1. Exercise daily.
2. Get serious about gratitude.
3. See your work as a craft.
4. Expect the best and prepare for the worst.
5. Keep a journal.
6. Read “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”.
7. Plan a schedule for your week.
8. Know the 5 highest priorities of your life.
9. Say no to distractions.
10. Drink a lot of water.
11. Improve your work every single day.
12. Get a mentor.
13. Hire a coach.
14. Get up at 5 am each day.
15. Eat less food.
16. Find more heroes.
17. Be a hero to someone.
18. Smile at strangers.
19. Be the most ethical person you know.
20. Don’t settle for anything less than excellence.
21. Savor life’s simplest pleasures.
22. Save 10% of your income each month.
23. Spend time at art galleries.
24. Walk in the woods.
25. Write thank you letters to those who’ve helped you.
26. Forgive those who’ve wronged you.
27. Remember that leadership is about influence and impact, not title and accolades.
28. Create unforgettable moments with those you love.
29. Have 5 great friends.
30. Become stunningly polite.
31. Unplug your TV.
32. Sell your TV.
33. Read daily.
34. Avoid the news.
35. Be content with what you have.
36. Pursue your dreams.
37. Be authentic.
38. Be passionate.
39. Say sorry when you know you should.
40. Never miss a moment to celebrate another.
41. Have a vision for your life.
42. Know your strengths.
43. Focus your mind on the good versus the lack.
44. Be patient.
45. Don’t give up.
46. Clean up your messes.
47. Use impeccable words.
48. Travel more.
49. Read “As You Think”.
50. Honor your parents.
51. Tip taxi drivers well.
52. Be a great teammate.
53. Give no energy to critics.
54. Spent time in the mountains.
55. Know your top 5 values.
56. Shift from being busy to achieving results.
57. Innovate and iterate.
58. Speak less. Listen more.
59. Be the best person you know.
60. Make your life matter.
Happy New Year!!!! Let's make 2011 GREAT!!!!
~Mandi
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A Child's Ten Commandments for Parents!!!
This is an excerpt from a book by Kevin Leman entitled "Getting the Best Out of Your Kids". It is called "A Child's Ten Commandments to Parents", and it struck a major chord with me. So much so, that I wanted to share it with you here.
1. My hands are small; please don't expect perfection.
2. I haven't seen the world; please don't restrict me unnecessarily.
3. Housework will always be there; please take time for me.
4. My feelings are tender; please don't nag me all day long.
5. I'm a gift from God; please discipline me in a loving manner.
6. I need your encouragement; please go easy on the criticism.
7. Please permit me to fail so I can learn from my mistakes.
8. Please don't compare me with my brother or sister.
9. Please don't be afraid to leave me for a weekend together. It's a great way to show me your marriage is very special.
10. Please take me to church regularly, setting me a good example to follow.
I have printed this out for myself and post it in several places around the house. I'm feeling gently reprimanded and humbled by the Lord.
Thank you, dear Lord, for these precious gifts that you've given to me in these children. Please help me to raise them as you would have me raise them. Help me to be the mother that You want me to be.
I love these and wanted to share it with all of you - just a gentle reminder as a mom of all that we have in our kids.
Have a GREAT day!!
1. My hands are small; please don't expect perfection.
2. I haven't seen the world; please don't restrict me unnecessarily.
3. Housework will always be there; please take time for me.
4. My feelings are tender; please don't nag me all day long.
5. I'm a gift from God; please discipline me in a loving manner.
6. I need your encouragement; please go easy on the criticism.
7. Please permit me to fail so I can learn from my mistakes.
8. Please don't compare me with my brother or sister.
9. Please don't be afraid to leave me for a weekend together. It's a great way to show me your marriage is very special.
10. Please take me to church regularly, setting me a good example to follow.
I have printed this out for myself and post it in several places around the house. I'm feeling gently reprimanded and humbled by the Lord.
