt as if I was thrown into the middle of the dry Arizona desert. More
We continue today with the last two in the series of The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers New Edition: The Secret to Loving Teens Effectively
Acts of Service can be a powerful expression of love for your teenager. According to Dr. Gary Chapman:
Loving service is an intentionally motivated desire to give one’s energy to others.
When you honestly want to give of yourself to serve another person in love, now that is priceless. Be aware, though, of manipulation. If you are only doing something for someone so that they will do something in return, that is not a true loving act of service. The “If you __________, I will _____________.” An example: “If you clean your room, I’ll take you to the game.” This is asking the teen to do something you want, then you’ll do something nice for them in return. Dr. Gary Chapman says:
Manipulation has nothing to do with love and everything to do with control. It is not a good approach for parent teen relationships.
Keep in mind, though, as you choose an act of service that More
Today we will cover Physical Touch & Quality Time in The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers New Edition: The Secret to Loving Teens Effectively
The information contained within the pages of this book have held my attention so much that I found it hard to put this book down today. I will try to condense all of the information offered so that you can continue on showing love long after Valentine’s Day to your teenagers and your entire family as well.
Physical Touch
There is such emotional power and communication through the act of appropriate physical touch. Knowing when to offer the physical touch to your teenager is key, though. There are three things to consider More
Just a few, short weeks ago I was sharing a post about the snow we had in our area. I was so excited to actually see some of the fluffy white stuff around here, as it is extremely rare! Now, though, the weather forecast was calling for the dreaded ICE! While we tried to prepare, my family and I joked about the Vanilla Ice song from the 80s, “Ice Ice Baby.” This was our attempt to lighten the mood as we braced for the worst.
Ten years ago, we had an ice storm come through our area. I was pregnant with my youngest daughter at the time. Our Winter Wonder Land quite literally became an extremely slippery slope. You could hear the “crunch” beneath you as you tried to walk out on the patio, IF you were lucky to make it across without slipping and falling … hard … on your backside! That hurts terribly, by the way, especially as you get older! Just speaking the truth!
As the ice storm threatened our area and ultimately took down power lines and trees ten years ago, we were forced to flee to shelter. We simply could not remain in our house with an eight year old and being pregnant at the time as well. We were without power at our house for an entire week before the utility company could work their magic to get us back up and running. We were never so glad in all of our lives to get back to our house. It definitely gives new meaning to “Home Sweet Home” when you’re forced out due to conditions beyond your control and not allowed access to your beloved home!
Fast forward now to the present, and here we are in the same situation. The younger generation surely did not remember what it was like ten years ago as they were much smaller, of course. The adults, however, knew full well what the approaching storm would bring. We prepared as best as we could, but our state is simply not set up to handle this type of weather. We’re used to extremely mild winters with everyone freaking out when the temperature dips down a little below freezing. With white stuff in the forecast, we joked that people were rushing to the stores for bread and milk while forgetting how to drive along the way! Now with ice, oh brother, that made it a thousand times worse! More
It’s that time again for Five Minute Fridays! Since I have posted so much in the last few days, I will schedule this post for Saturday morning.
Today’s Five Minute Friday prompt word is GARDEN.
The idea is to write for five whole minutes without worrying about getting it perfect. Write from your heart, do not edit, do not critique your own work. Just share and let it pour out freely.
Ready?
Set!
Go!
Welcome to the garden of My heart. Come, take My hand and walk with Me as we stroll through down the paths of beautiful flowers and perfectly placed benches to rest upon. Soak in all of the wondrous sights and sounds as I share with you all that is within Me. Allow Me to pour out My blessings upon you, My Child. Sit with Me a while. Rest your weary head upon My shoulders. Feel the love I have for you in My heart. Let Me wrap you in My love, holding you, reassuring you that no harm will ever come to you. For I know the plans I have for you, My Child. Rest in the knowledge that all things work together for My good. You may not understand My works or My thoughts, but in due time, My child, they will be revealed to you. For now, rest your weary soul upon the banks of the river. Skip rocks and watch the ripples as they reach out to the souls. The very souls that you cross paths with daily. You are My hands and feet upon this earth. You are My mouthpiece. Go, share the good news with the world! I will bless all of My people that are called by My name. I love them. I died for them. I gave My life so they could live forever in My Kingdom. That is the purest form of love You will ever know. Bask in the unconditional love that My heart holds for you forever more. Blessed child of Mine.
STOP!
I am involved in a fabulous group that challenges us with our writing. This week they have asked us exactly why we write and if we write for a specific niche. They also asked if we think we are more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants writer, outliner, or planner. I’ll share my thoughts here.
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Hello again! Thank you for joining us!
We are just going to dive right on in today! The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers New Edition: The Secret to Loving Teens Effectively
These are my words in summary after reading this chapter of Dr. Chapman’s book. I appreciate your patience as I covered the first and second chapter of the book in previous posts this week so that you could get the basics. Now we are going to talk about the number one love language of our teens: Words of Affirmation!More
Everyone is talking about Valentine’s Day. Oh, they get so excited about exchanging cards, little boxes of chocolate candy, the prettiest flowers, colorful balloons, and even smaller boxes containing little treasures for their loved ones. This is a very special day, indeed. But, a day for love? Really? Just ONE day? That’s a sad thought right there if that is all you focus on is that one day on the calendar where you feel like you’re mandated to get your special someone a gift or show some type of recognition out of obligation. What about celebrating love each and every day? How about 365 days for love? Now, that’s more like it!
