Vera Bradley giveaway!!!!

Head on over to Kristen's Palace and check out her blog and her AWESOME Vera Bradley giveaway!!! The prize....a Vera Bradley bag of her choice and it will be filled with goodies....CHECK IT OUT!!!!!

http://kristenann11.blogspot.com

Why are we fault finders???

I think we...as humans...better yet, as Christians are fault finders in others. We can't wait to point out someone else's flaws, sins or faults! Why is that, I wonder? Sad...isn't it? I am so sick of Christians thinking they are better than others. Yes, we should be separated. We should not "fit in" with the world....but how are we going to win the world if we go around acting like we are better than others. That is prideful.

Proverbs 16:18

PRIDE [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23

A man's PRIDE shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Treat everyone fairly.....

James 2:1-10

¹ My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.

² For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

³ And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

⁴ Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

⁵ Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

⁶ But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

⁷ Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

⁸ If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

⁹ But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

¹⁰ For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

We (christians) of all other people should be the kindest to others. We should be complimenters not criticizers. We have Christ within us. We can win someone over a whole lot easier with kind words rather than a sharp tongue.

We should humble ourselves. James 4 v.10 says "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

I am going to work on myself. I need to compliment people more. Stop the criticizing and critiquing. Stop the fault finding and LOVE people WHERE they are HOW they are!!!

Unspoken

We have an unspoken prayer request! Please say a little prayer for us! Thank you!! God is GOOD!!

One lump or Two....how to teach kids how to handle the injustices of LIFE!!!!

Here are some helpful thoughts regarding letting my kids handle life's lumps, whether deserved or not.

1. Teach your kids that when you mess up and it's your fault, "take your lumps."

Don't whine about it. You deserve it. Take it.

2. Teach your kids that sometimes you "take your lumps" because life is difficult.

It's no fun, but you aren't Job. Get over it. It's just God's way of allowing life to toughen you up. You can't control who your parents are, where you go to school, your looks, etc.

3. Teach your kids that sometimes you "take your lumps" because you are mistreated.

This is the hardest one to deal with, but Jesus understands your pain. He dealt with the same thing.

4. As a parent, I don't have to make sure that everything that happens to or for or concerning my kids is fair.

5. Realize that not everything is about your kids.

6. I was treated unfairly at times and survived (with very few ticks and glitches:).

7. I was treated unfairly and accepted both the pain and the mistreatment as part of life.

8. I am allowed to let my kids be treated unfairly and not do anything about it.

9. I do not have to let it fester or get bitter.

10. If I handle the situation without bitterness, then almost always, so will my children.

11. If I overreact as a parent, it will usually end up as a bigger problem than the original problem.

12. If my kids feel like the world is against them, it is my fault through either my bad example, or lack of training them.

13. If I feel like I've been an underdog all of my life, then my kids probably will too.

In other words, before I can show them how to handle it, I must deal with my own issues first.

14. When my kids are mistreated I have the opportunity teach them several lessons:

a. Maybe the other person misunderstood the situation.

b. Maybe you misunderstood the situation.

c. Maybe the other person is in the wrong. (We didn't expect perfection, did we?)

d. The other person can handle something wrongly and still be a great person.

e. The other person can handle something wrongly and that doesn't mean they're out to get you.

f. The other person can handle something and you perceive it wrongly and it had absolutely nothing to do with you.

g. Only shallow people think that how the other person treats us is the measuring stick to determine whether they are a great or horrible person.

15. If I run to the aid of my kid, I'm teaching them to depend on me, when the very purpose of my training them is to make them incrementally less and less dependent on me.

Ephesians 6

⁶Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

⁷ With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

dirt

"Worry about the dirt on your own front porch instead of the dirt on mine"

If we all could be more concerned about the sin and junk we have in our own lives instead of worrying about jack and jane's sins.....maybe we could actually clean up some things in our own lives.

Often times when I find myself weak....it's because I haven't been in the book that keeps me STRONG!!!