Thank you, dear Lord, for these precious gifts that you've given to me in these children. Please help me to raise them as you would have me raise them. Help me to be the mother that You want me to be.
I love these and wanted to share it with all of you - just a gentle reminder as a mom of all that we have in our kids.
Have a GREAT day!!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Prayer...
I found this on a blog I follow and wanted to pass along.. I thought it was a good read and so true...
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6-7 ESV)
For the anxious mother, God has provided a solution in His Word.
It is simple: Pray. Give Thanks. Repeat.
It covers all of life: Don’t be anxious about ANYTHING. Pray about EVERYTHING.
And it comes with a promise: God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Yet I sometimes treat prayer as if it doesn't work. I do this by not praying or thanking but by worrying instead.
“I’ve tried praying before,” I excuse myself, “and God’s answer was different than what I asked for. So what’s the use?” Or, “I tried praying and didn’t feel more peaceful. I must not be doing it right.”
But the peace of God is more than a flimsy feeling of peace. It is a knowing, a settled confidence in the sovereign goodness of God that will guard against all anxious feelings.
As we pray and give thanks IN EVERYTHING, our trust in God deepens and His peace pervades our lives. Anxious thoughts don’t have the same sticking power, and eventually, they go away.
So lately I’ve been trying to simply obey God’s Word in Philippians 4. I still have a lot to learn about prayer, but I can tell you this: my faith, peace and gratefulness to God have grown, and my temptation to anxiety has decreased.
Scripture is true, and as anxious mothers, we would do well to believe and obey.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6-7 ESV)
For the anxious mother, God has provided a solution in His Word.
It is simple: Pray. Give Thanks. Repeat.
It covers all of life: Don’t be anxious about ANYTHING. Pray about EVERYTHING.
And it comes with a promise: God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Yet I sometimes treat prayer as if it doesn't work. I do this by not praying or thanking but by worrying instead.
“I’ve tried praying before,” I excuse myself, “and God’s answer was different than what I asked for. So what’s the use?” Or, “I tried praying and didn’t feel more peaceful. I must not be doing it right.”
But the peace of God is more than a flimsy feeling of peace. It is a knowing, a settled confidence in the sovereign goodness of God that will guard against all anxious feelings.
As we pray and give thanks IN EVERYTHING, our trust in God deepens and His peace pervades our lives. Anxious thoughts don’t have the same sticking power, and eventually, they go away.
So lately I’ve been trying to simply obey God’s Word in Philippians 4. I still have a lot to learn about prayer, but I can tell you this: my faith, peace and gratefulness to God have grown, and my temptation to anxiety has decreased.
Scripture is true, and as anxious mothers, we would do well to believe and obey.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
27 Fun things to do in October!!!
I recieved this and thought I would share... I want to try to do many of these with the family this October... Life tends to get too busy... We all need to take a step back and enjoy the little things God has given us!!! Enjoy!!!
October is finally here and for most of the country that means we’re finally starting to feel Fall weather. Some of us even have to wear sweaters! We’re all about being intentional and we know that sometimes ideas and activities for creating memories for and with our families takes a little bit of thought and effort. We’ve put together an amazing list of memory making ideas for you this month so you don’t have to! All you have to do is choose one (or ten!) from the list and concentrate on making those memories. Have fun! Every MOMent counts!
1.
Celebrate National Dessert Month, National Apple Month, and National Pizza month on Sweetest Day (Oct. 16) by making a Taffy Apple Pizza .
2. Bake Apples (The easy way and without tears)
3. Take a nature walk with your family and collect colorful leaves, acorns and twigs. Fill a wooden bowl or basket with your fall treasures, small gourds or mini pumpkins and sprinkle in a little fall-scented potpourri.
4. Invite a widow or older single neighbor or friend to join you on a trip to the pumpkin patch or orchard. Take lots of pictures of your little pumpkins enjoying the produce!
