Author Archives: Theresa

Why Spring Reminds Us of the Power of Jesus

Posted in Apologetics, parenting, Religion/Christianity/Philosophy by

To Celebrate Easter or To Not Celebrate Easter–The Ongoing Debate in Christianity

spring flowers remind us of new lifeThere is a lot of controversy within the Christian community as to whether or not they should celebrate Easter. The debate is because the traditional Christian celebration for the Resurrection of Christ falls on the Pagan Spring Equinox called Easter where Pagans of the past worshiped other gods on that day as part of their Spring festival.

My family too began to question whether or not we should celebrate as well. Yet, as I’ve read more of the bible, I’ve come to a place where I feel the proper understanding of the holiday and its biblical basis is important.

From this, our family has come to a place of loving Spring because it does remind of Jesus. While we don’t pretend there is an Easter Bunny, we happily celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and give praise to God for the Spring season on the same American Holiday of Easter. This is why:

God’s Seasons are Prophetic

Genesis 1:14 – And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.

Spring Feasts are Prophetic of JesusWhat a lot of people don’t realize is perfectly planned for Christ to resurrect from the dead in the Spring. And I don’t think God does anything without full knowledge and planning. Not only to Christ resurrect in the Spring, he resurrected on a Jewish Spring Feast called The Feast of First Fruits. Now I know it is not Spring around the world at the same time due to the various Hemispheres, but Israel is in the same hemisphere as America and so we get the benefit of seeing its correlation with Spring the way the Israelites did. And God gave Christ first the Jews and then extended that gift to the rest of the world.

passover blood on door posts will show a cross when connected

Many don’t connect the dots on the door post, but if they did, they would see a cross.

The Jews commemorate God’s grace over them on Passover as they remember how God sent the angel of darkness over Egypt killing the first-born of all the Egyptians but sparing the Hebrews, who in obedience to Moses’s direction painted sacrificial blood over their door posts in spots that would actually create a cross if connected. Every year they were to remember that day by sacrificing a lamb without blemish and eating bread without leaven. This bread is pierced in the heat as it is cooked and the fire often leaves stripes across it. Many Messianic Jews continue to celebrate Passover, but now recognizing that it was prophetic of the death of their own Messiah, the first-born of God who was perfect and unblemished. He died on the day during Passover week when the lamb of God is to be sacrificed. And his blood on the cross now protects them from the Angel of eternal death. Christ reminds us in the gospels that the Passover Bread is to remind us of his body that was pierced and broken for us and the accompanying wine is to remind of his blood that was shed for us in stripes across his back and in the piercings of his hands and feet.

Leviticus 23: 15-17: ” ‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks.Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to the LORD.

Right after Passover ends, the Jews are also to celebrate God’s grace through the season of Spring. This Feast is called The Feast of First Fruits and they give thanks to God for the early crop that comes in Spring.
Tweet: When spring comes, the first sprout of green leaves reminds them that Spring is here and the early crops become ripe for harvest.

This is an especially joyful occasion given that in Winter, trees become barren as the leaves die. But when spring comes, the first sprout of  green leaves reminds them that Spring is here and the early crops become ripe for harvest.

God in the Old testament often asked for the first of everything. First borne sons were to work in the temple and become Levites, first crops were to be given to God, etc. The Feast of First Fruits were to be given to the Levites, God’s first-born of all the Jew who were to live strictly on God’s grace and provision as they worked in the temple, and not by any man-made method, unlike the rest of God’s tribes who worked the traditional way.

God did not have Christ resurrect from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits on accident.

Jesus is the First Fruit of our SalvationChrist fulfills this prophetic Feast in the Prophetic season of Spring. Christ is the First Fruit of all who will be resurrected on the last day. God showed that he has power over death by raising his son back to life. And he preempted that for thousands of years every Spring. Spring reminds us that God has power over death. That he can restore the barren and desolate and bring forth life and vitality. Today it serves not as prophecy but as a reminder of what God did for us through Christ and the promise that we too have been given new life, eternal life, and do not need to fear death any longer or the spiritual barrenness and death that this fallen world breeds.

Why Do American Christians Celebrate Easter Then and Not The Feast of First Fruits?

