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Summer Memories

Dear Ladies,

A week ago Tuesday we received an early morning call that my Dad had taken his last earthly breath. As you may remember, I mentioned in April that he wasn't doing very well. They inserted a feeding tube as he wasn't getting enough nutrition on a daily bases. He was able to go home and my step-mother cared for him. Ten years ago a tumor was located in his esophagus, because of his heart the decision was made to not operate. It is possible the tumor was cancerous, but we will never know.

The Sunday following his death a small memorial service was held at his home. Family and friends shared memories of my dad and the pastor shared the gospel message of salvation with everyone at the service.

Even though I knew my dad's death was approaching and even though it has been over 20 years since I lived with my dad I am saddened to think that I will never talk to him again or hear him say "I love you, kid." It will take time to get use to the fact that he is gone.

The lost of anyone brings to mind the precious memories you have made with that person. Once that persons is gone all we have is our memories.

Summer is the perfect time to make memories with your children, husband and extended family. We try to make it a point each summer to take a vacation with our children. We haven't always done this, but we realized we had to create those memories with them before they all grew up. One year we packed up and headed out west for three weeks. It was an unforgettable vacation. Not all summer memories have to be long, far away trips. Memories can be made taking short trips or even day trips to near by places. Check out this past blog for some near by trips you might want to try this summer.
http://amomlikeyou.blogspot.com/search/label/summer

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Ladies, I love to communicate with you, so please email me with any thoughts, concerns or questions.
Melissa

Letting Go!!

Dear Ladies,

My two oldest boys, Jacob and Ethan, took a road trip. They packed up our little white car with over 200,000 miles and drove to Illinois to visit grandparents. The oldest being 18 has a need for adventure, and it worked out for him to be able to have one. Ethan is one step closer to independence.

Before we were married we spent some time with our pastor discussing marriage, family etc. Our pastor told us that it was the husbands job to help his wife let go of the children. What truth there was in that statement.

When our children were little their grandparents wanted to have them visit for several weeks in the summers. I always wanted to say "no", I want them here with me. Eric felt it would be good for the children to spend some time with their grandparents, so off to Grammy's they would go. Of course, Eric was right. It was good for everyone. The grandparents got to spoil the grand kids and a bond was developed between the children and their grandparents. My in-laws are Godly people, so my children were also able to learn from their Godly example.

All the good reasons didn't make it any easier for me to let go. Through out the adventure of mothering there are different times when we need to release our children. As babies we let them go when we move them out of our bedroom and into their own room. (I cried the first night I put my oldest in his room), as toddlers we let go when they are screaming at the church nursery door for mama, but we know they will be fine. As young elementary we let go when we put them on the school bus for the first time, or let them sleep over night at a friend's house, then as teens we let them go when we allow them to be out with friends. Before long we have an adult in our house who is studying and preparing to care for a family of his own.

Parenting is one long season of letting go. As moms it is hard for us to let them grow up, we are torn; we want them to grow up, but we still want them to be our babies. So if the opportunity arises this summer for your child to step out into something new, be ready. It will be hard. Pray about it and discuss it with your husband. How will it benefit your child and his knowledge of God? Will your child be safe? Are you just holding on or would this be a good chance for your child to grow and have fun? Will this opportunity cause emotional or physical harm? Is your child ready?

I have not yet gotten to the point where a child has totally left home, but I believe that having my children spend weeks at their grandparents has given me a little glimpse of what our home will be like with children gone. I know it will be difficult, but I'm looking forward to seeing what direction God takes my children in.

I would love to hear from you ladies, your emails encourage me to write. Please email me any questions or topics that you would like me to write about.

In His Service,
Melissa

Death Comes To Us All

Dear Ladies,



We have been doing more then our fair share dinner with a movie. When Eric is gone we tend to be more relaxed about dinner. Sometimes I will decide we better start acting normal and eat dinner at the table. BUT we are all enjoying our dinner/movie nights, do we really need to be normal. We have watched most of the PG movies from the Redbox that we wanted to see; that may cause us to have to stop our movie watching or find a different rental source.



My father is 88 years old and isn't doing very well. We are hoping he will hang in there until after May 6th when Eric is due home. I really don't want to deal with the funeral without him to tempter family feelings. My Dad has been married three times and has children from his first two marriages.



My dad was born in 1921, only attender school through the 8th grade when he had to start working to help support the family. He was one of 12 children. He has outlived all but the youngest sister. He was drafted to serve in World War II, was wounded twice and was part of the occupation force in Japan. He saw airplane and automobile travel become the norm. He saw the invention of the tv, phone, computers, washing machines, radios, microwaves, and bubble gum. I was blessed to have a wonderful visit, the best one in a long time, in November. We attended church with him, his wife, my sister and her boys. Afterwards we went out to lunch, then to their new home for a visit. I'm thankful for that visit. I have chosen not to go to NY now, but have talked to him a few minutes on the phone.