Allow me to share a thought provoking quote below:
Do what you did in the beginning of a relationship and there won’t be an end. ~Anthony Robbins
How many relationships do you know that start out just wonderful? They call just to let you know that they are thinking of you. Or, they send a special text message that is waiting for you when you rise in the morning or another right before you lay your head on your pillow to go to bed at night, not to mention a few scattered texts or calls throughout the day just to let your special someone know that you’re thinking of them. How about special treats for them “just because.” A special pie or cake that you make (it can be a male making it for a female, too, you know!). Flowers delivered “just because” on no real occasion except a beautiful day that the Lord has made. A hand written love note. A hand made card. Just because.
Think about it.
The sweet nothings whispered in your ear all year through …
The candlelight dinners and chick flick movies where you sit for two hours watching a love story unfold right before your very eyes where the couple lives happily ever after. YOU can live happily ever after with your special someone, too, if you only keep the fire burning within your relationship.
Too often people get comfortable in their relationships. They do all of these great and wonderfully sweet things to “catch” their mate, and then when they “have” them, they stop. Why? The point wasn’t “just” to win their heart and then never do anything to celebrate them again … was it? No, of course not! The whole point was to show them that they are so incredibly special to you, to win their heart over, to show them that you’d do anything and everything for them …
WHY STOP?
You don’t have to!
A lot of relationships fizzle out when couples stop doing things that they once did “just because.” They take the other for granted, and their relationship falls by the wayside. Then you look around one day and wonder what happened. Why does the person not find me attractive any more? Why don’t they want to be with me? Answer this one question for me … honestly evaluate yourself, your heart and soul, and then answer: Have you neglected them in any way, shape, or form? If so, why? Are they not as important to you now as they once were? Has your love grown stale or become non existent? No, certainly not. You have just become comfortable and have begun to take your loved one for granted. Only you can break that cycle.
If you want her to feel loved, do all of the things that you once did. We know you have it in you. We’ve seen it. We’ve been on the receiving end of it before, many times. We know you can do it. You just stopped putting forth the effort.
There’s a lot of information on the internet about how to pursue your man. From a Christian perspective, you are to submit to your mate. While I understand that whole concept, what about the woman? Doesn’t she deserve to be pursued still? I think so! While I am all for showing our man that they mean everything to us and celebrating them, even catering to them at times … women need the same thing from their husbands!
It truly takes TWO people to make a relationship work. If one stops trying, the other feels taken for granted and stops doing for the other as well. Then it isn’t long before they have BOTH lost that loving feeling.
You do not have to go down that road. You can change that right this very minute. Take back your relationships and marriages TODAY!! Begin by celebrating your mate, celebrating your relationship or marriage … just do not stop when Valentine’s Day ends at 11:59 p.m.!
Think of how it will thrill their hearts to receive words of love from you for no other reason than “just because I love you and am thinking of you …”
Write it on the bathroom mirror so that is the first thing they see in the morning.
Slip a note in their briefcase or lunch box so they see your reminder of their love while at work.
Since text messages and emails take the personal affect out of it a lot of times, try writing an actual hand written love note to your mate or even a love poem. I know you have it in you! I have faith in your abilities to be romantic! It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to be from your heart to theirs. Imagine how they will feel reading your words of love!!
Couples struggle with the love language of their mate. Do they have the need for words of affirmations? “I’m so proud of you …” “You work hard for our family, and we appreciate all you do for us …” Or do they prefer acts of service to where you mow the lawn, do dishes or laundry as a token of your love for them? How about physical touch? Is that their love language? Would they prefer that you just sit with them and hold their hand, look them in the eye and really listen to them focusing on only them at that moment in time without interrupting and without waiting for your chance to just jump in and take over the conversation? What about just putting your arms around them and holding them tight with no expectations of it going any further? Just to hold them close. How about laying on the couch together and just watching a movie? Spending quality time together! Or, maybe they do prefer gifts, little tokens of your love for them throughout the year. If you’re not sure of your mate’s love language, ask them what speaks to their heart more out of the ones that I’ve listed above. And guys … it does NOT always have to lead to the “s” word. Sure, it’s nice if it does, but if you want to really increase your chances of “that” happening, you have to make sure that your woman knows without a shadow of a doubt that you love her, appreciate her and value her. Show her and tell her often. Keep the fires burning in any of the ways mentioned above, and it will increase your chances! ~wink~
In all seriousness, a lot of couples make a mistake of “just” celebrating their love one day a year, or maybe, if you’re lucky, your spouse will remember your anniversary, too. In which case, you will have TWO days that your relationship and marriage is celebrated. That is not enough!
Will you vow with me on this Valentine’s Day that this is ONLY THE BEGINNING for you? Will you strive hard each and every day to show your loved one just how much they mean to you, how much you appreciate them, and how lost you would be without them? Will you do everything within your power to make sure they know that you love them, without a shadow of a doubt, each and every day?
You have it in you, and I have faith in you! You CAN do this.
Ready? Begin today! Right this minute. Now get out there and show your special one some love!