The Catholic Church years ago, when trying to Christianize the Pagan world, found that within a few days of the Feast of First Fruits, the pagans were celebrating spring. In order to evangelize to them, they used that holiday to preach the resurrected Christ and celebrated this on the same day. In the same way, Good Friday is the Christian version of Passover, and is not actually on the same day, but around it (in order to keep it about 3 days before Easter). Good Friday and Easter are not on the more accurate days of Passover and the Feast of First Fruits (the true anniversaries of Christ’s death and resurrection). They were compromises the Catholic church made in order to evangelize to a Pagan world. Is this necessarily wrong? That is to be debated. But I believe there is biblical reasons to justify their cause. Paul often ate swine and even meat sacrificed to other gods in order to evangelize to the Greeks and Romans of his time. He was able to do this with a clear conscience knowing that God made all animals clean and that these so-called gods were nothing. He had not sacrificed them to idols. His God was sovereign over his life. God has power over all. HE explained this to the Colossians here:

Colossians 2: 16-17 – Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ

Today, we continue to live in a world filled with unbelievers. They are the modern-day Pagan who do not worship the Living God, but chase after other “gods.” Most American’s celebrate Easter with only a selection using it as a day to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. For most, it is simply a celebration of Spring. And many with children add the Easter bunny. Some go to the other extreme.

I had some Jehovah” Witnesses come to my door the other day, inviting me to their temple to commemorate the death of Jesus. I asked them– “Do you have a service that celebrates Christ’s resurrection?” They shook their head no. I exclaimed, “Why not? If Christ did not rise from the dead, our faith is useless, right?” I went on to explain the joy of celebrating the risen Christ and God’s power over death. I clarified that commemorating his death is good, but to not forget the best part. They were speechless. They had nothing to say except that they agreed Jesus’s resurrection was important in establishing his future kingdom. I’m hoping that they realize their fear of celebrating the pagan holiday of Easter has lead them actually away from celebrating the Living Christ! It doesn’t have to be Easter if they don’t like that day. I get it. But celebrate the Feast of First Fruits then!

This too may motivate some of you to no longer celebrate Easter and to instead celebrate his resurrection on the actual day of Feast of First Fruits. Some may choose to now celebrate or commemorate Christ’s Death on the first day of Passover. Some may want to continue to celebrate on Good Friday and Easter Sunday as an evangelism tool to their friends and family who do not know or have a relationship with Jesus. I think this is where it becomes a personal conviction. But I personally don’t think one is more right than the other.

As a family, we remember that God gave us Spring to remember his Power and his Son. We know that Paul reminds is to be joyful in all things and be thankful in all things. We do not believe there is anything wrong with celebrating the arrival of Spring.

Spring reminds us that Jesus came back to LifeBut we also don’t think one can properly appreciate the arrival of Spring without acknowledging its purpose in our lives both physically with majestic beauty of its flowers and fruit as well as spiritually–with Christ being the first fruit of our future resurrection and God’s majestic grace in our lives by giving us his son–the bread and water that will never leave us hungry or thirsty.

We don’t include the Easter Bunny (personally, I feel convicted by doing this because I feel it’s lying and fear that if my kids learn I made the Easter bunny up on the same day as Christ, maybe Christ is just a lie too). And we don’t even do Easter baskets or hunts. Although I don’t think there is anything really wrong with Easter baskets as long as kid’s know the real celebration of the day and are taught about why we correlate spring with Jesus. I did a lesson with my own kids on the topic and will be linking it here soon so you can see how I did this. And when I do celebrate Spring with my family members who do not know Jesus, I will be sure to share why Spring reminds me of Jesus, and how perfectly and poetically God planned the day of his Resurrection.

Even non-believers cannot say they did not see God in his creation. Spring is one of the many ways God reveals himself to us.

Romans 1:20 – For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Also visit the Christian mommy blogger for great talking points with your kids about the significance of this season. Or at Equipping Godly Women.

Please share– did this help you get a better understanding of Spring, Easter, and Christ’s Resurrection? I would love for you to respond in the comments how this has helped you or whether or not you celebrate Easter and Why. Also–if this did help you, I encourage you to share it with your friends and family on Twitter and Facebook.

Happy Spring and Happy Resurrection Day!

Strategies for Letting Go and Forgiving Quickly in Marriage

Posted in Marriage by

Wife angry at husbandThe Problem

No matter how good your marriage is, chances are, you do get into fights with your spouse from time to time or they may say/do something to really irk you. And some of those times, you may struggle like I have with harboring bitterness in your heart toward your spouse.

My marriage to Owen is wonderful. Over the last 5 years we have been married, I have fallen more deeply in love with him, and as he has adjusted to deal with me and my shortcomings, and I have adjusted to deal with his–we have drawn closer together and I must say–he has become so often, very easy to love.

Regardless, we get into spats from time to time. And in those spats there have been times when I have been frankly, really pissed off at him. :/

For some people, when you are that angry–you just go into the room where they are at, yell at them and tell them how mad you are at them, they yell back, then somehow you both feel better in the end.

My struggle has gone through many changes as I’ve come to the better place I am at. When we were first married, I was very expressive. I just told him every time I was upset with him. The problem was, I was upset with him all the time. And he told me every time he was upset with me, which apparently was all the time as well. (oh the joys of first year). So we just fought all the time. It was not fun. It was not fruitful. It did not work.