5. Take a snapshot for your family Christmas card and develop early to beat the holiday rush and get early bird specials.
6. Design a photo calendar for yourself or grandparents for Christmas gifts. Websites such as Vistaprint, Snapfish, Lulu and many others have fun backgrounds and are easy to upload and design.
7. Serve Hot Spiced Cider with your popcorn on your family movie night or after raking leaves.
8. Honor your mother-in-law with a letter thanking her for the gift of her son and give it to her on October 24, National Mother-In-Law Day. Put aside any differences you may have and focus on her positive attributes: an attentive grandmother, that great pumpkin pie she makes, her loyalty to her family.
9. Raise awareness for the fatherless by planning an Orphan Sunday event for November 7th at your church, with your small group, or your family. Visit the Orphan Sunday website for ideas and resources on how you can speak up for the fatherless.
10. Celebrate the Statue of Liberty’s birthday on October 28 with a fun crown and torch craft and Lady Liberty cupcakes.
11. Take a leisurely scenic drive. Visit America’s Byways for a map of different routes near you, festivals and travel tips.
12. Plan a weekend away in a remote cabin with your husband to unwind and enjoy nature. Make sure your cabin has a fireplace and don’t forget the hot chocolate!
13. Give your kids a stack of fall leaves and encourage them to design a picture around the leaves. Does that leaf look like a bird wing? Or the feet of a deep sea monster?
14. Tailgate in your driveway or living room. Make the great tailgating food but avoid fighting the crowd with young kids.
15. Pull out your slow cooker and try some new recipes like Slow Cooker Taco Soup or Slow Cooker Tapioca Pudding.
16. Wrap a glass vase with twine, using spray adhesive or a hot glue gun to secure. Fill the vase with tall wild grasses or twigs with colorful leaves still attached.
17. Tie twine or cotton string to the end of several fall leaves and hang at varying lengths across a window by taping the other end of the string to the top of the window trim or tying to the curtain rod.
18. Introduce your family to the seasonal joy of pumpkin ice cream! Visit your local ice cream vendor, buy Edy’s at the grocery store for a limited time, or make your own!
19. After the nature walk to collect leaves, make crayon rubbings by placing the leaves under the paper and scribbling back and forth with crayons until the imprint of the leaf is revealed…the kids will think it’s magic!!
20. Put leaves and crayon shavings in between a folded piece of wax paper, iron on low heat , it makes a “stained glass” effect.
21. Rake the leaves together as a family and enjoy jumping in them together… take pictures and video.
22. Find a favorite spot where the colors of fall are beautiful, create a tradition and go there each year to take photos of your kids/family… before we moved, we had a special “stump” that we went to each year.
23. Make Dinner in a Pumpkin.
24. Bake pumpkin seeds with lots of butter , salt, a little garlic salt….200 degrees keep an eye on them for how long it will take to slightly brown
25. Make individual pumpkin pie in a cup with your kiddos
26. Make cards of encouragement with your kids and deliver them to someone with breast cancer.
27. Get a Mammogram.
October is finally here and for most of the country that means we’re finally starting to feel Fall weather. Some of us even have to wear sweaters! We’re all about being intentional and we know that sometimes ideas and activities for creating memories for and with our families takes a little bit of thought and effort. We’ve put together an amazing list of memory making ideas for you this month so you don’t have to! All you have to do is choose one (or ten!) from the list and concentrate on making those memories. Have fun! Every MOMent counts!
1.
Celebrate National Dessert Month, National Apple Month, and National Pizza month on Sweetest Day (Oct. 16) by making a Taffy Apple Pizza .2. Bake Apples (The easy way and without tears)
3. Take a nature walk with your family and collect colorful leaves, acorns and twigs. Fill a wooden bowl or basket with your fall treasures, small gourds or mini pumpkins and sprinkle in a little fall-scented potpourri.
