Michael Lynch voted off Idol

I was so sad because Mike, Lee and Crystal were my favorites. Mike was my top pick and I thought he had a great performance Tuesday night. I just do not care for Casey and half the time I don’t think he sings well. There are a few songs he does well but Mike is my guy! He won me over on This Woman’s work. I think he will go on to have a great career. I will definitely buy his album. I think the final two will be Lee and Crystal but we’ll see. Here is the Fox 4-1-1 and their thoughts on last night.

I loved seeing Daughtry, Fantasia and Bon Jovi. They are all Phenomenal artists!

“I am woman. Hear me roar. ”

Pastor Ken preached one of the best messages on Mom’s that I have ever heard. He surveyed his female friends and colleagues on motherhood. Some of the responses he got back were speaking right at me.  Some of the comments he received back were: moms feeling a constant sense of comparison to other moms. As moms, we do not seem to know how to say no to others. We feel this pressure from society and ourselves that we have to be perfect and we are constantly comparing ourselves to that perfect mom. Putting God first is a challenge. Not defining myself as just a mom. I have every single one of these. This told me once again I am not alone.

In 1 Samuel 1 and 2, there are 12 things God wants us to know.

1. Mom’s story does not begin  the day I was born.

As women we all have a story to tell before we had children. We have hopes, dreams and desires for our lives.

2. Following Godly principles; be the mom God created you to be without comparison.

We put so much pressure on our selves when we compare ourselves to others. We need to support one another instead of criticizing and comparing. God created us all to unique and have different giftings not to be the same.  I may be great in some areas but lacking in others. This is where the support should come in.

3. In every story there will be hurt.

Hannah is not able to be a mom.  This is so common today and we need to be sensitive to the needs of others but also being a mom has its own sense of burdens.

4. Ladies if you don’t realize it, men do not always know what to say.

He was speaking of Hannah’s husband asking why she was crying all the time and the priest not being very compassionate towards her during her time of prayer and sadness.

5. The craziness of motherhood will not be solved by leaving God out.

He was saying that we need to make time for God. God knows exactly what we need and we have to keep up with our spiritual life. I can attest to this. I feel so out of control and in a total state of chaos when I am not praying. I need to make time for my devotional time more. It is so hard trying to balance everything but I do need to fit it in.

6. If you are blessed with children, remember they are part of the family not the center of the family.

This is so true. You have to make time for your spouse, for yourself and your spiritual life. I am still working on this. My hubby and I are actually going away for two nights this year. We have NEVER done this but we so need it. We love our girls but our time together is so important too. Kids can sense when there is peace or when there is strife.  By placing your kids as the center, you are going to be let down when they spread their wings and fly one day. Your whole world cannot revolve around your children. They do not need that pressure and neither do you!

7. How are you doing with your promises?

What kinds of promises did you make yourself when you first became a parent? Are you keeping those or putting them by the way side?

8. Joy comes from God and not our circumstances.

We need to praise you God no matter what we are going through. Hannah did this and so did Job.

9. God is Holy and great regardless of our circumstances.

10. The Lord defends the weak.

God sees your struggles just as he did with Hannah.

11. God can be trusted in all things.

12. Mother’s have a great prophetic gift.

We have this ability to shape our children’s lives. In the prayer Hannah prayed she spoke of a king long before God allowed a king to rule over Israel. Sometimes we have sense about something or God has spoken something to us that is not in any book or doctor.

One thing that really struck me was the guilt or worry some moms face. I do too. “Did I do enough as a mom?” ” Did my child go to sleep sad, angry, lonely?”

There is also so much pressure to put them in activities to build their skills and character. Am I putting them in the right one? Sometimes I wish I could do more but we just don’t have the financial means to do so.

I have started watching this show Tori and Dean and I love it. I think because they do love each other and their kids and it shows. They are just like my family minus the money. Tori is so much like me and these moms. Her husband just tries things but Tori is constantly checking to make sure they are okay or give a reminder to her husband. I am the same way. I tend to be more cautious where as my husband says let them try or go for it. This is how they learn. This is very true but I am still a mom. I think about my kids even while I am sleeping. Are they cold? Are they scared? Do they feel okay?