The Solution

Then I read some Christian literature. Great books, by the way. If you haven’t read them, you should. 🙂

The Power of a Praying Wife

The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective

On the Other Side of the Garden: Biblical Womanhood

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs

I learned from these that often times, as a Christian, I needed to practice “dying to myself.” This is a “Christianese” word that basically means “let it go” and allow my spouse to have  his “way.” It is even advised that to make it clear you are  doing this–you should continue to speak to your spouse lovingly and respectfully and maybe even bless them with a loving act or service, etc. This is by no means advise or principle for only wives to apply. This very same principle is taught to husbands as well. In the end, if we all just got over it and let our spouses have their way all the time, were kind to them even when we did not agree with their words or actions, and blessed them instead– none of us would be fighting really. We’d probably be a lot happier too. It is based on these bible verses: Philippians 2:1-30, Ephesians 5:22-33

Misapplication

Tweet: Your brain can tell you all it wants to just let it go. But if the heart doesn't want to forgive, you will only store up bitternessHere is the problem though. You can’t let anything go and not say anything disrespectful or unloving to your spouse or do something sweet for them when you are genuinely and perhaps even justifiably teed off at them. It sounds great on paper. Your brain can tell you all it wants to just let it go. But if the heart doesn’t want to forgive, you will only store up bitterness in your heart that will be released through passive aggression or aggression.

And that was what happened to me. Every time we fought or every time he said or did not something that really irked me, I’d seek to let it go by not saying anything–but it was only an outward act that did not help hide the unforgiveness in my heart.

Here is a picture of the previous me “Dying to Self”

Owen: blah blah blah [says something or does something that pisses me off]

Me: boo hoo hoo  [I something that may or may not have been disrespectful in my response depending on how good I was being]

Owen: blah blah blah [a response showing he is not sorry for what he just said or did

Me: “Ok” [monotone and robotic attempt to let it go while inside I instead want to scream at him].

Then walk away and clean. I always clean when I’m mad.

I don’t talk to him because if I say something to him it will be something awful, so I resort to just being quiet.

The problem is, as I rehearse in my mind all things I want to say to him and add it to my list of all the other things he has said and done to irk me,I do not get over it. I just continue to stay mad, so I continue to be quiet in order to be a good wife.

If I walk passed him, I don’t want him to see that I am mad at him because I am being the good wife who is dying to self, so I avoid eye  contact.

Oh and I better bless him. I’ll make him his favorite meal. But dang it, the passive aggressive came out and I slam the plate in front of him, instead of placing it gently.

Application

Then one day, God’s Holy Spirit got a hold of me. I was in the backroom one day after an episode like the one above had happened and I was folding laundry. The Spirit lead me through a series of questions and after I answered them all, my heart immediately softened and I was no longer angry or bitter at him. I still felt that what he had said or done was wrong, but I forgave him. And I was able to walk out of the room, and be pleasant the rest of the day.

Jesus talks to the woman by the well by Guercino

Guercino painting of Jesus talking to the Woman at the Well.

You can adjust these questions depending on what your spouse said or did. But for the sake of argument lets take a scenario when your spouse has snapped at you and you don’t feel you deserved it.

Spirit: Have you ever snapped at your husband?

Me: Yes. [heart begins to soften as I realize I too have done what he did].

Spirit: How did he react?

Me: He was angry at me. He even said blah blah blah blah blah.

Spirit: So he didn’t feel he deserved it then either.

Me: Yeah so, he should just be okay with me being upset with him for snapping at me because I’m not acting any different than him.

Spirit: When you did snap at him, how would you have preferred him to respond?

Me: He should have just gotten over it. I was irritable. He offended me. I still love him. It’s not like I hate him. I just needed him to stop. He should just let me be human sometimes and not take it so personally.

Spirit. …..??

Me: Oh…[heart completely soft now].

Tweet: Most of the time--you can admit to doing something similar to your spouse at some point. And when you face that, it's easier to forgive him.It’s so simple. Most of the time–you can admit to doing something similar to your spouse at some point. And when you come face to face with that, it becomes so much easier to forgive them. Even if they have said ugly words to you that you would have never said to them, you can admit to thinking those ugly words in your heart. That’s the beauty of Christ and how he has clarified the law. What you have said or done in your heart is no less ugly than what another has said or done in the open.

So the next time your spouse angers you, allow the spirit to walk you through questions like this. See what happens. Write back and let me know. For more biblical advice on how husbands and wives should act with one another check out this great free resource of All The Bible Verses  About Marriage. 

Hope this blesses you, wives. 🙂

Morning Shake for the Busy or Working Parent

Posted in busy mom, Health, Recipes by
super greens, flax, and chia are great additions to a morning shake

super greens, flax, and chia are great additions to a morning shake.