4. Invite a widow or older single neighbor or friend to join you on a trip to the pumpkin patch or orchard. Take lots of pictures of your little pumpkins enjoying the produce!
5. Take a snapshot for your family Christmas card and develop early to beat the holiday rush and get early bird specials.
6. Design a photo calendar for yourself or grandparents for Christmas gifts. Websites such as Vistaprint, Snapfish, Lulu and many others have fun backgrounds and are easy to upload and design.
7. Serve Hot Spiced Cider with your popcorn on your family movie night or after raking leaves.
8. Honor your mother-in-law with a letter thanking her for the gift of her son and give it to her on October 24, National Mother-In-Law Day. Put aside any differences you may have and focus on her positive attributes: an attentive grandmother, that great pumpkin pie she makes, her loyalty to her family.
9. Raise awareness for the fatherless by planning an Orphan Sunday event for November 7th at your church, with your small group, or your family. Visit the Orphan Sunday website for ideas and resources on how you can speak up for the fatherless.
10. Celebrate the Statue of Liberty’s birthday on October 28 with a fun crown and torch craft and Lady Liberty cupcakes.
11. Take a leisurely scenic drive. Visit America’s Byways for a map of different routes near you, festivals and travel tips.
12. Plan a weekend away in a remote cabin with your husband to unwind and enjoy nature. Make sure your cabin has a fireplace and don’t forget the hot chocolate!
13. Give your kids a stack of fall leaves and encourage them to design a picture around the leaves. Does that leaf look like a bird wing? Or the feet of a deep sea monster?
14. Tailgate in your driveway or living room. Make the great tailgating food but avoid fighting the crowd with young kids.
15. Pull out your slow cooker and try some new recipes like Slow Cooker Taco Soup or Slow Cooker Tapioca Pudding.
16. Wrap a glass vase with twine, using spray adhesive or a hot glue gun to secure. Fill the vase with tall wild grasses or twigs with colorful leaves still attached.
17. Tie twine or cotton string to the end of several fall leaves and hang at varying lengths across a window by taping the other end of the string to the top of the window trim or tying to the curtain rod.
18. Introduce your family to the seasonal joy of pumpkin ice cream! Visit your local ice cream vendor, buy Edy’s at the grocery store for a limited time, or make your own!
19. After the nature walk to collect leaves, make crayon rubbings by placing the leaves under the paper and scribbling back and forth with crayons until the imprint of the leaf is revealed…the kids will think it’s magic!!
20. Put leaves and crayon shavings in between a folded piece of wax paper, iron on low heat , it makes a “stained glass” effect.
21. Rake the leaves together as a family and enjoy jumping in them together… take pictures and video.
22. Find a favorite spot where the colors of fall are beautiful, create a tradition and go there each year to take photos of your kids/family… before we moved, we had a special “stump” that we went to each year.
23. Make Dinner in a Pumpkin.
24. Bake pumpkin seeds with lots of butter , salt, a little garlic salt….200 degrees keep an eye on them for how long it will take to slightly brown
25. Make individual pumpkin pie in a cup with your kiddos
26. Make cards of encouragement with your kids and deliver them to someone with breast cancer.
27. Get a Mammogram.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
How to Help Kids Be On Time
7:45 am, “Kids, please be ready to leave in 10 minutes.”This is a typical scenario in our home. I have a child who is always late. I have to give him instructions at least three times before it becomes an action. And I am as much to blame. Sometimes it seems easier to yell 3 times than take the time to address the heart issue of obedience. Once I finally realized my part in enabling the disobedience, we decided to sit down together to correct the issue when it happens.
7:55 am, “Kids, go get in the car and buckle up.”
7:55 am, Notice son scrambling to find his shoes: “Son, I told you to get in the car.”
8:00 am: Loud honking in the driveway while son is still in the house searching for shoes.