It is nice to know our pastor, other moms and even Hollywood stars have the same issues I do as a mom. I hope this encourages you today that WE are not alone. We all just want to be the greatest mom on earth. While we may not feel that way sometimes, our kids would say otherwise!

Silly Bandz

Has anyone had any issues getting theirs from the company? Do you know where you can get the imitation ones? My oldest keeps bringing broken silly bandz home and I heard the imitation ones hold up better.

Organic food audit found flaws in system

As with everything else, you have to be very careful with organic foods now too. In independent audit by our local news station found inconsistencies and not enough oversight.   Here is the news story from our local TV news. We mostly buy organic cereals and granola bars not produce. I found this to be interesting though because we trust what we read on the label is true and accurate and this is not necessarily correct.

Free bagel and cream cheese from Einstein Brother’s Bagel

If you have a Face book account and you sign up as a fan for Einstein Brother’s Bagels. You can print a coupon for a free bagel and cream cheese. I do not know where their locations are but we have a few here in Georgia. I love their bagels. My favorite is the cinnamon raisin bagel with honey butter or plain cream cheese. Yummy!

WE

Pastor Dennis Rouse is preaching a series of messages right now on the family. He did one this past weekend on the order of the family. It is awesome.  I wanted to share this with you. Here is the website to listen to the messages or watch online.

A word came to me this week that I think God wants us to understand: Order. We serve a God of order. The very creation of the earth follows a path of order. God aligned the Sun and moon and planets in a perfect way so that life could exist here. And, God created mankind with order – created man first, then gave woman to him as a gift – a comparable, complimenting partner with whom he would come together as one flesh.

Yet, we see in Genesis that immediately after this, Satan shows up in the form of a serpent seeking to destroy this relationship. He subverts the created order, knowing that if he can get the woman to step out from under the covering of her husband, all chaos will break loose.

And that’s just what happened. Only a few verses later, we find Adam and Eve hiding from God as he calls out to them, to Adam in particular, “Where are you?” (Read Genesis 3) He didn’t ask where Eve was; he asked where was the person whom he had put in charge of the garden.

That is the question of our day, too – Where are you, men? Today, God is looking for men who will be the men he created and called them to be. It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of men like that these days, which means there’s a lot of women out there trying to make do without the kind of men they really need. Rather than stepping up and taking ownership, too many men, like Adam, start blaming women as soon as they start getting in trouble, holding them accountable for things God is holding them accountable for.

Guys, it’s time for us to take our place in God’s order. We were neither created to rule over women, nor to be ruled by them. Rather, God’s order is that each woman is to be covered by a man as that man is covered by Christ. That doesn’t mean either the man or the woman is more important or more valuable, but the man is to lead as he is led by Christ – with sacrificial love. Both the husband and the wife have equal footing in the marriage relationship as they lovingly submit to one another. The role of the husband is to lead like Christ, who gave his life for his bride.

When a man treats his wife like Jesus treats the church, she’ll have no difficulty treating him like the church treats Jesus. The key to this is sacrifice. Men, we’re called to sacrifice ourselves in prayer, reading the Word, working to provide, giving up our time and prioritizing our families’ needs in the use of our resources.

Where are men like that? Where are you, men? There are so few men like this, that have this kind of thinking, that love their wives and children and care for them as Christ does the church. Women need real men – not weenie men – who will stand up and lead, even if the woman tries to subvert the order. But remember, a real man doesn’t lead by domination, he leads by serving. We have to listen and work together with our wives as a team. And our children need to see this dynamic in order to grow up with a healthy sense of order, security and love.

So, men, are you ready to accept this challenge? Your wives and children need you. The world needs you. This has to happen if we’re going to unleash the incredible power of family in our world.

