[powerpress]

If someone mocks you for your faith or for your "weak" nature, when you actually pray for self-control, peace, and the right response, remember Isaiah 66:5-6.

[su_quote]⁵Hear the word of the Lord, You who are concerned about His word! Your kinsmen who hate you, Who spurn you because of Me, are saying, "Let he Lord manifest His Presence, So that we may look upon your joy." But theirs shall be the shame.

⁶Hark, tumult from the city, Thunder from the Temple! It is the thunder of the Lord As He deals retribution to His foes.[/su_quote]

They make themselves His enemies by making light of your faith in Him. Do not lose hope but instead keep praying, keep believing, and - most of all - keep walking and living your faith.

God knows what He is doing and when He will do it. Our job is to simply keep living, looking for the Silver Lining Moment in every dark cloud, and focusing on the people/things/events that make and keep us happy.

[signoff]

Unknown

The key to becoming a successful conqueror is to always remember you are fabulous, gorgeous and capable of overcoming anything that opposes your will or desire while being mindful of the needs, desires and emotions of others.

When you start feeling down or unsure of yourself, think of something you are good at. Even better, think of something you either didn't know you could do or thought you couldn't do but did anyway.

What did it for me? My "by jove, I think I've got it!"? The thing that made me feel like I'm "the King Queen of the world!"? I made pancakes that earned a "million cazillion A+" from my son.

Before you scoff, let me assure you, that was no easy feat. You see, I'm the grown-up version of the girl who refused to follow the local decree that females should be inside, cooking, sewing and doing all the other "girl" stuff. I wanted to be outside, learning about the wilderness, working with the animals and all that. You know, having the kind of fun I saw the boys having.

Now that I'm an adult, I'm trying to learn those previously-abhorred "girly" things. I'm trying to be a true balabusta, successful parent and give my children the best environment I possibly can. Pancakes may be simple but overcoming my internal issues toward them and all they represent is an ongoing challenge.

If you are ready to begin your own world conquering campaign, I encourage you to find your empowering moment. Then seize it and milk it for all it's worth.

In time, you'll see that you've conquered the world (or at least, your little piece of it) by mastering yourself.

[signoff]

Unknown

[powerpress]

Every so often, I pull out an email I got from a friend a few years back. While I may not believe that it will bring me good luck as it claims to, I really believe in the message.

[su_quote]To realize the value of a sister/brother:
Ask someone who doesn't have one.

To realize the value of ten years:
Ask a newly divorced couple.

To realize the value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize the value of one year:
Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realize the value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize the value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one minute:
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize the value of one-second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:
LOSE ONE.[/su_quote]

Remember to hold on tight to the ones you love!

[signoff]

Unknown

“Knowing others is perspective, but knowing one’s own self is enlightened; conquering others shows strength, but conquering one’s self shows true power.” ~ Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

True power doesn't come from conquering someone else, it comes from learning to conquer ourselves. Self-control. Self-discipline. Not railroading someone just because we can. Honoring someone's personal boundaries even when they themselves do not.

What does true power mean to you?

[signoff]

Unknown

"We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everywhere I turn, it seems someone is telling me I'm doing something wrong. That I need to conform. Homeschooling, extended travel, working from home, laughing "too much" - all things I should supposedly give up.

"Why can't you just be normal like everyone else?"

Because your path is not my path and my path is not your path. Because what is right for you may not be right for me. Because we were all given free will to choose and design our own 'destiny'.

Destiny and Luck are Roman deities of old. I do not bow down to either. Instead, I choose to live and let live. To create a life that is right for me and my little family. A life that will provide us with happiness, peace, great health, and success.

Choose your path and know that it's okay to be different. It's not always easy but trust me, you will respect yourself more and be happier for being true to who you are.

What do you do differently?

[signoff]

Unknown

Yes, I said it. My poop don't stink. Well, at least, I don't think anyone can smell it now. I gave in to the Facebook ads for Poopourri except I didn't want to pay that much just to see if it worked.

Lucky for me, I found a bottle of similar stuff at Dollar Tree for a dollar.

The coolest thing is this $1 wonder actually seems to work! All you have to do is squirt 2-3 drops in the bowl as soon as you know you've gotta go.

It supposedly creates some kind of oily film that traps odors underneath and tada! No stink!

Not sure what this does to the environment but I really like what it does to our indoor air quality!

Burning (Mooching) Bridges

You ever notice that you can help people and help people but when you need something, suddenly they are trying to make you feel sorry for them? As if it's your fault for being a burden even after you went out of your way for them (and they know it).

Why should my husband be punished and have to pay for other people's (including mine) stupidity?

He is not raising a fuss but I am. I'm here berating myself for having such a soft heart and saying how I really need to become a more hard-hearted person. Especially towards those with a history of emotionally manipulating me. I don't like the position I am in now and I've got no one to blame but myself. Even if I'm ranting about "them", it was my decision to help before, right?

Wishing you much peace, happiness, and success,

Unknown

Can you believe CJ is going to be 12 years old, 2 weeks (TWO WEEKS!), AFTER Skylar Marie is born? Her estimated due date is March 8th but she's a little bigger so maybe March 5th. Lordy, how did this happen?

Wait, don't answer that. I *know* how this happened but Lordy. I mean, just Lordy.

As if the age difference wasn't enough, my husband's two other kiddos are 14 and 10. So we'll have a 14 year old, a 12 year old, a 10 year old, and a brand new "Woops, we're pregnant!" munchkin!

Yes, woops.

The older child, 14 year old Aaron, asked in horror if we were going to tell Skyler she was woops. Yes, sir. Skylar will know she was a beautiful accident that we all look forward to having in our lives now that the initial OMG moments have died down a bit.

There are still the typical "what if I don't remember how to do this?!" freak-outs now and then but for the most part, we (mostly I) have settled into acceptance and making things joy-joy.

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system a little, I can talk about how proud I am of CJ and the work he has been doing on his website.

Don't get me wrong. I still do about half of everything and will probably have a presence there until he decides to kick me out but he's definitely taking on more and more of the responsibility.

CJ's Kids Club was initially intended to be a way for CJ to continue his speech therapy through podcasts and a social outreach of sorts to help him keep in contact with all the amazing people we were meeting on our travels. Then we discovered you could actually make money and get free stuff with it too. So he's taking it more seriously now.

The timing couldn't be better for me too. I will admit I was starting to feel overwhelmed and wondering if I needed to put CKC down. With the new baby coming, me trying to work, and juggling regular life stuff, I just didn't know if I could do it anymore.

Wishing you much peace, happiness, and success,

Unknown