We begin with prayer, asking God to forgive my hasty words and my son’s disobedience and His help in correcting the issue. We pray that my son will recognize my voice to listen and respond quickly to instruction. That he will also recognize prompting from the Holy Spirit to obedience.
I also realized that I need to help my son understand honoring others. When he is habitually late or ignores instruction, he is putting his desires before others. His time and agenda become more important than theirs. I need to help him develop good habits now as a young man.
Some of the tools we have established to help him:
Tool: Being Prepared
Thinking ahead to make sure he has everything he needs for the next activity several hours or the night before (sports equipment by the door or school bag packed and clothes laid out).Tool: Remembering Tasks
- A checklist of what needs to be accomplished before leaving in the morning (making bed, teeth brushed, pajamas put away, etc.). Once his checklist is finished he may spend the remaining time before leaving doing an activity he enjoys.
- Sticky notes with reminders or charts around the house remind him that he needs to practice his Tae Kwon Do before watching television (sticky note on the TV) or what his chore after dinner is (chore chart on the fridge).
- When I give him verbal instructions I have him repeat them back to me. This forces him to pay attention and helps him remember.
Tool: Staying on Task
- A kitchen timer is great for an easily distracted child. We set the timer when playing video games or watching television, for showers that tend to last too long, and to remind him when it’s time to come inside.
- Realizing that my son is easily distracted, we turn off any electronics (computer, TV, etc.) when he has a task to accomplish. Sometimes I also suggest that he “whistles while he works.” Literally. This helps him tune out other distractions.
Tool: Listening
- When my son is focused on something he enjoys, he tunes out everything else. So if I expect him to listen, I need to place my hand on his shoulder to distract him. He has learned that he needs to immediately turn and give me his full attention.
- He has also learned that when someone is speaking to him, he needs to look them in the eyes to stay focused.
- We have lowered the volume on our electronics. Too often the TV, computer, video games are much louder than they need to be. I don’t want to shout to communicate!
Have a Great Day!!! ~ Mandi
Monday, June 28, 2010
Action vs. Self-Delusion by Jim Rohn
Knowledge fueled by emotion equals action. Action is the ingredient that ensures results. Only action can cause reaction. Further, only positive action can cause positive reaction.
Action. The whole world loves to watch those who make things happen, and it rewards them for causing waves of productive enterprise.
I stress this because today I see many people who are really sold on affirmations. And yet there is a famous saying that "faith without action serves no useful purpose." How true!
I have nothing against affirmations as a tool to create action. Repeated to reinforce a disciplined plan, affirmations can help create wonderful results.
But there is also a very thin line between faith and folly. You see, affirmations without action can be the beginnings of self-delusion. And for your well-being, there is little worse than self-delusion.
The man who dreams of wealth, and yet walks daily toward certain financial disaster, and the woman who wishes for happiness, and yet thinks thoughts and commits acts that lead her toward certain despair, are both victims of the false hope that affirmations without action can manufacture. Why? Because words soothe and, like a narcotic, they lull us into a state of complacency. Remember this: To make progress, you must actually get started!
The key is to take a step today. Whatever the project, start today. Start clearing out a drawer of your newly organized desk-today. Start setting your first goal-today. Start listening to motivational programs-today. Start a sensible weight-reduction plan-today. Start calling on one tough customer a day-today. Start putting money in your new "investment for fortune" account-today. Write a long-overdue letter-today. Anyone can! Even an uninspired person can start reading inspiring books.
Get some momentum going on your new commitment for the good life. See how many activities you can pile on your new commitment to the better life. Go all out! Break away from the downward pull of gravity. Start your thrusters going. Prove to yourself that the waiting is over and the hoping is past, that faith and action have now taken charge.
It's a new day, a new beginning for your new life. With discipline, you will be amazed at how much progress you'll be able to make. What have you got to lose except the guilt and fear of the past?
Now, I offer you this challenge: See how many things you can start and continue in this, the first day of your new beginning.
Have a great day!!! ~Mandi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)