This is an excerpt from the message I preached this past weekend. Download, listen to or watch the whole message here.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day! Eight years ago Monday my beautiful princess made me a mother and I am honored to share this special weekend with her. I pray that all of you will take a little time for yourselves and enjoy the blessings that God has given you! I am twice blessed because my little peanut graced us with her presence right after my 29th birthday so I have to say I love my girls!!

This scripture is very appropriate for this day. I am striving to be a proverbs 31 woman!

Proverbs 31:10 – 31

^{10 [c]} A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

¹⁵ She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.

²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

²² She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

³¹ Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Pampers Diapers with Dry Max

I heard this story on our local news.  Parents are complaining about their babies breaking out in blistery rashes after wearing Pampers with the dry max. There is no recall at this time and Pampers denies these allegations but the FDA is investigating due to the number of complaints. This probe is only on the dry max diapers which includes the swaddlers and cruisers brands. I know that Pampers broke my youngest out due to some kind of fragrance they put in their cruisers diapers. I had to switch to Huggies and she was fine. I love pampers but this is awful. One mom said it looked like a chemical burn on her daughters bottom.  Here is the story from our local news.

Why I switched my girls to rice milk

I get emails from green health spot. Dr. Wang is a naturopathic doctor who  treats patients with chronic illnesses as well as autistic children and children with ADD/ADHD just to name a few. She wrote a post on “Is Soy Making You Fat? ” As I read the article, I began to get concerned. It is linked to such conditions as Thyroid disease and stunted growth. My girls have had soy milk since they were one. Now my girls are tall but I know for a fact that my daughter Hannah has some kind of issues with her hemoglobin that no one can figure out. She is between 9.8 and 10.5 depending on if she is sick. It should be 12-13. She used to drink a ton of soy milk until she started getting UTIs and I only allow her one cup a day. I am no wondering does this have something to do with her levels.

I know people who only ate soy and could not conceive. Soy is linked to infertility. They were told to stop consuming soy, and once they did they got pregnant.

So I had to ask myself, do I really want my daugthers drinking what I thought was a healthy alternative to milk? NO!

On my quest for a soy and milk alternative I found Rice Dream milk. It is cheaper than the soy and easier to find. My oldest cannot have anything with carrogeenan in it and most of the rice, almond and soy does. I found one that did not and now Rice Dream does not.  I can get this at Walmart for $2.32 for  a half gallon. This is going to save us money too. We were paying $2.79 for a quart of Eden Soy Milk. We went through six of those a week. I love saving money and being healthy at the same time. Also rice milk does not have a strong taste so my girls really do not notice the difference. I think they even make it in chocolate so this will thrill my youngest one!

One of the most troubling things was the

• “High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.” Dr. Wang

We try so hard to make sure they are getting enough of these things especially calcium and to think I could be giving my girls something that interferes with that absorption is very troubling to me.

I have several friends that said their doctors told them to stay away from soy and suggested almond milk. Milk is great too if you can tolerate it!

Here is Dr.Wang’s post on soy. It is a great post!

Alternatives to the Recalled Children’s Medicines

I prefer brand name drugs because of issues like this one with the recall. I was never so shocked to find 7 bottles of the recalled medicine in my cabinet. If I had known our walmart would take them back even if opened, I would not have thrown them away. Check with your local store to see if they will do the same. I was not going to mess with McNeil Lab. I heard you could not get a person and I did not want a coupon for another one of their products. I bought generic motrin to keep on hand. I did purchase the tylenol chewables because those were not on the recall list. Benedryl has a meltaway chewable so I also purchased that. I was just really shocked that this happened. I feel like a consumer and a parent these labs, and manufacturers need to step it up and provide the safest product or food they can. The almighty dollar is not more important than someone’s life!

Generic drugs are safe and are not made by McNeil. They have everything from generic Motrin to generic Zyrtec. The price is much better too!! When peanut butter was recalled last summer, I only buy name brand now. Jiff and smuckers. I know peter pan and Walmart brand has been watched carefully but this is something we eat almost everyday. I no longer purchase Eggo Waffles or pancakes because their product was recalled in the fall for some reason. It is really quite scary when you think about it!