Any Advice Would HELP!

So Emily has put potting training on the back burner. I've helped with potty training other peoples kids working at the daycare/preschool & babysitting but it doesn't seem to compare to your own child who is just as stubborn as you are. She was doing so good but regressed when Noah was born. So now we'd really like her to use the potty to help save a few dollars in that area{& she hates to be changed soo...}. Any advice on how all you moms were able to potty train would be greatly appreciated.

My Grateful List....

The sermon that Pastor preached on Sunday morning{which was Easter morning} was one I needed to hear and I was glad that God made it possible for me to be there. It was summed up as this: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK! I really felt some conviction on things that I should be grateful for but wasn't. So here is my grateful list.

I am grateful for:

-My husband--Richard loves God & loves me & our children. He works hard so that I am able to be a stay home wife & mom. I don't give him enough praise for what he does, instead I complain or nag him for what he doesn't do{this is something I am working on}

-My children-- God has blessed us with two beautiful, healthy children. Yes, I have always wanted at least 3 & yes they can drive me crazy sometimes, but I'm grateful for our two children that God DIDN'T have to give us.

-My house-- It's far from our dream home & there are many things wrong with it, but when I really think about it, there are many people out there that don't even have a house or apt. to go home too.

-My Car-- We didn't get the car we absolutely wanted{we were told we couldn't afford it at the time} but at least we have a car to get us from point A to point B, even if it reminds us of our grandparents car.

-My clothes-- They may not be very stylish, & they may be 'Hand-me-downs' but at least I have clean clothes to wear that keep me covered & warm right?!?

-My food-- I sometimes complain that we don't have food to eat when it gets close to payday, but what I really should say is we don't have anything that looks appealing. I still shouldn't complain about that though because yet again there are people out there who don't have the luxury of 'food at their fingertips'.

There are many more things that I am grateful/thankful for but these are a few things that I need to remember no matter how bad things may seem: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK!

One More Day...

{I don't know who wrote this but I liked it. -Shannon}

-Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

-Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

-Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

-Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

-Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

-Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

-Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

-Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

-Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

-Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

-Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

-Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given..

-I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore...

-And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer.... It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day.............

Isaiah 65:24

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa:

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the laborward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst(rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). 'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed.

As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. 'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough,mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. 

During prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children.... 'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.' While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?' 

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen?' I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. 

From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored... Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.......could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. 

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!' Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! 

Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied! That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon. 'And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.' (Isaiah 65:24)