A lot of people ask me how I can maintain a figure while being so busy. Between working a full-time job, running 2-4 writing jobs on the side, raising 4 kids, and being a wife– one can wonder how I’m able to still eat healthy. We all know how much easier it is to run by a fast-food restaurant or to microwave a Cup o’ Noodles when we have only so much time for ourselves. And I know plenty of busy parents who just don’t eat breakfast– a hot cup of coffee is all they want or have time for.

I myself have been there. Coffee for breakfast. Cup O’ Noodles for lunch. Yep.

But it’s not healthy. We all know it. But how do we add more minutes to our day? I certainly don’t have time to sit down for a morning bowl of oatmeal, let alone an omelette.

And then I decided to try the morning shake. Now this works! The issue has been finding the right type of food to put in my shake so that I get the nutrition I need and remain full enough to only need a snack around 10 until my lunch at noon. But also is simple enough so that I don’t spend longer than a couple of minutes to make it before I run out the door and drink it on my way to work.

Some mom’s I have talked to just put fruit and veggies in their morning shake. I cannot do that I don’t recommend it for most people. That will just shoot up your glucose levels and send them crashing down within 2 hours. You will feel weak, disoriented, and tired.

You need protein. And believe it or not, you need fat for satiety and energy. Do not skip these in your morning shake.

Here some staple ingredients I put in my morning shakes: 

2-3 Handfuls of Super Greens (kale, spinach, chard)

Don’t worry, you won’t even taste these in your morning shake if you add the protein powder or meal replacement later. I get mine from Costco because it’s a huge bag and is triple washed. To make sure it lasts through the couple of weeks it takes me to go through it, I stick it right in the freezer. Then I grab the bag in the morning and pull out 2-3 handfuls of the frozen leaves and throw it in my blender. Added bonus– less ice needed, if any. 🙂 If you choose not to use protein powder or meal replacement, I recommend adding Stevia, Monk Fruit, or Agave to sweeten the shake up a bit and cover the earthy flavor this will provide if your palate does not care for green beverages.

A Half a Cup of Fruit

My favorites include frozen blueberries or strawberries or banana. I also really like butternut squash! (Add some cinnamon!) While fruit certainly adds vitamins and other nutrition to the shake, my big reason for adding it is for the flavor variety it offers. Try not to put too much in though, because fruit does have a lot fructose in it (Blueberries and butternut squash offer the least); however, if you do not use protein powder or meal replacement (which usually is sweetened) then add more fruit to balance the green superfood and make it more palatable.  Whatever the fruit option is for the week or two that I have it, I make sure that it is in a bag, frozen in the freezer. I buy the berries already frozen from Costco. Bananas take just a few minutes to peel and chop on a Sunday afternoon. Then I throw them all in a freezer bag and I’m set up for the week.

A Tablespoon of Chia Seeds

Again, I buy a big bag of it at Costco and I store it in my fridge to make sure it lasts. One bag lasts me a couple of months. Chia seeds are packed with protein and omega 3’s to punch up the healthy benefits of my morning shake. Note– don’t let your shake sit for too long.Drink it down because Chia gels after a while and will turn your shake into pudding (which is not bad if you want a healthy pudding option!) but not so easy to drink if that was your original intention. 🙂

A Tablespoon of Flax Seeds

I put mine in whole, but I have a Vitamix blender which can blend it. If you don’t, I recommend buying them already ground. I buy mine at my local natural foods store from the dry bins. Its cheaper that way and fresh. 🙂 These are packed with protein, more omega 3 fatty acids, and add added fiber to your diet. This is great for cleansing and detoxing!

A Tablespoon of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a medium-chain saturated fat. Don’t get scared about the saturated fat part. If it is medium-chained, it goes straight to the liver for instant energy–and is not stored in your body. It will help you stay full longer, give you added energy, and as a great bonus– coconut oil is a natural anti-viral, so it will help keep your immune system strong. The coconut flavor is a nice addition to the morning shake as well. 🙂 Don’t forget– fat is essential for hormone balance, ladies! And it takes fat like this to burn fat. Don’t skip on the fat! You need it! 30% of your daily calories should actually be from healthy fats. Now it doesn’t take much of it to make up 30% of your calories so don’t go overboard. But don’t buy into the lie that you need to go fat free to get slim. It just ain’t true. 🙂 Costco (Do you see a pattern here? ) sells a great quality Coconut oil that is organic, virgin, unrefined, and cold-pressed– all important for the health benefits of coconut oil.

15-30 Grams of a Protein 

I get this from a variety of options: Whey powder, Greek-Yogurt, Peanut Butter, and/or Raw Egg.

