Tag Archives: encouragement

Help for Your New Year

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Are you a goal setter? Do you make New Year’s resolutions? What do you plan to achieve for you and your family in the coming year?

I have a challenge for you; join me in making this our best year ever. No matter how busy, stressed or worn out we are, we can do this!

Perhaps you’re reading this and thinking, “Susie, I just hope to get through one more day with a little sanity left. I am not really ready to look at an entire year before me. I’m bone tired, worn out, and physically and mentally empty. I cannot think of making a resolution for next year!”

Maybe, like me, you watch the news and wonder how anyone will make it. We can so easily get weighed down with our daily struggles and the cares of this world there seems no way out.

Consider joining me this year on a journey. We will set one personal resolution (goal) we can keep for the entire year. I promise this simple goal can change your life, give you a new perspective,  ease your burdens and lighten your load.

Here is the deal. My one major goal this year is taken from God’s Word in Philippians chapter 4 (paraphrase):

“…fix your thoughts on what is honorable – right – pure – lovely – admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Let’s not plan to change our doing, let’s work on changing our thinking, one day at a time. For me, as my thoughts head for old familiar territory-I Can’t Hill, They Won’t Road, Trouble’s Coming Village, We’ll Never Make It Curve,  I will fix my thoughts on lovely, pure, good things. I will look into the mirror and smile at myself until I laugh out loud at that silly woman staring back. I will hug someone nearby or call a friend or simply raise my hands high and breathe deeply as I sing aloud.

Yes, precious friend, I will have other goals. I have to make them for my work and for my family and for me. However, this one goal will be my priority and all else will follow.

Let me hear from you. We can make this a great year.

Hugs,

Idea: Get a friend to sign up for the newsletter and encourage each other this year.  Check the box at the top right of the page.

Preparing to Give When You are Give Out

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Christmas came early this year, I am sure of it. Holidays are often  stressful times for caregivers. We may not be able to follow traditions, give as we usually do, or keep everything going smoothly.

Giving can be a big struggle at Christmas. We often are stretched to the limit on finances, time and energy. There is not time to shop or the money to buy what we want.

Here are some simple ideas to move you and your household into the giving spirit without the stress.

First, take a minute to be thankful for what you do have; for life and freedoms, for air to breathe, water to drink, eyes to see. Be thankful you can be there for someone else in their time of need.

Second, be cheerful about establishing new traditions if need be. Life is full of changes, make them fun and exciting. Simply say to friends and family, “We are celebrating differently this year.” It may mean pot luck family meals instead of you doing all the cooking.  It may mean spending much, much less on gifts this year.

Third, plan ahead to be a lavish giver this season. (No, it is not too late to plan ahead-see quick shopping list below.) We know from experience that is more blessed to give than to receive, so go for it. Here are some fun things to have on hand so you can be a cheerful giver in trying times.

  1. Cookies. Just one cookie in a small sandwich bag tied with inexpensive curly ribbons can be an encouragement to the clerk at the store.  Purchase cookie mix or slice and bake when on sale. Package them soon and tie with ribbons so your resident “mice” will know they are spoken for!
  2. Candies. I keep a bag in my purse of hard candies (pretty ones for the season) and give them out to people I meet. It may be a couple in McDonald’s or the weary lady waiting in line at the counter. Add a sincere smile and a “God bless you” and you have made someone’s day special.
  3. Little ‘pass it on’ cards with cute pictures and sayings. These are usually found at the book stores priced at just a few cents each. Again, I watch for the sales and keep a big stash in my bag. Giving, after all, is always in season!
  4. Fix some gifts with an herb tea bag and 2 or 3 hard mints.
  5. Note cards. When cards are on sale, I buy several boxes and have them ready. Three or four cards with envelopes and tied with a ribbon make a quick, useful gift. If possible,  invest in stamps and add them to the envelopes.

Here’s your quick shopping list:  box of sandwich bags (fold flap kind), big bag of pretty candies; cookie mix or slice and bake; herb teas or cocoa mix. And if time permits, visit the book store for ‘pass it on’ cards.

I give gifts to everyone who serves us from the trash man to the mail carrier and the guy that brings our propane. And, I spend very little money.  I always carry a stash of gifts in my bag (not just at Christmas time either.) Now you will have a gift for each person who enters your home.

Hugs,

Have a great week of giving!  P.S. Be sure to share this link with others who may need these tips and sign up for the newsletter.

 

Weary Caregiver Last Straw or Surprise Blessing

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Often when we are consumed with the daily tasks of caregiving, we do more reacting to situations than acting upon them. Such was the case recently as I faced an unusual dilemma at our country home.

For  several days, some stray  chickens wandered up and down the gravel road in front of our house. Most moved on or were captured except for one lone fat, white hen.

My family and I had to be out of town a few days and I was sure she would disappear like the others while we were gone. We returned late and tired only to find our front porch was filled with leaves, feathers, and “presents” from the hen. She had claimed a soft cushioned chair as her personal roost.

This chicken was more than a nuisance to me; I abhorred her messes; I was not at all pleased with what she was doing to my flowerbeds and front yard; and I was frustrated over all the failed efforts to get rid of her. No one claimed ownership; friends promising help never showed up.

I resented the time she stole from me; I needed to be focused on other duties, not finding a home for a chicken. I considered a fried chicken dinner with biscuits and gravy as an option until I recalled what it takes to get from live chicken to frying pan!

Today I quietly watched her through our screen door. She was a beautiful bird, only God could color those feathers exactly right so they formed a beautiful pattern on her wings.  She strutted around as if she were queen of her domain; and, at that moment, she was!

As that proud bird hunted and pecked in the green grasses, I thought of families who would give much to have just one chicken. There are hungry people here in America as well as in other countries. A stray bird could mean an occasional egg for breakfast or perhaps make several meals including stock for a soup.

We and those we care for will go to bed tonight with full tummies (without killing the chicken) and someone will eventually claim her as their own. I will replant my flowers and scrub the porch and wait for the next great adventure to unfold.

Wherever you are in your life’s journey, I pray today you can look at those inevitable “stray chickens” that come to roost in a different light. What would God have you see from the experience? No matter how heavy your load, do you have a little something you might share to encourage another right now? What can you choose to be thankful for in your present situation?

“If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”  Isaiah 58:10-11

Hugs,

P.S. In counting my blessings, you are tops. Thanks for dropping by; don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter and keep your eye out for “stray chickens.”