Death is a part of life and sometimes is very hard for us to understand. Children handle death so much better then we do. I think sometimes they wonder why we are crying. Isn't going home to be with Jesus what we all want to do? So how do we has moms handle explaining the death of a loved one to our little ones?

1. Explain to your child that they have gone to see Jesus. For some children this is all they will need.

2. Comfort them and allow them to cry, but don't be upset if they don't show any sorrow.

3. If they are beyond the toddler years take them to the visitation or the funeral. Explain to them before hand that they will be viewing the person's body or shell, but their spirit or the part we loved is with Jesus.

4. If you aren't sure the person was saved it is a little bit more difficult. Let your child know their spirit is gone and leave it at that.

5. Talk about the things you loved or did with the person. Enjoy sharing funny stories with them and ask them to share something they remember.

6. Talk about death before it happens. Talk about how grandparents wouldn't always be with us, so we have to enjoy them while we can. Let them know it is a part of life. If you have a pet who dies, even a goldfish, use this as an opportunity to talk about death.

7. Pray and ask for guidance.

We lost two young cousins in a car accident 5 years ago. That was a difficult death for my children and there was no explanation as to why it happened. We knew that both children had made Jesus their savior, so we could rejoice in knowing that they were with Jesus. Sometimes all you can do is cry together and say we don't understand why such an accident could happen. It is ok to be honest with your children, they will have a better understanding of death when we address their questions honestly.

Have a wonderful weekend with your family and rejoice in each new day God gives us to enjoy each other.

Melissa

I'm A Sinner!!

Dear Ladies,

Just a short note before I head to bed. I was listening to a sermon on line this past week. The speaker discussed the topic of asking God for forgiveness or our need to repent of our sins. I occurred to me that in my quiet times with the Lord I had gotten away from asking God to forgive me. I had forgotten how I need to confront my sins and confess them to God. I seldom hear the topic of repentance talked about, so I guess it had slipped my mind. How foolish of me!! I know Jesus died for my sins, so why is it I was forgetting to ask forgiveness. It isn't because I never sin, I sin everyday. I yell at my kids or say things I shouldn't. I get angry at my husband. I'm judgemental. The list could go on, but you get the picture. Sinless I am not.

We are all sinners and it is only by the grace of God that we are able to have relationship with Him. I'm thankful that God gently reminded me that I need to confess and as I begin naming my sin I have a better understanding of what I need to work on to become like Christ.

I encourage you, dear sisters in the Lord, to take a few minutes this week and reflect on your sins. It isn't fun, but if we don't take the time to think about our short comings we can become caught in the trap of thinking that we are doing everything right. Ask Him to open your eyes to your sins; once we know what sin is harboring in our life then we can begin to work on reflecting Jesus in all we do.

God is merciful and will forgive. He even will forgive us for when we forget to confess our sins.

In His Service,
Melissa

Easy Chicken/turkey Bake

Ladies,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and were able to enjoy some time with your family. For those of you that had turkey today for Easter Dinner, here is an easy recipe to use some of your leftovers.

1 pk. cornbread stuffing mix
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 lb chicken/turkey(cooked)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies-thawed and drained(broccoli or green beans will also work)

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of dry stuffing evenly on bottom of 13x9" baking dish. Add hot water to remaining stuffing mix, stir until moistened.

Place chicken over dry stffing mix. Mix soup, sour cream and veggies, spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

Bake 30 minutes.

The sour cream is really what gives this dish its unique taste; you can make the dish without it, but it is better with the sour cream. This dish works well to put together during the day when you have time and then it is ready to stick into the oven at dinner time.

Enjoy!

Fun and Easy Easter Treat

Here is a quick and fun treat you can make with your children and share with them what Jesus did for us and the really meaning of Easter.

You will need a tube of refrigerator biscuits. I used the cheap ones that come 4 tubes bundled together. You will also need marshmallows(any kind you have will work), melted butter, cinnamon and sugar.

Have your children stretch out a biscuit as best them can and wrap it around a marshmallow. Brush each biscuit with butter and then sprinkle or roll them in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Bake your biscuits according to the directions on the tube. Remove from oven and cool a little before eating.

As they work and then enjoy share with them what each part represents.
The marshmallow represents Jesus and the biscuit is the tomb. Just as Jesus was put in the tomb, you put your biscuits in the oven. Have your children bit into there biscuit and notice that the marshmallow is gone, there biscuit /tomb is hollow. As they enjoy there sweet treat share with them the goodness of Jesus' resurrection and the empty tomb.

Enjoy,
Melissa