Whey Powder–This is my favorite. You can get a whopping 25-30 grams of protein which is ideal for your breakfast launch into the day. They come in great flavors like chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. I prefer vanilla because its more versatile. And its the quickest way to get the protein in your shake and you out the door. But if you don’t like that option–there are some whole food options I also enjoy–they just add a few more time. I’m not advocating any particular brand. There are many good ones out there. And you don’t need whey if you don’t like. There is pea powder, soy powder, creatine…so much variety out there. I prefer whey because it is affordable, tasty, and doesn’t hurt my belly like casein, and doesn’t add estrogen like soy will.

Greek Yogurt is also a great option. In one cup of Greek yogurt, there is 20 grams of protein. Most come non-fat, but you can find some with low-fat or full fat. If you get the full fat or low-fat, you may not need the coconut oil (although it won’t hurt).  I usually find this much yogurt too much for my shakes, so I usually cut it to half a cup and then add peanut butter to cover the flavor a bit.

Peanut Butter--There is 4 grams of protein in every tablespoon of peanut butter. So supplementing the yogurt with 2-3 tablespoons of peanut butter work too. This takes more time than the whey powder, which in one scoop is done– no tablespoons or measuring cups needed.

Raw Egg is another great option. Don’t be afraid of all those “raw eggs are bad for you” crap. Did you know that you don’t even need to refrigerate raw eggs when in the shell? Yes–we are still listening to wives tales. Do the research. Or trust me– raw eggs in your shake are just fine. Just drink it in a timely fashion. Don’t let it sit all morning and then drink it. There are 6 grams of protein in a large egg. So again–this works as a great supplement to the yogurt or peanut butter.

A Good Meal Replacement Powder (Optional if you do all of the above) 

While the above is certainly enough for a good morning shake, my husband finds that by adding the meal replacement powder, it gives him added satiety and more nutrition from the additions it brings in. There are a lot of good brands out there that work– Shakeology is the most expensive, but whole-food based and very delicious. Juice Plus is also non-GMO, whole-food based, and delicious. Herbal Life I finds keeps me fullest the longest and has a lot of really delicious flavors–although it is not whole-food based so you will get synthetic vitamins added in and GMO based nutrition.

All in all– it takes me about 3-4 minutes to make my shake, so I’m out the door real quick. If you can’t take the 3-4 minutes then wake up 3-4 minutes early. It is worth your health!! No excuses. ) 

  1. I grab the bag of frozen super greens, throw in 2-3 handfuls.
  2. Then I grab the bag of frozen fruit and grab a handful of that.
  3. Next I grab the two bags of seeds out of the refrigerator and open the bags and grab about a tablespoon out of each using my fingers as a scooper.
  4. Next I grab my protein powder and scoop out a serving using the scoop the brand provides and do the same for the meal replacement.
  5. I finally add some non-fat, sugar-free rice milk or almond milk (1-1.5 cups if I’m making it just for myself, and 2.5-3 cups if I’m making it for my hubby too). I blend on high until it’s all blended and the seeds disappear. I quickly poor it into a 16-20 oz cup, rinse out the blender real quick in the faucet and then head out the door. I drink on my way to work.

What are some of your favorite quick morning shakes for breakfast? Check out these great morning smoothie recipe books for other options!

Successful First Book Promotion for How to Love Like Jesus: A Guide for Children and Their Parents

Posted in Children's books by

I had over 500 downloads this week during my free promotion of my book How to Love Like Jesus: A Guide for Children and Their Parents.

I decided this week to put on a book promotion for my recent book. Kindle offers a couple of different types of promotions and I chose to go with the free book offer. I made the mistake of not making time to put a blog up here to promote it, but I did get an awesome and inspiring Mommy Blogger, Nikki Marie to read the book and she gave it a great review on her Mommy Blog called at www.TheMomIWantToBe.com/

In the end, I just want the book out there. There’s no book out there like it for kids. And I know I’m a new author and can’t expect people to just up and buy my books without seeing if they are worth it. So I have to say, I was super excited to see that even without my blog promotion that the book did really well this week. I got over 500 downloads! Thank you to all those out there who downloaded the book. I pray that blesses you and your children. Please leave a review! 🙂

I will be considering all of my readers’ thoughts and perspectives as I do the final drafting of my next couple of books. This summer I will be working on getting two done– The Roman Road to Salvation–which will give children the gospel message in a way they can understand. And another book on the Fruits of the Spirit vs The Fruits of the Flesh (a modified, child-friendly explanation!) Both will be illustrated as well in a similar style as the one I illustrated, although I think I’m just going to pay for an illustrator because that was so tedious! I don’t mind the drawing part, but getting it all colored and dealing with all the layers and color selection using Adobe, was just really stressful.

If you have not yet had a chance to read  How to Love Like Jesus: A Guide for Children and Their Parents, do so today. 🙂 This great resource will help your children learn how to love in applicable ways to their lives, Its available on Amazon on Kindle for $2.99 and for around $8-10 in paperback (They change the pricing week to week). Please leave a review too!

Why I recommend Journal Writing

Posted in About Me, More Theresa's Thoughts, personal stuff by
Here is my 5 minute journal

My journal takes 5 minutes!

My husband has been on this kick lately with doing things that successful people do. He’s done a lot of research on habits of successful people and it has been amazing watching him grow as he’s taken on some of these habits. A lot of them he recommends for me to do as well and I must say, I would not be half the woman I am today, if I didn’t have my husband pushing me. I thought I had drive. But with my husband, I have WAY more drive. He’s that second engine that keeps me going when I want to give up.

One of the things he has pushed me to do is journal write. I used think blogging was enough, but I just don’t blog daily, so in reality it isn’t.

He bought me a journal for Christmas and asked that we journal in the morning together and in the evening. It is not a blank journal. It is specifically structured to inspire, help me goal set, help me to be joyful and thankful, and to affirm that which God has promised and given me. I absolutely LOVE it!

The Five Minute Journal: A Happier You in 5 Minutes a Day

Every morning, I read an inspiring quote and then write down 3 things that I am thankful for. Then I write three things I would like to have happen today that would be amazing. After that, I write an affirmation. Now as  a Christian, I’m a little leary of affirmations. I sort of seeing it as praying to myself….. or trying to gain strength from within myself, when the bible teaches me that I gain my strength through Christ. So I sort of modify my affirmation. I took some time to think about where I wanted to grow. And I looked at God’s word and what he asks of me and what he promises to me through his spirit. I then created a Christ centered affirmation that reminds me who I am in Christ. And this person is who I want to be. The thing is, I have a busy life. And I am easily overwhelmed. And when I am overwhelmed, I’m negative, I’m anxious, and I just am not loving. I become super selfish and become wrapped up in just getting what I need done without any joy and without concern for the joy of others around me. Its awful. I don’t like that side of me. But I have a busy life. So I need to change.

Journal Writing is for Successful People

Journal Writing is a key to success!

Here’s my affirmation:

I am loving, patient, and joyous in all circumstances without fear or anxiety because Christ lives in me!

Then at the end of the day before bed, I reflect on my day. I write down three awesome things that happen (some of them connect to what I hoped for that morning, and some are just pleasant surprises). And then I write three things I wish I had done differently. Not to wallow in despair. But to help me to reflect on my need to grow, so I can do better the next time.

One of the things I think is great about journal writing as well, is going back and seeing answers to prayer, as well as seeing growth. If you don’t journal, I highly recommend it! If you do journal, what are your journaling techniques? What do you recommend to journal for success? Please share in my comments.

Love is not Jealous. And Benny agrees!

Posted in Children's books by

I got a chance to read How To Love Like Jesus: a guide for children and their parents to my 2-year-old son, Benny. I used different questions with him than what I have in the book because the questions are fit more for a 6-8 year-old child.

Here are some ideas on how to modify the questions.

  1. Change a question like the following into a yes or no question: What makes you feel jealous?

Instead ask:

Do you feel jealous when your brother gets a new toy?

[Wait for response]

That’s not very loving is it?

[Wait for response]

2. And instead of asking your child how they can think and act differently next time they feel jealous, ask a more leading question like the following:

Should we be happy for him next time because we love him?

[Wait for response]

You can see me do this with Benny. He loves the camera so don’t mind his flirty brown eyes. Oh and when I ask how the boy feels and he says “Goppy” he means “grumpy.”

Paperback Version of My Children’s Book on How to Love Like Jesus is Finally Ready for Order!

Posted in Children's books by
a sneak peak into the book

a sneak peak into the book

It is finally ready! I’m so excited. 🙂 How to Love Like Jesus: A Guide for Children and Their Parents
is here!

If you have been needing like me, a resource to help you teach your child how to love in action, I encourage you to buy the book. I wrote it for my sons. I wrote it for your kids. Its needed. There’s nothing out there like it on the market. And I don’t know about you, but my kids need some life application to what they hear in Sunday school or what bible verses they may memorize from their midweek Awana or CKC program they may be in. And if you don’t have your kids in either, than I’m sure you’d agree that they need life application of the bible regardless.

buy how to love like jesus amazon linkMy children love the book and enjoy the questions it asks and the funny illustrations I added in order to relate to their lives. I think you will find the $9.99 price worth the book. It is rich with information–enough for an older child to read in one sitting and a younger child to read section by section over a few days, like a devotional.

Check out the book today on Amazon. At the above link or on this picture to my right. I will now be working on building some relationships with nearby Christian bookstores in my area to see if we can get some copies there as well. 🙂

Please leave a review on Amazon after you read it! This will help me when making my second edition and it will help get the word out there that this book is good and worthy of buying! 🙂

Would love comments here as well and on my FB about how you feel about the book and how your kids received it. 🙂 More books to come. They are written. I just need to illustrate and design the layout. The more feedback from you the better I can make them. I want to make books that are needed.

The ones to come: Roman Road to Salvation, The Fruit of the Spirit, The Body as Worship, and ABC’s of the Bible.

My Proof Copy is Here!

Posted in Children's books, parenting, The Hemsath Life by

book proof 2I have been going back and forth with the book designer I hired to make sure the layout looked good in print when using Amazon’s self-publishing contractor called Create Space. But I finally got my proof and I am very happy with it. The skin shade of my darker-skinned characters is a bit darker than it looked on the digital pdf, so their facial features are a bit harder to see, but otherwise, my characters look mostly close to what I had intended. The picture of me at the back is slightly warmer in its color than the original but still looks like me so that is good. 🙂

But here is the most exciting part: The book is effective. 

How do I know?

I tested it out last night on my son, Kanan, for whom I originally wrote this book!

  • We sat down and read the book, making sure after each section to go over the questions and talk about it. He thoughtfully reflected on each one–thinking about how he could demonstrate patience, politeness, kindness, etc.
  • At the end of the book, I prompt the child to think about which areas of love they struggle on most. Kanan was able to go back and flip to 4 different areas where he struggles: jealousy, counting wrongs of others, delighting in wrongdoing, and losing hope in others.
  • Then I prompted him to pray to Jesus to help him in those areas, just like my book advises. We prayed together. It was so awesome watching my son become convicted by the Word of God.

No, my book is not the bible, but it takes a verse from the bible, and breaks it down word-by-word to help them understand. A child cannot be convicted by the Word of God if the child does not understand it. And if we only tell them what love is, but don’t show them, and give them time to think about their own actions, they won’t think about it long enough to become convicted and grow.

I love God’s word. His word convicts us of our sin, but thankfully, it reminds us as well that we have a savior who paid the price for us and with his spirit, can give us the power to change. And if we mess up and stumble, he is there to help us up to try again, washing every stumble away. We can then do well in our actions, not to save us, but because we are saved. It is a beautiful, harmonious, dichotomy. 

I’ll approve the proof tonight and keep you posted on it’s release.

UPDATE: The Book is now available for purchase! Check it out here or click on the link on the side bar to the right.

Do You Have a Breastfed Baby Who Refuses the Bottle? Here’s a Strange Solution That Makes Sense!

Posted in parenting by

Screen Shot 2019-07-22 at 9.53.53 AM

Buy a bottle with a Latex Nipple. And if you have a fast let-down when breast-feeding (a lot comes out and fast) then buy a bottle with a Medium flow Latex nipple. Gerber Essentials makes them. And I know Nuk also makes them, although they are harder to find. Here’s my story and why this strange solution makes absolute sense:

My oldest son, Kanan, and my newest infant, Scotland refused to take the bottle. With Kanan, I had been nursing him for about 5 months and needed to return to work. I was so upset when he refused the bottle I offered him. I bought a fancy Dr. Brown’s and he refused. Then I tried other expensive bottles that so many mother’s swore by. Nope. He hated them all. In desperation one day, I finally pulled out the cheap Platex nurser bottle with the yellow Latex nipple, from the back of my cupboard. One that I got as a baby shower gift that I thought nothing of. With all the fancy colic-free bottles out there, why have my child drink from cheap bottle I could buy at the grocery store, right?

He took it.

The only thing I could think of as to why he would take that one, was that the latex nipple had a texture more closely resembling skin. Silicone nipples do not at all. I tried all the bottles with the “real breast-like” shaped nipples. But they were all silicone.

Then three children later, I got another child who refused the fancy bottles with the silicone nipples. Similarly, I was getting ready to go back to work. I bought four different ones. All resembling breast like shapes. I even sought after the Playtex nurser with the latex nipple. Couldn’t find the latex nippled versions (it has been 7 years. They may have just phased them out), so I bought the silicone nipple version, thinking maybe it was just the nipple shape after all. Nope. Scotland refused them all.

Finally the week I am at work, after two days of my daughter giving her daycare provider hell, and making her resort to feeding her with a syringe, I decided to head back to the grocery store to find another option.

On the bottom shelf, there stood these bottles. The cheapest in the store. They were called Gerber Essentials. They had silicone nipples, but there was a 10 pack of medium-flow latex nipples, selling next to the bottles. My daughter was only 10 weeks old at the time. Too young for a medium flow nipple. But I thought it was worth the shot.

Sure enough, she took it.

Now I think I figured out why. First, I still believe that the latex texture is more skin-like than silicone. Hands down. But I think there may be something to the medium-flow as well.

See I’ve always had a fast let down. When the milk comes out, it comes out fast. I can hear my baby gulping fast to keep up with it. I wonder if the slow-flow of the newborn bottles is just too slow for my children’s taste because they have gotten used to my let down. They don’t have to work as hard. Those slow-flow bottles are just too slow for them. 🙂 I remember my son, the first to take the latex nipple, took it, but then I switched to medium flow because it just took him forever to finish the bottle and he would get frustrated half way through. Once I switched to fast flow, he loved it.

I’ve come to believe this is not just my story, but a common story. Just in chitchat with a few other women in my life, I have already met two others whose children preferred the cheap, grocery store latex nipples sold by Gerber or even Disney.

They are hard to find these days in the higher end stores. The best bet is to find them at the grocery store or on the internet. For your convenience I’m including links to them here as well. They are affiliate links so there’s no extra charge to you, but if you buy them through the links I send, I get a small share of Amazon’s profit to help support my blog.

Please respond if you get positive results! I would love to know if my theory works for other desperate mothers out there. 🙂 While I wish Playtex Nurser nipples were still around, they are not. But Gerber gets it done! And I recently discovered Nuk has one as well with a glass bottle for those Mamas wanting a plastic free home. These here are the nipples, I recommend. Plan to have your bottle woes disappear!!!

Gerber First Essential Clear View BPA Free Plastic Nurser With Latex Nipple, Assorted Colors, 9 Ounce, 3 Pack

Gerber 6 pack of latex nipples

Nuk Ready to Feed Latex Nipples (2 pack). 

Nuk glass feeding bottle 

How to Love Like Jesus Children’s Book Now Available on Amazon Kindle!

Posted in Children's books by

chalkboard review of love no background

 

Having 4 children, the oldest being 7 and the younger three all under the age of 3, I am constantly working on teaching my children how to be more loving. Here is just a list off the top of my head of things I work on my children daily:

 

 

 

  1. saying please and thank you without being asked
  2. not having a selfish, me-first attitude
  3. not interrupting people when they are talking
  4. sharing joyfully
  5. not bragging
  6. not tattling
  7. helping each other without being told
  8. obedience to our rules and orders
  9. self control and not giving in to temper tantrums (our 2 middle boys).

Now there are books all over the place on each one of these issues, but none of those get to the heart of the matter.  In the end, all of these are the effects of not having a naturally loving heart. No, I don’t think its just my kids. No I don’t think this makes my kids and other kids any more “bad” then the next. I think it is natural to be selfish and unloving for the most part. I certainly think every kid has issues with it to some degree, (some more than others of course). But the truth is, truly having a loving heart is something that has to be nurtured and cultivated. And in my opinion, without the help of God’s spirit, it is impossible for mankind to be perfect at it. Even with the help of God, for many it takes a concious effort. I work on this with my children daily. And God is working on me in many of my adult versions of “temper tantrums” etc. And as I cultivate in my children a love and reverence for God as well, I can trust that God will work on them as well. And ideally, when they become adults, and no longer have my husband or myself to be consistently there to teach them, they will be just fine on their own with God as their teacher because their love for God will be authentic and real.

This is why I wrote the children’s book, How to Love Like Jesus: A Guide for Children and Their Parents. It touches on the heart of what most of our children’s issues stem from (and lets face it, even ourselves for that matter). It goes through the famous letter to the Corinthians:

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable, and does not count up wrongdoing. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (English Standard Version, I Cor 13:4-7)

Through out the book, I give examples that are applicable to kids in how they can be loving or unloving in their actions. Most of the images are appropriate for children ages 2-8. Although the written content is appropriate for children of all ages. Here is a chart I offer as well to help kids check themselves if they are behaving with a loving heart or not. This is good for us parents too!

 

Loving Unloving
Patient Impatient
Kind Unkind Or Mean
Not Jealous/Happy for Others Jealous
Boastful of God and Encouraging to others Boastful Of Self
Polite And Respectful Rude
Lets Others Have Their Way Insists Its Own Way
Not Irritable Irritable
Forgives Keeps Record Of Wrongs
Rejoices In The Truth Rejoices in Wrongdoing
Bears, Believes, and Hopes all Things Does Not Bear, Believe, Hope
Endures all Things Gives up When It’s Hard

 

So I encourage you to go to Amazon and check out the book!

How To Love Like Jesus: A Guide For Children And Their Parents

There is no other book like it available on the market. It is a non-fiction, life-application book for kids on how to love like Jesus. Right now it is available for Kindle only at Amazon for a special introductory offer of $2.99.The print book will be available soon for readers. I know my kids enjoy paper books best. This Kindle version is great for Kindle readers or for those who would like to test the book out before buying it. Don’t have a Kindle? Don’t worry, you can download the free Kindle Reader app  for your smartphone, PC, or tablet. 🙂